- Author
- Cooper, L. Y. | Stroup, D. W.
- Title
- Test Results and Predictions for the Response of Near-Ceiling Sprinkler Links in a Full-Scale Compartment Fire.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
- Sponsor
- U.S. Fire Administration, Emmitsburg, MD
- Report
- NBSIR 87-3633, September 1987, 45 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Book or Conf
- International Association of Fire Safety Science. Fire Safety Science. Proceedings. 2nd International Symposium. June 13-17, 1988, Hemisphere Publishing Corp., New York, Tokyo, Japan, Wakamatsu, T., Hasemi, Y., Sekizawa, A., Seeger, P. G., Pagni, P. J. and Grant, C. E., Editors, 623-632 p., 1989
- Keywords
- automatic sprinklers | ceiling jets | compartment fires | heat transfer | fire suppression | smoke layers | sprinklers | thermal response | validation
- Identifiers
- link-to-fire spacing; unconfined ceilings; fire generated flows; link-to-ceiling spacing
- Abstract
- This paper presents and analyzes a portion of the data acquired during a test program which involved full-scale, sprinklered, compartment fires. The work here focuses attention specifically on key features of the typical sprinkler link deployment/response problem. It is found that the elevated temperature, upper smoke layer which develops inevitably in compartment fires can have a major impact on the thermal response of sprinkler links. It is shown that traditionally accepted methods of predicting sprinkler link response which do not account for this upper layer can be totally inadequate. Link response predictions used here involve a new method of calculation which does take account of the smoke layer environment. Favorable comparisons between predictions and experiment are obtained and experiments for further validation of this method are recommended. Finally, it is found that sprinkler link-to-ceiling spacing can have a significant effect on the thermal response of links and it is recommended that a mehtod which accounts for this effect be developed and validated.