Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

Flame spread along a thin material or along the surface of a thick material is one of the features of fire spread, and, with the possible exception of the calculation of radiation transfer across gaps between combustible materials, the one which has attracted perhaps the most theoretical attention. In such theories account must be taken of the energy balance and, although there are conditions when this is not sufficient to account for all features of the spread e.g. the generation of flammable gases can sometimes be a critical factor, the heating of the unburnt fuel ahead of the fire is frequently the controlling factor. In discussing this heating theoretical problems sometimes arise and this paper refers to some of those in the theory of smouldering of Kinbara, Endo and Sega.