VALIDATION OF FDS PREDICTIONS ON FIRE-INDUCED FLOW: A FOLLOW-UP TO PREVIOUS STUDY

In an attempt to investigate the accuracy of predictions of fire-induced flow into a compartment by FDS, a follow-up study was explored resting on the previous achievement. Simulations with more delicate configurations in multiple scenarios were performed. The results are compared with the Steckler’s experimental data obtained at NIST in 1982. Improvements to the previous study include finer grids and an inclusion of radiative heat in the combustion model. The computational domain was increased such that it includes the space outside the doorway, not done in the previous study. In order to get a general application to different scenarios with varied door widths, the distance of the domain increase was scaled to the effective diameter Dd, the diameter of a circle with the same area as the doorway. To compensate for the reduced entrainment due to a rectangular burner adjoining a wall in the model instead of the round experimental burner, efforts are made by shifting the burner location for the modeling scenarios of fire at corner or against wall. It is found that 0.5Dd is the required computational domain extension to improve accuracy. The input and set up changes made to the FDS simulation allowed significant improvements to the prediction of mass flow rates for all three positions of the fire source. However, there is not much improvement for the remaining three parameters being compared: lower layer temperature, smoke layer height and neutral plane height.

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