Computer simulation of the King's Cross fire: effect of radiative heat transfer on fire spread

A mathematical model has been applied to simulate model experiments of the 1987 King's Cross undergound fire by the Department of Health and Safety Executive. The predicted growth of the fire is compared with the experimental data and in particular the predicted and measured times to 'flas...

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Main Authors: W. Malalasekera, F. Lockwood
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Published: 1991
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2134/5699
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spelling rr-article-95635701991-01-01T00:00:00Z Computer simulation of the King's Cross fire: effect of radiative heat transfer on fire spread W. Malalasekera (7120844) F. Lockwood (7212335) Mechanical engineering not elsewhere classified untagged Mechanical Engineering not elsewhere classified A mathematical model has been applied to simulate model experiments of the 1987 King's Cross undergound fire by the Department of Health and Safety Executive. The predicted growth of the fire is compared with the experimental data and in particular the predicted and measured times to 'flashover' are compared. The comparisons show exceptional agreement which, in part, may be fortuitous due to the need to facilitate the prediction of the early stages of the growth with the aid of an experimentally estimated fire strength. The good agreement nonetheless is also due to the full description of the radiation transfer which is a feature of the mathematical model. It is concluded that the flashover phenomenon that occured at King's Cross was thermal radiation driven and that future research should be devoted to modelling the details of fire spread across a combustible surface. 1991-01-01T00:00:00Z Text Journal contribution 2134/5699 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Computer_simulation_of_the_King_s_Cross_fire_effect_of_radiative_heat_transfer_on_fire_spread/9563570 CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
institution Loughborough University
collection Figshare
topic Mechanical engineering not elsewhere classified
untagged
Mechanical Engineering not elsewhere classified
spellingShingle Mechanical engineering not elsewhere classified
untagged
Mechanical Engineering not elsewhere classified
W. Malalasekera
F. Lockwood
Computer simulation of the King's Cross fire: effect of radiative heat transfer on fire spread
description A mathematical model has been applied to simulate model experiments of the 1987 King's Cross undergound fire by the Department of Health and Safety Executive. The predicted growth of the fire is compared with the experimental data and in particular the predicted and measured times to 'flashover' are compared. The comparisons show exceptional agreement which, in part, may be fortuitous due to the need to facilitate the prediction of the early stages of the growth with the aid of an experimentally estimated fire strength. The good agreement nonetheless is also due to the full description of the radiation transfer which is a feature of the mathematical model. It is concluded that the flashover phenomenon that occured at King's Cross was thermal radiation driven and that future research should be devoted to modelling the details of fire spread across a combustible surface.
format Default
Article
author W. Malalasekera
F. Lockwood
author_facet W. Malalasekera
F. Lockwood
author_sort W. Malalasekera (7120844)
title Computer simulation of the King's Cross fire: effect of radiative heat transfer on fire spread
title_short Computer simulation of the King's Cross fire: effect of radiative heat transfer on fire spread
title_full Computer simulation of the King's Cross fire: effect of radiative heat transfer on fire spread
title_fullStr Computer simulation of the King's Cross fire: effect of radiative heat transfer on fire spread
title_full_unstemmed Computer simulation of the King's Cross fire: effect of radiative heat transfer on fire spread
title_sort computer simulation of the king's cross fire: effect of radiative heat transfer on fire spread
publishDate 1991
url https://hdl.handle.net/2134/5699
_version_ 1797562413059407872