"The construction of smoke hazard management systems in large buildings such as shopping malls, cinemas, airports and train stations are increasingly being based on performance based design. Hot smoke tests are a method of using simulated fire conditions to evaluate the functionality of the completed building and the installed systems without causing damage. The author amongst others performed hot smoke tests (HST) according to Australian Standard AS 4391 -1999 in several buildings. In some tests air temperatures, air speed and smoke optical density were recorded at several locations during the test of which two tests are reported. These were later modelled by the author using Fire Dynamic Simulator (FDS) to show that typical fire protection engineering consultant applying the computer model may reasonably predict some results comparable to a full sized simulation scenario. However, some aspects were not well predicted. The modelling was improved by the outcomes of an investigation of the relationship between fuel properties, plume temperature and dynamics, and grid sensitivity. Areas of potential further improvement were identified. This work highlighted that the conditions witnessed in a hot smoke test can provide a guide, but do not represent all aspects of a real fire or design fire scenario. Although the FDS hot smoke model predicted comparable results to the hot smoke test, whilst suitable for system design, computer modelling should never be used as a system installation certification tool. Data from hot smoke tests, if gathered cost effectively, can be a valuable resource for computer model verification."

"Material property estimation method is developed with 1-D heat conduction model and bounding exercise for Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) analysis. The purpose of this study is to develop an unsophisticated tool to convert small scale cone calorimeter data into input data that can be used in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models to predict flame spread. Specific interests of input data for FDS in this study include thermal conductivity, specific heat, pre exponential factor, activation energy, heat of vaporization. The tool consists of two objects; 1-D model and bounding exercise. Main structure of the model is based on one of the thermal boundary conditions in the FDS, named as “Pyrolysis Model, Thermally-Thick Solid”, in which pyrolysis flux occurs on the surface of the object under radiant heat flux. This boundary condition is adopted because it has the best characteristics in the dynamics of modeling which are subject to our interests. The structure of the model is simple and concise. For engineering point of view, a practical model ought to have such simplicity that saves time and effort. Pyrolysis model in FDS meets this requirement. It is also a part of reason that this study is to develop a computational model which converts a set of data from the cone calorimeter test to a set of input data for FDS. A pyrolysis term on a surface of an object in this boundary condition will be playing an important role regarding a surface temperature and a mass loss rate of the object. Bounding exercise is introduced to guide proper outcome out of the modeling. Prediction of the material properties from the simulation is confirmed by the experimental data in terms of surface temperature history and mass loss rate under the bounding exercise procedure. For the cone calorimeter, thirteen different materials are tested. Test materials vary with their material composition such as thermoplastics, fiber reinforced plastics (FRP), and a wood. Throughout the modeling fed by a set of the cone calorimeter test data, estimated material properties are provided. So called “Bounding Exercise” is introduced here to draw the estimated material properties. Bounding exercise is a tool in order to guide the material property estimation procedure. Three sets of properties (Upper, Standard and Lower) are derived from the boundary exercise as recommended material properties. From the modeling results, PMMA shows the best agreement regarding the estimated material properties compared with already known results from the references. Wood indicates, however, somewhat different results, in which the mass loss rate takes a peak around the ignition and decreases sharply. This burning behavior can not be predicted using the “Pyrolysis Model”. The model in this study does not account so called “Charring Behavior” that a charring layer toward a surface or difference between a charred density in a charring layer and a normal density in a virgin layer of a wood. These factors result in a discrepancy of the estimated material properties with the reference data. Unlike PMMA and wood, FRP materials show a unique ignition characteristic. Mass loss rate history from some FRP materials indicate more a thermoplastic burning behavior and other materials tend to char. In addition there are few known material property data for theses materials and it is difficult to verify the results from this study with pre-existing data. Some plastic samples also indicate difficulties of the modeling. Because some samples melt and disfigure during the test, one dimensional heat transfer boundary condition is no longer applicable. Each bounding exercise results are fully examined and analyze in Chapter 6. Some of limitations contain model’s structural limitation, in which the model is too simple for certain cases, as well as limitations of bounding exercise. Finally, recommendations are made for future work including upgraded model accountable for the pyrolysis of charring material and FRP materials, data comparison with FDS results, and improved bounding exercise method."

