To better evaluate failure of building elements and spread of fire beyond the room of fire origin, this thesis developed and integrated into CUrisk a barrier failure model and a fire spread model.
The role and position of the Fire Spread submodel were analyzed and changes to the system model and some other submodels were undertaken. With these modifications, CUrisk can employ the Fire Spread submodel to predict the fire hazard conditions in a building fire, and to use the results to predict the life risk and fire damages. Through a comprehensive case study of fire risk assessment of a six-storey residential building using the improved CUrisk, the Fire Spread submodel demonstrated the impacts of fire spread level on building occupant safety and fire losses.
The model performance was verified by comparing with the fire test measurements, which demonstrated good agreements. Comparable results are also predicted regarding the fall-off behaviour of the fire-exposed gypsum board as well as the charring behaviour. In addition, an example calculation was made using the probabilistic barrier failure model. Finally, a fire risk analysis case study was conducted on a six-storey apartment building with the purpose of showing the effect of wall barriers on fire risk. Results indicated that CUrisk can evaluate the impact of fire barriers on the fire risk with the new Barrie Failure submodel.
