The natural phenomena simulation in computer graphics is commonly achieved by the procedural methods or the physics model. However, these approaches are hard to directly approach the visual experience. On the other hand, the image reconstruction works can provide the outcome based on real images but lack of interactivity and efficiency on using image resource. For solving these drawbacks, we propose a novel method that enhances the fire simulation effect using the visual learning of image features and generates continuous animations by integrating with procedural methods. We first obtain the dynamics of fire contour by binarization and edge detection. The information extracted from images is gathered into a set of feature data called fire profile. To generate a long sequence of fire animation from a short clip of fire video, we propose two approaches of visual learning to utilize fire profile to produce continuous animation. One is to use the fire image to setup a color value lookup table which contains the average color value of the fire spatial divisions; the other is to design a state machine for describing fire wiggling movement that can generate effects based on user¡¦s input. During the rendering stage of 3D visualization, we set up the fire volume which connecting the feature points of two cross-views by the cubic spline. Then the edge points found on the fire volume can be used as the contour points of the supplementing slices and generate these supplements inside the planned fire volume to formulate a complete fire effect. The proposed method can raise not only the visual reality but also the interactive ability compared with the existing work.

Water supply systems’ vulnerability towards physical, chemical, biological, and cyber threats was recognized and was under study long before September 11, 2001. But greater attention toward security measures for water supply systems was focused after the incidents of September 11, 2001. In response to those events, several acts have been passed by the United States Congress, and numerous vulnerability assessment tools and methodologies for water systems have been developed. Although water supply systems are vulnerable to many forms of terrorist acts, most of the vulnerability analysis studies on these systems have been for chemical and biological threats. Because of the interdependency of water supply infrastructure and emergency fire response, any substantial damage in a water system would be a significant threat towards the community. In this study, attention is focused toward physical threats on water supply systems during a fire flow condition, and a methodology is developed to determine the vulnerable components of a water supply system during a fire event. The methodology utilizes dynamic programming optimization procedure to determine maximized disruption of fire flows as a function of number of attacks and/or failures in the water distribution system. Disruption is quantified at specific fire hydrants in two schemes using normalized values of (1) available flow and (2) available pressure and distance to the nearest operational fire hydrant. It is found that the pressure-based quantity is inferior to the flow-based one. However, using the flow-based disruption metric, clear functions of disruption versus failure number can be determined that exhibit discernable properties of robustness and resiliency – and the sequential failures in each. This methodology is applied to the water supply system of Micropolis, a virtual city developed by Brumbelow et al. (2005), and vulnerability analysis is performed with fire at several possible locations. On the basis of the results, three mitigation strategies are proposed to harden specific sets of water mains and more simulations are performed on the hardened water supply system to assess its changed vulnerability. The results from the simulations of the mitigation strategies show that the recommendations on specific mitigation measures reduce the serious consequences from such threats.

The purpose of this project is to determine landowners’ perceptions on the use of prescribed fire as a management tool. The majority of Texas rangelands are privately owned, and the sustainable management of almost all of the state’s rangelands is contingent upon private land management decisions. Therefore, it is imperative for policy makers and extension agencies to understand landowners’ perceptions, interests and concerns about alternative land management techniques. This is especially important for the use of prescribed fire, which has been identified as a critical management tool for maintaining the productivity of most Texas rangelands yet many landowners do not include it as an integral practice in managing their land. A better understanding of landowners’ perspective of the use of fire could facilitate the increased use of this management tool through the development of effective educational, costshare and fire planning programs. The study reported here consisted of a mail survey of all 185 members of the Edwards Plateau Prescribed Burn Association (EPPBA) and 600 landowners in six counties in Texas. Four of those counties were located in the Edwards Plateau (Sutton, Schleicher, Mason, Llano) and two counties were located in the Rolling Plains (Throckmorton, Shackleford). In each county, 100 landowners possessing at least 50 acres of land were randomly selected for inclusion in the survey. The mail survey approach followed Dilman’s five-step mailing procedure. Fire is an important rangeland management tool, but in a state where the majority of the land is privately owned fire suppression is still a dominant perspective. Our study suggests that important efforts to increase the use of prescribed fire include, educational programs about use of fire by landowners, increased assistance with prescribed fire plans, cost-sharing programs for fire implementation, and reduction in the legal liability associated with fire that burns out of control. Encouraging agencies to back educational programs and help teach landowners about the effects and uses of fire (burn plan assistance), and developing a resource pool to underwrite fire policies could increase the interest in and risk associated with the use of prescribed fires to more effectively manage rangelands in Texas, and elsewhere.

