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(2021)ThesisNatural kidney filtration is a compact, multi-step filtration process which passes wastes and exceeded fluids via microscale vessels in glomerulus and tubules. The principal renal replacement therapy (RRT), commonly called dialysis, is a single-step filtration process based on diffusion to replace kidney failure. Conventional dialysis is limited in its effectiveness (not a continuous treatment), its impact on quality of life (typically requiring patients to spend several days per week in a clinic), and its cost (large systems, requiring frequent membrane replacement). This thesis is an investigation into the feasibility of using microfluidics and membrane technology to create portable alternatives to dialysis systems. It starts with a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art in portable artificial kidneys, microfluidics, membrane science, and other related fields. An innovative, multi-step process was designed to mimic kidney filtration using two membranes; one to filter out large particles and one to remove urea and recycle water, thus mitigating the need for a dialysate system. The underlying physics (the mixing and shear stress) of the mechanisms which could enhance filtration performance at microscale was then studied. It was found that by adding microspacers into narrow-channel flows, it is possible to significantly enhance filtration. Optimized 3D-printed spacer designs (e.g., a ‘gyroid’ spacer) showed flux enhancement of up to 93% (compared to a plain channel) when using a plasma mimicking solution. The use of different blood and plasma mimicking solutions also suggested a prior step to separate large biological components (e.g., cells, proteins) is helpful to reduce cell contact and fouling in membrane filtration. The potential use of microfluidic diode valves and micropumps for pressure and flowrate regulation in the proposed small-format system was discussed. Membrane processes which mimic the filtration function of the tubules and have the potential for integration into portable systems (e.g., reverse osmosis and membrane distillation) are demonstrated to be useful potential alternatives to dialysis in toxin removal and in returning clean water to the blood stream.
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(2020)ThesisOver the past few decades, various types of filler materials have been employed to develop the advanced resin-based dental composites, enhancing the lifetime of the restorations. However, further effort in the research on the multi-functional composite that is comparable to dental tissue in mechanical strength, as well as offering the improved antibacterial function and the better aesthetics, is continuously required. In this thesis, micro-sized short S-glass fibres and halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) are employed to serve as excellent load-carrying filler members and antibacterial agent in the dental composites. The mechanical reinforcement mechanism and the interfacial behaviours between filler and resin matrix have been precisely investigated through the multiscale analysis from atomistic to macro by utilising the combined experimental, theoretical, and computational methods. The surface modification process on the short S-glass fibres, named selective atomic-level metal etching, has been developed, which enables to strengthen the interfacial bond between resin matrix and glass fibre by increasing the surface roughness and reactive sites on the fibre. The influence of the surface treatment on the interfacial strength and mechanical properties of the resulted composites were examined through the single-fibre pull-out tests. Also, the modified Lewis-Nielsen model has been developed, where the effective fibre length factor is applied to accurately predict the modulus of the short fibre reinforced composites. For better understanding of the atomistic interfacial bonding and fracture behaviours between glass fibre and resin matrix, molecular dynamics simulations were conducted. The numerical results of the single fibre pull-out and the uniaxial composite tension simulations were validated with the experimental findings. The optimised computational design and analysis methods were established for developing new dental and bio-composites with the accurate prediction on the mechanical performances. The surface modification process on the HNTs was developed to promote the mechanical reinforcement effect and to add an antimicrobial functionality in the composites. The composite reinforced with 2.0 wt.% of chitosan grafted HNTs showed an increased efficacy in flexural strength and modulus up to 8.1% and 14.1%, respectively, and exhibited an improved antibacterial functionality against S. mutans with 39% reduction, making it a desirable dental material.
