Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

Mechanisms and rates of upward spread of turbulent flames along thermally thick vertical sheets are considered for both noncharring and charring fuels. By addressing the time dependence of the rate of mass loss of the burning face of a charring fuel, a linear integral equation of the Volterra type is derived for the spread rate. Measurements of spread rates, of flame heights and of surface temperature histories are reported for polymethylmethacrylate and for Douglas-fir particle board for flames initiated and supported by a line-source gas burner, with various rates of heat release, located at the base of the fuel face. Sustained spread occurs for the synthetic polymer and not for the wood. Comparisons of measurements with theory aid in estimating characteristic parameters for the fuels.