Citation

Bjorkman J, Baroudi D, Latva R, Tuomisaari M, Kokkala M. Fire Safety J. 2002; 37(4): 395-407.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

A simple model for the dynamic response of point-type smoke detectors is described. The model is based on two independent parameters: the characteristic length and the static response threshold. Experimentally determined values of the parameters for six commonly used point-type smoke detectors are reported. In the tests the free stream flow velocity was varied in the range of 0.2-0.8 m/s and the rate of rise of smoke density in the range of 0.1-2 dB/ms. The model parameters were determined from the experimental data by using the least squares fitting with regularisation. The characteristic length was found to vary in the range of 2-10 m indicating a smoke entry time constant in the range of 10-50 s at a flow rate of 0.2 m/s typical of smouldering fires. The response of photoelectric detectors was described by the model reasonably well. In the case of ionisation detectors, significant deviations were found. A method of using the model in fire safety engineering calculations is also presented.