Effect of opening geometries on fire development in a ro-ro space

A series of model scale experiments were conducted to study the fire development in a ro-ro deck with various opening geometries. The performed 1/8 reduced heptane pool as source. Experimental results show that both ventilation factor and position affect development. critical ratio for self-extinguish is 4%, locating at bottom side walls while no self-extinction found other tests. higher larger height provide better flow exchange between ambient, but this effect only obvious 4% opening. Numerical shows Fire Dynamic Simulator used default simple settings underestimates yields an early extinction when occurs. For freely developed large openings, FDS gives more close experiments.