- Author
-
MacArthur, C. D.
- Title
- Mathematical Modeling of Enclosed Fires: A Review of Current U.S. Research.
- Coporate
- Dayton Univ., Ohio
- Sponsor
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
-
NBS SP 540,
- Distribution
- Available from Government Printing Office
- Book or Conf
- National Bureau of Standards. Fire Research and Safety. 3rd Joint Panel Proceedings Conference of the U.S. Japan Cooperative Program in Natural Resources (UJNR). March 13-17, 1978,
National Bureau of Standards,
Gaithersburg, MD,
Sherald, M. A., Editors,
209-232 p.,
1979
- Keywords
-
fire models
|
mathematical models
- Abstract
- This paper reports on the continuing development in the United States of mathematical models and computer simulations of fire growth in an enclosure. The emphasis is upon the status of the several comprehensive, computer implemented models which attempt to deterministically predict pre-flashover fire behavior. A companion paper will discuss the "submodels" - treatments of the individual mechanisms or parts of the enclosed fire problem - out of which the comprehensive models are constructed. The bulk of the work in the development of the comprehensive models has been concerned with fire in residential rooms and passenger aircraft cabins. After an initial development phase, most of the models are now being validated, refined, and extended by comparison to full scale fire tests. During this process a number of problem areas have been identified and a consensus is developing on which mechanisms in fire bheavior are of critical importance and so should have the highest priority for future research. Identifying and improving our quantitative understanding of these critical mechanisms will not only better enable the mathematical models to help solve real world fire problems but will also suggest better fire tests of materials and furnishings.