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Author
Cooper, L. Y.
Title
Estimating the Environment and the Response of Sprinkler Links in Compartment Fires With Draft Curtains and Fusible Link-Actuated Ceiling Vents. Part 1. Theory.
Coporate
National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
Sponsor
AAMA Research Foundation, Des Plaines, IL
Report
NBSIR 88-3734, April 1988, 37 p.
Distribution
Available from National Technical Information Service
Keywords
sprinklers | building fires | compartment fires | computer models | algorithms | mathematical models | vents | sprinkler response | zone models | ceiling vents
Identifiers
LAVENT
Abstract
The physical basis and associated mathematical model for estimating the fire-generated environment and the response of sprinkler links in well-ventilated, curtained compartment fires with fusible link-actuated ceiling vents is developed. Complete equations and assumptions are presented. Phenomena taken into account include: the flow dynamics of the upward-driven, buoyant fire plume; growth of the elevated-temperature smoke layer in the curtained compartment; the flow of smoke from the layer to the outside through open ceiling vents; the flow of smoke below curtain partitions to building spaces adjacent to the curtained space of fire origin; continuation of the fire plume in the upper layer; heat transfer to the ceiling surface and the thermal response of the ceiling as a function of radial distance from the point of plume-ceiling impingement; the velocity and temperature distribution of plume-driven near-ceiling flows and the response of near-ceiling-deployed fusible links as functions of distance below the ceiling and distance from plume-ceiling impingement.