Fire thermal boundary condition measurement using a hybrid heat flux gage

Abstract

New experimental methods have been developed using a hybrid heat flux gage to quantify the thermal boundary condition to a surface exposed to fire. The hybrid heat flux gage is capable of measuring the net heat flux and exposure heat flux at gage temperatures up to 1000°C without the need for water cooling. Using these heat fluxes at elevated surface temperatures, new methods were developed to quantify the convective heat transfer coefficient and adiabatic surface temperature. In addition, a procedure is presented for determining the convective and radiative heat flux components when the gas temperature is measured close to the gage surface. Techniques were validated in a series of experiments performed in a cone calorimeter at different heat fluxes. Cold surface heat fluxes from the hybrid heat flux gage were within 5% of heat fluxes measured using a water-cooled Schmidt-Boelter gage. Temporal adiabatic surface temperature measurements from the hybrid gage compared well with steady-state plate thermometer measurements.