Fire Physics - Promises, Problems, And Progress (original) (raw)

Physics of Flames

The principal investigators directing this effort were Professors Irvin Glassman, William A. Sirignano and Martin summerfield. The overall program was divided into three major parts: flame spreading across liquid pools, ignition of pools, and a theoretical effort on flame spreading and projectile ignition. As a matter of administrative convenience to the sponsoring agency, a small study on ignition of solid propellants directed by Professor Summerfield was added to the program under the same contract. Considering the scope of the effort, it was deemed most logical to write this report in four separate parts which would inclbde each of the major aspects of the flame study and the solid propellant study. Each part is written as if it were a separate document and includes its own table of contents, text, references and figures. Co-authors who have contributed to the program are listed at the beginning of each part. Following the accepted practice for research, the feedback of information from the experiments to the model showed that there were *A 3.6 mm thick layer of kerosene was floated on a 15.3 mm layer of water in an aluminum tray, 48 inches long, 6 inches wide and 1 inch deep. " *; '-' 10. AVAILABILITY/LIMITATION NOTICES: Enter any limitations on further dissemination of the report, other than those G'O 64. 551 Secutity Classification

A Computational and experimental study of fire growth and smoke movement in large spaces

ABSTRACT This paper presents a computational and experimental study of fire growth and smoke movement in large spaces to show the applicability of different methods of simulating fire dynamics. The numerical results were obtained using three methods: 1) simple correlations; 2) a two-zone model (FIre Evaluation and Risk Assessment system (FIERAsystem)); and 3) a Computational Fluid Dynamics model (FDS). The paper investigates the merits of the two fire models using two case studies with the goal of developing robust engineering tools to study and evaluate fire safety and smoke exhaust systems. Ce document présente une étude computationnelle et expérimentale du développement des incendies et de l'enfumage dans les grands espaces dans le but de démontrer l'applicabilité de diverses méthodes de simulation du comportement dynamique du feu. Les résultats numériques ont été obtenus au moyen de trois (3) méthodes différentes : 1) des corrélations simples; 2) un modèle à deux (2) zones (modèle FIERAsystem [Fire Evaluation and Risk Assessment System]); et 3) un modèle de dynamique des fluides computationnelle. Le document examine le bien-fondé des deux modèles d'incendie au moyen de deux études de cas, en ayant pour objectif le développement d'outils d'ingénierie robustes pour l'étude et l'évaluation des systèmes de sécurité incendie et de contrôle des fumées. RES

Modelling of fire spread and the growth of fire in buildings using computational fluid dynamics

The motivation for undertaking this research is to contribute to the development of a model of fire spread over a surface, and to integrate this model with a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model that is capable of making predictions of the environment associated with full-scale fires in enclosures. The research focuses on the growth and spread stage of such fires, where a small, localised flame spreads across a single fuel item, increasing the heat release rate. In particular, the phenomenon of opposed flow flame spread across flat, non-charring, thermally thick fuel surfaces is examined.

Fire Dynamics in Open Compartments

2018

With the aim to increase fire safety in open compartments, such as open car parks, some correlative models were used to test the ability to recover both dynamics and thermal characteristics of a ceiling-jet flow. The heat flow, coming from a burning vehicle, occurs when the fire plume impinges the ceiling and develops in the radial direction of the fire axis. Both temperature and velocity predictions are decisive for sprinklers positioning, fire alarms positions, detectors (heat, smoke) position and activation times and back-layering predictions. This investigation deals with a parametric analysis using different fire events (class of the vehicle) and two fire scenarios. Some correlative formulations were used: Alpert, Cooper, Heskestad & Delichatsios and Motevalli & Marks. An advance calculation method (CFAST) based on a two-zone model formulation was used to compare the results, as well as the CFD software ANSYS Fluent, based on the finite volume method. A total of 16 simulation r...

Building Fire: Experimental and Numerical Studies on Behaviour of Flows at Opening

Journal of Combustion

Compartment fire is conducted by complex phenomena which have been the topics of many studies. During fire incident in a building, damage to occupants is not often due to the direct exposition to flames but to hot and toxic gases resulting from combustion between combustibles and surrounding air. Heat is therefore taken far from the source by combustion products which could involve a rapid spread of fire in the entire building. With the intention of studying the impact of the opening size on the behaviour of fire, experimental and computational studies have been undertaken in a reduced scale room including a single open door. Owing to Froude modelling, the obtained results have been transposed into full scale results. In accordance with experiments, numerical studies enabled the investigation of the influence of the ventilation factor on velocities of incoming air and outgoing burned gases and on areas of the surfaces crossed by these fluids during full-developed fire. Comparison of...

Experimental Investigation of configuration types and array of external heat sources on downward spreading fires

IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering

Scholars and scientists have been attempting to discover ways to control and lessen the reverberation of concurrent fires such as forest fires, building fires, and other various space fires but no convincing solutions have been concluded from their studies so far. The fundamental genesis of these types of fires concerns the unstable nature of the flames and considerable unpredictability associated with them. This led us to make an effort to study the etiquette of such flamesan experimental setup with rather ideal conditions was devised and an in-depth study was carried out. The present study predominately covers the study of fire propagation phenomena and the zeal of fire control in our daily life. This study includes the review of the varying regression rates and fire spread rates of flames as noticed in matchsticks when spaced in a linear orientation. The deportment instability of the flames will give us an insight into the heterogeneous fire propagation phenomenon and its control. Intuition into the heterogeneous fire propagation is expected for essential fire safety and, on its basis, an algorithm for the same is to be formulated. With this understanding along with the existing information, it might give us some possible solution to the reduction of such kinds of fires in buildings, forests, space propulsion systems and, large-scale fires in industries.

Fire spread phenomena: The role of observation in experiment

Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, 1994

Abslract--Summarized are recent experimental findings of fire spread phenomena. This review covers flame spread over solids (including melting solids and metals), large-scale spread through discrete fuels (such as fire brands and fire whirls), and scale modeling techniques applied to flame spread study. Emphasis is placed on the importance of observation in experiments which is the source of imagination and successful modeling.

The role of numerical modeling in scientific fire investigation

MATEC Web of Conferences, 2022

Fire risk is perhaps the most common risk in the category of special emergencies, being a phenomenon that affects important areas of economic and social life, such as buildings, industrial facilities, public spaces, forests, crops, or transportation. Scientific investigation of fires is constituted as a set of organized actions, of technical nature, undertaken to determine the causes that led to the occurrence of fires, the source of ignition, and the circumstances that favored the event. Numerical fire modeling is a widely recognized and accepted tool for analysis in fire research. The results of the investigation carried out on-site are compared with the results of fire evolution obtained by computer simulation, using numerical models based on known input data, to verify different hypotheses regarding the cause of the fire. The advantages over experimental methods are expressed by low costs and substantial time savings. Moreover, several simulations can be run simultaneously, for ...