A numerical study of flame geometry and potential for crown fire initiation for a wildfire propagating through shrub fuel

2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominique Morvan

The efficiency of fuel breaks installed in wildland–urban interfaces to reduce fire hazard depends strongly on the conditions of spread (rate of spread, flame height) of a surface fire through the shrub on the ground and also on the possibility of a transition for this fire from the understorey vegetation to the canopy. The aim of the present paper was to study (using numerical simulation with a physics-based model) the behaviour of surface fires propagating through Mediterranean shrub and to evaluate, from the characteristic dimensions of the flame, the onset of transition from a surface fire to a crown fire. The geometry of the flame was defined from the energy loss in the gas resulting from the radiation emission of soot particles, the flame contour was reconstructed from a threshold level fixed at 60 kW m–3. The numerical results were compared with experimental correlations of the geometry of the flame obtained for static and spreading fires. Extensive calculations were performed through a shrubland (Quercus coccifera and Brachypodium ramosum) for various fuel depths Hfuel ranging from 0.25 to 1.5 m and for wind speeds UH ranging from 1 to 10 m s–1. Then this study was extended to situations including a supplementary fuel layer representing the canopy of small trees (Pinus halepensis). The numerical results were analysed, introducing a dimensionless physical parameter, the Froude number, defined as the ratio between the inertial force due to the wind flow and the buoyancy. The results obtained with an upper fuel layer highlighted the role played by radiation heat transfer for the transition of surface fire to the crown. Some calculations were also carried out to study how a reduction of surface fuel on the ground can affect the vertical transition of the fire.

2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin E. Alexander ◽  
Miguel G. Cruz

This state-of-knowledge review examines some of the underlying assumptions and limitations associated with the inter-relationships among four widely used descriptors of surface fire behaviour and post-fire impacts in wildland fire science and management, namely Byram’s fireline intensity, flame length, stem-bark char height and crown scorch height. More specifically, the following topical areas are critically examined based on a comprehensive review of the pertinent literature: (i) estimating fireline intensity from flame length; (ii) substituting flame length for fireline intensity in Van Wagner’s crown fire initiation model; (iii) the validity of linkages between the Rothermel surface fire behaviour and Van Wagner’s crown scorch height models; (iv) estimating flame height from post-fire observations of stem-bark char height; and (v) estimating fireline intensity from post-fire observations of crown scorch height. There has been an overwhelming tendency within the wildland fire community to regard Byram’s flame length–fireline intensity and Van Wagner’s crown scorch height–fireline intensity models as universal in nature. However, research has subsequently shown that such linkages among fire behaviour and post-fire impact characteristics are in fact strongly influenced by fuelbed structure, thereby necessitating consideration of fuel complex specific-type models of such relationships.


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin E. Alexander ◽  
Miguel G. Cruz

This state-of-knowledge review examines some of the underlying assumptions and limitations associated with the inter-relationships among four widely used descriptors of surface fire behaviour and post-fire impacts in wildland fire science and management, namely Byram's fireline intensity, flame length, stem-bark char height and crown scorch height. More specifically, the following topical areas are critically examined based on a comprehensive review of the pertinent literature: (i) estimating fireline intensity from flame length; (ii) substituting flame length for fireline intensity in Van Wagner's crown fire initiation model; (iii) the validity of linkages between the Rothermel surface fire behaviour and Van Wagner's crown scorch height models; (iv) estimating flame height from post-fire observations of stem-bark char height; and (v) estimating fireline intensity from post-fire observations of crown scorch height. There has been an overwhelming tendency within the wildland fire community to regard Byram's flame length–fireline intensity and Van Wagner's crown scorch height–fireline intensity models as universal in nature. However, research has subsequently shown that such linkages among fire behaviour and post-fire impact characteristics are in fact strongly influenced by fuelbed structure, thereby necessitating consideration of fuel complex specific-type models of such relationships.


2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 652-657 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel Murariu ◽  
Razvan Adrian Mahu ◽  
Adrian Gabriel Murariu ◽  
Mihai Daniel Dragu ◽  
Lucian P. Georgescu ◽  
...  

This article presents the design of a specific unmanned aerial vehicle UAV prototype own building. Our UAV is a flying wing type and is able to take off with a little boost. This system happily combines some major advantages taken from planes namely the ability to fly horizontal, at a constant altitude and of course, the great advantage of a long flight-time. The aerodynamic models presented in this paper are optimized to improve the operational performance of this aerial vehicle, especially in terms of stability and the possibility of a long gliding flight-time. Both aspects are very important for the increasing of the goals� efficiency and for the getting work jobs. The presented simulations were obtained using ANSYS 13 installed on our university� cluster system. In a next step the numerical results will be compared with those during experimental flights. This paper presents the main results obtained from numerical simulations and the obtained magnitudes of the main flight coefficients.


2009 ◽  
Vol 416 ◽  
pp. 514-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qing Long An ◽  
Yu Can Fu ◽  
Jiu Hua Xu

Grinding, characterized by its high specific energy consumption, may generate high grinding zone temperature. These can cause thermal damage to the ground surface and poor surface integrity, especially in the grinding of difficult-to-machine materials. In this paper, experimental and fem study on grinding temperature during surface grinding of Ti-6Al-4V with different cooling methods. A comparison between the experimental and numerical results is made. It is indicated that the difference between experimental and numerical results is below 15% and the numerical results can be considered reliable. Grinding temperature can be more effectively reduced with CPMJ than that with cold air jet and flood cooling method.


