Fire spreading experiments on heterogeneous fuel beds. Applications of percolation theory

Abstract

In the experimental work presented here, fire spread was studied through various laboratory and full-scale models containing different types of combustible and noncombustible materials. We have examined the dynamic behaviour of the flame front and the final state (after extinction) on randomly created heterogeneous zones, both with and without wind. The principal conclusion is that critical thresholds exist, for the ratio between combustible and noncombustible parts, at the transition between nonpropagation and propagation of the fire. This result is common to all types of spreading (with or without wind). The values of the critical thresholds in the nonwind-driven experiments are those of the percolation theory. The critical exponent, obtained for wind-driven experiments, is in accordance with current values suggested by the directed percolation approach.