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(2020)ThesisA comprehensive literature review on the development of 3D inkjet printing technologies has revealed that inkjet printing is an effective method for additive manufacturing with advantages in specific applications such as microstructures and printable electronics. However, the knowledge of the flow development of the inkjet from the flow formation inside the nozzle to the dropping process is in severe dearth, so are the predictive models for the printing process. A CFD (computational fluid dynamics) model is presented to study the jetting and dropping characteristics for needle-valve inkjets. The model is developed by using a dynamic mesh method and experimentally verified for both a low viscosity fluid typified by a distilled water, and a relatively high viscosity PEDOT:PSS polymer nano-particle containing ink. The model-calculations show a good agreement with the experimental data under the corresponding conditions for the both types of inks. The results from the model show that the parameter window for generating a single droplet from the low viscosity fluid is narrower than that using the high viscosity ink. It also reveals that the droplet size increases with the nozzle diameter and a droplet with a diameter slightly smaller than the nozzle diameter can be achieved with a low viscosity ink under a low dropping velocity. The verified CFD model is then used to study the flow and dropping characteristics of an ink containing organic conductive polymer (PEDOT:PSS) nano-particles. It is revealed that three types of droplet defects can occur in the needle-valve ink jetting process, e.g. excess liquid suction, liquid accumulation, and satellite droplet formation. It is further found that an increase in the valve striking time, nozzle diameter or valve seat inclination results in a dramatic decrease in the droplet velocity, while an increase in the valve stroke or inlet air pressure causes an increase in the droplet velocity. The droplet volume and equilibrium deposition diameter increase with an increase in the valve stroke or inlet air pressure, but decrease with an increase in nozzle diameter or valve seat inclination. It is found that the droplet diameter is greater than the nozzle diameter and the droplet trajectory can be easily disturbed to become unstable when the droplet diameter is close to the nozzle diameter. A deposition diameter as small as 1.43 times the nozzle diameter has been achieved in this work. An experimental study of the needle-valve inkjet printing process is carried out to assess the characteristics of dots and strips printed in a single-pass process. It is revealed that the voltage waveform plays a significant role in affecting the printing performance. The minimum to maximum strip width ratio for single layer printing can go as small as 0.6. Predictive models for the various relevant printing performance measures, such as the deposited drop diameter, strip width and strip width variation, have been developed, which provide a mathematical basis for the selection of process parameters to achieve the desired printed features in practice.
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(2022)ThesisAdhesively bonded joints have been widely used to manufacture aircraft components. However, its application to single load-path airframe structure is costly to certify as extensive validation testing is required. Certification of bonded joints or patch repairs for primary aircraft structures requires demonstration of damage tolerance. In recent years, a damage slow growth management strategy has been considered acceptable by Federal Aviation Administration to reduce the maintenance cost. This thesis evaluates the applicability of a damage slow growth management strategy to bonded joints/patch repairs of primary aircraft structures through both experimental and computational study. The investigation was carried out first by 2-D strip specimen assessment and finally using 3-D analysis of wide bonded metal joint. This research was a collaborative project between ARC Training Centre for Automated Manufacture of Advanced Composites (AMAC) at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and Defence Science and Technology (DST) Group. The double overlap tapered end specimen (DOTES) specimen which represents both disbond tolerant zone and safe-life zone in bonded patch repair was investigated first through a detailed computational and experimental investigation. The residual static strength of the joint as a function of disbond length was established using finite element modelling based on the characteristic distance approach. The virtual crack close technique (VCCT) approach was utilised to assess the strain energy release rates (SERRs) as a function of disbond crack length. Fatigue tests of the DOTES coupon specimen were conducted to investigate the entire process of disbond growth from initiation up to ultimate failure of the joint. The measured disbond growth rates were correlated with the SERRs using a modified Paris law that enabled prediction of joint fatigue life. The fatigue test results indicated that for a joint having a sufficient static strength safety margin under a typical fatigue loading that would propagate disbond, the disbond growth would remain stable within a particular length range. Thus, the slow growth approach would be feasible for bonded joints/patch repairs if the patch is designed to be sufficiently large to allow extended damage propagation. Cohesive zone element (CZE) technique was utilised to assess the SERRs and estimate the disbond growth of 3-D wide bonded metal joint analysis. The impact of local or partial width disbond (load shedding effect) was investigated in detail. The results indicate that for a local or part width disbond, some load was redistributed to the adjacent regions (load shedding effect) that causes a slower disbond growth and accordingly longer fatigue life compared to the full width disbond. The key outcomes from this research are: (a) accurate prediction of the disbond growth behaviour in bonded patch repairs through the developed generic patch repair specimen i.e DOTES, (b) fatigue life prediction of the joints has been established through modified Paris law, by conducting numerical integration and (c) the effect of initial disbond size in 3-D wide bonded metal joint specimen was investigated through computational assessment using a cohesive fatigue model.
