Probabilistic assessment of off-the-shelf fire sprinkler Head activation time through laboratory experiments

Abstract

The activation time of a sprinkler has a great impact on the fire growth inside a compartment. The longer time it takes for a sprinkler to activate, the higher the risk of fire to start to spread inside the compartment. In this study, the activation times of off-the-shelf half inch 68°C fire rated pendant sprinklers were assessed through experiments in laboratory settings and eventually best-fit probabilistic curve for the Response Time Index (RTI) were generated from the experimental results. The experiments were conducted in two sets; one set without smoke effect and the other set with smoke effect to determine the activation time and temperature of the sprinkler heads. The data recorded were then used to calculate the RTI and Palisade @ RISK statistical analysis software was used to analyze the best-fit probabilistic curve for the RTIs. It was observed that, average time required for sprinkler to activate was 60 seconds. It was also found that the calculated RTI were within the range of the international sprinkler design guideline. However, the calculated RTI were found to be inconsistent with specified RTI from manufacturer. Based on @ RISK software, the two best-fit RTI probabilistic curve for the two experiments were Gamma and BetaGeneral distribution curve. The probabilistic curves obtained from this work can be used as input for fire in enclosure simulations.