Fire poses a severe threat on safety and durability of bridges. Further, a severe explosive fire can lead to damage of structures, thus causing failure in local components or even collapse of the entire structures. Therefore, this can result in casualties, serious economic and property losses and; in some cases even cause loss of life.
To keep the safe service of structures in full-life cycle periods, it is inevitable to carry out reliable design strategies and preferable protection measures. Therefore, new fire-resistant materials, together with innovative protective techniques, are developed to prevent these suddenly occurred extreme fire loadings. This special issue aims to collect the state-of-the-art researches on the fire behaviours of bridge structures and damage mitigation methods. The topics of the special issue include but are not limited to:
- Fire performance of bridge structures
- Innovative fire-resistant design strategies
- Protection measures of bridge under fire conditions
- Novel testing methods of bridge structures subjected to fire loading
- Safety evaluation method of bridges after fire
- Schedule for the manuscript submission: As soon as possible and before 31 May 2024
Guest Editors:
Gang Zhang, Chang’an University, China
zhanggang@chd.edu.cn
M.Z. Naser, Clemson University, USA
mznaser@clemson.edu
Shan-Shan Huang, The University of Sheffield, UK
s.huang@sheffield.ac.uk
HuanTing Zhou, Wuhan University of Technology, China
zhouht@whut.edu.cn
Mei-Chun Zhu, Shanghai Normal University, China
zhumeichun@shnu.edu.cn
Rujin Ma, Tongji University, China
rjma@tongji.edu.cn
Guest Editors for the Special Issue:
Dr. Gang Zhang is a University Distinguished Professor at Chang’an University (CHD) and an International Famous Scientist in the field of bridge fire safety. He serves as Director of Research Center on Bridge Extreme Loading and Protection, and Head of Bridge Structure and Material Fire Laboratory at Chang’an University. Prof. Zhang’s expertise is on the evaluation and protection of bridge structure and material behavior under extreme fire conditions. His research has focused on the experimental behavior, analytical modelling and numerical prediction of bridge structure under extreme fire exposure conditions, constitutive modelling of material properties at high temperatures, fire-resistant design of bridge structure, and bridge collapsed investigations. He has developed fundamental understanding on the behavior of bridge structure and materials subjected to extreme fire hazard. His research accomplishments, in the field of bridge fire safety and material at elevated temperatures, has great contribution and major impacts to improve development of disaster prevention and mitigation in transportation infrastructures. Prof. Zhang, along with his students and collaborates, has led to over 120 peer-reviewed papers in journals and conferences. The most recent contribution from Zhang is a new monograph on “Fire Safety and Control Method of Bridge Structures” published by China Communications Press. Prof. Zhang has been elected as the fellows of two academies/associations.
Dr. M.Z. Naser is a tenure-track faculty member at the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering & Earth Sciences, a member of the AI Research Institute for Science and Engineering (AIRISE) at Clemson University, USA. Dr. Naser has co-authored over 100 publications, including two books – The Concrete Industry in the Era of Artificial Intelligence (published by the American Concrete Institute) and Leveraging Artificial Intelligence in Engineering, Management, and Safety of Infrastructure (published by Taylor & Francis in 2022). He has 10 years of experience in structural engineering and AI. His research interest spans causal & explainable AI methodologies to discover new knowledge hidden within the domains of structural & fire engineering and materials science to realize functional, sustainable, and resilient infrastructure. He is a registered professional engineer and a member of various international editorial boards and building committees (including the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Advances in Information Technology Committee).
Dr Shan-Shan Huang is a Senior Lecturer in Structural Engineering in the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering of the University of Sheffield. She has 18 years of experience in structural fire engineering, sustainable construction and performance-based design and reached the 100 Highly Commended Finalists in the Top 50 Women in Engineering: Engineering Heroes (WE50) awards. Shan-Shan teaches and conducts research on Structural Fire Engineering. She explores questions such as 'What happens to structures in fire?' and 'How can we improve the current fire engineering practices, in terms of safety, efficiency and sustainability?'.
Dr. HuanTing Zhou is a Professor at the School of Civil Engineering and Architecture at Wuhan University of Technology. His research interests mainly focus on structural fire resistance and structural random vibration analysis. In the past ten years, he and his research team have carried out systematic research on fire resistance of steel structures and steel-concrete composite structures, and published more than 60 articles at home and abroad. He is a reviewer for several international journals.
Dr. Mei-Chun Zhu is an Associate Professor and Vice Dean at the School of Civil Engineering, Shanghai Normal University. She completed her postdoctoral research at Tongji University and served as a visiting scholar at Michigan State University. Dr. Zhu has been actively engaged in the research related to the fire resistance of steel structures and composite structures since 2009. Her research endeavors have yielded substantial results, particularly in the realm of high-temperature protection for bridge cable systems and fire performance of novel concrete-filled steel tube columns. Dr. Zhu has co-authored over 50 papers in journals and conferences. Her research has been recognized with many funding, including two national-level grants and six grants from provincial and ministerial sources.
Rujin Ma is a Professor from Tongji University, School of Civil Engineering. He majors in the bridge engineering, including the performance evaluation under extreme loads, life cycle design theory, maintenance and safety management, wind resistance performance, as well as intelligent construction and operation. In recent years, he has undertaken and participated in a number of research projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation, the National Science and Technology Support Program, the National Key Research and Development Program, and the Ministry of Transport Science and Technology Program. He has provided scientific and technological services for nearly 100 major bridges in China, including the Zhangjinggao Yangtze River Bridge and Changtai Yangtze River Bridge (under construction), as well as the Jiangyin Bridge and Sutong Bridge (in service). He has published over 100 papers, holds more than 20 patents, and has contributed to the compilation of 3 specifications. He has won several first and second prizes for provincial and ministerial-level scientific and technological progress, as well as the Special Prize and First Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress of the China Highway Society.