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(2021)ThesisEmerging membrane technologies such as forward osmosis (FO) and membrane distillation (MD) can provide alternative engineering approaches to current water-treatment membrane technologies, but without the high-pressure requirements. Currently, greater industrial implementation of these technologies is hindered by limitations with low flux, flow polarisation issues, design optimisation and issues with membrane deformation. An experimental and numerical assessment of a plate-and-frame (PF) FO module, revealed significant occlusion of the draw-channel under applied transmembrane-pressure (TMP), at points up to 70% while under an applied TMP of 1.45bar. Subsequently, 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were performed and validated against pressure loss data under TMP, to reveal the impact of flow indicators known to affect concentration polarisation (CP), such as Reynolds number, velocity profiles and shear strain. The pressure-loss method was then applied to a range of commercially available modules, found to occlude a cross-sectional area from 12-16% for the spiral would (SW) types and 49% 1.45bar for the PF module. CP models were then developed in conjunction with flux data to establish the degree of CP occurring in the modules. The CP data was then related to a CFD characterisation to establish detailed relationships on the impact of TMP on CP effects. Finally, a solar vacuum-membrane distillation (solar-VMD) system was developed and assessed experimentally to apply the lessons learned from the FO investigation in another emerging membrane technology. Lab-scale experiments were used to develop and validate a CFD model, using predictive hydrodynamic factors such as Reynolds number and shear strain, to mitigate temperature polarisation (TP) using turbulence promoters. A parametric analysis of the CFD data revealed the flux improvements and TP mitigation available through the addition of a baffle, combined with an economic analysis for real world use (demonstrating a viable decentralised drinking and hot-water supply). Flux performance of the MD system was found at >8LMH in solar conditions of ~800W/m2, with a payback period of 2.06 years. Overall, this thesis provides a detailed assessment of the impacts of applied TMP in FO processes, as well as potential design optimisation pathways by furthering the knowledge of CFD analysis in emerging membrane technologies.
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(2021)ThesisThe gasoline compression-ignition (GCI) concept has been proposed in recent years to circumvent the typical diesel engine NOx and soot emissions trade-off, whilst maintaining high engine efficiency. The GCI concept is commonly realised in a conventional diesel engine with heated intake air, utilising a conventional injection system and a single low-reactivity gasoline-like fuel. Combustion phasing is controlled through the injection timing, while the fast and lean combustion enables very high brake efficiency in excess of 50% with low NOx/particulate emissions across a wide range of engine loads. Additionally, this combustion mode can utilise economical and potentially widely available low-grade gasoline fuels (naphtha) with octane numbers in the range of 70-80. Despite many advantages, the ignition timing and combustion rate of GCI are very sensitive to both fuel chemistry and engine operating conditions. The lack of a fundamental understanding of ignition and combustion behaviours limits the optimisation of GCI engines. The aim of this thesis was to advance the fundamental understanding of the GCI combustion process. Characteristics of fuel-oxidiser mixing, ignition and combustion processes for gasoline-like fuels with a range of octane rating at compression-ignition (CI) engine relevant conditions were investigated. Experiments were conducted in an optically accessible constant-volume combustion chamber (CVCC), featuring well-characterised quiescent charge throughout the injection and combustion events. A single-hole axial-drilled diesel injector mounted on the back wall of the CVCC was used for fuel injections. The first part aims to assess the combustion characteristics of iso-octane (a gasoline surrogate) at CI conditions. CVCC featured an ambient gas density of 22.8 kg/m3 and an O2 concentration of 21 vol.\%. Optical techniques including natural flame luminosity, OH* chemiluminescence and shadowgraph imaging were performed to compare the combustion characteristics over ambient gas temperatures from 1000 K to 1120 K Measurements were also performed for n-heptane (a diesel surrogate) for reference purposes. Formaldehyde (CH2O) planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) imaging was performed to confirm the presence of low-temperature reactions across the jet head, prior to the high-temperature ignition of iso-octane. From the measurement results, the lift-off lengths (LOLs), ignition delays (IDs) and their corresponding uncertainties for both fuels are observed to increase with lowering ambient temperature conditions. The LOLs, IDs and their uncertainties for the iso-octane