Performance-based methodology for the fire safe design of insulation materials in energy efficient buildings

This thesis presents a methodology to determine failure criteria of building insulation materials in the event of a fire that is specific to each typology of insulation material used. This methodology is based on material characterisation and assessment of fire performance of the most common insulation materials used in construction. Current methodologies give a single failure criterion independent of the nature of the material – this can lead to uneven requirements when addressing materials of different characteristics. At present, fire safety codes establish that performance of different materials or assemblies is assumed to be “equivalent” when subject to the same test, where attainment of the unique failure criteria occurs after a required minimum time. Nevertheless, when using extremely different materials this may not be actually the case. Building performance is currently defined in a quantitative way with respect to factors such as energy usage (i.e. global thermal transmittance), element weight (i.e. thickness and mass), space utilisation and cost of application. In the case of fire performance, only a threshold value is required, therefore a quantitative performance assessment is not conducted. As a result, the drivers are those associated with the variables that can be quantified, whereas the thresholds merely need to be met without any alternative for a better performance. This work opens the door to a performance-based-design methodology that takes into account fire performance as an optimisation variable for the building design, to be used with all other quantifiable variables. An added advantage is that the numerical tool required embraces a low level of complexity. As a result, the possibility for any insulation product to achieve quantifiable and acceptable fire safety levels for required energy efficiency targets is established. As a final remark, an application of the performance assessment methodology that introduces fire safety as a quantifiable variable is presented

Reproductive biology of Chlaenius velutinus (Duftschmid, 1812)(Coleoptera, Carabidae) in the south of the Iberian Peninsula

Se estudia la biología de reproducción de Chlaenius velutinus Duftschmid, 1812, especie bien representada en las comunidades de carábidos ripícolas del sur de la Península, en las que suele ser un elemento dominante. Se parte de muestreos sistemáticos efectuados en el arroyo Arenosillo (tributario de la cuenca del Guadalquivir por su margen derecho), de estudios anatómicos relativos a la edad y sexo de los ejemplares y al estado gonadal de las hembras y de cultivos de laboratorio. Los resultados indican que la actividad de los imagos se centra en primavera, con un máximo en abril y mayo, momento en que también es máxima la oviposición, que la fecundidad es elevada (10,05 huevos/hembra), que el período medio de desarrollo en el laboratorio es algo más de un mes y que la fase más crítica, en condiciones artificiales, es la eclosión del huevo. De todo lo anterior se deduce que el ciclo de vida de C. velutinus se ajusta al de los reproductores de primavera (Larsson, 1939)

A simplified correction method for thermocouple disturbance errors in solids

When a thermocouple is embedded in a material of lower thermal conductivity, under certain heating or cooling conditions, the presence of the thermocouple can distort the surrounding temperature field. As a result, the measured temperatures may be very different to the ‘undisturbed’ temperatures that would exist without the thermocouple. This study presents the results of a sensitivity analysis of key factors influencing this thermal disturbance. A series of heat transfer models and accompanying experiments are used to demonstrate the effects of thermocouple geometry, contact conditions, thermal properties, and heating regime on the temperature measurement error. These tailored finite element models were validated against experiments on vermiculite insulation board, which confirmed the accuracy of the models in simulating the thermal disturbance for inert heating conditions. Also, a simplified version of the finite element model was used to calculate the thermal disturbance error for a number of conditions, and subsequently to predict a range of corrected temperatures for the experimental measurements. This correction method was found to greatly improve the accuracy of the results for inert heating conditions. Since the method does not account for the effects of moisture in heat transfer, a creep of uncorrected errors could be observed

Validation of a Spanish version of the Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR)

