SIMULATION OF COMPARTMENT FIRES

• Published in: Urbanism. Arhitecturǎ. Construcții 2021-01, p.53-104
• Main Authors: Simion, Adrian, Dragomir, Claudiu Sorin, Stoica, Daniela
• Format: Article
• Language: eng ; rum
• Subjects: Building envelopes; Buildings; Context; Facades; Fire resistance; Fires; Flammability; Freeware; Full scale tests; Housing; Mathematical models; Residential areas; Residential buildings; Simulation; Thermal analysis
• ISSN: 2069-0509; 2069-6469

Context. Increasing the security of buildings by reducing the possibilities of spreading the fire resulting from compartment fires, can also be done by identifying sustainable constructive solutions for building envelopes and with the role of limiting the spread of fire on ETICS type fuel facades. Research in the literature highlights the need to validate the results obtained from natural scale tests performed to determine the fire resistance of ETICS systems using numerical calculation programs dedicated to this purpose. Materials and methods. When a compartment fire develops in a residential building, the combustible façade of the building becomes vulnerable due to the possibility of the fire spreading vertically, thus endangering the houses on the upper floors. In order to prevent the occurrence of this phenomenon, research in the field highlights the need to perform full-scale tests of ETICS type facade systems. Following these experimental tests, the aim is to identify constructive solutions to prevent the spread of compartment fires on the combustible facades of buildings and to obtain data that can later be the starting point for performing numerical computer simulations to validate the results and change the factors, which contributes to the spread and development of compartment fires on the facades of buildings. Results and discussions. For the simulation of the combustible facade fires of the buildings, the researchers from INCERC Bucharest used the numerical fire modeling program - Pyrosim. The calculation program was used to model a fire developed in a fire compartment in accordance with the provisions of the British standard BS 8414. The modeling was performed using the numerical fire simulation model Pyrosim Fire Dynamics Simulator, and the utility was used to view the results of Smokeview, which is an integral part of the FDS freeware package. Before the actual simulation of the fire, the experimental stand was accurately implemented in the simulation program, so that the results obtained, by running the simulation program, are as close as possible to reality. Conclusions. Within the INCERC Bucharest Branch, a series of theoretical and experimental studies were carried out in order to obtain data on the development of compartment fires, the evolution of temperatures inside the fire compartment and the action of fire on the combustible facades of a building. During these tests, the thermal load fire scenario provided for in the requirements o