Laboratory Scaling of the Fluid Mechanical Aspects of Mass Fires.

Abstract

Knowledge concerning the large, rapidly increasing fire environment area following nuclear detonations over a city is vital to civil defense planning. The high temperature, high winds, high thermal-radiation flux, and high noxious-gas concentrations at street level present an adverse environment for the escape of people, for fighting fire, and for the security of shelters. Furthermore, a knowledge of this environment at an early stage is necessary to predict subsequent fire spread within and around the area, e.g., the magnitude and direction of the induced winds affect firebrand generation, transport, and ignition of the surroundings. Information on the fire environment can also assist in designing more realistic fire-spread tests involving structures in a simulated large-area fire environment. The purpose of the research is to determine the feasibility of scaling in the laboratory the fluid-mechanical aspects, especially at the low-altitude, street-level environment, of a highly transient large-fire development. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 1970
Accession Number
AD0715413

Entities

People

  • Billy T. Lee

Organizations

  • SRI International

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Altitude
  • Civil Defense
  • Defense Planning
  • Environment
  • Fires
  • High Temperature
  • Low Altitude
  • National Security
  • Radiation
  • Security
  • Thermal Radiation

Readers

  • Fire Suppression Systems Design.
  • Nuclear Civil Defense.
  • Theoretical Analysis.