Theoretical Basis of the Ship Fire Safety Engineering Methodology.

The Ship Fire Safety Engineering Methodology SFSEM is a probabilistic-based fire risk analysis methodology. It is useful to conduct a structured and comprehensive analysis of the performance of all types of surface ships as a fire safety system. The SFSEM provides an integrated framework for analyzing fires on ships in comparison to established fire safety objectives. It accounts for all relevant aspects of fire safety the growth and spread of fire. the effectiveness of passive design features such as barriers and active fire protection features such as fixed fire extinguishing and manual suppression systems. The Ship Applied Fire Engineering SAFE computer programs implement the SFSEM and evaluates the probability of spaces and barriers limiting a fire. The evaluation is conducted on a compartment-by-compartment basis. SAFE calculates the probable paths of fire spread for specified time durations. SFSEMSAFE has been used successfully in a design application and in a retrofit situation. This report is a comprehensive documentation of the Theoretical Basis of the SFSEM. It describes the current state of development and plans for continued further development of the methodology. It explains the fundamental assumptions and underlying philosophy designed into the SFSEM. It describes the present limitations as well as the past and present applications of the SFSEM.