Full Scale Investigations of Fast Spreading Room Fires

Christian Knaust; Anja Hofmann

doi:10.3139/120.110518

Article

Full Scale Investigations of Fast Spreading Room Fires

Christian Knaust and Anja Hofmann

Published/Copyright: October 1, 2014

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From the journal Materials Testing Volume 56 Issue 1

Abstract

Fires in homes develop very fast nowadays, because the amount of combustible materials in furniture and electrical devices has increased significantly in recent years. Especially fires in children's rooms can be very hazardous as several recent fires in Germany showed. To investigate the fire and smoke development in such a fire the test room was furnished like a typical children's room and equipped with 36 thermocouples and a pressure measurement device. Also smoke detectors were installed. The fire was ignited by a small candle which was in contact with a mattress only for one second. Flashover occurred only after 4 minutes. The fire load and the fire and smoke development were investigated. The fire safety regulations for the furnishings, electrical devices and toys were discussed. Additionally the temperature rise in the compartment was predicted according to the method of McCaffrey.

Kurzfassung

Brände in Wohnungen entwickeln sich heutzutage sehr schnell, weil der Anteil an brennbaren Materialien in Einrichtungsgegenständen und elektrischen Geräte in den letzten Jahren signifikant zugenommen hat. Insbesondere Brände in Kinderzimmern können sehr gefährlich sein, was mehrere Brände in Deutschland in den letzten Jahren belegen. Um die Brand- und Rauchentwicklung bei einem solchen Brand zu untersuchen, wurde ein Testraum wie ein typisches Kinderzimmer möbliert und mit 36 Thermoelementen sowie einem Druckmessgerät ausgestattet. Zusätzlich wurden Rauchmelder installiert. Der Brand wurde mittels eines Teelichts initiiert, das für ca. eine Sekunde mit einer Matratze in Kontakt gebracht wurde. Der Feuerüberschlag fand nach nur vier Minuten statt. Sowohl die Brandlast als auch die Brand- und Rauchentwicklung wurden untersucht. Vorschriften zur Brandsicherheit von Einrichtungsgegenständen, elektrischen Geräten und Spielzeugen wurden diskutiert. Ergänzend wurde der Temperaturanstieg im Brandraum unter Anwendung des Verfahrens von McCaffrey vorhergesagt‥

Dr.-Ing. Christian Knaust, born 1978 in Weimar, Germany, studied Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University of Dresden, Germany, was in the BAM Doctoral Program, and achieved his Dr.-Ing. degree at the Technical University of Vienna, Austria, in Civil Engineering. In 2009, he won the German Fire Protection Association (VFDB/GFPA) Doctoral Award and since 2011, he is responsible for the working fields “Large-Scale Industrial Fires and Fire Safety of Tunnels” at the Federal Institute for Materials Testing (BAM) in Berlin, Germany.

Dr.-Ing. Anja Hofmann, born 1970 in Berlin, Germany, studied Physical Engineering at the Technical University Berlin, Germany and achieved her doctoral degree in Civil Engineering at the Technical University Berlin, Germany, in 2003. After a post-doc position at the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) in the field of fire engineering, she has been head of the working group “Fire Scenarios” for several years and is now responsible for the research fields “Enclosure Fires and Reaction-to-Fire Tests”. Among numerous other research and standardization activities, she is working in the presidential board of the German Fire Protection Association (VFDB/GFPA).

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Published Online: 2014-10-01

Published in Print: 2014-01-02

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https://doi.org/10.3139/120.110518