The Computational Fluid Dynamic Simulation of Fire Evacuation from the Student Dormitory

Abstract

Problem statement: The aim of this research is to investigate the fire evacuation problem from the student dormitory by using the Numerical method. The Fire Dynamics Simulator Software was used in the research with the evacuation function (FDS + Evac.). The problem under investigation concerns the building that has the open-air centre. The characteristics of the building are included with 5 floors, 2 open-air fire escape stairs located at 2 sides of the building. In addition, there is a single exit to the outside of the building and the sprinkler system is not installed inside the building. Approach: The simulation was designed to study the problem that has a source of fire occurring at the room closed to the open-air stair. The stairs will be severely affected by the smoke. The experimentation's are composed of 4 cases, which are (1) the first case assumes the true size of the door is 1 m (2) the second case assumes the true size of the door is 1 m and the smoke barrier is installed at the beam located before the stair entrance (3) the third case assumes the true size of the door is 2 m and (4) the fourth case assumes the true size of the door is 2 m and the smoke barrier is installed. Results: The results are shown that the escape time from the building with the 1 m door is 465 sec and the 2 m door is 265 sec. The time differentiation between the 1 m door and the 2 m door is 200 sec. The reason is the waiting occurred at the entrance if the smoke barrier is not installed. In this case, the smoke in the stairs without a smoke barrier installation has more than the smoke in case if the smoke barrier is installed. However, this research collected the data of the gas volume and found that the gas volume is not yet harmful to human life but the gas can be an obstacle to evacuation in the building that has an open-air centre. Conclusion: For safety reasons, the building’s user should improve the door size and install the smoke barrier at 2 sides of the stairs for all floors to increase the evacuation ability.