Large eddy simulations for studying tunnel smoke ventilation

Computational fluid dynamics are applied to simulate the smoke movement in a ventilated tunnel fire through large eddy simulation (LES). Several scenarios with different ventilation rates are considered by taking the fire as a volumetric heat source. Results predicted by LES are compared with those from a k-epsilon model. These include temperature fields, flame shape and the smoke movement pattern. It is found that thermal stratification and smoke backflow can be predicted successfully by LES. The possibility of applying LES as an engineering tool to smoke management system design in tunnels is discussed. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.