A software package for temperature-time analysis in compartment fires
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Abstract
Compartment fires pose significant challenges for fire safety engineers and require accurate predictions of temperature-time curves to assess potential hazards and optimize safety measures. Despite the abundance of fire behaviour models, many of them rely on simplified assumptions. The models do not account for transient ventilation effects or the evolving nature of fuel loads. This paper describes an advanced software designed to provide fire safety engineers with a predictive tool for temperature-time analysis in compartment fires. The tool integrates advanced correlative models to improve the accuracy of thermal plume predictions and gas temperature evolution, addressing several limitations in existing fire modelling approaches. A comparative analysis of temperature-time curves using various calculation methods related to smoke and heat evacuation systems is conducted. The developed Matlab®-based tool allows for realistic temperature-time predictions considering fuel loading, ventilation dynamics, and wall properties, enabling, therefore, more reliable fire risk assessments. The obtained results confirm the effectiveness of the modelling approaches, that contribute to improve fire dynamics analysis, building designs, and enhanced emergency response strategies.
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