Dr Xu Dai is a Visiting Lecturer in Fire Engineering at the Department of Built Environment at Birmingham City University. He is currently working as a Lecturer in Structural Engineering at the University of Liverpool.聽.
Prior to his current position, he was a Senior Lecturer in Fire Engineering at Birmingham City University in 2022 - 2024, leading the first UK BEng degree apprenticeship in fire engineering. Xu was also a senior structural fire engineer at Buro Happold based in London office in 2021-2022, specialising in structural fire engineering assessment for fire protection optimisation to achieve sustainable engineering design solutions.
Xu also worked at the National Fire Research Laboratory (NFRL), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA in 2019-2021, as a foreign guest researcher fully funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce. His work was mainly contributing on the research project , to evaluate structural resilience and failure modes of the steel-composite structure from system level exposed to large compartment fires.
Xu was a post-doctoral research associate at the BRE Centre for Fire Safety Engineering at the University of Edinburgh, in 2017-2019 (full-time), 2019-2020 (part-time), on research projects , funded by the European Commission (Research Fund for Coal and Steel); , and , both funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), with an integrated focus on characterising realistic fires in large open-plan compartment of office buildings (i.e., 鈥渢ravelling fires鈥�) for sustainable performance-based structural fire design, via both numerical and experimental methods.
- Fire modelling: Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) using FDS; Zone Models using CFAST, FIRM, etc.
- Structural fire analysis: Finite Element Method (FEM) using Vulcan, ABAQUS, LS-DYNA, OpenSees (developer level in C++)
- Large-scale compartment fire tests
- 鈥淐oupled鈥� structural fire testing
- PhD, Fire Engineering, University of Edinburgh, UK, 2013-2018
- MSc (Distinction), Structural Engineering, University of Sheffield, UK, 2011-2012
- BEng (First Class Hons), Engineering Mechanics, Chongqing Jiaotong University, China, 2005-2009
- Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) membership
- International Association for Fire Safety Science (IAFSS) membership
- BNV5141 Fire Dynamics
- BNV5145 Computational Fluid Dynamics and Finite Element Method
- Fire dynamics: characterisation of spreading fires (i.e., travelling fires) in the large compartment
- Structural fire engineering: critical evaluation of steel-concrete composite structures failure from system level under fire
- Numerical tool development for automated fire-structure coupling: fire modelling, heat transfer, and structural analysis
- PhD Primary Supervisor, University of Liverpool, UK, 2024 鈥� present
Morvarid Koohkhezr, Design of car parks against fire: is the current guidance adequate?
- PhD Co-supervisor (External), University of Edinburgh, UK, 2022 鈥� Present
Chang A. Liu, Characterisation of travelling fires in large compartments using CFD modelling
- PhD Co-supervisor (External), Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, 2020 鈥� Present
Zhuojun Nan, Towards safer buildings: An integrated approach for structural fire analysis, design and collapse prediction
Journal Papers (leading/corresponding authors*)
- X. Dai*, S. Welch, A. Usmani, 鈥楢 critical review of 鈥渢ravelling fire鈥� scenarios for performance-based structural engineering鈥�. Fire Safety Journal, 91C (2017) pp. 568-578, (Awards: one of most cited Fire Safety Journal Articles in 2017-2020, by Scopus)
- X. Dai*, S. Welch, O. Vassart, K. C谩bov谩, L. Jiang, J. Maclean, C. Clifton, A. Usmani, 'An extended travelling fire method framework for performance-based structural design', Fire and Materials, 44 (2020) pp. 437-457, (Awards: top 10 cited in Fire and Materials journal in 2020-2021, by John Wiley & Sons, Inc)
- X. Dai*, A. Gamba, C. Liu, J. Anderson, M. Charlier, D. Rush, S. Welch, 鈥楢n engineering CFD model for fire spread on wood cribs for travelling fires', Advances in Engineering Software, 173 (2022) 103213,
