Recomended Reading - Wickstrom and The Parametric Fire (1981)
Recomended Reading - Wickstrom and The Parametric Fire (1981)
REFERENCE: Wickstrom, U., "Application of the StandanI Fire Curve for Expressing
Natural Fires for Design Purposes," Fire Safety: Science and Engineering, ASTM STP
882, T. Z. Harmathy, Ed., American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia,
1985, pp. 145-159.
ABSTRACT: A method suitable for design purposes is presented which allows postflash-
over compartment fires to be expressed in one single curve; time is then modified or scaled
to take into consideration ventilation conditions and wall properties. Ventilation-con-
trolled combustion, uniform temperature, and wall losses proportional to the thermal iner-
tia of the wall material are assumed. Although the proposed method allows the designer to
consider important parameters, it is still very approximative and must be used with care.
Several assumptions are made, and many parameters are difficult to assign values in the
general case. The method therefore should be looked upon as an improvement of the cur-
rent technique of carrying out fire engineering design by simply employing a standard
curve like ISO 834.
An analysis of the postflashover compartment fire, basically the same as has been pre-
sented elsewhere, is summarized. The parameters of ventilation and wall properties are
grouped together in such a way that their influence on the temperature development may
be expressed as a time factor. It is further shown that for certain parameter values the fire
temperature response in the heating phase nearly coincides with the ISO 834 standard
curve. Therefore, as this curve is well-established in fire engineering, it is suggested that it
be employed with the here suggested method; the time scale, however, is modified with a
compartment time factor depending on the properties of the fire compartment.
The assumed fire temperatures may be used to estimate the temperature in fire-exposed
structures. It is demonstrated how very compact diagrams may be used for concrete struc-
tures, which allows the designer to take into account various fires and thermal material
properties of the structure. The diagrams were obtained from finite-element computer cal-
culations in which various fires and material properties were simulated. By then plotting
the temperature response versus suitable parameter groups, it was possible to present the
results in a very compact way. Corresponding diagrams have earlier been presented for in-
sulated steel structures [/].
'Senior chief engineer, Division of Fire Technology, National Testing Institute, Boris, Sweden.
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146 FIRE SAFETY: SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
Nomenclature
A Opening area
a Thermal diffusivity
At Surrounding area
CQ, C ] , C2 Constants
c Specific heat capacity
h Opening height
I Rate of heat
k Conductivity
q Heat flux rate
T Temperature
t Time
t* Modified time
X Depth
Y ATh/AtZ-ikpc
Greek Letters
ai Flow constant
"2 Burning efficiency
Compartment time factor
r 72 = r
7
e Effective emissivity
1 Temperature rise ratio
Temperature rise T — TQ
e Density
p
a Stefan-Boltzmann constant
T( Time constant
Subscripts
A Standard fire compartment
a Thermal diffusivity
C By combustion
c Normal weight concrete
d Duration
/ Fire
L By convection
i Thermal inertia
R By radiation
W Walls
x.y Depth
0 Ambient, initial
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WICKSTROM ON STANDARD FIRE CURVE 147
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148 FIRE SAFETY: SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
where
a2 = a constant describing the burning efficiency and the combustion en-
ergy developed per unit mass of air.
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WICKSTROM ON STANDARD FIRE CURVE 149
where
Ai = the area of the compartment boundaries, and
qw — the heat flux rate.
For typical fire durations, the thermal thickness of most walls is so great that
they may be considered semi-infinite. Thus, q^h proportional to the thermal
inertia yfjkpc) of the wall material. In this simple model constant effective val-
ues of the thermal inertia must be chosen which incorporate effects of material
properties varying with temperature as well as effects of thin, exposed layers
where the conditions on the backside influence the thermal response of the ex-
posed surface. In most cases this influence is believed to be very small. The in-
fluence of the heat transfer resistance is small, and for the sake of simplicity it
is ignored in this study, that is, the wall surface temperature and the fire tem-
perature are assumed equal. The heat flux at the surface for a unit tempera-
ture rise is ^kpc/irt), and q^ is obtained by convolution between this
response function and the rate of temperature rise of the fire, 0y.
The radiation loss through the openings is
4 = ^ 9s (5)
where
qr is approximated as aTj, where a is the Stef an-Boltzmann constant and Tf
the absolute fire temperature.
Inserting Eqs 2 through 5 into Eq 1, followed by rearranging the heat bal-
ance equation, yields
C, = C, Qyit) + ^^ [ ^ 0 / (, - | ) d ^ + ^ (6)
'0
where
C\ = cai,
Ci = aiQ!2, and
y = {A^h/AtV^ihpc).
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150 FIRE SAFETY: SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
where
^Personal communication with Goren Sandberg, Lund Institute of Technology, Lund, Sweden.
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WICKSTROM ON STANDARD FIRE CURVE 151
ef[»ci
tions are plotted as well as the general natural fire curve as defined in Ref 1 and
an exponential approximation to the standard curve specified in the former
Swedish building code, SBN 1975 [10]. During the first several hours, all four
curves differ very little.
