Numerical studies on atrium smoke movement and control with validation by field tests

Many computer fire models were developed in the literature with the rapid advancement of information technology. With the possibility of implementing engineering performance-based fire codes, fire models are used frequently in hazard assessment. Among the different approaches, fire field models using the technique of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) are widely used. The approach takes the advantage of predicting the fire environment in a ‘microscopic’ picture. Air flow pattern, pressure and temperature contours can be predicted. However, it is not easy to validate the CFD predicted results. Most of the field models are only validated by some experiments not specially designed for such purpose. There are very few studies on comparison with field measurements in actual sites. Whether those models are suitable for use are queried, leading to challenges. In this paper, the CFD tool fire dynamics simulator developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in USA will be applied to study atrium fires. Smoke layer interface height and air temperatures inside the atrium are simulated. The experimental data on atrium hot smoke tests carried out recently was used. CFD results predicted can be validated by comparing with the experimental results.