Numerical study on the effect of tunnel aspect ratio on evacuation with unsteady heat release rate due to fire in the case of two vehicles

Abstract

In this study, the characteristics of fires in case of two vehicles in a tunnel are analyzed by Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis for varying tunnel aspect ratios. Unsteady heat release rates over time are set as the input conditions of fire sources considering real phenomena. Unsteady heat release rate values are obtained from experiments. As a result, the smoke velocities above the fire source appear faster in the case of tunnels with a large aspect ratio because the higher the height of the tunnel, the faster the smoke velocity caused by buoyancy forces. The smoke velocity in the longitudinal direction increases quickly. However, the temperature distribution in the vicinity of the ceiling is low when the tunnel aspect ratio is large because the height of the tunnel is not directly affected by the flames. Also, the higher the height of the tunnel, the lower the visibility distance due to the heat and smoke coming down along the wall surface. However, in the tunnels represented in this study, it is considered that the visibility of evacuees is sufficiently secured.