Analysis of High Bay Hangar Facilities for Fire Detector Sensitivity and Placement.

Published

February 1, 1997

Author(s)

Daniel L. Lowe, Kathy A. Notarianni, William D. Davis, J E. Gott

Abstract

Current guidelines for designing fire protection systems for aircraft hangars were developed with the primary objective of saving the building, and with less consideration given to minimizing damage to the hangar's contents. The high cost of modern aircraft justifies reexamining present fire detection and sprinkler activation methods to determine if new approaches could lead to a quicker response to a smaller fire, with the benefit of substantially reduced damage to aircraft adjacent to the fire source. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) established a unique Government/industry partnership to evaluate detector and sprinkler activation in aircraft hangars. The results of this comprehensive program are reported in this document. A CD-ROM containing test data, this report, and a video entitled "U. S. Navy High Bay Hangar Tests" may be purchased from the National Institute of Building Sciences, Washington, DC, fax: + (1) + 202-289-1092; e-mail: nibs [at] nibs.org (nibs[at]nibs[dot]org)

Citation

Technical Note (NIST TN) - 1423

Report Number

1423

NIST Pub Series

Technical Note (NIST TN)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.tn.1423

Keywords

aircraft hangars, fire detection, fire tests, heat detectors, pool fires, sprinklers, sensitivity, burning rate, experiments, climate, jet fuels, fire behavior, fire models, aircraft fires, ceiling height, smoke detectors, sprinkler location, high bay hangars, sprinkler activation

Citation

Lowe, D. , Notarianni, K. , Davis, W. and Gott, J. (1997), Analysis of High Bay Hangar Facilities for Fire Detector Sensitivity and Placement., Technical Note (NIST TN), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.tn.1423 (Accessed October 8, 2025)