Open Access

ARTICLE

Study on Temperature Distribution and Smoke Spreading Behavior of Different Fire Source Locations in the Underwater W-Shaped Island-Crossing Tunnel

by Zhisheng Xu¹, Juan Wang¹, Zihan Yu¹, Jiaming Zhao^2,*

1 School of Civil Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, 410075, China
2 CABR Fire Safety Science & Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing, 100013, China

* Corresponding Author: Jiaming Zhao. Email:

Frontiers in Heat and Mass Transfer 2024, 22(4), 1129-1151. https://doi.org/10.32604/fhmt.2024.053695

Received 08 May 2024; Accepted 08 July 2024; Issue published 30 August 2024

Abstract

Called island-crossing tunnels, some specific underwater tunneling projects face constraints imposed by geological and water conditions, necessitating their passage through artificial or natural islands. The longitudinal of the tunnel follows a W-shaped distribution. The congestion situation does not allow for immediate longitudinal smoke exhaust at the early stage of the fire, and the natural spread of smoke is complicated. An exhaustive investigation was carried out to analyze the smoke behaviors during a fire incident, employing the fire dynamics software FDS, considering five slopes and four fire locations. The simulation results reveal that the layer of high-temperature smoke becomes thicker as one gets closer to the fire source. The thermal pressure difference significantly impacts the temperature distribution within the tunnel and the distance of smoke spread. The value of the thermal pressure difference is significantly affected by changes in slope. It reaches a maximum of 157 Pa at a 5% slope, while it is only 41 Pa at a 1% slope when the fire occurs at the V-point. Fire hazards vary across locations within the W-shaped tunnel, necessitating separate consideration of the V-point and inverted V-point fire characteristics. The mass flow rate in small and large slope tunnels shows different decay rates due to variations in the main forces acting on the movement. Hence, two equations have been developed to predict the smoke mass flow rate, indicating a nonlinear relationship with the tunnel slope and the distance from the fire source. The tunnel slope inversely affects the smoke mass flow rate at the same location. The results can be utilized as a reference for conducting evacuation operations and aiding rescues during a W-shaped tunnel fire.

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