Guest Editors
Dr. Xueqiang Shi
Email: shixueqiang@nuc.edu.cn
Affiliation: 1. School of Environment and Safety Engineering, North University of China, Taiyuan, China
2. School of Environment and Safety Engineering, North University of China, Taiyuan, China
Homepage:
Research Interests: research on the fluid dynamics related to fires such as spontaneous combustion, ignition, smoldering, sound controlled combustion, ignition of multiphase substances, explosions, etc.
Prof. Dr. Chang Su
Email: suchang@xust.edu.cn
Affiliation: School of Safety Science and Engineering, Xi'an University of Science and Technology, Xi'an, China
Homepage:
Research Interests: risk assessment, security resilience, energy infrastructure
Prof. Dr. Tenglong Zhao
Email: zhaotenglonglntu@126.com
Affiliation: 1. School of Safety Science and Engineering, Liaoning Technical University, Fuxin, China
2. School of Safety Science and Engineering, Liaoning Technical University, Fuxin, China
Homepage:
Research Interests: research on the inhibition technology of combustible gas and dust explosion, powder suppressant, inert gas, flame, emission spectrum, etc.
Summary
The increasing scale and complexity of modern urban environments and industrial systems have significantly amplified the risks associated with fires and explosions. These phenomena are fundamentally governed by fluid-dynamic processes, including buoyancy-driven flows, turbulence–chemistry interactions, multiphase transport, and heat and mass transfer. A rigorous understanding of these mechanisms is essential for predictive modeling, risk mitigation, and the development of safer materials and industrial processes.
Fires and explosions involve strongly coupled phenomena such as reactive flow dynamics, flame propagation, gas–liquid–solid interactions, phase change, particle transport, and shock-wave dynamics. In confined spaces, such as buildings or industrial plants, buoyant plumes, ventilation-induced flows, and turbulence significantly influence flame spread and smoke dispersion. In energy-related industries, including coal processing and storage, thermally driven instabilities, dust–gas interactions, and smoldering combustion represent complex multiphase problems directly linked to fluid mechanics.
Over the past decades, substantial advances have been achieved through experimental investigations, high-fidelity numerical simulations, and theoretical analyses of reactive and multiphase flows. Developments in computational fluid dynamics, multi-scale experimentation, and data-driven predictive approaches now enable increasingly accurate simulations of combustion, explosion dynamics, and associated material degradation processes. These advances are consistent with the interdisciplinary mission of Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing, which emphasizes the role of fluid-dynamic conditions in material behavior, processing environments, and industrial design optimization.
Despite this progress, significant challenges remain in developing predictive, physics-based frameworks for sustainable fire protection and explosion mitigation. In particular, further fundamental research is required to clarify:
· Instability mechanisms in buoyancy-driven and confined reactive flows
· Multiphase interactions in dust, droplet, and gas explosions
· Coupled heat transfer, phase change, and material degradation
· Turbulence–chemistry interaction in open-flame and smoldering combustion
· Numerical modeling strategies for reactive flows in complex geometries
· Fluid–structure interactions under explosion loading
This Special Issue aims to collect high-quality contributions addressing the fluid dynamics of fires and explosions, with particular emphasis on their relevance to industrial processes, material behavior, and urban-scale safety. Both fundamental and applied studies are welcome, including theoretical modeling, advanced computational simulations, and experimental investigations.
Keywords
multiphase combustion; coal spontaneous combustion; explosion mechanism; ignition and smoldering of combustibles; battery fire; explosion inerting; coupling disasters; dynamic evolution; combustion control
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