Dr. Eleni Asimakopoulou
University of Lancashire, Fire Engineering Research Group
From Compartment Fires to Façade Fire Spread: Understanding Externally Venting Flames through Experiments, Modelling and Data-Driven Approaches
Abstract
Fire spread from a compartment to the external façade represents one of the most complex challenges in building fire safety. When flames emerge through openings, externally venting flames can expose façade systems and upper storeys to substantial thermal loads, creating pathways for vertical fire propagation beyond the compartment of origin. Understanding these phenomena requires consideration of the interaction between compartment fire dynamics, ventilation, façade geometry, external conditions and material response.
This keynote will examine the evolution of research into externally venting flames and façade fire spread, drawing on experimental, numerical and data-driven investigations conducted across different scales and geometrical configurations. Beginning with fundamental studies of externally venting flame behaviour, the lecture will explore how ventilation conditions and compartment geometry influence flame shape, trajectory, temperature and the resulting thermal exposure of façade surfaces. Experimental observations will be considered alongside computational fluid dynamics simulations, highlighting both the capabilities and limitations of numerical approaches in reproducing complex fire phenomena.
Conventional compartment–façade configurations to more complex building geometries, including corridor-like and curvilinear configurations, and to the influence of forced ventilation and wind on external flame behaviour will also be discussed. These studies demonstrate the importance of moving beyond simplified representations when assessing realistic façade fire scenarios.
Finally, the keynote will consider how emerging data-driven approaches can complement established experimental and physics-based modelling methods. Recent work using deep-learning surrogate models for large-scale façade fire tests illustrates the potential for rapidly predicting fire behaviour while retaining knowledge generated through detailed experiments and simulations.
By connecting more than a decade of experimental and computational research with emerging modelling techniques, the lecture will discuss how combining physical understanding, large-scale testing, CFD and data-driven methods can support the next generation of façade fire safety assessment and performance-based fire engineering.
Biography
Dr. Eleni Asimakopoulou is a Senior Lecturer in Fire Engineering and leads the Fire Engineering Research Group at the University of Lancashire. Her research focuses on fire dynamics, façade fires, externally venting flames, computational modelling and data-driven fire engineering.
She holds a PhD and MSc in Mechanical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens and is Associate Editor of Fire Technology by Springer Nature. She is actively involved in international fire safety research through IAFSS and SFPE among others and has served on the scientific and organising committees of several international fire safety conferences.
Dr. Federica Ferraro
Technische Universität Braunschweig, Institute of Jet Propulsion and Turbomachinery
From Flame–Wall Interaction to Flame Spread: Bridging Fundamental Combustion and Fire Safety
Abstract
Flame spread over a combustible surface is a critical metric for assessing the fire hazard of materials, yet its predictive modeling remains a longstanding challenge. This difficulty stems from the complex coupling between heat transfer, solid-phase heating and pyrolysis, gas-phase chemistry, fluid dynamics, and surface–flame interactions. Improving our understanding of these coupled processes is therefore essential for advancing predictive fire modeling.
Fundamental combustion studies provide a basis for addressing this complexity. Combined experiments and detailed numerical simulations of laboratory-scale flame–wall interactions allow individual physical and chemical processes to be isolated and quantified, providing insights that are difficult to obtain in more complex fire scenarios. Boundary-layer flames represent a well-controlled configuration for investigating the coupling between surface fuel release, near-wall combustion and heat transfer, while retaining mechanisms relevant to flame spread. They also provide a suitable framework for investigating the influence of flame retardants on near-wall flame characteristics, heat transfer, and combustion-product formation.
This presentation will address numerical modeling and simulations across configurations of increasing complexity, supported by experimental data for model validation and interpretation. The discussion will span fundamental near-wall combustion, boundary-layer flames, flame-retardant effects, and flame spread over combustible polymers. Particular attention will be given to how modeling approaches and physical insights gained in laboratory-scale configurations can be extended to fire-relevant conditions, as well as to the challenges that remain in translating this knowledge into predictive tools for fire safety.
Biography
Dr. Federica Ferraro is a Junior Professor at Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany. Her research focuses on the numerical modeling and simulation of multiphase reactive flows, with particular emphasis on flame–wall interaction, soot formation, flame-retardant effects, and flame spread, as well as on sustainable fuels and low-emission combustion for propulsion and power generation. A central aspect of her current work is the transfer of fundamental combustion knowledge to fire-safety applications and the development of numerical models for combustible material-flame interactions.
She studied Aerospace Engineering at the University of Rome “La Sapienza” and completed her PhD at the Universität der Bundeswehr München in 2017. Before joining TU Braunschweig in 2023, she held postdoctoral research positions at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) from 2017 to 2019 and at TU Darmstadt from 2019 to 2023.
Dr. Andrea Lucherini
Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute, Department for Fire-Safe Sustainable Built Environment (FRISSBE)
The Start of Decay: Fire-Timber Interactions Beyond the Fully Developed Fire
Abstract
Fire safety engineering increasingly seeks to assess the performance of buildings under realistic fire scenarios, particularly in performance-based approaches. However, while considerable attention is given to fire growth and the post-flashover period, the decay and cooling phases are often overlooked. These phases are critical as combustion and heat penetration may continue well beyond the peak of the fire. For timber structures, this leads to continued thermal degradation during the decay and cooling phases, which critically can affect the timber’s ability to achieve extinction and can impact the structural performance.
Ensuring sufficient fire decay and subsequent compartment cooling is essential to mitigate these phenomena and prevent re-ignition and continued material degradation. Designing the building for the timber-fire interaction is therefore critical for achieving a sustainable and safe built environment. This presentation will explore the fire–timber interaction beyond flashover, presenting insights from both numerical and experimental investigations. Particular emphasis will be placed on how fire decay and cooling influence heat transfer, timber degradation, charring and extinction, and on their implications for performance-based fire safety engineering.
Biography
Dr Andrea Lucherini is the Head of the Fire Research and Innovation Unit within the Department for Fire-Safe Sustainable Built Environment (FRISSBE) at the Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute (ZAG). His research focuses on the interaction between fire and construction materials, with particular expertise in fire safety science and engineering, advanced fire testing methodologies, and the performance of modern building systems under fire conditions. He has co-authored more than 70 publications including peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, scientific conference contributions, and technical reports.
Dr Lucherini has gained extensive international research experience at leading institutions (University of Queensland, Ghent University, Technical University of Denmark, among others), and his research contributions have been recognised through several scientific awards and distinctions, including the 2024 SFPE 5 Under 35 Award, the 2024 ZAG Turnšek Junior Award, and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowship.