"Review of the literature shows that the reported correlation between predictions and experimental data of flame spread vary greatly. The discrepancies displayed by the models are generally attributed to inaccurate input parameters, user effects, and inadequacy of the model. In most experiments, the metric to which the model is deemed accurate is based on the prediction of the heat release rate, but flame spread is a highly complex phenomenon that should not be simplified as such. Moreover, fire growth models are usually made up of distinctive groups of calculation on separate physical phenomena to predict processes that drive fire growth. Inaccuracies of any of these “sub-models” will impact the overall flame spread prediction, hence identifying the sources of error and sensitivity of the subroutines may aid in the development of more accurate models. Combating this issue required that the phenomenon of flame spread be decomposed into four components to be studied separately: turbulent fluid dynamics, flame temperature, flame heat transfer, and condensed phase pyrolysis. Under this framework, aspects of a CFD model may be validated individually and cohesively. However, a lack of comprehensive datasets in the literature hampered this process. Hence, three progressively more complex sets of experiments, from free plume fires to fires against an inert wall to combustible wall fires, were conducted in order to obtain a variety of measurements related to the four inter-related components of flame spread. Multiple permutations of the tests using different source fuels, burner size, and source fire heat release rate allowed a large amount of comparable data to be collected for validation of different fire configurations. FDS simulations using mostly default parameters were executed and compared against the experimental data, but found to be inaccurate. Parametric study of the FDS software shows that there are little definitive trends in the correlation between changes in the predicted quantities and the modeling parameters. This highlights the intricate relationships shared between the subroutines utilized by FDS for calculations related to the four components of flame spread. This reveals a need to examine the underlying calculation methods and source code utilized in FDS."

