- Author
- Leonard, J. T. | Fulper, C. R. | Darwin, R. L. | Back, G. G. | Scheffey, J. L. | Willard, R. L. | DiNenno, P. J. | Steel, J. S. | Ouellette, R. J. | Beyler, C. L.
- Title
- Post-Flashover Fires in Simulated Shipboard Compartments. Phase 1. Small Scale Studies.
- Coporate
- Naval Research Lab., Washington, DC Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC Hughes Associates, Inc., Wheaton, MD
- Sponsor
- Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC
- Report
- NRL Memorandum 6886, September 3, 1991, 169 p.
- Keywords
- compartment fires | flame spread | flashover | shipboard fires | fire tests | fire simulation
- Identifiers
- design fire
- Abstract
- Following the missile attack on the USS STARK in the Persian Gulf, the International Ship Conflagration Control Program was initiated to assess the impact of a fire resulting from burning missile propellant in a shipboard compartment. To support this program it was necessary to "design" a test fire which would simulate the post-flashover fire conditions in a shipboard compartment following a propellant burn. Initially, the problems were bounded using small scale testing in simulated shipboard compartments, and then further defined on the Navy full scale fire research and test ship, the ex-USS SHADWELL. A total of sixty fires were conducted in a simulated shipboard compartment to develop a design fire for full scale testing. The design fire was developed to approximate a "worst case" post-flashover compartment fire. The design fire can produce average compartment temperatures of over 1000 deg C (1832 deg F) almost instantly. During this analysis, estimates on the likelihood and times for fire spread were also developed.