Numerical investigation of fire in the cavity of naturally ventilated double skin facade with venetian blinds

Double skin facades (DSFs), offer great views, architectural aesthetics, and energy savings. Yet, in a fire event the glass facade breaks leading to risks to human life and firefighting difficulties. Shading devices incorporated to prevent unfavourable heat gains to reduce cooling load though offer energy savings potentially present other challenges in firefighting and occupants' evacuation. In this study, Fire Dynamic Simulator (FDS) was used to numerically investigate the spread of a 5 MW HRR polyurethane GM27 fire in a multi-storey double skin facade building with Venetian blinds placed in its cavity. The blinds were positioned 0.4 m away from the internal glazing, middle of the cavity and 0.4 m away from the external glazing respectively. In each blind position the slat angle was opened at 0 degrees, 45 degrees, 90 degrees and 135 degrees respectively. The results show peak inner glazing surface temperature ranged between 283 degrees C to 840 degrees C depending on the thermocouple position, the Venetian blind position and slat opening angle. Without Venetian blinds, peak inner glazing surface temperatures ranged between 468 degrees C to 614 degrees C. In all cases except when the slat angle was 0 degrees and the blind was positioned closer to the outer glazing, the inner glazing surface temperature from the closest thermocouple (TC 14) above the fire room exceeded 600 degrees C, the glass breakage temperature threshold. Overall, the Venetian blind position and slat opening angle influenced the spread of fire. Venetian blind combustibility and flammability were not considered and therefore recommended for future studies.