Dimensional Analysis on Forest Fuel Bed Fire Spread

Area of Science:

• Fire Science
• Combustion Research
• Wildland Fire Dynamics

Background:

• Fuel bed fire spread is a critical factor in wildfire behavior and risk assessment.
• Existing literature presents diverse data on fire spread rates, necessitating a unified correlation approach.

Purpose of the Study:

• To perform a dimensional analysis correlating fuel bed fire rate of spread data.
• To identify key dimensionless groups influencing fire spread under varying wind conditions.

Main Methods:

• Dimensional analysis applied to existing fuel bed fire spread literature data.
• Identification of dimensionless groups for wind and no-wind conditions.
• Development of dimensionless correlations for fire rate of spread.

Main Results:

• Six dimensionless groups identified under wind conditions: fire spread rate, fuel particle size, moisture content, fuel bed depth/loading density, wind speed, and inclination angle.
• Five dimensionless groups identified under no-wind conditions.
• Dimensionless correlations demonstrated reasonable predictive capability for fire rates of spread.

Conclusions:

• Dimensional analysis provides a robust framework for correlating fuel bed fire spread data.
• The identified dimensionless groups offer a simplified yet effective method for predicting fire spread under different environmental conditions.