flames are also consistently measured to be higher than that of n-heptane, across the tested ambient temperature range. The results reveal that the highest variability detected for the flame stabilisation distance of the iso-octane flame at the lowest tested ambient temperature condition 1000 K is attributable to the long transient stabilisation phase that it exhibits after ignition. Additional tests performed using a single-injection test case with lower octane number fuel, as well as split-injection strategies with neat iso-octane as fuel, demonstrate their potential to reduce the transient stabilisation phase of the test flames when compared with single-injection test case with neat iso-octane as fuel. The second part aims to investigate the effect of laser-induced plasma ignition (LI) on combustion behaviours of iso-octane at compression-ignition conditions. A high-energy laser was used to force the fuel ignition at a quiescent-steady environment inside the CVCC with 900 K ambient gas temperature, 22.8 kg/m3 ambient gas density and 21 vol.% O2 concentration. The diesel surrogate (n-heptane) was tested at a lower charge temperature of 735 K to offset its higher fuel reactivity than the iso-octane, such that the flames of both fuels can have a similar lift-off length. Forced laser ignition was introduced either before or after the natural autoignition timing of the fuels. The laser was focused at the jet axis 15 mm and 30 mm from the nozzle. High-speed schlieren imaging, heat release analysis and flame luminosity measurement were applied to the flames. The high-speed schlieren imaging was used to monitor the flame structure evolution of the natural ignition and LI cases. Due to laser ignition, the flame lift-off lengths decrease, with which the uncertainties in the lift-off distances reduce by more than 80 %. The laser-affected flame bases return back to the natural flame base locations. The uncertainties in the lift-off lengths also increase, as the flame stabilisation locations approach the natural lift-off distances. Under the test conditions of this work, the rates at which the iso-octane flames shift downstream are slower than in the n-heptane cases. The heat release rate profiles show high heat release from the flames following the LI events, before transitioning to lower steady values. The flame luminosity measurements indicate a strong correlation between the LI affected lift-off length and increased soot formation. The luminosity levels decrease as the flame base shifts downstream over time. The third part aims to investigate the underlying processes governing ignition and flame stabilisation in CI engine-relevant conditions. Primary reference fuels (PRFs), including PRF100 (neat iso-octane), PRF80 (a blend of 80 vol.% iso-octane and 20 vol.% n-heptane) and PRF0 (neat n-heptane), were tested to simulate changes in fuel ignition quality inside a quiescent steady environment with an ambient density of 22.8 kg/m3 and an O2 concentration of 15 vol. %. The ambient gas temperatures were controlled at 1150 K (PRF100), 1120 K (PRF80) and 900 K (PRF0), in order to adapt to the fuel reactivity so that a constant ignition delay of 1.15 ms can be achieved for all blends. This approach was employed in order to substantially reduce the effect of fuel-oxidiser mixing prior to ignition while highlighting the effect of fuel chemistry on the ignition process and flame evolution. Under the test conditions of this study, optical imaging reveals that the blends with higher iso-octane content exhibit a faster spreading of combustion after ignition and establish a steady lifted flame that is closer to the nozzle. Imaging by CH2O-PLIF indicates that blends with higher iso-octane content produce CH2O that is distributed across larger portions of the jet at an earlier timing when compared to neat n-heptane that shows a propagating first-stage ignition through the fuel jet. Supporting unsteady flamelet calculations are presented to investigate the effect of chemistry and turbulent mixing. The flamelet calculations agree qualitatively in several respects to the experiments, especially in the spatial and temporal trends for CH2O production and consumption. Synthesis of the flamelet and experimental results suggests that for the iso-octane-containing fuels, CH2O is formed via single-stage ignition reactions rather than exhibiting the typical two-stage ignition behaviour which is found in the pure n-heptane fuel case. Furthermore, the flamelet calculations suggest high-temperature ignition occurs first in lean mixtures in the iso-octane-containing fuel cases, but in rich mixtures for the PRF0 case. If autoignition is the mode of flame stabilisation, this provides an explanation for why the PRF100 and PRF80 cases stabilise further upstream, since lean mixtures have longer residence times, experience lower scalar dissipation rate, and maybe more likely to be exposed to a supporting peripheral reservoir of hot products, should one exist. Overall, this study provides insights into the roles of fuel chemistry and turbulent mixing on the ignition and combustion behaviour of PRFs under engine-relevant conditions.
