Influence of Combustible Dimension and Density on Heat Release Rate

Various aspects of the fire safety design of a building, such as the evacuation safety, make it important to understand the burning behavior of flammable materials in the early stages of a fire. Many experimental researches have been conducted, and considerable data concerning the burning behavior of various flammables has been accumulated, especially with respect to the heat release rate.[1] However, it is still unknown how the time history of the heat release rate changes depending on the material and its shape. Therefore, a burning experiment was conducted by using polyurethane mattresses with different dimensions and densities. From the HRR histories, the fire growth rate and maximum HRR were obtained, and the relation between the dimension, the density of the specimen and the fire growth rate, maximum HRR was related.