TABLE OF CONTENTS In this chapter, we shall illustrate the design of a performance-based safety system by looking at the risk analysis of an assembly hall. The risk assessment will be based on the evaluation of the probability distribution of the available safe egress time G. Two methods will be used:
The ? reliability index method and its corresponding probability of failure ?( ? ?).
Monte Carlo simulation.
This analysis is based on the work of Magnusson et al. [44].
The basic variables of the problem are as follows:
A, floor area of the hall in m 2.
H, ceiling height in m.
N, density of hall occupants in persons per m 2.
G, available safe egress time.
S, time for the smoke to fill the lower part of the hall to 1.6 m above floor level.
D, detection time in s.
R, response and behaviour time prior to evacuation in s.
E, movement time to exit in s.
?, fire growth rate in kW/s 2.
F, specific flow capacity of a doorway in persons/s m.
W, exit door width in m.
The scenario event tree is shown in Figure 16.2 outlining the eight various outcome cases for functioning/not functioning fire alarms, sprinklers and emergency doors. However, in the rest of this chapter, we shall consider only scenario six: an automatic fire alarm is installed and operating; no sprinkler is...
