Gorska, C;
Hidalgo, JP;
Torero, JL;
(2021)
Fire dynamics in mass timber compartments.
Fire Safety Journal
, 120
, Article 103098. 10.1016/j.firesaf.2020.103098.
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Abstract
Since Engineered Wood Products (EWPs) have entered the building industry as structural elements, several fire safety concerns have arisen, especially for high-rise structures. The combustible nature of timber suggests that the current models and correlations for compartment fire dynamics might not apply to compartments with timber boundaries, due to the increased fuel load and its redistribution across the compartment. In order to fill this knowledge gap, 24 medium-scale timber compartments have been carried out to characterise the fire dynamics when timber members are present. This experimental campaign provides data about the gas-phase temperatures, the flow fields at the opening, the burning behaviour of timber and its contribution to the total heat release rate. This data is then compared to Thomas and Heselden (1972) compartment fire framework that predicts the fire development in conventional compartments. This comparison highlights the limitations of this framework, and the subsequent analysis proposes several changes to include the effect of burning timber elements. It is concluded that gas flow velocities increase with the amount of timber present in the compartment. Therefore, the fire transitions to a new regime where the gases do not have enough time to mix and react inside the compartment, the temperatures decrease and the horizontal velocities at the opening increase.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Fire dynamics in mass timber compartments |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.firesaf.2020.103098 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.firesaf.2020.103098 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | Compartment fires, Heat release rate, Timber buildings |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Civil, Environ and Geomatic Eng |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10098780 |
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