The Mechanical Response of Structural Elements in Enclosed Structures during Electric Vehicle Fires: A Computational Study

Armando La Scala (), Pierpaolo Loprieno, Dora Foti and Massimo La Scala ()
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Armando La Scala: Dipartimento di Architettura Costruzione e Design, Polytechnic of Bari, 70125 Bari, Italy
Pierpaolo Loprieno: Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Innovazione, Università del Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Dora Foti: Dipartimento di Architettura Costruzione e Design, Polytechnic of Bari, 70125 Bari, Italy
Massimo La Scala: Dipartimento di Ingegneria Elettrica e dell’Informazione, Polytechnic of Bari, 70125 Bari, Italy

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 21, 1-23

Abstract: Due to their reduced emissions and environmental benefits, electric vehicles (EVs) have grown in popularity over the past few years. However, EV fires can be a serious threat to nearby buildings, especially in garages where they are parked and charged. In this work, the behavior of the steel structural components in garages during electric car fires is computationally analyzed. To simulate the heat transmission and the structural reaction of a typical garage exposed to an EV fire, a finite element model was created. A comparison was made between the risk associated with fires generated by internal combustion vehicles (ICEVs) and EVs, with the elaboration of a risk index based on the deflections reached by a steel column under fire conditions. The model predictions are based on experimental data retrieved from various literature investigations, as well as regulatory simplified methods. The study conclusions provide information on how EV and ICEV fires affected garage performance, which may be used to design more resilient and safer buildings. The method represents a good compromise between the typical performance-based approaches and the tabular ones, characterized by good accuracy and low computational burden. This allows the professional to design optimized structures without wasting material and unnecessary coatings with their additional permanent loads, which could be detrimental in the case of other exceptional actions such as earthquakes.

Keywords: fire risk; electric vehicles; numerical analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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