Influence Of Wall Flames On The Dynamics Of Fully Developed Compartment Fires - 2024/2025

The influence of wall flames on the dynamics of fully developed compartment fires is critical for understanding their spread and severity. When the internal surfaces of a room actively participate in combustion, flames along the walls generate additional heat flows, intensifying thermal transfer into the compartment.

This alters the temperature distribution, accelerates material ignition, and prolongs the fully developed burning phase. Moreover, wall flames affect flow fields and gas stratification, impacting ventilation and the location of the neutral plane. As a result, simplified fire models that assume homogeneous conditions are insufficient to describe these phenomena.

Understanding this interaction is essential for designing passive and active protection strategies, as well as for improving risk prediction in buildings. Ultimately, wall flames not only increase fire severity, but also reshape the internal dynamics of the compartment.

Program: Fondecyt

Project Duration: 36 months

Principal Investigator: Wolfram Michael Andreas Oliver Jahn