Distribution analysis of the fire severity characteristics of single passenger road vehicles using heat release rate data

摘要

Fires associated with vehicles have the potential to impact on life safety and property protection. The fire severity characteristics of single passenger vehicle fires are presented in this paper by the total energy released, peak rate of heat release and the time to peak rate of heat release using experimental data collated from the literature. Risk-based fire design can be supported by data presented in a statistical form such that passenger vehicles are categorized by their curb weight and probability distribution curves are obtained for each fire severity characteristic. Analysis of the data shows that the total energy released and the time to peak rate of heat release are generally shown to exhibit an increasing trend with curb weight.