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| Research Promotion Plan |
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| Our research on architectural fire safety engineering is classified broadly into the following categories: firstly, research on
phenomena of fire physics and chemistry and on human behavior in fire as foundational studies, secondly research on
fire statistics and risk assessment, which aims to rationalize and optimize the assessment and design system, and lastly,
research toward establishment of a system for fire safety performance assessment and design, which integrates the
aforementioned three areas of studies for practical use. |
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For the purpose of ensuring effective research promotion in the program, eight areas of research activities have been
identified, as in the below figure. Four individual areas of studies, (1) research on fire phenomena and design fire, (2)
research on evacuation safety, (3) research on structural fire resistance and (4) research on risk analysis, probability and
statistics, are earmarked for promotion of mutual cooperation and coordination, while (5) research on assessment and
design system is intended to achieve integration of the above areas to raise the research standard and practicality. The
remaining categories are (6) “high profile” research that responds to contemporary requirements, (7) research on urban
fire prevention, an applied study which extends the research domain from individual buildings to urban areas and (8)
archiving and forecast computation library, for databases of information for future use, research and design practices
alike.
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Followings are our specific research themes for each category.
(1) Research on Fire Phenomenon and Design Fire:
Development of methods to predict various characteristics which concern with design fire source and fire dynamics, such as
combustion characteristics of goods and furniture, fire growth, combustion control using sprinkler or extinguishing equipment
etc., fire-induced flow, smoke plume rising, smoke layer filling and compartment fire.
• Construction of method for assessment of design fire in fire safety design methods
• Flow characteristics of fire flow along a slanted ceiling: downstream / sideways flow reach limit
• Prediction of fire characteristic in underground space
(2) Research on Evacuation Safety:
Deals with the issues related to evacuation behavior in fire and egress route design.
• Development of integrated programs for prediction of smoke flow and evacuation behavior in fire
• Experimental study regarding evacuation flow characteristics of the crowd including wheelchair users at the doorway
• Research on smoke prevention design method for residential complexes
(3) Research on Structural Fire Resistance:
Concerned with the issues related to thermal and dynamic behavior of the building components used for framing and
compartment.
• Developing programs to analyze deformation of three-dimensional elastic-plastic stress in fire
• Research on design method for wooden fire-resistant buildings
• Fire-resistant characteristics of reinforced concrete (RC) columns in fire
(4) Risk Analysis, Probability and Statistics:
Deals with issues broadly related to risk engineering and probability statistics such as fire risk assessment and target safety
level analyses using fire statistics and stochastic theories.
• Standard fire scenarios (standard evacuation scenarios) based on the concept of risk assessment.
• Systematic integration of stochastic theories and risk assessment -based design methods for fire safety technologies
• Quantification of fire risk of building based on statistical data
(5) Research on System for Fire Safety Assessment and Design:
Concerned with issues related to fire safety design strategy, design tool development and optimized design.
• Methods for evaluation and optimization of fire prevention plans
• Optimization of fire safety design in the design process
• Development of tools for fire safety assessment and design
• Development of design tools for limitation of fire compartment area
(6) High Profile Research:
Highlights the issues that draw attention of the society and responds to contemporary needs
• Research on extension of performance-based codes: taking membrane structure as an example
• Research on methods for integrating fire safety and environment in building design
• Research on fire prevention system using water such as sprinkler, drencher, water mist etc.
(7) Research on Urban Fire Prevention:
Investigates fire safety issues for extensive areas, as entities that go beyond individual buildings.
• Research on regional fire control capacity and optimal utilization of fire prevention resources
• Research on history of fire damage in Tokyo dating back to the Edo era
• Research on fire control activity corresponding to each structural type in building
(8) Development of Archives of Fire Research / Computational Program Library for Predicting:
• Development of a program library of computer models
• Archives of fire research materials
• Development of database of fire safety design tools |
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