Abstract
This study applies the technique of numerical scale-model experiment to a room fire. Scale-model (physical model) experiments of fire phenomena are often conducted because of difficulties in conducting full-scale experiments; a scale-model experiment must be designed based on scaling laws such that the model experiment reproduces the prototype phenomenon. A numerical scale-model experiment is a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculation whose condition (length scale and input parameters such as material properties and acceleration due to gravity) is determined based on scaling considerations. Because it is easy to widely vary parameters in a CFD calculation, numerical scale-model experiment is a powerful tool for testing the validity of proposed scaling laws. In this study, Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) simulations are conducted to test scaling laws derived for a room tire with a focus on the buoyancy effect. It is confirmed that the well-known Froude-number modeling results in similar heat release rate histories under different conditions.