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152 FIRE SAFETY: SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
j 0 1 2 3
TABLE 2—Assumed material properties of normal-weight concrete and light-weight concrete [13].
Normal-Weight Light-Weight
Concrete Concrete
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WICKSTROM ON STANDARD FIRE CURVE 153
The values are taken from the Swedish Building Code [13]. In some cases the
thermal conductivity of concrete is assumed constant with the purpose of test-
ing the theory and creating the graphs for material with constant material
properties in general.
Figure 3 shows that for a given material the ratio ^]^, — Q^/Qf may approxi-
mately be given as a function of yt only. Of rjjy is plotted versus tw — (7/7,) t as
in Fig. 4, the material properties of the actual structure may be included in one
diagram as well. 7, is the ratio between the thermal inertia of the material of
the actual structure and that of normal-weight concrete (see Table 2)
Qw = i)wQf (12)
1.0
Light-weight , ^ *' * 0*9* « * * • * *
concrete , « ^»v*'*
% Normal weight
concrete
0.9
0.8
• Y=10
« 7 = 2.0
TlW =
Of
0.7
0.6 _, , , , 1
0.1 1.0 2,0 3.0 VO YHhl
FIG. 3—The ratio •^ between the surface temperature rise Qy/ and the fire temperature rise 9f
plotted versus 7 ! The thermal conductivity of normal weight concrete varied according to Fig. 3.
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154 FIRE SAFETY: SCIENCE A N D ENGINEERING
•nw.-n
FIG. 4—Upper curve and upper horizontal axis: the ratio 1}^ versus t^ = ly/yjt. Lower curve
and lower horizontal axis: the ratio -q,, versus fi^ = y^ t/x^.
The temperatures obtained with this approximation differ by less than a few
percent from the values obtained with TASEF-2.
Inside a structure the temperature rise 9^. at a distance x from the surface
may also be obtained from Fig. 4 where the ratio rj^ = QJQ-w is plotted versus
"x = Tfli/jc^. The coefficient 7„ is the ratio between the thermal diffusivity of
the actual structure and of normal-weight concrete (see Table 2)
7« = a/a. (13)
e, =,,, ew (14)
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WICKSTROM ON STANDARD FIRE CURVE 155
Thermal conductivity, k
[Wm-iKl
\
^^
1 0-
0-
0 500 1000 Temp°C
and by inserting Eq 12
©I - ^x Vw 9, (15)
'/
Observe that the approximations as outlined here are particularly simple to use
when analyzing normal weight concrete structures exposed to the standard fire
curve, that is y, 7,, and y^ are equal to unity.
FIG. 6—When estimating the temperature at the distance xfrom the exposed surface, the wall
may be assumed infinitely thick if the penetration depth & > (2d — x), where 6 = J.6V7atj.
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156 FIRE SAFETY: SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
is derived where 0 ^ is the temperature rise at the distances otx a n d j to the two
perpendicular surfaces, respectively. The values of rj^ and the corresponding rjy
are obtained from Fig. 4 as just described for one-dimensional configurations.
x = (xiX2X3 . . . ; c „ ) i / « (18)
where x, is the distance to the surface of each of the reinforcement bars. In the
case of bars of various areas A;, the weighted effective distance is obtained as
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WICKSTROM ON STANDARD FIRE CURVE 157
on the amount and the characteristics of the fuel load and the ventilation con-
ditions. The assumption that the fire is ventilation-controlled and that the fuel
bums wholly inside the compartment implies that the heating phase duration
is proportional to the fuel load density divided by the ventilation factor; al-
though very crude, such an estimate is suggested, for example, in the Swedish
building code. The fuel load density is defined as the total heat of combustible
material per unit internal surface area of the compartment. While during the
heating phase the temperature may be estimated as just described, a good esti-
mate during the cooling phase is more difficult to express in a general way.
In the international standard ISO 834, the cooling phase temperature is as-
sumed to decline linearly with time; the rates vary with the fire durations.
These decay curves are rough approximations of natural fires [2], and, as the
fire temperature in the cooling phase is hard to estimate on a sound physical
basis, it is here suggested that the linear time temperature relation as described
in ISO 834 should be employed for the type of analysis introduced here as well.
The maximum temperature at a point in a structure exposed to a complete
fire history is not reached until some time has elapsed into the cooling phase.
Figure 7 shows an example of how the maximum temperature rise may be ob-
tained in a structure exposed to a fire with a heating phase duration t^ = 1 h,
followed by a cooling phase according to ISO 834. An unlimited fire is
simulated and G^ax is calculated at the time t = t^ + At where At depends on
the depth of the point considered. By experience from several computer
analyses, the following approximate estimation is obtained
Ai = ;uxVa (20)
With fjL = 0.34, this approximation procedure predicts the maximum temper-
ature with an accuracy of about 5% on the condition that the predicted tem-
perature is over 400°C and the fire duration is less than 1 h.
Examples
Estimate the temperature rise 4 cm into a semi-infinitely thick concrete wall
after a fire duration, t^ = 1 h. Assume standard material properties as given in
Table 2 with variable thermal conductivity as shown in Fig. 5 (7,- = Ja — 1),
and a fire characterized by a fire compartment time factor, F = 4.
