Application of response surface methodology for optimizing evacuation time in enclosed car park

Smoke fills the car park area due to smoke back layering occurred during a fire. The presence of the beam which leads to the smoke back layering phenomena is investigated to remain smoke layer longer at the upper level with fewer occurrences of backflow. In the current study, a combination of Design of Experiment (DOE); Central Composite Design, (CCD) and statistical tools Response Surface Methodology, (RSM) were utilised to evaluate an optimal design for longer smoke residing time. The Fire Dynamic Simulator (FDS), a CFD model for the fire-driven fluid flow, was employed as a flow simulation tool. The result of six replication model produced by DOE, the error that ranged from 0.48% to 1.77% indicating that the model is reliable. It was also found that the polynomial regression result was linear with predicted R2 of 97.64%, which was within the actual R2 (99.45%). The effects of five control parameters such as ceiling height, beam spacing, transversal beam, extraction rate and longitudinal beam on the smoke descend time has been found to be significant. In the optimal design, the smoke remained longer at the upper level with the percentage of improvement 217.95%. The contribution of the study is the time measured in this analysis is adequate within the beam span only. Interestingly, it effects to the overall geometry with having a lengthier time of smoke to descend. The polynomial model should be used for future engineering design in an enclosed car park.

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