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Modeling the spatio-thermal fire hazard distribution of incandescent material ejecta in manufacturing

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Abstract

A mathematical model is developed to characterize the progressive time-evolution of a fragmenting incandescent object. The objective of these models is to provide a spatio-thermal footprint of the fragmentation field, which can be useful to guide fire safety rules in manufacturing workplaces, as well as to estimate fire hazards. Ascertaining the time-evolution of the temperature of the fragments is quite difficult to measure experimentally, which motivates the model development. Initially, analytical models based solely on ballistics, which provide qualitative trends, are developed to provide insight into the fundamental ratios that govern safe operating conditions. Thereafter, rapid numerical spatio-thermal models, which provide quantitative information, are then developed, based on particle methods. The model uses the released energy from the initial blast pulse to provide the starting kinetic energy of the system of particles and then numerically computes the trajectory and thermal state of the fragments under the influence of

  • drag from the surrounding air,

  • gravitational settling and

  • convective and radiative cooling.

Numerical examples and provided and extensions to high-fidelity are discussed.

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Notes

  1. We will discuss this assumption later in the paper.

  2. The viscosity coefficient for air is \(\mu _f=0.000018\) Pa/s.

  3. For shock analyses, see, for example, Hoover and Hoover [32], Gregoire et al. [33], Kudryashova et al. [34] and Cabalo et al. [35, 36].

  4. One conclusion from these experiments is that aerosols generated from a blast containing toxic materials cannot be assumed to be inactivated by the blast itself, which is consistent with findings of Eshkol and Katz [37] and Kanemitsu [38], where Hepatitis B from a suicide bomber was transmitted to survivors of the blast.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering 6195 Etcheverry Hall, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720-1740, USA

    T. I. Zohdi

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Zohdi, T.I. Modeling the spatio-thermal fire hazard distribution of incandescent material ejecta in manufacturing. Comput Mech 63, 701–711 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00466-018-1617-2

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