"Fire tests involving heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) in a road tunnel with forced ventilation in Norway, conducted by SP, demonstrated a pulsation phenomena that is similar to oscillating flames and thermo-acoustic instabilities previously observed in vitiated compartments and resonant systems that meet the Rayleigh criterion, respectively. This current study investigates whether the causal phenomena can be determined using either a simple, one-dimensional fluid dynamics model or a computation fluid dynamics program. It is assumed that the leading cause for pulsation is a locally under-ventilated fire. Theoretical analysis shows that this assumption is valid and how such conditions can cause the flow field to change. A simple model is developed for a tunnel fire with forced, longitudinal ventilation. The results qualitatively represent the test data and support the assumption of a locally vitiated fire. A more sophisticated analysis, involving the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) Version 4.0, provides similar results. Although FDS calibration, using similar experiment data from the Memorial Tunnel Ventilation Test Program, demonstrates model limitations in predicting smoke layers near the solid boundaries under forced flow field, the qualitative results from both models indicates that pulsation in large tunnel fires under forced ventilation conditions results from poor mixing of the bulk flow in the near field of the fire."

A series of numerical modeling studies were conducted to characterize the mass flow rates in balcony spill plumes (BSP), a type of buoyant fire plume occurring in atria. The variation of BSP mass flow rate as a function of elevation, fire size and fire compartment geometry was examined both numerically and experimentally. A new method for estimation of BSP mass flow rates, appropriate for design of smoke management systems in high-elevation atria, was developed based on simulations of BSP mass flow rate. An experimental program conducted in a 12 m high atrium measured BSP mass flow rates as well as temperatures in the fire compartment and atrium. This data was used to evaluate CFD models of the fire compartment and atrium in the experimental facility. These were implemented using the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) software. The models were extended to investigate BSP behaviour at elevations up to 50 m. The removal of atrium walls in the model to allow free development of the BSP is a unique approach among published numerical modeling studies of BSP behaviour. The high-elevation CFD model was used to perform a parametric study of BSP mass flow rate as a function of elevation, fire size and fire compartment geometry. Predictions of BSP mass flow rate from this study extend to 50 m above the atrium floor, extending the range of elevations represented in the published experimental data (<= 9 m). Data from the parametric study was used to develop a new method for estimation of BSP mass flow rates at high elevations. BSP mass flow rates estimated using the new method are shown to be bounded by values estimated using existing methods based on low-elevation experimental data.

A series of numerical modeling studies were conducted to characterize the mass flow rates in balcony spill plumes (BSP), a type of buoyant fire plume occurring in atria. The variation of BSP mass flow rate as a function of elevation, fire size and fire compartment geometry was examined both numerically and experimentally. A new method for estimation of BSP mass flow rates, appropriate for design of smoke management systems in high-elevation atria, was developed based on simulations of BSP mass flow rate. An experimental program conducted in a 12 m high atrium measured BSP mass flow rates as well as temperatures in the fire compartment and atrium. This data was used to evaluate CFD models of the fire compartment and atrium in the experimental facility. These were implemented using the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) software. The models were extended to investigate BSP behaviour at elevations up to 50 m. The removal of atrium walls in the model to allow free development of the BSP is a unique approach among published numerical modeling studies of BSP behaviour. The high-elevation CFD model was used to perform a parametric study of BSP mass flow rate as a function of elevation, fire size and fire compartment geometry. Predictions of BSP mass flow rate from this study extend to 50 m above the atrium floor, extending the range of elevations represented in the published experimental data (<= 9 m). Data from the parametric study was used to develop a new method for estimation of BSP mass flow rates at high elevations. BSP mass flow rates estimated using the new method are shown to be bounded by values estimated using existing methods based on low-elevation experimental data.

The fire development and flame spread in the railway carriages are investigated by performing a set of simulations using a widely accepted simulation software called &amp / #8216 / Fire Dynamics Simulator&amp / #8217 / . Two different rolling stock models / representing a train made up of physically separated carriages, and a 4-car train with open wide gangways / have been built to examine the effects of train geometry on fire development and smoke spread within the trains. The simulations incorporate two different ignition sources / a small size arson fire, and a severe baggage fire incident. The simulations have been performed incorporating variations of parameters including tunnel geometry, ventilation and evacuation strategies, and combustible material properties. The predictions of flame spread within the rolling stock and values of the peak heat release rates are reported for the simulated incident cases. In addition, for a set of base cases the onboard conditions are discussed and compared against the tenability criteria given by the international standards. The predictions of heat release rate and the onboard conditions from the Fire Dynamics Simulator case studies have been checked against the empirical methods such as Duggan&amp / #8217 / s method and other simulation softwares such as CFAST program.

