The Kiruna town move : Unearthing the possibilities for full-scale fire tests

• Main Authors: Pettersson, Henrik, Thörn, Adam
• Format: Bachelor Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Luleå tekniska universitet, Byggkonstruktion och brand 2021
• Subjects: Full-scale fire tests; Kiruna town move; SFPE roadmap; Fire tests; Kiruna's housing-stock; Fullskaliga brandförsök; Kiruna stadsflytt; Brandförsök; Kirunas Byggnadsbestånd; Construction Management; Byggproduktion; Kiruna; Luossavaara; Luleå; Norrbotten
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-83048

The work with this thesis started during the last semester at the Fire Protection Engineering program at Luleå University of Technology. Kiruna has relied on the iron ore resources of Luossavaara and Kiirunavaara since the creation of the town. The iron ore stretches underneath the current city center. Therefore, some of the housings have to move northwest. The consequences of the town move are that some of the current housings will be demolished after the government owned mining company LKAB has bought the estates. This thesis aims to research the possibilities of performing fire tests in theses abandoned housings. Full-scale fire tests are usually expensive and therefore it is of substantial importance that the performed tests are meaningful. A meaningful full-scale fire test, in the author’s opinion, is defined as: The goal has to be well defined with a structured definition of what should be achieved. The test should aim at over-bridging knowledge gaps in the fire engineering science. The test should not be suitable executing for a laboratory environment. Earlier performed fire tests and scientific papers where studied to identify possible knowledge gaps. Four main topics where identified: FDS validation and computer modeling Passive fire protection system in old buildings Load bearing systems Façades and exterior claddings Two field inventories were conducted during 2016-2017. Some objects had a cultural value and were therefore excluded. The authors have decided to only include objects deemed interesting. However, these objects are just a small amount of the buildings affected by the move. The majority of the buildings identified as suitable for fire tests are high-rise residential buildings. These were found suitable for most of the identified topics. The number of buildings with large open spaces, large ceiling heights and atriums was small. The environmental requirements and permits required for performing fire tests were studied as a part of the thesis. The County administration of Norrbotten is in ...