Author(s)

Yukinobu Yoshida, Akihiko Ito, Hiroyuki Torikai

Graduate School of Science and Technology, Hirosaki University, Hirosakicity, Japan.

Flame spread in urban fire depends on quantity of combustible materials and their placement. The purpose of this study is to predict the flame-spread route by the rate of combustible area. In this experiment, we used combustible cube made from filter paper as a test sample, and combustible cubes and pores were randomly distributed in experimental area. Additionally, we examined non-uniform flame spread along combustible cubes in various porosities and experimental areas. Experimental results show that the flame-spread probability falls with increasing porosity, and despite uniform porosity, the flame-spread probability differs with the experimental area. When expanding the experimental area, less porosity is required to obtain zero flame-spread probability. To investigate based on finite size scaling of percolation theory for the change in porosity, we con-cluded that different thresholds exist for areas of all sizes. Because of the flame-spread progress stops in the thresholds, these porosities may be useful to predict fire hazard.

Percolation Theory, Finite Size Scaling, Flame-Spread Probability, Experimental Area, Porosity

Yoshida, Y. , Ito, A. and Torikai, H. (2014) Finite Size Scaling of Flame Spread along Randomly Distributed Combustible Cubes. Open Journal of Safety Science and Technology, 4, 136-144. doi: 10.4236/ojsst.2014.43015.