Fire is a complex phenomenon including many parameters. The nature of fire makes it a very dangerous and hazardous. For many reasons the number of tunnels are increasing on earth and fire safety is one of the major problem related to tunnels. This makes important to predict and understand the behavior of fire, i.e., heat release rate, smoke movement, ventilation effect etc. The literature includes many experimental and numerical analyses for different conditions for tunnel fires. This study investigates pool fire of three different fuel sources: ethanol, gasoline and their mixture for different ventilation conditions, different geometries and different amounts. Combustion gases and the burning rates of the fuel sources are measured and analyzed. The numerical simulation of the cases is done with Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS), a CFD code developed by NIST.

No description available.

A interação turbulência-radiação (TRI, do inglês Turbulence-Radiation Interaction) resulta do acoplamento altamente não linear entre flutuações da intensidade de radiação e flutuações da temperatura e da composição química do meio, e tem-se demonstrado experimentalmente, teoricamente e numericamente que este é um fenômeno relevante em diversas aplicações envolvendo altas temperaturas, especialmente em problemas reativos. Neste trabalho, o TRI é analisado em um escoamento interno não reativo de um gás participante que se desenvolve em um duto de seção transversal quadrada, para diferentes intensidades de turbulência do escoamento e considerando duas espécies distintas para a composição do fluido de trabalho (dióxido de carbono e vapor de água). O objetivo central é avaliar como a inclusão ou não da variação espectral das propriedades radiativas do meio no cálculo influencia a magnitude do TRI. Isso é feito através de simulações numéricas no código de dinâmica dos fluidos computacional Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS), que resolve, através do método dos volumes finitos, as equações fundamentais que regem o problema – isto é, os balanços de massa, de quantidade de movimento e de energia e a equação de estado – em uma formulação adequada para baixos números de Mach, utilizando um algoritmo de solução explícito e de segunda ordem no tempo e no espaço. A turbulência é modelada através da simulação de grandes escalas (LES, do inglês Large Eddy Simulation), empregando-se o modelo de Smagorinsky dinâmico para o fechamento dos termos submalha; para a radiação térmica, o método dos volumes finitos é utilizado na discretização da equação da transferência radiativa e os modelos do gás cinza e da soma-ponderada-de-gases-cinza (WSGG, do inglês Weighted-Sum-of-Gray-Gases) são implementados como forma de desconsiderar e de incluir a dependência espectral das propriedades radiativas, respectivamente. A magnitude do TRI sobre o problema é avaliada através de diferenças entre as médias temporais dos fluxos de calor superficiais e do termo fonte radiativo obtidas em cálculos que consideram os efeitos do fenômeno e cálculos que os negligenciam. Em geral, a interação turbulência-radiação mostrou ser pouco importante em todos os casos considerados, o que concorda com resultados de outros estudos sobre o tema em escoamento não reativos. Com o modelo WSGG, as contribuições do fenômeno foram maiores do que com a hipótese do gás cinza, evidenciando que a inclusão da variação espectral na solução do problema radiativo tem um impacto sobre a magnitude dos efeitos do TRI. Além disso, é feita uma discussão, em parte inédita no contexto do TRI, sobre diferentes metodologias para a análise do fenômeno. Finalmente, é proposto um fator de correção para o termo fonte radiativo médio no modelo WSGG, que é validado através de sua implementação nos casos simulados. Em estudos futuros, uma análise de sensibilidade sobre os termos constituintes desse fator de correção pode levar a um melhor entendimento de como as flutuações de temperatura se correlacionam com o fenômeno da interação turbulência-radiação. / Turbulence-radiation interaction (TRI) results from the highly non-linear coupling between fluctuations of radiation intensity and fluctuations of temperature and chemical composition of the medium, and its relevance in a number of high-temperature problems, especially when chemical reactions are included, has been demonstrated experimentally, theoretically, and numerically. In the present study, the TRI is analyzed in a channel flow of a non-reactive participating gas for different turbulence intensities of the flow at the inlet and considering two distinct species for the medium composition (carbon dioxide and water vapor). The central objective is to evaluate how the inclusion or not of the spectral variation of the radiative properties of a participating gas in the radiative transfer calculations affects the turbulence-radiation interaction. With this purpose, numerical simulations are performed using the computational fluid dynamics Fortranbased code Fire Dynamics Simulator, that employs the finite volume method to solve a form of the fundamental equations – i.e., the mass, momentum and energy balances and the state equation – appropriate for low Mach number flows, through an explicit second-order (both in time and in space) core algorithm. Turbulence is modeled by the large eddy simulation approach (LES), using the dynamic Smagorinsky model to close the subgrid-scale terms; for the thermal radiation part of the problem, the finite volume method is used for the discretization of the radiative transfer equation and the gray gas and weighted-sum-of-gray-gases (WSGG) models are implemented as a way to omit and consider the spectral dependence of the radiative properties, respectively. The TRI magnitude in the problem is evaluated by differences between values for the time-averaged heat fluxes at the wall (convective and radiative) and for the time-averaged radiative heat source calculated accounting for and neglecting the turbulence-radiation interaction effects. In general, TRI had little importance over all the considered cases, a conclusion that agrees with results of previous studies. When using the WSGG model, the contributions of the phenomenon were greater that with the gray gas hypothesis, demonstrating that the inclusion of the spectral variance in the solution of the radiative problem has an impact in the TRI effects. Furthermore, this paper presents a discussion, partly unprecedented in the context of the turbulence-radiation interaction, about the different methodologies that can be used for the TRI analysis. Finally, a correction factor is proposed for the time-averaged radiative heat source in the WSGG model, which is then validated by its implementation in the simulated cases. In future studies, a sensibility analysis on the terms that compose this factor can lead to a better understanding of how fluctuations of temperature correlate with the turbulence-radiation interaction phenomenon.

