Validation of fire dynamics simulator predictions incorporating measured smoke characteristics – Part 1: Smoke concentration and particle deposition
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Accurately predicting smoke concentration is critical in fire safety engineering because smoke obstructs visibility and poses severe respiratory hazards. These effects directly impact evacuation procedures and complicate fire protection strategies. The Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS), commonly used for performance-based fire safety design, often overpredicts smoke concentration by neglecting deposition effects and employing generic optical properties. This study addresses these limitations by activating the deposition model in FDS and incorporating experimentally measured optical properties specific to acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) smoke. Gravimetric sampling and light extinction experiments were performed, yielding a mass-specific extinction coefficient of 7.69 ±0.05 m 2 /g. Without deposition modeling, FDS overestimated smoke concentration by approximately 45%. Including deposition effects reduced this discrepancy to about 3.3%, closely matching experimental results. Additionally, thermophoretic forces significantly influenced smoke behavior. At an elevated boundary temperature of 50°C, particle deposition was suppressed, which increased the suspended smoke concentration by 20.3% compared to conditions at 25°C. These findings highlight the necessity of incorporating deposition mechanisms and material-specific optical properties into fire simulations. This approach enhances the accuracy of smoke transport predictions, improving fire hazard assessments, evacuation modeling, and performance-based fire safety design.
Authors: Ter-Ki Hong, Seul-Hyun Park
Institution: Chosun University
Language: English
Subfield: Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,620
OpenAlex ID: W4414038121