- Dai*, L. Choe, E. Fischer, C. Clifton, 鈥楾hermal and structural response of beam-end shear connections during a large compartment fire experiment鈥�, Fire Technology, (2023),
- Dai*, N. Alam, A. Nadjai, C. Liu, D. Rush, S. Welch, 鈥樷�淪caling-up鈥� fire spread on wood cribs to predict a large-scale travelling fire test using CFD,鈥� Advances in Engineering Software,189(2024)103589,
- D. Rush*, X. Dai, D. Lange, 鈥楾isova Fire Test 鈥� fire behaviours and lessons learnt鈥�, Fire Safety Journal, 121 (2021) 103261,
- Z. Nan, X. Dai*, H. Chen, S. Welch, A. Usmani, 鈥楢 numerical investigation of 3D structural behaviour for steel-composite structures under various travelling fire scenarios鈥�, Engineering Structures, 267 (2022) 114587,
- Q. Guan, X. Dai*, J. Ye*, S. Huang, I. Burgess, 鈥楳odelling of composite fin-plate connections under fire conditions using component-based method鈥�, Engineering Structures, 264 (2022) 114451,
- J. Jiang, Y.L. Lu, X. Dai*, G.Q. Li, W. Chen, J.H. Ye, 鈥楧isproportionate collapse of steel-framed gravity buildings under travelling fires鈥�, Engineering Structures, 245 (2021) 112799,
Journal Papers (co-authors)
- M. Charlier*, A. Gamba, X. Dai, S. Welch, O. Vassart, J. Franssen, 鈥楳odelling the influence of steel structure compartment geometry on travelling fires鈥�, Proceedings of the ICE - Structures and Buildings, 174 (9) (2021) pp. 739-748, (Awards: Frederick Palmer Prize, by Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE))
- M. Charlier*, A. Glorieux, X. Dai, N. Alam, S. Welch, J. Anderson, O. Vassart, and A. Nadjai, 鈥楾ravelling fire experiments in steel-framed structure: numerical investigations with CFD and FEM鈥�, Journal of Structural Fire Engineering, 12 (3) (2021) pp. 309-327, (Awards: Emerald Literati Awards, by Emerald Publishing)
- J. Anderson*, J. Sj枚str枚m, A. Temple, M. Charlier, X. Dai, S. Welch, D. Rush, 鈥楩DS simulations and modelling efforts of travelling fires in a large elongated compartment鈥�, Fire and Materials, 45 (6) (2020) pp.699-707,
- L. Choe*, S. Ramesh, X. Dai, M. Hoehler, M. Bundy, 鈥楨xperimental study on fire resistance of a full-scale composite floor assembly in a two-story steel framed building鈥�, Journal of Structural Fire Engineering, 13 (2) (2022) pp. 145-161,
- A. Nadjai*, N. Alam, M. Charlier, O. Vassart, X. Dai, J. Franssen, and J. Sj枚str枚m, 鈥楾ravelling fire in full scale experimental building subjected to open ventilation conditions鈥�, Journal of Structural Fire Engineering (2022),
- N. Alam*, A. Nadjai, M. Charlier, O. Vassart, S. Welch, J. Sj枚str枚m, X. Dai, 鈥楲arge scale travelling fire tests and their effect on the surrounding steel structure 鈥� the second fire test鈥�, Journal of Constructional Steel Research, 188 (2021), 107032,
Research Reports
- D. Lange, D. Rush, X. Dai, L. Bostr枚m, 鈥楾he Tisova Fire Test, part 1: test report鈥�, RISE Report (2018), p.93, Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE), Boras, Sweden, ISBN: 978-91-88695-56-7
- L. Choe, S. Ramesh, X. Dai, M. Hoehler, M. Bundy, R. A. Bryant, B. Story, A. R. Chakalis, A. A. Chernovsky, 鈥楩ire resilience of a steel-concrete composite floor system: full-scale experimental evaluation for U.S. prescriptive approach with a 2-hour fire-resistance rating (Test #1)鈥�, NIST Technical Note 2165, (2021),
- L. Choe, S. Ramesh, M. Hoehler, M. Bundy, R. A. Bryant, X. Dai, B. Story, A. R. Chakalis, A. A. Chernovsky, 鈥楩ire resilience of a steel-concrete composite floor system: full-scale experimental evaluation for influence of slab reinforcement (Test# 2)鈥�, NIST Technical Note 2203, (2022),
- M. Charlier, A. Glorieux, O. Vassart; J.M. Franssen, A. Gamba, F. Dumont; A. Temple, J. Sj枚str枚m, J. Anderson; S. Welch, X. Dai, D. Rush; A. Nadjai, N. Alam, 鈥楥haracterization of TRAvelling FIRes in large compartments (TRAFIR)鈥�, Final Report, Research Programme of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel, European Commission, Technical Group: TGS8/TGA4, Grant Agreement 754198, (2022)
Throughout his career, Xu has worked closely with both the steel industry (e.g., ArcelorMittal), and fire engineering consultancies (e.g., Ashton Fire) to deliver joint research projects and consultancies on the appropriate application of sustainable design for structural resilience under fire hazard.
