An experimental study of fire development in deep enclosures\ud and a new HRR–time–position model for a deep enclosure\ud based on ventilation factor

The behaviour of fire within a deep (high-depth-to-height ratio) enclosure with various openings at one end has been studied experimentally. Sixteen fuel trays were placed within an 8.0m long × 2.0m wide × 0.6m high steel enclosure. The experiments confirmed previous smaller-scale experiments, which showed that the fires in deep enclosures are strongly influenced by the ventilation and are not at all uniform throughout the depth of the enclosure. The severity of exposure of structural members is much more severe close to the ceiling near the front of the enclosure compared with the back of the enclosure. Based on the test data that can be found in this report, as well as other well-known tests, a heat release rate–time–position model is proposed for fire development in deep enclosures. The same sets of test data are also used to evaluate other model predictions. Finally, a recommendation is made to choose a model based on the shape of the enclosure (i.e. deep, wide, square, etc.)