- Author
- Thompson, S. L. | Apostolakis, G. E.
- Title
- Response Surface Approximation for the Bench-Scale Peak Heat Release Rate From Upholstered Furniture Exposed to a Radiant Heat Source.
- Coporate
- California Univ., Los Angeles
- Journal
- Fire Safety Journal, Vol. 22, No. 1, 1-24, 1994
- Sponsor
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Contract
- NIST-GRANT-60NANB9D097
- Keywords
- upholstered furniture | heat sources | heat release rate | flame spread | scenarios | small scale fire tests | oxygen concentration
- Identifiers
- response surface analysis
- Abstract
- This work investigates the initial stages of a residential fire scenario: specifically the peak heat release rate from an item ignited by exposure to a radiant heat source. Parameters which may define a scenario include the material properties of the furniture and the ignition source. The emphasis is on the uncertainties in these parameters and their impact on the peak heat release rate. A response surface analysis is performed to determine the equivalent bench-scale heat release as a function of fabric, padding, oxygen concentration, and imposed radiant heat flux. A response surface is a polynomial which approximates the computer code and it may be used to predict heat release values, as well as the uncertainties in these values due to uncertainties in the model input variables.