FDS-Based Study of the Fire Performance of Huizhou Fire Seal Walls in Traditional Residential Buildings in Southern China

Abstract

In the history of human civilization, traditional villages and buildings have been significantly threatened by fire. As an essential part of Huizhou traditional architecture, fire seal walls play a crucial role in preserving Huizhou architecture by effectively blocking the spread of fire. However, with economic and social development, the Huizhou fire seal wall’s original fire prevention function has been unable to meet the needs of modern fire protection. This study aims to explore the fire performance of different types of Huizhou fire seal walls to provide a reference guide for future fire protection, optimization, and transformation of traditional buildings. In this paper, 3D models of traditional buildings with fire seal walls were built with FDS, and the performance of the different kinds of fire seal walls was simulated under the influence of wind speeds, building spacing, and the height of the vertical ridge of the fire seal wall. The results showed that, under the same conditions, a fire seal wall with a single eave is superior to fire seal walls with quintuple eaves in terms of performance, and fire seal walls with quintuple eaves are superior to fire seal walls with triple eaves in the middle and late stages of a fire. In addition, wind speeds, building spacing, and the height of the vertical ridge have different effects on the fire performance of seal walls. Lower wind speeds can reduce the fire performance of fire seal walls, and no wind and higher wind speeds have no significant effect on the fire performance of fire seal walls, while increasing the height of the vertical ridge and fire spacings appropriately can improve the fire performance of fire seal walls. This study provides a reference guide for future fire protection, optimization, and transformation of Huizhou fire seal walls, which can help improve the fire safety of traditional buildings.