Physical modeling of a fire with the use of the Froude number

Abstract

Ever since the field of Fire Safety Engineering first came into existence, small-scale (model scale) fire tests were the source of much valuable information about the phenomena occurring during combustion. Over the years, several computational methods to determine the criteria for the similarity of fires on both a real and small geometric scale have been developed. The purpose of this article is to present a method of performing fire tests on a model scale using the Froude number. The basics of scaling, similarity conditions that must be preserved, ways of describing fire phenomena, as well as methods of calculating fire parameters from the real and model scale have been discussed. An example of physical tests with the use of reduced research models is also presented. What is particularly emphasized is how important these types of experiments are and what responsibility rests with the people who carry them ouvol. The motivation to conduct research is the safety of people who reside in buildings with fire protection based on model scale test.