An Analysis of the Installation of Open Panel Ceiling Designs on Sprinkler Response Time Using the NIST Fire Dynamics Simulator

摘要

A sensitivity analysis was conducted to compare the sprinkler system response of an open panel ceiling configuration versus that of a conventional, smooth ceiling. The analysis is conducted using the NIST Fire Dynamics Simulator 1.0. The selected room is a large banquet hall located in a convention center. The symmetry of the layout has allowed a simulation of a subset of the space measuring 19.0 m x 6.53 m x 13.4 m high. This region was divided into approximately 110,000 grid cells. A series of 24 simulations were run. In each simulation the number of sprinklers that activate is between three and seven, with most simulations resulting in the activation of five sprinklers. In nearly all cases the sprinklers operate faster in the open panel configuration.