2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weigang YAN ◽  
Lin JIANG ◽  
Weiguang AN ◽  
Yang ZHOU ◽  
Jinhua SUN

Buildings have U-shape façade designs for certain purposes such as lighting. However, such designs may lead to a higher fire hazard. In this paper, large scale experiments of upward flame spread over XPS insulation material were conducted to investigate the fire hazard of building’s U-shape façade wall geometry. Comparison to previous labora­tory scale experiments were also presented. Theoretical analysis was performed to reveal the mechanism of the U-shape geometry’s influences. It is found that such geometry design would increase the fire hazard of buildings: flame spread rate and flame height increased with U-shape’s geometrical factor. The results agreed with theoretical analysis. It is ex­pected that the buildings’ U-shape façade wall geometry would greatly benefit flame spread for full scale applications and increase the fire hazard. Thus engineers should be careful with such façade wall designs, especially for residential building designs.


2013 ◽  
Vol 397-400 ◽  
pp. 783-788
Author(s):  
Xing Wei Zhang ◽  
Chao Wang ◽  
Hang Liu

This paper investigates the aerodynamic forces of several plunging wing models by means of computational fluid dynamics. A finite volume method was used to solve the two-dimensional unsteady incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. The forces and power efficiency have been calculated and compared between sets of different models. Current work found that the nonsymmetrical moving can enhance the lift and thrust forces. The numerical results also prove that the flexible wing model can be use to improve the efficiency and reduce the input. Additionally, a new conceptual model for flapping wing mechanism with active deformation and adaptive nonsymmetrical driving motion is proposed base on the numerical results.


Author(s):  
Fayçal Hammami ◽  
Nader Ben Cheikh ◽  
Brahim Ben Beya

This paper deals with the numerical study of bifurcations in a two-sided lid driven cavity flow. The flow is generated by moving the upper wall to the right while moving the left wall downwards. Numerical simulations are performed by solving the unsteady two dimensional Navier-Stokes equations using the finite volume method and multigrid acceleration. In this problem, the ratio of the height to the width of the cavity are ranged from H/L = 0.25 to 1.5. The code for this cavity is presented using rectangular cavity with the grids 144 × 36, 144 × 72, 144 × 104, 144 × 136, 144 × 176 and 144 × 216. Numerous comparisons with the results available in the literature are given. Very good agreements are found between current numerical results and published numerical results. Various velocity ratios ranged in 0.01≤ α ≤ 0.99 at a fixed aspect ratios (A = 0.5, 0.75, 1.25 and 1.5) were considered. It is observed that the transition to the unsteady regime follows the classical scheme of a Hopf bifurcation. The stability analysis depending on the aspect ratio, velocity ratios α and the Reynolds number when transition phenomenon occurs is considered in this paper.


2003 ◽  
Vol 17 (01n02) ◽  
pp. 139-143
Author(s):  
GÁBOR HÁZI ◽  
ISTVÁN FARKAS

In this paper, we present a numerical study of the Jeffery-Hammel problem using the lattice-Boltzmann method. We study three situations: pure inflow, pure outflow, and outflow with backflow. We demonstrate that the lattice-Boltzmann method gives not only qualitatively but also quantitatively accurate solutions for this problem. From the point of view of stability of the flow, the recent results of bifurcation theory are also briefly considered from the viewpoint of our numerical results.


An effective earthquake (Mw 7.9) struck Alaska on 3 November, 2002. This earthquake ruptured 340 km along Susitna Glacier, Denali and Totschunda faults in central Alaska. The peak ground acceleration (PGA) was recorded about 0.32 g at station PS10, which was located 3 km from the fault rupture. The PGA would have recorded a high value, if more instruments had been installed in the region. A numerical study has been conducted to find out the possible ground motion record that could occur at maximum horizontal slip during the Denali earthquake. The current study overcomes the limitation of number of elements to model the Denali fault. These numerical results are compared with observed ground motions. It is observed that the ground motions obtained through numerical analysis are in good agreement with observed ground motions. From numerical results, it is observed that the possible expected PGA is 0.62 g at maximum horizontal slip of Denali fault.


SPE Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Weicheng Zhang ◽  
Andreas Eckert ◽  
Steven Hilgedick ◽  
Harvey Goodman ◽  
Meng Meng

Summary Understanding the cement hardening process and determining the development of the state of stress in the cement under specific downhole conditions are challenging but fundamental requirements to perform an accurate prediction of wellbore integrity. As an essential component of the state of stress, the temporal variation of cement pore pressure is a critical factor that affects the occurrence of cement failure. In this study, we present a novel laboratory setup to measure the cement pore pressure variation during hardening under representative downhole conditions, including the pressure, temperature, and water exchange between the cement and formation. The pore pressure measurements are further incorporated with a staged finite element analysis (FEA) approach to investigate the state of stress development during cement hardening and to evaluate cement failure under different operations and after different wait-on-cement (WOC) periods. The laboratory measurements show that the external water supply from the formation significantly impedes the pore pressure drop in the cement. The numerical results indicate that the accelerated pore pressure decrease obtained without considering downhole conditions elevates the contact pressure at the cement-formation interfaces significantly and moderately increases the von Mises stress in the cement. The numerical results further predict that the accelerated pore pressure decrease leads to an overestimation of shear failure during pressure testing and steamflooding operations but an underestimation of debonding failure during severe fluid loss and injection-related cooling processes. Based on the results of the integrated laboratory and numerical approach, qualitative and quantitative suggestions are provided for field operations to inhibit wellbore integrity risk during the wellbore life cycle.


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