• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2022

This numerical study investigates the effects of the size of the natural smoke vent area (10% and 1% of the floor area) and the location of the fire source (i.e., at the side and center of the stage) on the temperature distribution in the compartment and velocity distribution and mass flow rate of flow through a natural smoke vent for a reduced-scale model of a theater stage. Then, the mass flow rate of outflow through the natural smoke vent in the event of a fire for a real-scale theater stage was examined. The case with the larger natural smoke vent area and central fire source location showed lower temperature distributions and higher mass flow rates of outflow and inflow than the case with the smaller natural smoke vent area and side fire source location. The trends of the temperature distributions were closely related to those of the mass flow rates for the outflow and inflow. Additionally, the case with the larger natural smoke vent area and central fire source location exhibited the most non-uniform flow velocity distribution in all cases tested. A bidirectional flow, in which the outflow and inflow occur simultaneously, was observed through the natural smoke vent. In the event of a fire situation in a real-scale theater stage, it was predicted that the case with the larger natural smoke vent area and central fire source location would have a mass flow rate of outflow that is 43.53 times higher than that of the case with the smaller natural smoke vent area and side fire source location. The present results indicate that the natural smoke vent location should be determined by considering the location in a theater stage where a fire can occur.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.7-14
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• 2018

This study investigated numerically the influences of fire curtain and natural smoke vent area on smoke movement in the stage fire of a theater using FDS (Fire Dynamics Simulator). The dimension of the theater stage was 31 m in width, 34 m in depth, and 32 m in height. The area ratios between the natural smoke vent and stage were approximately 10%, 8%, 5%, and 1%. The gap distance between the fire curtain and proscenium wall was 0.5 m. The fire curtain and natural smoke vent area were observed to affect significantly the behavior of smoke movement to the auditorium and the mass flow rates of inflow and outflow through the natural smoke vent and proscenium opening. In addition, under the same natural smoke vent area, the pressure in the stage with a fire curtain was lower than that without a fire curtain.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.41-49
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• 2019

In the present experimental study, based on a real-scale theater, a 1/14 reduced-scale model was constructed, and the effects of natural vent and fire curtain in fire of a theater stage were investigated. The case without fire curtain under the opened natural vent showed lower temperatures in the stage, whereas the case with fire curtain under the opened natural vent showed lower temperatures in the auditorium. On the other hand, through analyzing the starting time of the temperature rise at the point near the proscenium opening in the auditorium, it was found that the opened natural vent condition can delay the starting time of smoke spread from the stage to the auditorium and suppress the temperature rise in the auditorium. Under the present experimental conditions, the fire curtain installation did not affect significantly the velocity and mass flow rate of the outflow through the natural vent of the stage, which might be due to openings in the stage. The present results can be used to examine the effects of natural vent and fire curtain in a real-scale fire of a theater and to check the accuracy of the numerical simulation code.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.28-36
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• 2017

In this work, the effects of fire curtain and forced smoke ventilation on smoke spread to auditorium in the stage fire of theater were investigated using the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS). For the stage of 31 m (Width)${\times}$34 m (Depth)${\times}$32 m (Height) in dimension, the fast growth fire condition with 10 MW of heat release rate was applied. The forced smoke ventilation was set based on the National Fire Safety Code (NFSC) and previous research. The gap distances between the fire curtain and proscenium wall was established to be 0 m and 0.5 m. When the fire curtain was attached completely to the proscenium wall without any gap, no smoke spread from the stage to the auditorium occurred, independent of forced smoke ventilation. When the gap distance between the fire curtain and proscenium wall was 0.5 m, the smoke layer in the stage descended to the lower height from the bottom than the case without the fire curtain, which was because the smoke spread to auditorium was impeded by the fire curtain. Under the same fire curtain condition, the case with the forced smoke ventilation led to decreasing the mass flow rate of outflow through the gap between the fire curtain and proscenium wall, as compared to the case without the forced smoke ventilation. Based on this study, it was confirmed that the fire curtain and forced smoke ventilation were the effective tools to hold down the smoke spread to the auditorium in the stage fire of theater.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.37-47
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• 2019

