Igniter and Thickness Effects on Upward Flame Spread

Several studies have developed upward flame spread models which use somewhat different features. However, the models have not considered the transient effects of the igniter and the burning rate. Thus, the objective of this study is to examine a generalized upward flame spread model which includes these effects. We shall compare the results with results from simpler models used in the past in order to examine the importance of the simplifying assumptions. We compare these results using PMMA, and we also include experimental results for comparison. The results of the comparison indicate that flame velocity depends on the thermal properties of a material, the specific model for flame length and transient burning rate, as well as other variables including the heat flux by igniter and flame itself. The results from the generalized upward flame spread model can provide a prediction of flame velocity, flame and pyrolysis height, burnout time and position, and rate of energy output as a function of time.