The Application of an Optimization Technique to Estimate Char Density for Computer Simulation from Thermo Gravimetric Test Data

The Application of an optimization technique to estimate char density for computer simulation from Thermo gravimetric test data.

Joe Simon Abraham The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia jabraham@student.unimelb.edu.au Haibin Kong The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia kongh@student.unimelb.edu.au Abstract: Structural failure in high rise buildings is characterised by two main factors: seismic

activity and fire damage. Of the two the latter is of higher frequency with regard to a global context. Prior to the implementation of current fire design strategies it becomes imperative to conduct fire modelling scenarios in the building. However there are serious limitations to current fire modelling approaches, namely a disparity between the fire simulation result and experimental results. This report uses the Fire Dynamics Simulator v4.0 (FDS), a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model software to simulate the experiment. The FDS numerical pyrolysis model is used to introduce an optimisation technique developed from a Genetic Algorithm to find the char material density input parameter which is then integrated with the FDS software to model a thermogravimetric analysis experiment.

1. Introduction

Fire safety in high rise buildings has been a significant issue for Engineers and Architects in the recent years. Statistics show that structural failures in buildings are caused by mainly fire and seismic disturbances. Fire testing of building materials is mandated by most building codes and other regulations for material certification. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model software serve as an effective alternative to real time fire tests required by building codes owing to the fact that they are inexpensive and can be simulated for any environment. However, there is a stark contrast between the results obtained from a simulation with respect to a bench scale fire test method. One of the main challenges that arise is the determination of optimum...