In the present study, the influences of the fire curtain and natural vent in a theater fire were investigated through the numerical simulation of a reduced-scale model of a theater fire using the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS). Based on a previous experimental study using the reduced-scale model, the 1/14 reduced-scale model and its conditions were constructed according to the law of similarity with a real-scale theater. Through a series of numerical simulations, the smoke movements were visualized, and the temperatures in the stage and auditorium, mass flow rate of the outflow through natural vent, and time at which smoke started moving toward the auditorium were measured and analyzed. The general trends on the effects of the fire curtain and natural vent during the theater fire predicted by the present numerical simulation were similar to the previous experimental results. For quantitative comparison of the present numerical simulation and previous experimental results, the mean percentage errors of temperatures in the stage and auditorium, and the mass flow rate of outflow through the natural vent were calculated. The present numerical simulation results showed good agreement with previous experimental results with reasonable accuracy.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Rural Architecture
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.93-100
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• 2005

The purpose of this study is to investigate specific crowding areas resulted from diverse physical factors of multi-plex theaters in a fire evacuation, and more accurately predict the evacuation route of people. To achieve these purpose, the architectural characteristics of three multi-plex theaters in Jinju have been chosen, and the evacuation experiments through the computer simulation called Simulex were carried out for each on the these theaters. The conclusions from this study are as follows: (1) Crowding usually happens cross areas between theater inside and corridors, and Crowding rate depending on the number of cross areas. (2) It is necessary to design the escape routes being employed ordinary times. And the egress routes planning should be integrated into space programming at the early stage of building design.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.18-27
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• 2020

An actual fire test was performed on single combustibles placed in a local cinema complex, and quantitative differences in the maximum heat release rate (HRR) and fire growth rate were investigated based on the design fire curve methods (i.e., the general and 2-stage methods). In terms of combustible use and fire load, a total of 12 combustibles were selected, classified into cinema lounge and movie theater. It was found that the maximum HRR and fire growth rate determined using the two-stage method were quantitatively different from those of the general method. The application of the two-stage method, which can be used to determine the fire growth rate of the initial fire stage more precisely, could be useful in accurately predicting the activation time of fire detectors and fire-extinguishing facilities, as well as the available safe egress time (ASET) and required safe egress time (RSET).

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.13-19
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• 1999

Currently, conventional fire prevention facility installation standard is based on the use and size of the domestic theaters. In the study, theaters with 1,900 seats were examined to suggest a suitable method to adapt a better fire preventing system. The proposed systems are as follow. - 100% of backup pressed-water outlet device, considering waterproof pressure for fire prevention facility at the top floor. - The supplement of the side wall type header and a large caliber outlet header for stage open sprinkler. - Subdividing a installation rule for special detector and implementing the latestdetector. - Installation of fire curtain for dividing stage area and auditorium area, and also the method of installation of fire curtain.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.51-59
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• 2018

Although a fire curtain plays an important role in preventing smoke from spreading to the auditorium in a theater fire, there has been insufficient research on fire curtains. In this study, to check the accuracy of numerical simulation, for previous experiments using a reduced scale model, a numerical simulation was carried out, and the results were compared with previous experimental data. The fire curtain effect was then predicted numerically. A Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) was used, and the natural exhaust vent sizes were set to ~10%, ~5%, and ~1% of the stage floor area. The smoke movement was visualized, and the mass flow rates and temperatures were measured and analyzed. In addition, the law of similarity was used to examine the influence of a fire curtain in a real scale theater fire. Without the fire curtain, the present numerical simulation results were in agreement with the previous experimental data within reasonable accuracy. Meanwhile, the fire curtain affects the mass flow rates through the natural exhaust vent and proscenium opening, as well as the start time of soot outflow to the auditorium. Overall, the present results can be used to develop a fire curtain system.