Calculation and Feasibility of Natural Smoke Extraction through Elevator Shafts during High-Rise Fires

The smoke generated from building fire prefers to the vertical shafts such as the stairwells and elevator shafts, due to the temperature differences. The smoke movement is of vital important in the vertical passages. The numerical simulations for the natural smoke extraction via elevator shafts are conducted, that provide the impacts of the gaps around elevator doors, the sizeable top vent in the shaft and the location of fire source, on the amount of smoke exhausted. The results indicated the feasibility of natural smoke venting through the elevator shaft, which will increase the neural pressure plane upward near the total height of the high-rise via increasing the top vent area. The gaps around elevator doors have less impact on the smoke extracting compared to the size of top vent. The floors above the neutral plane would be smoke-free and that increase the life safety of habitable areas.