A study on the calculation method for the number of vehicles in queue to determine the fire ventilation capacity in road tunnels - forced on the effect of queue length

Abstract

When the queue length of congestion vehicles in tunnel fire is extended beyond tunnel length, the capacity of smoke control system needs to be increased in line with ventilation resistance. However, the vehicle queue length is not defined , so a rational equation is necessary in current fire prevention guideline. This study is intended to propose an equation to calculate the queue length considering the number of vehicles in queue in tunnel fire and evaluate the applicability by tunnel length as well. When it comes to normal tunnel, it is necessary to compare the vehicle queue length with tunnel length up to the length of 1,200 m in a bid to avoid applying the vehicle queue length excessively in case of fire. As a result of evaluation of applicability to model a tunnel, saving the number of jet fan for smoke control appeared to be effective. Besides, quantitative approach to explain the vehicle queue length through the relationship between the percentage of large vehicles and tunnel length was presented. Consequently, when the queue length of the congestion vehicles exceeds the tunnel length in determining the capacity of smoke control system in case of fire, the number of vehicles beyond the tunnel length needs to be excluded from estimating the ventilation resistance by vehicles.