Effect of ignition heat source on design fire curve of polyethylene foam in a compartment fire

This study analyzed a design fire curve in accordance with of an ignition heat source in a compartment. For this purpose, a structure with a 1:3 reduced scale of the ISO 9705 room corner tester was fabricated using fireboard, and the time variant heat release rate was calculated according to the volume of a polyethylene foam combustible. To predict the design fire curve, the exponential equation proposed in a previous study was compared with the heat release rate measured in a fire experiment. The retard index, which is the main factor used to predicting the time required to reach the maximum heat release rate, decreased proportion to the ignition heat source. This relationship was presented in an empirical equation. Especially, the retard index decreased according to the size of the ignition heat source regardless of the volume of the polyethylene foam combustible. By establishing experimental data considering the type and change in the volume of combustibles, the findings of this study can be used to create improved design fire curve prediction models.