- Author
- Delichatsios, M. A.
- Title
- Burning and Upward Flame Spread on Vertical Material Surfaces: An Outline of a Comprehensive Simulation Model and Simplified Correlations. Technical Report.
- Coporate
- Factory Mutual Research, Norwood, MA
- Sponsor
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
- FMRC J.I. 0Q0J1.BU; RC88-BT-2, August 1988, 33 p.
- Contract
- NBS-GRANT-60NANB5D0560
- Keywords
- flame spread | walls | combustion | pyrolysis rate | fire hazards
- Abstract
- The basis for the implementation of a numerical simulation of fire growth on a wall is presented in this report. Such a simulation could be used, with appropriate interpretation, to determine the relative fire hazard of materials. Specifically, it is shown how (five) key flammability properties, measured in small-scale tests, can be used to simulate numerically upward flame spread and fire growth on walls. All the components of the numerical model and their interrelations are discussed in detail including a) gaseous burning [developed for pool fires and walls at FMRC], b) heat transfer, c) pyrolysis rates and d) flame spread rates. Finally, simplified expressions of potentially great practical importance are also presented for upward flame spread rates. These expressions, which use five quantities directly measurable in small-scale tests, could be applied to characterize the fire hazard for arbitrary scales and exposure heat fluxes.