A New Method for Quantifying Fire Growth Rates Using Statistical and Empirical Data – Applied to Determine the Effect of Arson
Nilsson, Martin ; Johansson, Nils LU
and Van Hees, Patrick
LU
(2014)
11th International Symposium on Fire Safety Science
- Abstract
- When designing fire safety of buildings the fire growth rate is an important parameter, in large affecting the
overall fire safety level within the building. Generally, a deterministic fire growth rate is used raising the
question whether the resulting design arrives at a reasonable level of safety. A method was developed to
obtain distributions of fire growth rates in specific building types. The new method uses data from two
sources: fire statistics, and fire growth rates on single objects obtained by calorimetry experiments. In
addition, the method was demonstrated by a case study investigating whether the overall fire growth rate is
faster for commercial buildings if arson... (More) - When designing fire safety of buildings the fire growth rate is an important parameter, in large affecting the
overall fire safety level within the building. Generally, a deterministic fire growth rate is used raising the
question whether the resulting design arrives at a reasonable level of safety. A method was developed to
obtain distributions of fire growth rates in specific building types. The new method uses data from two
sources: fire statistics, and fire growth rates on single objects obtained by calorimetry experiments. In
addition, the method was demonstrated by a case study investigating whether the overall fire growth rate is
faster for commercial buildings if arson fires are included than if they are not. The results show that there is
a considerably higher fire growth rate when arson fires are accounted for, e.g. designing for a fast fire
growth rate of 0.047 kW/s2 covers 97% of accidental fires (arson excluded) but only 91% of all fires (arson
included). The results indicate that there is a need to account for arson fires when designing buildings when
the probability of arson is high. The developed method provides means to account for arson in fire safety
engineering, and to further quantify the achieved fire safety level. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4301137
- author
- Nilsson, Martin
; Johansson, Nils
LU
and Van Hees, Patrick
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2014
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- fire growth, statistics, building code, design fire, fire safety engineering
- host publication
- [Host publication title missing]
- pages
- 14 pages
- publisher
- International Association of Fire Safety Science
- conference name
- 11th International Symposium on Fire Safety Science
- conference location
- Christchruch, New Zealand
- conference dates
- 2014-02-09 - 2014-02-14
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:84975122987
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- d6d415ec-5487-40a8-a6b7-15bd6df9b462 (old id 4301137)
- alternative location
- http://www.iafss.org/publications/fss/11/44/view
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-04 10:37:44
- date last changed
- 2022-03-15 22:00:20
@inproceedings{d6d415ec-5487-40a8-a6b7-15bd6df9b462,
abstract = {{When designing fire safety of buildings the fire growth rate is an important parameter, in large affecting the <br/><br>
overall fire safety level within the building. Generally, a deterministic fire growth rate is used raising the <br/><br>
question whether the resulting design arrives at a reasonable level of safety. A method was developed to <br/><br>
obtain distributions of fire growth rates in specific building types. The new method uses data from two <br/><br>
sources: fire statistics, and fire growth rates on single objects obtained by calorimetry experiments. In <br/><br>
addition, the method was demonstrated by a case study investigating whether the overall fire growth rate is <br/><br>
faster for commercial buildings if arson fires are included than if they are not. The results show that there is <br/><br>
a considerably higher fire growth rate when arson fires are accounted for, e.g. designing for a fast fire <br/><br>
growth rate of 0.047 kW/s2 covers 97% of accidental fires (arson excluded) but only 91% of all fires (arson <br/><br>
included). The results indicate that there is a need to account for arson fires when designing buildings when <br/><br>
the probability of arson is high. The developed method provides means to account for arson in fire safety <br/><br>
engineering, and to further quantify the achieved fire safety level.}},
author = {{Nilsson, Martin and Johansson, Nils and Van Hees, Patrick}},
booktitle = {{[Host publication title missing]}},
keywords = {{fire growth; statistics; building code; design fire; fire safety engineering}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{International Association of Fire Safety Science}},
title = {{A New Method for Quantifying Fire Growth Rates Using Statistical and Empirical Data – Applied to Determine the Effect of Arson}},
url = {{http://www.iafss.org/publications/fss/11/44/view}},
year = {{2014}},
}