Abstract
When investigating a fire type event, one has to have in mind that maybe the most important aspect is the identification of the source of ignition. Nowadays, commercial and open-source software are available and can be used during such investigations. The fire field model - Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) is one of the most popular numerical model used for fire investigation. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the importance of computer simulations when two hypotheses, Arson effect with multiple fireplaces and electric short circuit are taken into consideration as the cause of the fire. To virtually simulate the findings at the fire site, the FDS tool (Computational Fluid Dynamics) was used. Computational simulations for the two scenarios revealed that the multiple fireplaces scenario, the initial ignition at both the warehouse and the roof of the annex, illustrates the effects of the fire in a similar way to those found at the site, while the scenario with the initial source on the wall of the room with the electrical panel produces a fire located at the level of the construction and is not transmitted to the annex. Consequently, the results obtained validate the multiple outbreak (Arson effect) scenario.
Highlights
Fires have been one of the most destructive events that mankind has dealt with
After the fire has been extinguished, how do we know if we are dealing with a spontaneous fire or something much eviller is at stake? Because of the highly technological breakthroughs, intelligent computers and a lot of research, we can identify the source of a fire event with the help of computer simulations, this being the purpose of this article
Computer simulations for the two scenarios revealed that the multiple fireplaces scenario, the initial ignition both at the workshop and at the roof of the animal annex, illustrates the effects of the fire in a similar way to those found at the fire site, while the scenario with the original source on the wall of the room with the electrical panel produces a fire located at the level of the building assembly and is not transmitted to the animal annex
Summary
Fires have been one of the most destructive events that mankind has dealt with. Whether it’s forest fires, building fires or electrical fires, they can be classified in five different ways depending on the agent that fuels them: Class A, Class B, Class C, Class D, and Class K. - Comparison with tests performed on a real scale, in order to evaluate the FDS code; - Comparison with engineering correlations; - Comparison with the results of scale tests; - Comparison with standard test; - Comparison through documented experience in the field of fires This software has been used in a wide-range area of expertise, such as its capabilities for predicting upward flame spread [2], its accuracy to establish cable tunnel model, set materials, such as fire sprinkler water parameters [3], or to confirm a fire development process and to analyze the main cause of death, this showing that numerical reconstruction methods can simulate the fire accidents effectively. This software has been used in a wide-range area of expertise, such as its capabilities for predicting upward flame spread [2], its accuracy to establish cable tunnel model, set materials, such as fire sprinkler water parameters [3], or to confirm a fire development process and to analyze the main cause of death, this showing that numerical reconstruction methods can simulate the fire accidents effectively. [4] In our particular case, FDS proved to be an excellent tool in validating one of the fire scenarios that was taken into consideration based on what was found at the fire site
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