Characteristics of smoke extraction by natural ventilation during a fire in a shallow urban road tunnel with roof openings.

Abstract: The characteristics of the spread of smoke were investigated for a fire occurring in a shallow urban road tunnel with roof openings in its ceiling. In this type of tunnel, the smoke produced by a fire is ventilated through the openings in the ceiling given the natural buoyancy of hot smoke. A fire experiment was conducted using a 1/12 scale model tunnel to ascertain whether natural ventilation via the roof openings was sufficient to maintain a safe evacuation environment for tunnel users. The distance from the fire to the tip position of the spreading smoke and the thickness of smoke layers along the ceiling were investigated by changing the heat release rate and using two types of median structure as experimental parameters. The two types of median structure dividing the tunnel into two road tubes were pillars and walls. It was clarified that the smoke spreading distance was constant and independent of the heat release rate of the fire under our experimental conditions. Moreover, it was confirmed that the thickness of the smoke layers in the tunnel thinned out quickly due to the natural ventilation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]