• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.1-6
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• 2018

As a preliminary study to quantify the measurement uncertainty of the Schmidt-Boelter type heat flux gauge, the present study has been conducted to evaluate the measurement error due to the calibration constant supported by manufacturer. Calibrations of heat flux gauges are performed at NIST Fire Research Division using a calibration facility with heat source of a 2000 W halogen-tungsten filament lamp and the calibration constant is obtained by comparing the response of the reference and a standard heat flux gauge at the same irradiance conditions. Calibration for heat flux gauges made by three different manufacturers is compared with their factory calibration constant. Relative error due to fluctuation of output signal from heat flux gauges does not exceed 1% of the mean value and the relative error between calibration of this study and factory calibration constant ranged from 1.5% to 14.3%. The present study shows that a continuous and periodic calibration is necessary for accurate heat flux measurement.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.128-133
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• 2011

The present study performs a series of 40 % reduced scale of ISO-9705 fire test to investigate the characteristics of heat flux on the floor level in terms of fire characteristics and location in the compartment. The heat flux was measured with Schmidt-Boelter type heat flux gauge at two locations on the floor level of inside and doorway side of the compartment. Different types of fuel - methane, heptane, toluene, ethanol, polystyrene - were burned in this test series. The measured heat flux inside of the compartment was relatively higher than that of front side as the heat release rate of fire and upper layer temperature increased. The difference of measured heat flux at inside and doorway side increased for high sooty fire. The present study shows that the heat flux distribution at lower layer greatly depend on the thermal radiation from fire and upper layer, not only the upper layer temperature but also various fire characteristics such as composition of combustion gases, soot concentration, ventilation condition and so on.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.95-98
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• 2013

Plate thermometers are used for measuring the radiative heat flux in high-temperature surroundings. The heat flux is calculated from the temperature measured at the back surface of the stainless steel surface of the meter. Heat fluxes from a Schmidt-Boelter gauge are measured as reference heat fluxes. A combined conductive coefficient is introduced to consider the heat loss to insulation, conduction through the stainless plate depth, and conduction from the non-uniform temperature of the plate of the plate thermometer. This coefficient is obtained using the repulsive particle swarm optimization.