Development of FDMS Tools to Generate Data for Fire Safety Engineering and Modeling. (Abstract/Presentation)
Development of FDMS Tools to Generate Data for Fire
Safety Engineering and Modeling.
(Abstract/Presentation)
(146 K)
Janssens, M. L.
NIST SP 998; May 2003.
Keywords:
fire growth; fire spread; safety engineering; fire
safety; ignition; flame spread; heat release rate
Abstract:
The main limitation of current compartment fire models
is that they generally are not capable of predicting
fire growth, but are only suitable to calculate the
consequences of a user-specified fire. An extensive
database of fire curves would alleviate this problem,
but the development of an exhaustive database of fire
curves is not feasible. A more practical approach
involves the use of correlations and sub-models, so that
fire curves can be constructed for a variety of
geometries and configurations on the basis of material
properties from
small-scale fire test data. Methods have been developed
to predict the heat release rate vs. time of objects
that are common in residences such as chairs and TV
sets; and large objects such as automobiles and
railcars. However, the most common geometry for which
predictive sub-models have been developed is the
room/corner test. Standard room/corner test protocols
have been developed domestically (e.g., NFPA 265 and
NFPA 286) as well as internationally (ISO 9705).
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899