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Sprinklers, Vent, and Draft Curtain Interaction: Modeling and Experiment
Published
Author(s)
Kevin B. McGrattan, Anthony P. Hamins, D. D. Evans
Abstract
The second and most recent application of the NIST Industrial Fire Simulation (IFS) System is to predict the performance of sprinklers, draft curtains and roof vents in storage facilities and retail spaces. The IFS System is a series of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) fire models based on large eddy simulation (LES) techniques combined with means to exchange data and results. The model requires as input information about the activation properties of sprinklers and roof vents, the spray distribution of the sprinklers, and the burning and extinguishment properties of the commodity under consideration. These are obtained from bench scale and large scale experiments. The IFS2 model was developed and evaluated using a series of heptane spray fires and high rack storage fires of cartoned polystyrene cups.
Proceedings Title
Fire Suppression and Detection Research Application Symposium
fire suppression, fire detection, fire research, fire safety, sprinklers, vents, draft curtains, computational fluid dynamics, plastics size distribution, warehouses
McGrattan, K.
, Hamins, A.
and Evans, D.
(1998),
Sprinklers, Vent, and Draft Curtain Interaction: Modeling and Experiment, Fire Suppression and Detection Research Application Symposium, Orlando, FL, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=909896
(Accessed October 22, 2025)