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(2021)ThesisCondition monitoring of rolling element bearing is vital for condition-based maintenance (CBM) in many industries. A key obstacle at present is the ability to accurately quantify the severity of the bearing faults, which is commonly measured in terms of the bearing defect size. Limitations of previous studies in the area include: (i) most accelerometer-based approaches were developed for artificial bearing faults instead of naturally developed spalls, and (ii) a systematic comparison between accelerometers and alternative measurements is not available. Therefore, this thesis aims at obtaining effective methods to estimate and track the growth of bearing spalls. This has been achieved by both advancing the processing of accelerometer signals and exploiting the capabilities of alternative measurements. Firstly, a novel approach based on accelerometers is proposed, which utilises natural frequency perturbations to estimate spall size. By comparing it with the well-established existing methods, it was found that all methods are effective for artificial spalls, but only the newly proposed approach is successful for naturally developed faults. Then, three alternative measurements (acoustic emission, instantaneous angular speed, and radial load) are investigated and benchmarked against acceleration on UNSW’s bearing test rig. It was found that radial load was far superior in fault-size estimation comparing to all other sensors, and achieved more precise results than accelerometers with less complex processing. This was justified considering radial load as a proxy for radial displacement, whose potential was recently suggested by theoretical studies. To confirm this, in the last part of this work, actual displacement sensors (proximity probes) were installed on the bearing test rig and a larger gearbox facility. Both experiments demonstrated that the proposed displacement approach can effectively estimate the size of natural spalls, with very limited signal processing required. This thesis has therefore provided three significant novel contributions to the field of bearing fault severity assessment: (i) the development of a new acceleration-based approach, effective on natural spalls for the first time, (ii) the collection and analysis of a new and comprehensive database of alternative measurements, obtained on naturally developed spalls, (iii) the discovery of the superior effectiveness of direct displacement measurements.
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(2022)ThesisIn the as-built condition, laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) Ni superalloy 718 and electron beam melted (EBM) titanium aluminide (TiAl) have distorted, non-equilibrium structures that have negative consequences for the mechanical properties. These issues can be mitigated through post build heat treatments, and opportunities also exist to create additive components that exceed the properties of conventional ones. Fatigue crack growth (FCG) performance of LPBF 718 was characterized after applying two common post-build heat treatments. The solution and duplex aging (S+DA) treatment retained many of the features of the as-built condition including large residual stresses, an elongated, textured structure, and solute segregation and lattice distortion within grains. Applying hot isostatic pressing (HIP) prior to the S+DA treatment resulted in complete relief of residual stress as well as significant but incomplete recrystallization and homogenization. At 20 °C, low load ratio FCG was accelerated in the S+DA condition due to residual stresses and lack of significant crack path roughness induced closure. At high load ratios, the intrinsic FCG resistance of the S+DA material was slightly reduced compared to the HIP+S+DA condition which was comparable to high quality wrought material. At 650 °C, the 30 Hz fatigue crack growth performance followed similar trends to the 20 °C performance. Under constant and 0.1 Hz loading, all materials exhibited intergranular oxidation crack growth. However, compared to wrought and HIP LPBF materials, the highly elongated S+DA LPBF grain structure nearly halted crack growth perpendicular to the build direction and gave much higher fatigue resistance for that orientation with cracks deflecting off of the mode I loading direction. EBM fabricated TiAl (Ti-47Al-2Cr-2Nb) has a fine, distorted, and non-equilibrium single phase structure in the as-built condition. Three novel HIP cycles were developed targeting microstructures that are expensive or impossible to achieve through conventional manufacturing. The first treatment achieved a fine, homogeneous, equiaxed dual phase structure with high yield stress and low failure strain. The other HIP cycles achieved a duplex structure with regions of lamellar colonies and equiaxed structures, lower yield stress, and higher failure strains. Different cooling rates were employed to control the lamellar spacing and were shown to increase the yield stress.
