Effects of Surface Flame Spread of Plywood Lining on Enclosure Fire in a Modified ISO Room

Abstract

Surface burning areas of plywood lining installed at walls and ceiling of a modified ISO room enclosure were estimated using surface temperatures measured in the full-scale enclosure fire tests. Based on the surface burning areas, the development of surface flame spread at the lining surface has been assessed experimentally. The correlation of the resulting surface flame spread at different burning times was attempted with other important experimental data associated with the enclosure fire growth, including heat release, room temperatures, heat fluxes imposed on the floor, the interface height of the hot and cold gas layer etc. Results showed that for the plywood lining used the surface burning area was a critical factor that significantly influenced the enclosure fire growth and could be reasonably well correlated to many other parameters of the enclosure fire. The study not only investigated the effect of surface flame spread of the lining on the enclosure fire growth in-depth but also produced useful experimental data and analyses for the further development of numerical modeling for enclosure fires lined with combustible materials.