Automobile interior fire and its spread to an adjacent vehicle

Abstract

Knowledge of the course of an automobile fire is an important issue in automobile fire safety and can have a significant impact on fire safety measures in car parks and other structures with a high concentration of automobiles. In this article, computer simulations of fire in an automobile interior and its influence on an adjacent vehicle are investigated. The results of simulations are compared with the results of the measurements obtained during a full-scale fire experiment conducted in Povazsky Chlmec (Slovakia) in 2009. The comparison confirms the accuracy of the simulation. A parameter study related to some selected material properties, which shows that seat material properties are the most important for the fire development, is described. Due to high computational requirements, a parallel version of the calculation is studied, and the influence of parallelization on performance and accuracy is tested as well. As the glass breakage is one of the most important factors affecting the course of an automobile fire, a simple practical criterion to determine when window breakage will occur is proposed.

Car Fires in Multi-Story Parking Garages

“…The high level of heat release rate per unit area during car fires increases the collapse risk of parking garages. Most of fire spread tests are based on lateral fire spread scenarios in the literature [10,11]. Weisenpacker et al [11] focused on temperature levels around and inside of burning cars and did not measure the heat release rates (HRR).…”

“…Most of fire spread tests are based on lateral fire spread scenarios in the literature [10,11]. Weisenpacker et al [11] focused on temperature levels around and inside of burning cars and did not measure the heat release rates (HRR). On the contrary, Park et al [10] measured HRR by using large-scale calorimeter and the maximum HRR for the single-car fire was estimated as 3.5 MW.…”

Mine Fire Behavior under Different Ventilation Conditions: Real-Scale Tests and CFD Modeling

“…Both software were developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD, U.S.A., 2009. As the experiments were performed during several years, the same version was used over time to preserve compatibility and comparability with all the tests, using a well-tried and stable version [24]. The Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS), v5.3, was used to define the mesh and boundary conditions, as well as solve the equations, while the Smoke View (SMV), v5.3, was used to visualize the results.…”

“…Both software were developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD, U.S.A., 2009. As the experiments were performed during several years, the same version was used over time to preserve compatibility and comparability with all the tests, using a well-tried and stable version [24].…”

Fire Performance of Automated Tall Car Park Structures

“…The high level of heat release rate per unit area during car fires increases the collapse risk of car park structures. Most of fire spread tests are based on lateral fire spread scenarios in the literature [10,11]. Weisenpacker et al [11] focused on temperature levels around and inside of burning cars and did not measure the heat release rates (HRR).…”