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(2022)ThesisApple trees commonly require the removal of excessive flowers by thinning to produce marketable fruit. Estimating the flower counts and phenology is important for chemical thinning decisions. Farmers generally inspect flowers in randomly sampled trees within the orchard, which is time-consuming, labour-intensive, and unreliable. Existing algorithms for estimating flower density have proven to be of low efficacy. No published algorithms for estimating flower phenology distributions exist. This thesis first presents a novel pixel-level flower segmentation algorithm named FCNs-Edge to estimate flower density in apple orchards, which showed an improvement over State-Of-The-Art (SOTA) methods. A side-view apple flower density map is then generated for a variable rate chemical sprayer. The FCNs-Edge is then extended to multiple classes - green, pink and white flowers, demonstrating the feasibility to estimate three flower stage distributions grouped by colour. A novel method named DeepPhenology is proposed to estimate phenology distributions over eight apple flower stages by building direct relationships with real counts in field. The proposed method removes the need to label images, which overcomes difficulties in distinguishing overlapping or hidden flower clusters on 2D imagery. The proposed model was shown to outperform a SOTA object detection model for this task. This thesis finally delivers a novel data-centric analysis of on-tree fruit detection based on a SOTA object detection model using public datasets; of interest given the wide usage of deep learning in agriculture which lacks in-depth data-centric analysis. The results indicated that 2500 annotated objects are generally sufficient for single-class fruit training. A novel similarity score is also proposed to easily predict the AP score without any training. The proposed FCNs-Edge and DeepPhenology have demonstrated accurate, robust and efficient estimation of apple flower density and phenology distributions. Such methods can replace traditional human inspection, significantly reduce labour requirements and thus reduce costs. Such estimation of flower information can also provide tree-level decision support to manage the variable growth between trees. Ultimately, the data-centric analysis of on-tree fruit detection will help practitioners better understand the influence on the training accuracy from data-centric attributes, and thus prepare better quality datasets and achieve higher training accuracy.
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(2022)ThesisBuilding fire accidents, as a continuing menace to the society, not only incur enormous property damage but also pose significant threats to human lives. More recently, driven by the rapid population growth, an increasing number of large-capacity buildings are being built to meet the growing residence demands in many major cities globally, such as Sydney, Hong Kong, London, etc. These modern buildings usually have complex architectural layouts, high-density occupancy settings, which are often filled with a variety of flammable materials and items (i.e., electrical devices, flammable cladding panels etc.). For such reasons, in case of fire accidents, occupants of these buildings are likely to suffer from an extended evacuation time. Moreover, in some extreme cases, occupants may have to escape through a smoke-filled environment. Thus, having well-planned evacuation strategies and fire safety systems in place is critical for upholding life safety. Over the last few decades, due to the rapid development in computing power and modelling techniques, various numerical simulation models have been developed and applied to investigate the building evacuation dynamics under fire emergencies. Most of these numerical models can provide a series of estimations regarding building evacuation performance, such as predicting building evacuation time, visualising evacuation dynamics, identifying high-density areas within the building etc. Nevertheless, the behavioural variations of evacuees are usually overlooked in a significant proportion of such simulations. Noticeably, evacuees frequently adjust their egress behaviours based on their internal psychological state (i.e., the variation of stress) and external stimulus from their surrounding environments (i.e., dynamical fire effluents, such as high-temperature smoke). Evidence suggests that evacuees are likely to shift from a low-stress state to a high-stress state and increase their moving speed when escaping from a high-temperature and smoke-filled environment. Besides, competitive behaviours can even be triggered under certain extremely stressful conditions, which can cause clogging at exits or even stampede accidents. Without considering such behavioural aspects of evacuees, the predicted evacuation performance might be misinterpreted based on unreliable results; thereby, misleading building fire safety designs and emergency precautions. Therefore, to achieve a more realistic simulation of building fire evacuation processes, this research aims to advance in modelling of human dynamical behaviour responses of each evacuee and integrating it into building fire evacuation analysis. A dynamical egress behaviour-based evacuation model that considering the evacuee’s competitive/cooperative egress movements and their psychological stress variation is developed. Furthermore, a fire hazard-integrated evacuation simulation framework is established by coupling with the fire dynamics simulator (i.e., FDS). By means of tracking dynamical interactions between evacuees and the evolutionary fire dynamics within the building space, evacuees’ local fire risks and stress levels under the impacts of locally encountered fire hazards (i.e., radiation, temperature, toxic gas, and visibility) can be effectively quantified. In this study, the developed simulation tool can provide a further in-depth building fire safety assessment. Thus, it contributes to performance-based fire safety engineering in designs and real applications, including reducing budgets and risks of participating in evacuation drills, supporting emergency evacuation strategy planning, mitigating fire risks by identifying risk-prone areas associated with building fire circumstances (e.g., putting preventative measures in place beforehand to intervene or mitigate safety risks, such as mass panic, stampede, stress evoked behaviours).