UC Research Profile - University of Canterbury

Dr Andres Valencia

Contact

Department: Civil and Natural Resources Engineering

Email: andres.valencia@canterbury.ac.nz

Direct Dial: +64 3 3690257

Office: Civil/Mechanical Level 3, E305

Languages: English, French, Spanish

I aim for developing new engineering principles capable of reducing the wildfire risk and of building resilient communities.

About

Research / Creative works

Networks

Projects

Methods & Equipment

Fields of Research

Wildfires
Fire engineering
Fire dynamics
Computational Fluid Dynamics
Sprinkler systems
Agricultural Irrigation

Researcher Summary

My research focusses on numerical and experimental study of fire and wildland fire behaviour and suppression. I aim for developing new engineering principles capable of reducing the wildfire risk and of building resilient communities.

I have been involved in several projects focused on wildfire behaviour (including its interactions with vegetation, atmosphere and built environment WUI), fire risk and wildfire engineering. My area of expertise is combustion and fire safety using experimental and numerical tools.

Additionally, some of my research involves advanced simluation of sprinklers system's performance for fire extinction, combustion analysis using laser diagnostics and Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations applied to fire.

Subject Area: Disciplines

Engineering and Technology: Fire Engineering ; Fluids Engineering ; Optical & Laser Engineering ; Particle and Spray Technology

Research/Scholarly/Creative Works

Journal Articles

Filkov AI., Tihay-Felicelli V., Masoudvaziri N., Rush D., Valencia A., Wang Y., Blunck DL., Valero MM., Kempna K. and Smolka J. (2023) A review of thermal exposure and fire spread mechanisms in large outdoor fires and the built environment. Fire Safety Journal 140 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.firesaf.2023.103871.

Florez Trujillo DF., Valencia A. and Avendano-Uribe B. (2023) Correction: Informal Settlement Fires in Colombia (Fire Technology, (2023), 10.1007/s10694-023-01413-8). Fire Technology http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10694-023-01445-0.

Florez Trujillo DF., Valencia A. and Avendano-Uribe B. (2023) Informal Settlement Fires in Colombia. Fire Technology http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10694-023-01413-8.

Valencia A., Melnik KO., Kelly RJ., Jerram TC., Wallace H., Aguilar-Arguello S., Katurji M., Pearce HG., Gross S. and Strand T. (2023) Mapping fireline intensity and flame height of prescribed gorse wildland fires. Fire Safety Journal 140 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.firesaf.2023.103862.

Valencia A., Melnik KO., Sanders N., Sew Hoy A., Yan M., Katurji M., Zhang J., Schumacher B., Hartley R. and Aguilar-Arguello S. (2023) Influence of fuel structure on gorse fire behaviour. International Journal of Wildland Fire 32(6): 927-941. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/WF22108.

Katurji M., Noonan B., Zhang J., Valencia A., Shumacher B., Kerr J., Strand T., Pearce G. and Zawar-Reza P. (2022) Atmospheric turbulent structures and fire sweeps during shrub fires and implications for flaming zone behaviour. International Journal of Wildland Fire 32(1): 43-55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/WF22100.

Penney G., Baker G., Valencia A. and Gorham D. (2022) The CAED Framework for the Development of Performance‐Based Design at the Wildland–Urban Interface. Fire 5(2) http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/fire5020054.

Valencia A., Zheng Y. and Marshall AW. (2022) A Model for Predicting the Trajectory and Structure of Firefighting Hose Streams. Fire Technology 58(2): 793-815. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10694-021-01175-1.

Katurji M., Zhang J., Satinsky A., McNair H., Schumacher B., Strand T., Valencia A., Finney M., Pearce G. and Kerr J. (2021) Turbulent Thermal Image Velocimetry at the Immediate Fire and Atmospheric Interface. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 126(24) http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2021JD035393.

Katurji M., Zhang J., Satinsky A., McNair H., Schumacher B., Strand TM., Valencia A., Finney M., Pearce G. and Kerr J. (2021) Turbulent Thermal Image Velocimetry at the Immediate Fire and Atmospheric Interface. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/essoar.10507673.1.

Valencia A. and Marshall AW. (2021) A universal lookup table for determining sprinkler spray patterns. Fire Safety Journal 126 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.firesaf.2021.103432.

Valencia A., Baum HR. and Marshall AW. (2021) Reduced Order Modeling for fire sprinkler sprays. Fire Safety Journal 120 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.firesaf.2020.103127.

Valencia A., Briggs J., Jacobs S. and Marshall A. (2019) Near field spray measurements for fixed spray plate sprinklers. Irrigation Science 37(5): 597-609. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00271-019-00640-8.

Valencia A., Talbaut M., Yon J., Godard G., Gobin C. and Coppalle A. (2017) Soot and velocity mapping and 2D soot sheet dimensions in a buoyant wall-fire. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 36(2): 3219-3226. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.proci.2016.06.142.

Conference Contributions - Published

Valencia RA., Arbelaez O. and Valencia A. (2019) Experimental identification of the dynamics characteristics of a peltom model turbinel. In Proceedings of the LACCEI international Multi-conference for Engineering, Education and Technology 2019-July http://dx.doi.org/10.18687/LACCEI2019.1.1.356.

Valencia A., Baum HR. and Marshall A. (2018) An engineering tool for evaluation of fire suppression system performance. In Proceedings of the LACCEI international Multi-conference for Engineering, Education and Technology 2018-July http://dx.doi.org/10.18687/LACCEI2018.1.1.453.

Valencia A., Lecordier B. and Coppalle A. (2018) Velocity and temperature measurements in a vertical wall flame. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series 1107(3) http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1107/3/032006.

Affiliations

International Association of Fire Safety Science (IAFSS) (Professional Organisation): Member

Future Research

Building Information Modelling applied to Fire Engineering

Key Methodologies

Experimental combustion
Computational Fluid Dynamics
Atomization and Spray
Laser diagnostics