Thesis (M.A. in Security Studies, (Homeland Security and Defense))--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2004. / Thesis advisor(s): Paul Stockton. Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-74). Also available online.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Florida, 2009. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 122 pages. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of South Florida, 2003. / Title from PDF of title page. Document formatted into pages; contains 78 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

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This thesis explores architectural and design principles for fire-prone regions. A number of these principles are identified and developed in the design of a recreational infrastructure for Kelowna, British Columbia, at both the scale of the city and the building. At the city scale, the project proposes the integration of a fuel break into the southern border of Kelowna, providing a corridor of defensible space between the city and an approaching fire. This fuel break, a landscape “scar”, is developed as a linear park that links points of interest along its 16 kilometre length. One point of interest is selected as a building site for a community centre and lookout. The design principles for forest fire safety provide the necessary framework for the design decisions of siting and materials.

In recent years, fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) materials have demonstrated enormous potential as materials for repairing and retrofitting concrete bridges that have deteriorated from factors such as electro-chemical corrosion and increased load requirements. However, concerns associated with fire remain an obstacle to applications of FRP materials in buildings and parking garages due to FRP’s sensitivity to high temperatures as compared with other structural materials and to limited knowledge on their thermal and mechanical behaviour in fire. This thesis presents results from an ongoing study on the fire performance of FRP materials, fire insulation materials and systems, and FRP wrapped reinforced concrete columns. The overall goal of the study is to understand the fire behaviour of FRP materials and FRP strengthened concrete columns and ultimately, provide rational fire safety design recommendations and guidelines for FRP strengthened concrete columns. A combined experimental and numerical investigation was conducted to achieve the goals of this research study. The experimental work consisted of both small-scale FRP material testing at elevated temperatures and full-scale fire tests on FRP strengthened columns. A numerical model was developed to simulate the behaviour of unwrapped reinforced concrete and FRP strengthened reinforced concrete square or rectangular columns in fire. After validating the numerical model against test data available in literature, it was determined that the numerical model can be used to analyze the behaviour of concrete axial compressive members in fire. Results from this study also demonstrated that although FRP materials experience considerable loss of their mechanical and bond properties at temperatures somewhat below the glass transition temperature of the resin matrix, externally-bonded FRP can be used in strengthening concrete structural members in buildings, if appropriate supplemental fire protection system is provided over the FRP strengthening system. / Thesis (Ph.D, Civil Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2009-12-17 14:11:27.931

Fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) materials have been a material of interest in the field of structural engineering due to their superior mechanical properties such as high strength to weight ratios and resistance to environmental degradation and corrosion. Even though research has established the material to be a viable option for construction they are highly susceptible to elevated temperatures. There are several systems available on the market and a great deal of research needs to be conducted to investigate the change in properties and different behaviour at elevated temperature to serve as a better basis for design. The main objective of this project and the experimental program presented in this thesis is to study the thermo mechanical properties of the available systems on the market. A summary of the previous research done in the area covering other materials is presented providing an introduction to the behaviour of different systems under elevated temperature. Then, two different experimental programs are presented. The first considers the glass transition temperature and thermal decomposition of the different systems and the second examines the tensile strength of the different systems under different temperature regimes. The results of both experimental programs are presented and then a connection between the thermo mechanical properties of the resins and the overall strength of the system is established. The research demonstrates that the glass transition temperature of the resin used for an FRP strengthening system is the main determinant of the performance at high temperatures. / Thesis (Master, Civil Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2011-06-16 09:21:32.228