Fifth International Conference on Composites in Fire

Introduction

The Composites in Fire conferences exist to transfer understanding, technology and research results from major programmes from three continents, Europe, USA and Australia, to industry. Since CIF-4, which was held in 2005, substantial progress has taken place in testing and modelling the problem of the fire resistance of composite structures. It is the purpose of CIF-5 to report this progress and transfer the technologies and techniques developed to industry.

Scope

The fire response of composites is a critical factor in virtually all engineering applications of these materials. In addition to papers from other sources, state-of-the-art papers will be presented from two important international research collaborations: the US Office of Naval Research programme on the Fire Resistance of Naval Composite Structures and the EU MOMENTUM Marie Curie Research Training Network on Composites in Transport.

Subject areas

  • Fundamentals of the fire behaviour of composites
  • What the engineer and designer need to know to develop fire-safe composite structures
  • Getting started in modelling and testing of composites under load in fire
  • Fire-safe composites for land transport and infrastructure
  • Fire-safe marine composite structures
  • Property modification through additives and design
  • Modelling of composite fire behaviour
  • Computational aspects of the interaction between composite structures and the fire environment
  • Important aspects of heat release, smoke and toxicity
  • Property decay in glass and carbon reinforcements at elevated temperature
  • Distortion of composite structures in fire
  • Latest developments in fire-resistant composite materials
  • Critical issues for composites in aerospace
  • Case histories, incidents and application studies
  • Residual strength of primary structure after fire
  • Structural fire behaviour of composites in comparison to steel, aluminium and concrete

International Advisory Committee

  • Leif Asp, SICOMP, Sweden
  • Paul DesJardin, University of Buffalo, USA
  • Stefanie Fieh, Composites Research Centre, Melbourne, Australia
  • Geoff Gibson (Chairman), University of Newcastle, UK
  • Stephen Grayson, Interscience Communications Ltd
  • Baljinder Kandola, Bolton University, UK
  • Brian Lattimer, Virginia Tech, USA
  • Richard Lyon, Federal Aviation Administration, USA
  • Adrian Mouritz, RMIT, Melbourne, Australia
  • Antonio Torres-Marques, INEGI, Portugal

Who should attend?

CIF is a 2-day industry-oriented conference intended to bring together end-users, designers, materials suppliers, test houses and regulatory bodies. The meeting is also appropriate for university researchers. Attendance is free for each presenter of an invited paper. In addition, one-page abstracts may be submitted for consideration by the International Advisory Committee.

Venue

The conference will be held at The Research Beehive, Old Library Building, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne. The Research Beehive offers state-of-the art seminar rooms equipped with the latest AV technology. Situated at the heart of the university campus, and only two minutes walk from Newcastle's bustling city centre, delegates have access to a flexible range of facilities and easy transport links: Haymarket Metro Station ((2 minutes), Central Railway Station (15 minutes), Newcastle International Airport (30 minutes).

Newcastle upon Tyne offers a spectacular city-scape featuring world-renowned architecture including the Tyne Bridge, the Gateshead Millennium Bridge and the Sage music centre. The history and heritage of the city is reflected in the medieval Castle keep, city walls and Victoria and Georgian architecture whilst the MetroCentre, Europe's largest shopping complex, and fabulous beaches of Northumberland are close by.

Superb national and international travel connections mean that Newcastle is easy to reach by road, rail or ferry (for Scandanavia and Northern Europe) whilst Newcastle International Airport is served by many airlines, including low cost carriers, providing direct links from main international and UK destinations and is only 25 minutes from the city centre.

Useful links

Fees

The full delegate rate is £350.00 + VAT

The fee includes entry to the two day conference, a copy of the conference papers, refreshments and lunch on both days, drinks reception on 10th July. Accommodation is not included in the delegate fee. Please contact the conference organiser for information on hotels.

Attendance is free for each presenter of an invited paper.

Further information

For further information please contact the conference organiser CompositeLink.

Register your interest

Confirmed contributors

  • EADS
  • RMIT, Melbourne, Australia
  • CRC-ACS, Australia
  • Federal Aviation Administration, USA
  • University of Buffalo, USA
  • University of Newcastle, UK
  • University of Bolton, UK
  • EMPA, Switzerland
  • Virginia Tech, USA
  • Interscience Communications Limited, UK
  • Warrington Fire Research Centre, UK

One-page abstracts may be submitted for consideration by the International Advisory Committee. The abstract deadline is 29th February 2008. Authors will be notified if accepted by 31st March 2008 and final papers are due by 16th May 2008.

Abstracts should be sent as a word or pdf document to louise.blackburn@compositelink.com.