Fire load and fire growth characteristics in modern high-rise buildings

Abstract

Fire load is the major contributor to the heat release rate, which defines the severity of a fire event in buildings. It is necessary to have a well-defined fire load for residential buildings to perform an adequate fire safety design. This study estimates the fire load and fire growth for modern residential apartments using survey results of 50 high-rise buildings in Istanbul, Turkey. The survey methodology is the inventory method primarily based on size measurements and photographic information obtained from physical visits to apartments and digital inventory of real-estate websites. Fire loads in living rooms, bedrooms, and kitchens form the basis of the study. Results show that the average fire load density in living rooms range from 310 MJ/m2 to 379 MJ/m2 whereas the range is within 518 MJ/m2 and 650 MJ/m2 for bedrooms. The kitchen has the average fire load density of 552 MJ/m2. Eurocode estimation of the fire load density for dwellings is found overly conservative compared to the survey results. The FDS results provide fire spread times of 1 min–11 min depending on the compartment. Cumulative fire growth curves for living rooms, bedrooms and kitchens are generated using fire load surveys and fire spread results.