HEATING MECHANISM OF FLAT CEILING EXPOSED TO LOCALIZED FIRE : An introduction to the fire safety design of building structures exposed to localized fire

Abstract

A framework to develop prediction method for structural and thermal response of load bearing members exposed to an isolated fire source is presented. Modeling of heat flux to the downward surface of a flat ceiling exposed to an isolated fire source on the floor is made through model experiments using propane porous burners as the fuel to see the first glimpse of the heating mechanism in the localized-fire scenario. Distribution of heat flux along a flat ceiling has been formulated as a function of the height from the fire source to the ceiling, intensity and size of the fire source, and the horizontal distance from the stagnation point , which is found to agree with experiments within an error of 50% for a wide range of the parameters.