Environmental issues and the housing shortage is an ongoing debate among politicians. Wood is a building material that Sweden has plenty of and it is a material that, according to research, does not contribute to as much carbon dioxide emissions during production, compared to other construction materials such as concrete and steel. Therefore the demand for timber, in both facade claddings and external wall constructions, is increasing. In light of this, the purpose with this degree project is to study different fire protection methods for wood and compare it to untreated wood. Collecting the facts and information for this degree project at Mälardalens University, is done through literature studies, surveys, and two experiments conducted on two selected fire retardants. The experiments were conducted to test untreated, fire protection impregnated and wood with fire proof paint. One of the experiments tested the load-carrying capacity of the beams after being charred with a gas burner. The other experiment investigated the surface layer and measured the fire spread rate and both experiments tested the fire resistance. The experiments that were conducted concluded that out of the three different methods for facades and beams, fire protection impregnation was the best choice in all five chosen categories: load-carrying capacity, fire resistance, surfaces, environmental impact and health safety for workers. / Miljöfrågan och bostadsbristen är två pågående debatter bland politikerna. Ett byggmaterial som både är miljövänligt och lätt att bygga med är trä. Det är ett byggmaterial som Sverige har gott om och enligt forskning bidrar det inte med lika mycket koldioxidutsläpp vid produktionen jämfört med andra konstruktionsmaterial som betong och stål. Enligt äldre bygglagstiftningar var det enbart tillåtet att bygga hus med två våningar i trä. Det var godkänt att bygga hus med tre våningar om den nedersta våningen bestod utav sten och de två översta i trä. Den nya bygglagstiftningen har inga begränsningar på att använda trä i ytterväggar, oberoende av byggnadsklass så länge de uppfyller funktionskraven. Byggsektorn har varit medveten om att de fick bygga flervåningshus i trä men inte hur det skulle utföras och samtidigt uppfylla bygglagstiftningens krav. Resultatet av ändringarna i bygglagstiftningen, Boverkets byggregler, ökade efterfrågan och utbudet på brandskyddsmedel till trä. De vanligaste produkterna som finns ute för konsumenten är brandskyddsfärg och brandskyddsimpregnering. Trä kan genom brandskyddsimpregnering eller brandskyddsfärg få en brandteknisk klass enligt det europeiska systemet, EN 13501-1, upp mot B-s1,d0 som är högre än för obehandlat trä, Ds1, d0. Tekniskt sett går det att bygga Br1-byggnader med obehandlat trä, dock så krävs det ett antal åtgärder för att uppfylla Boverkets byggreglers funktionskrav, till exempel att installera automatiska släcksystem eller enbart ha trä på en begränsad del av fasaden. Med brandskyddsbehandling går det idag endast att uppnå brandteknisk ytskiktsklass B-s1,d0, vilket inte är tillräckligt enligt Boverkets byggregler som kräver lägst obrännbara fasadbeklädnader i ytskiktsklass A2-s1,d0 för att uppfylla allmänna råden. Fasadbeklädnader av trä, oavsett brandteknisk klass, kan testas med provmetoden SP FIRE 105 och därmed uppfylla föreskriftens krav på ytterväggskonstruktioner med avseende på brandspridning längs fasadytan. Syftet med arbetet är att jämföra olika brandskyddsmetoder av trä och undersöka vilken eller vilka som är bäst lämpad att använda i flervåningshus ur bland annat miljö-, arbetsmiljö- och brandsynpunkt. Detta uppnås genom en litteraturstudie som fokuserar på ämnet brandskyddsmetoder av trä och genom två försök genomfördes för att testa obehandlat, brandskyddsimpregnerat och brandskyddsmålat trä. Ett försök testade bärförmågan efter brandpåverkan, andra undersökte ytskikt, och båda försöken testade brandmotstånd. Bärförmågan testades genom att brandpåverkade reglar blev utsatta för en central punktlast i en Instron- maskin. Ytskikten prövades genom ett enklare försök baserad på testmetoden SP FIRE 105 på tre fasader. En obehandlad, en brandskyddsimpregnerad och en brandskyddsmålad. Mätningar och dokumentation gjordes med bland annat mätinstrument som plattermoelement och filmkamera. Båda typerna av brandskyddsmetoder kräver en kemisk framställning som varken är bra för naturen eller människan. Produktionen är automatiserad och därmed inte någon risk för någon människa. Den färdiga produkten är varken skadlig för miljön, människor eller djur, sålänge inte produkterna förtärs i större omfattning. Resultatet från undersökningen av de tre olika fasaderna visade att det brandskyddsimpregnerade virket klarade sig bäst i alla fem kategorier: bärförmåga, brandmotstånd, ytskikt, miljöpåverkan och arbetsmiljö. Slutsatsen är av det två typer av brandsskyddsmedel för trä som testades, är brandskyddsimpregnering den mest lönsammaste alla fem kategorier. Produkten är lätthanterad, avger inga farliga gaser och är i snitt inte dyrare än det obehandlade materialet. Dock är det viktigt att tänka på brandskyddsarbete och inte släppa på säkerheten för att konstruktionen byggs med brandskyddsimpregnerat trä.

In recent decades, many manufacturing industries have globalized their operations and the Canadian manufacturing sector has experienced dramatic downsizing. For a manufacturing company to succeed therefore, it is necessary for them to operate with a global perspective. In the area of fire safety, this requires understanding of, and compliance with, global regulatory requirements. This research develops a systematic approach that can be utilized to analyze and compare the complex fire safety regulatory requirements that are stipulated for a selected topic in various countries. The approach developed is sufficiently general that it can be leveraged to compare and contrast global standards in any field or discipline. The methodology outlines six aspects of the regulatory environment that must be considered in sorting standards and then uses spreadsheets and a mind mapping program to elucidate the many relationships that exist amongst the current standards. In this work, flammability test requirements for public transportation seating are studied, with a major emphasis on seating for railway applications. Requirements for seating in aviation, automotive (both cars and buses) and military vehicles are included in the discussion for comparative purposes. Fire is a complex phenomenon that is difficult to characterize. The legislated testing protocols reflect this complexity with some geographic jurisdictions mandating as many as six different types of fire testing for rail seating. This work looks in depth at two of the main types of fire testing: flame spread testing and toxic effluent testing. Flame spread testing was chosen because it is widely required, and toxic effluent testing was chosen because of the many complexities and ambiguities present amongst these standards. Eleven flame-spread tests are compared on a semi-quantitative basis, and eight fire effluent toxicity tests are discussed on a qualitative basis. The technique developed was useful to elucidate the relationships, similarities and differences amongst the fire safety requirements for transportation seating. There are large differences in requirements among transportation sectors as well as on a geographical basis. Using this technique, it was possible to categorize the flame spread tests into two groups and to compare the relative intensity of the tests within each of these subsets. The fire effluent toxicity tests varied so much in approach that only qualitative comparisons were possible.

