Lunchtime Seminar Dr. Wolfram Jahn - Fire Research at Universidad Católica de Chile

CFD simulations typically take large periods of time to complete, and their results would thus not be available in time to be of use to firefighters during an emergency. They often face uncertain conditions when entering a building to attack a fire, and would greatly benefit from a technology based on predictive fire simulations, able to assist their decision making process. The principal constraint to faster CFD simulations is the fine grid necessary to accurately solve the physical processes that govern a fire. We explore the possibility of overcoming this constraint by using coarse grid CFD simulations for fire scenarios, and proposes a methodology to use the simulation results in a meaningful way that can be used by the fire fighters during an emergency. Data from real scale compartment fire tests were used to compare CFD fire models with different grid arrangements, and empirical correlations were obtained to interpolate data points into the grids. The results show that the strongly predominant effect of the heat release rate of the fire on the fluid dynamics allows for the use of coarse grids with relatively low overall impact of simulation results.