Experimental and numerical study of fire spread upon double-skin glass facades

Tianjin Fire Research Institute of the Ministry of Public Security of China, Tianjin, China

Abstract

This paper presents experimental and numerical studies of fire and smoke movement in the cavity of double-skin glass facades. The experimental tests were conducted using a two-storey rig with double-skin facade installed. Test results showed that double-layer of toughened glass panes broke when the temperatures reached about 600 °C–800 °C; the fire and smoke plume from the fire room were more likely to impede on the external skin in the cavity at the steady burning stage, and this could cause the external skin to break. The FDS model was employed to simulate one of the experimental tests and further used to study the effect of fire sources and cavity depths. Numerical modellings show good agreement when comparing the modelled temperatures with the measured temperatures next to the internal skins and external skins. For fully-developed fires in the modelling scenarios, the fire and smoke plume hit the external panes without any attaching to the internal panes. The fire and smoke plume could break the external skin but the internal skins are safe at low temperatures.