In recent decades, many manufacturing industries have globalized their operations and the Canadian manufacturing sector has experienced dramatic downsizing. For a manufacturing company to succeed therefore, it is necessary for them to operate with a global perspective. In the area of fire safety, this requires understanding of, and compliance with, global regulatory requirements. This research develops a systematic approach that can be utilized to analyze and compare the complex fire safety regulatory requirements that are stipulated for a selected topic in various countries. The approach developed is sufficiently general that it can be leveraged to compare and contrast global standards in any field or discipline. The methodology outlines six aspects of the regulatory environment that must be considered in sorting standards and then uses spreadsheets and a mind mapping program to elucidate the many relationships that exist amongst the current standards. In this work, flammability test requirements for public transportation seating are studied, with a major emphasis on seating for railway applications. Requirements for seating in aviation, automotive (both cars and buses) and military vehicles are included in the discussion for comparative purposes. Fire is a complex phenomenon that is difficult to characterize. The legislated testing protocols reflect this complexity with some geographic jurisdictions mandating as many as six different types of fire testing for rail seating. This work looks in depth at two of the main types of fire testing: flame spread testing and toxic effluent testing. Flame spread testing was chosen because it is widely required, and toxic effluent testing was chosen because of the many complexities and ambiguities present amongst these standards. Eleven flame-spread tests are compared on a semi-quantitative basis, and eight fire effluent toxicity tests are discussed on a qualitative basis. The technique developed was useful to elucidate the relationships, similarities and differences amongst the fire safety requirements for transportation seating. There are large differences in requirements among transportation sectors as well as on a geographical basis. Using this technique, it was possible to categorize the flame spread tests into two groups and to compare the relative intensity of the tests within each of these subsets. The fire effluent toxicity tests varied so much in approach that only qualitative comparisons were possible.

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This study is a presentation of an instantaneous and simultaneous velocity and concentration measurement technique and its applications on car park fire scenarios. <p>In this actual chapter 1 general introduction is given to each chapter. Chapter 2 is dedicated to a detailed description of the instantaneous and simultaneous velocity and concentration measurement technique and its associated error assessment methodology. The name of the new technique is derived from the names of the acquired parameters (VELocity and COncentration) and shall be hereafter referred to as VELCO. After having validated and performed an error assessment of this technique, it is applied to an investigation of full-scale car park (30 m x 30 m x 2.6 m – Gent / WFRGENT) fire cases in chapter 3. The measurements were carried out with the financial support of IWT-SBO program. In the full-scale measurements only the velocity part is applied of VELCO, yet it can be considered as its application since the special data treating was developed and implemented in the Rabon (see: §2.1.2) program, which is the software of the new technique along with Tucsok (see: §2.1.1) and they will be both discussed in the related chapter. Here it is enough to mention that the concentration and velocity information can be obtained independently as well. During the full-scale measurements, beyond of VELCO the smoke back-layering distances (SBL) are also derived from the temperature values, which were measured by thermocouples under the ceiling in the midline of the car park. The critical velocity, which is an important measure of fire safety, can be obtained from the SBL results. In chapter 4, isothermal fire modeling is surveyed in order to present how full-scale fires are modeled in small-scale. In this part of the study the theory of fire related formulae and an isothermal model are described. Here it is important to stress the fact that the fire modeling is not directly related to the VELCO technique. However it connects the full-scale to the small-scale measurements, which the technique is applied on. Chapter 5 discusses small-scale measurements (1:25 – Rhode Saint Genese / VKI) on the car park introduced in chapter 3 and their validation. After the validation, more complex car parks scenarios are also investigated due to the easy to change layout in the small-scale model with respect to the full-scale car park. In this chapter the smoke back-layering distances are obtained by VELCO. Finally, in chapter 6 important conclusions are drawn with the objective of increasing fire safety. <p> / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

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