• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.269-278
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• 2004

Recently, critical velocity has become a topic to attract most interests from the researchers in the field of tunnel safety. As the minimum velocity to prevent smoke backlayering during a fire, many equations have been proposed so far, and the following three equations are being considered as a standard method in Korea to calculate the capacity of smoke extraction fans. Equation by Kennedy based on Froude number, Tetzner' s equation with additional variable, ${\beta}$ to modify the Kennedy's equation, and the equation with the concept of super critical velocity by Wu are studied in this paper for the comparative purpose. A contour map describing the relationship between the critical velocity and the capacity of smoke extraction fans is proposed as a tool to calculate the number of jet fans for smoke control during a fire in the local tunnels.