8 p.[EN]The Revised version of the Fibromyalgia Background The Revised version of the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR) was published in 2009. The aim of this study was to prepare a Spanish version, and to assess its psychometric properties in a sample of patients with fibromyalgia. Methods The FIQR was translated into Spanish and administered, along with the FIQ, the Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS), the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), and the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), to 113 Spanish fibromyalgia patients. The administration of the Spanish FIQR was repeated a week later. Results The Spanish FIQR had high internal consistency (Cronbach’s α was 0.91 and 0.95 at visits 1 and 2 respectively). The test-retest reliability was good for the FIQR total score and its function and symptoms domains (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC > 0.70), but modest for the overall impact domain (ICC = 0.51). Statistically significant correlations (p < 0.05) were also found between the FIQR and the FIQ scores, as well as between the FIQR scores and the remaining scales’ scores. Conclusions The Spanish version of the FIQR has a good internal consistency and our findings support its validity for assessing fibromyalgia patients. It might be a valid instrument to apply in clinical and investigational grounds.[ES]Antecedentes El Cuestionario de Impacto de Fibromialgia (FIQ) ha sido utilizado como medida de valoración en numerosos estudios clínicos. En 2009 se publicó en inglés su versión revisada (FIQR). El presente estudio se llevó a cabo para traducir al español y validar dicha versión. Pacientes y Método La traducción fue realizada por dos de los autores. La versión traducida del FIQR se administró a 113 pacientes con fibromialgia junto con el FIQ, la Escala Hospitalaria de Ansiedad y Depresión, el Cuestionario de Salud SF-36 y la versión abreviada del Cuestionario Breve de Dolor. Una semana después se administró de nuevo el FIQR. Su consistencia interna se evaluó mediante el coeficiente α de Cronbach. Se calcularon los coeficientes de correlación intraclase (ICC) entre las puntaciones de la nueva versión y la anterior, así como las subescalas del Cuestionario SF-36, de la Escala Hospitalaria de Ansiedad y Depresión y del Inventario Breve de Dolor. La fiabilidad test-retest se evaluó igualmente mediante coeficientes de correlación intraclase. Resultados El coeficiente α de Cronbach de la versión en estudio fue elevado (0,91 en la primera visita y de 0,95 en la segunda). La fiabilidad test-retest fue buena para la puntuación total del FIQR y para las dimensiones de función y síntomas ( ICC ≥ 0,70) pero modesta para la dimensión de impacto global (ICC = 0,51). Asimismo se encontraron coeficientes de correlación elevados y estadísticamente significativos respecto a las restantes escalas aplicadas (p < 0,05). Conclusión La versión española del FIQR es un instrumento válido para su uso en la evaluación e investigación clínicas

Modelling non-dust fluids in cosmology

Currently, most of the numerical simulations of structure formation use Newtonian gravity. When modelling pressureless dark matter, or `dust', this approach gives the correct results for scales much smaller than the cosmological horizon, but for scenarios in which the fluid has pressure this is no longer the case. In this article, we present the correspondence of perturbations in Newtonian and cosmological perturbation theory, showing exact mathematical equivalence for pressureless matter, and giving the relativistic corrections for matter with pressure. As an example, we study the case of scalar field dark matter which features non-zero pressure perturbations. We discuss some problems which may arise when evolving the perturbations in this model with Newtonian numerical simulations and with CMB Boltzmann codes.Comment: 5 pages; v2: typos corrected and refs added, submitted version; v3: version to appear in JCA

Analysis of Convective Heat Losses in a Full-scale Compartment Fire Experiment

This paper presents a methodology to quantify the convective heat losses in a full-scale compartment fire experiment, and presents an analysis of the key uncertainties in the experimental procedure, with the purpose of reducing uncertainty, and establishing robust error bars to the methodology. Uncertainties in the experimental flow measurements were assessed through a wind tunnel study of the bi-directional probe-transducer assembly at a range of Reynolds numbers. It was shown that at low Reynolds numbers, the probe-transducer assembly gains Reynolds dependence, for which the correction factor can be described as a piecewise function over the voltage of the differential pressure transducer used, with a minimum correction factor of 0.60. Numerical modelling in FDS is used to validate the assumptions driving the proposed methodology, and to provide the upper bound to the methodology. Due to the limited resolution of bi-directional probes in the experiment, the flow profile was mapped using a high resolution of thermocouples positioned near the opening, which allowed for the definition of the thermal interface height within the range (0.51-0.56)H0, which was in proximity to the numerically determined neutral plane height within the range (0.61-0.64)H0. Based on the numerical study and the literature, static inflows are assumed, and thus the convective heat losses through the opening are calculated. Similar to the underpinning work of the Compartment Fire Framework for well-ventilated fires, convective heat losses through the opening are calculated to account for 80% of the input fire. Sensitivity analyses of the hot layer temperatures and the interface height reveal a key dependency of the total convective heat losses to an accurate estimation of the interface height. The work presented herein will be utilised to characterise the fire dynamics of a set of full-scale experiments in order provide an accurate representation of thermal boundary conditions, either to the structure or out of the compartment, into adjacent spaces or windows

Response of stone wool-insulated building barriers under severe heating exposures

This article presents the experimental results of stone wool-layered sandwich constructions, with either steel or gypsum claddings, tested under four different heating exposures: 7kW/m(2) incident radiant heat flux exposure, 60kW/m(2) incident radiant heat flux exposure, parametric time-temperature curve exposure and ISO 834 standard time-temperature exposure. The test apparatus used were a movable radiant panel system, a mid-scale furnace (1.5m(3)) and a large-scale furnace (15m(3)). The results show that reduced-scale tests are capable of reproducing the heat transferred through the construction at large scale provided there is limited mechanical degradation. The results indicate that the availability of oxygen is fundamental to the fire behaviour of the sandwich composites tested. Reactions occurring in stone wool micro-scale testing, such as oxidative combustion of the binder or crystallisation of the fibres, have a limited effect on the temperature increase when wool is protected from air entrainment