Start by calculating the modified fire duration ^* = 4 h and get 6y =
1130°C from Fig. 2; then calculate tyy = y tj = 2h and /j.^ = t^/x^ = 625 h
m~^ and get from Fig. 4 rj^ = 0.97 and r/^ = 0.345, respectively. Now the
temperature rise is calculated as 9^. = rj^ rjvy Qy = 379°C. A finite-element
analysis of the same example gave 0^. = 380°C.
Then calculate the maximum temperature at the same point if the cooling
phase temperature development is according to ISO 834.
A time increment At = 0.36 h is calculated according to Eq 20. Thus, the ef-
fective time is 1.36 h or in the modified time scale 5.44 h. Now continue the cal-
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158 FIRE SAFETY: SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
ecci
1000-
500-
Concrete temperature
xsOOim
2.0 t[hl
FIG. l^The maximum temperature is estimated by increasing the fire duration and carrying
out the analysis at a fictitious time (t^ + At). The graphs are obtained from finite-element com-
puter calculations [11].
culation as above and get the maximum temperature 0"*" = 446°C. A com-
puter analysis gave Gf ^^ = 446°C.
Finally, calculate the temperature rise in a comer of a concrete structure at a
point X = 4 cm and 3; = 6 cm from the boundaries after a 2-h exposure to the
standard fire curve (r = 1). With the same procedure as above 9^ = 1028°C,
riw = 0.97, rj^ = 0.475, and 17^ = 0.325. Then Eq 17 yields 0 ^ = 649°C. A
corresponding computer analysis gave 0 ^ = 650°C.
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WICKSTROM ON STANDARD FIRE CURVE 159
Summaiy
The fully developed compartment fire has been analyzed, and the sugges-
tion is made that the standard fire curve according to ISO 834 may be used as a
basis for describing natural fires. The influence of ventilation condition and
thermal properties of surrounding structures is considered by modifying the
time scale. However, to avoid unrealistically high temperature for modified
fire durations exceeding 10 h, the logarithmic expression of the ISO curve is re-
placed by a sum of exponential terms.
It has also been shown how the temperature in fire-exposed concrete struc-
tures can be estimated by employing simple diagrams, Figs. 2 and 4. Various
fire conditions and material properties may be considered. One- and two-
dimensional structures were studied and the suggested approximation proce-
dures were shown to yield results that only deviated a few percent from the re-
sults obtained by comprehensive computer analyses.
Acknowledgments
Stig Andersson was most helpful with the calculation work of this paper.
His contribution to the design and plotting of the diagrams is also greatly
appreciated.
Referances
[1] Wickstrom, Ulf, Fire Safety Journal, Vol. 4, 1981, 1982, p. 219.
[2] Magnusson, S.-E. and Thelandersson, S.,Acta Polytechnica Scandinavia, Civil Engineering
Building Construction, Series No. 65, 1970; or "Temperature-Time Curves of Complete Pro-
cess of Fire Development," Bulletin 19, Division of Structural Mechanics and Concrete Con-
struction, Lund Institute of Technology, Lund, 1970.
[3] Magnusson, S.-E. and Thelandersson, S., "Comments on Rate of Gas Flow and Rate of Burn-
ing for Fires in Enclosures," Bulletin 19, Division of Structural Mechanics and Concrete
Construction, Lund Institute of Technology, Lund, 1971.
[4] Harmathy, T. Z. and Mehaffey, J. R., Fire and Materials, Vol. 7, 1983, p. 49.
[5] Harmathy, T. Z., Fire and Materials, Vol. 4, 1980, p. 71.
[6] Harmathy, T. Z.,Fire and Materials, Vol. 5, 1981, p. 112.
[7\ Kawagoe, K. and Sekine, T., "Estimation of Fire Temperature-Time Curve in Rooms," BRI
Occasional Report 11, Building Research Institute, Tokyo, 1963.
[8\ Odeen, K., "Theoretical Study of Fire Characteristics in Enclosed Spaces," Bulletin 10, Di-
vision of Building Construction, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, 1963.
[9] Babrauskas, V., "Fire Endurance in Buildings," Report No. UCB FRO 76-16, Fire Re-
search Group, Department of Civil Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 1977.
[10\ The Swedish Building Code, SBN 1975, The National Swedish Board of Physical Planning
and Building, Stockholm.
[//] Wickstrom, Ulf, "TASEF-2—A Computer Program for Temperature Analysis of Structures
Exposed to Fire," Report No. 79-2, Department of Structural Mechanics, Lund Institute of
Technology, Lund, 1979.
[12] Paulsson, Mats, "PRETEMP—Preprocessor for Finite Element Analysis of Non-linear
Transient Heat Conduction," LUTVDG/(TVSM-7011)/l-79/(1983). Division of Structural
Mechanics, Lund Institute of Technology, Lund, 1983.
[13] "Rules for Approval of Loadbearing Capacity of Building Elements Subjected to Fire," PFS
1984:1, The National Swedish Board of Physical Planning and Building, Stockholm, 1984.
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