Numerical simulation of fire-following-earthquake at urban scale

The ignition of fires in urban environments due to seismic shocks is a phenomenon that has been studied for a long time in literature. It is a secondary seismic effect that is analyzed in order to create efficient protective solutions. In this research the occurrence of Fire Following Earthquake (FFE) at urban scale is investigated. A virtual reality-based system for the simulation of fire scenario and emergency response is developed starting from the 3D model of building in an urban area through the use of a VR platform that ensures the interaction between human and the virtual simulation environment. The ignition and the spreading of fire and smoke after a strong ground motion are based on numerical simulation using computation fluid dynamic (CDF) software. The simulation may reproduce realistic fire processes by accounting the wind effect and the smoke movement. A district of an ideal city model, where all buildings and urban features are created on the basis of the city of Turin, is investigated in order to demonstrate the feasibility of proposed system.