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A Thin Skin Calorimeter (TSC) for quantifying irradiation during large-scale fire testing

Hidalgo, JP; Maluk, C; Cowlard, A; Abecassis-Empis, C; Krajcovic, M; Torero, JL; (2017) A Thin Skin Calorimeter (TSC) for quantifying irradiation during large-scale fire testing. International Journal of Thermal Sciences , 112 pp. 383-394. 10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2016.10.013. Green open access

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Abstract

This paper details a novel method for quantifying irradiation (incident radiant heat flux) at the exposed surface of solid elements during large-scale fire testing. Within the scope of the work presented herein, a type of Thin Skin Calorimeter (TSC) was developed intending for a practical, low cost device enabling the cost-effective mass production required for characterising the thermal boundary conditions during multiple large-scale fire tests. The technical description of the TSC design and a formulation of the proposed calibration technique are presented. This methodology allows for the quantification of irradiation by means of an a posteriori analysis based on a temperature measurement from the TSC, a temperature measurement of the gas-phase in the vicinity of the TSC and a correction factor defined during a pre-test calibration process. The proposed calibration methodology is designed to account for uncertainties inherent to the simplicity of the irradiation measurement technique, therefore not requiring precise information regarding material thermal and optical properties. This methodology is designed and presented so as to enable adaption of the technique to meet the specific requirements of other experimental setups. This is conveyed by means of an example detailing the design and calibration of a device designed for a series of large-scale experiments as part of the ‘Real Fires for the Safe Design of Tall Buildings’ project.

Type: Article
Title: A Thin Skin Calorimeter (TSC) for quantifying irradiation during large-scale fire testing
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2016.10.013
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2016.10.013
Language: English
Additional information: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Keywords: Thin skin calorimeter, Irradiance, Incident radiant heat flux, Compartment fire tests, Thermal boundary condition, Heat transfer, Fire safety design
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Civil, Environ and Geomatic Eng
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10069644
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