Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

Experiments were conducted to characterize the effects of cross-wind on flame properties for unconfined fires. Propane gas was used as a fuel in a 0.lm X0.lm diffusion burner employed as a model fire source. The effects of the floor around a fire source, which would control the volume of air entrained into the hot current, were also investigated. Empirical models of the apparent flame height of the inclined flame are presented. We also develop empirical models of the flame tilt angle based on the balance of mass fluxes given by the upward hot current and cross-wind. These models are based on functions of dimensionless heat release rate and Froude number. The values of empirical coefficients and exponents were derived from the experimental results. The calculated flame length based on the flame tilt angle and the apparent flame height was compared with experimental results, showing that models can be used to estimate flame length in cross-winds.