Study on the influence of forced ventilation on the maximum fire temperature in roadway heading

• Published in: Scientific Reports
• Main Authors: Bolun Li, Yucheng Li, Yinghao Sun, Wei Zhang, Junqiao Li, Zhitao Zhang, Yunan Cui, Jinyang Dong, Hongwei Liu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-03-01
• Subjects: Roadway heading; Forced air volume; Dimensionless analysis; Numerical simulation; Tunnel fire
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-94169-w

Abstract This study investigates the maximum temperature in tunnel fires under forced ventilation conditions by constructing a 1:10 scale experimental model and using numerical simulations. A dimensionless derivation of the maximum temperature is provided for the case where the fire source is at the end of the excavation tunnel. A correction factor for the maximum temperature prediction coefficient is suggested in situations when the fire source is situated in the center of the excavation tunnel. The results of the highest temperature in the experimental and FDS simulation results under different fire source conditions have a good fitting performance, and the correlation is 0.899 and 0.913. The effect of the forced ventilation outlet distance on maximum temperature was analyzed through wind flow and temperature field distributions. The study concludes that an optimal layout for the ventilation system is important, particularly by considering both the maximum temperature and the ventilation volume. This research addresses the gap in understanding maximum temperatures in excavation tunnel fires and offers valuable insights for fire suppression strategies, rescue operations, and the prevention of secondary disasters in such environments.