In-Fire and Postfire Safety Evaluation of Hangers of a Long-Span Suspension Bridge in a Truck Fire Accident
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 38, Issue 1
Abstract
Fire accidents often pose severe threats to the safety of steel bridges. This paper presents the numerical study of the Runyang Suspension Bridge (RSB) fire accident with an emphasis on its in-fire thermal effect on the hangers. This fire accident was caused by the collision of two heavy-goods vehicles (HGVs) on March 4, 2017, and lasted for 1.5 h. Based on the simulated temperature, the structural safety of four burned hangers during and after the fire accident was evaluated and compared. In general, the simulation results are consistent with the actual situation, and the evidence for the replacement of the hangers is sufficient. The influence of wind parameters and cooling actions on the hanger safety is also discussed. It is found that the wind parameters affect the directions and tilts of the flame, so that the highest temperature and the corresponding height are influenced accordingly. Also, the efficiency of the water-cooling method is influenced by the intervention time of fire engines. If water spraying is conducted within 30 min from fire initiation, the safety of the hangers during and after the fire could be improved, as compared with air cooling.
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Data Availability Statement
No data, models, or code were generated or used during the study.
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge support from the Jiangsu provincial Department of Science and Technology under Grant No. BZ2021011.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 38 • Issue 1 • February 2024
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 17, 2023
Accepted: Jul 24, 2023
Published online: Nov 29, 2023
Published in print: Feb 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Apr 29, 2024
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Bridge engineering
- Bridges
- Bridges (by material)
- Bridges (by type)
- Design (by type)
- Disaster risk management
- Disasters and hazards
- Engineering fundamentals
- Fire resistance
- Fires
- Infrastructure
- Man-made disasters
- Measurement (by type)
- Steel bridges
- Structural design
- Structural engineering
- Structural safety
- Suspension bridges
- Temperature effects
- Temperature measurement
- Traffic accidents
- Traffic engineering
- Traffic management
- Transportation engineering
- Wind engineering
- Wood bridges
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