Fire Phenomena

This page provides an overview of key fire dynamics phenomena of interest to the MaCFP Working Group as well as a list of Benchmark Experiments (i.e., fire modeling target cases) currently in the MaCFP repository that address these phenomena.

Target phenomena are grouped into Condensed-Phase, Gas-Phase, or Couple Condensed- & Gas-Phase categories; for each phenomena of interest, direct links are provided to relevant Benchmark Experiments in the MaCFP Repo.

Condensed Phase Phenomena

Priority	Condensed Phase Phenomena	Benchmark Experiment
Primary	Thermal decomposition of solid fuels	6, 7
	Ignition	6
	Gasification of condensed phase fuels	7 (see matl-db repo)
	Oxidation
Secondary	Charring
	Condensed phase heat transfer in complex materials
	In-depth radiative absorption
	Liquid phase transport effects

Gas Phase Phenomena

Priority	Gas Phase Phenomena	Benchmark Experiment
Primary	Buoyant plumes	1
	Convective heat transfer	3b, 6a,b
	Radiative heat transfer	3b, 6a,b
	Species transport and composition	3b
	Turbulent flow	3a
	Turbulent mixing	3a
Secondary	Compartment fire effects including ventilation
	Fire growth	6a,b
	Instabilities (large-scale puffing/small-scale phenomena)	3a,3b
	Local extinction and re-ignition	5
	Scale effects	3b
	Soot formation and oxidation (aerosol species)	3b
	Suppression	5
	Toxicity (yields of particles and toxic gases)	3b
	Visibility

Coupled Condensed- and Gas-Phase Phenomena

Priority	Condensed- and Gas-Phase Phenomena	Benchmark Experiment
Primary	Burning Rate	3
	Fire growth
	Fire spread	6a, 6b
Secondary	Wall-flame interactions
	Suppression

Benchmark Experiments

1. Turbulent buoyant plumes
   a. Sandia Helium Plume
   b. UMD Salt Water Plume

2. Turbulent Gaseous Pool Fires with Prescribed Fuel Flow
   a. NIST McCaffrey Natural Gas Flames
   b. Sandia Methane and Hydrogen flames

3. Turbulent Pool Fires with Liquid Fuel with Thermal Feedback Driven Fuel Flow
   a. Waterloo Methanol Pool Fire (30 cm)
   b. NIST Methanol (30 and 100 cm), Ethanol (30 cm), Acetone (30 cm) Pool Fires

4. Turbulent Gaseous Wall Fires
   a. FM Global Vertical Wall Flames (Methane and Propane)

5. Flame Extinction
   a. FM Burner
   b. UMD Methane and Propane Line Flames

6. Fire Growth over Combustible Solids
   a. NIST Parallel Panel (PMMA and other fuels)
   b. UMD Corner Wall (PMMA)