This research report examines the use of zone modelling compared with CFD modelling to determine when zone model approximation is valid and when a CFD model might be required. A series of computer simulations with enclosures and fires of various sizes was performed to compare the capabilities and limitations of the two computer methods. The relationship between the size of the enclosure space and the size of the fire has been demonstrated in a dimensionless form. The zone model BRANZFIRE and the CFD model FDS were used for simulating smoke development. The simulations included various full-scale experimental data on both small and large spaces found in the literature. Further simulations of large exemplar spaces with a range of fire sizes were performed to investigate different variables, which have not been examined in full-scale experiments. The simulation results have been compared based on the smoke layer height and the average layer temperature. Zukoski’s smoke filling equation was also used to compare the layer height predictions against BRANZFIRE and FDS. It was found that different data reduction techniques gave different approximations to the layer height. A perfect match between the experimental data and the model output was very difficult to achieve. FDS showed a large uncertainty of the smoke layer height and temperature in the early stages of fire across the enclosure space. In the later stages, this uncertainly became minimised where the smoke layer height and temperature were fairly uniformly developed across the space. For fire enclosures with instantaneous steady-state fires, the predictions between BRANZFIRE and FDS agreed well with each other if the fire size and the enclosure size were within a reasonable range. From the modelling of the full-scale experiments, FDS showed favourable layer-height comparisons against the full-scale experimental tests. However, the output results from BRANZFIRE are less comparable with those of FDS for the experiments with fire growth. An appropriate smoke transport time lag should be included for Zukoski’s smoke filling equation and BRANZFIRE; otherwise, they gave conservative estimates of the layer height to smaller fires with a growth phase. In general, the data reduction methods and zone models should not be used if the fire is too small relative to the enclosure size. A very low temperature rise within the enclosure space would give invalid predictions of the layer height and average layer temperature. This is because there is no clear indication of a separation between the upper and lower smoke layers or temperatures. Single point data of smoke concentrations and temperatures from CFD models should be considered through the entire space or at the specified location of interest. This also applies to an extremely large fire relative to the enclosure size where temperature distribution across the space might not be very homogenous. CFD models could also be used to investigate the details of the smoke properties in the early stages of growing fires, in which the smoke transport lag and the plume effects cannot be seen in BRANZFIRE. This research is intended to provide guidance for fire engineers by determining which of the computer methods can be used confidently and appropriately as a design tool.