AN-04-11-1 (RP-1203) – Tenability and Open Doors in Pressurized Stairwells PDF

During building fires, smoke logging of stairwells can have serious consequences. A project was conducted to study the consequences of one or more improperly propped open stairwell doors on tenability conditions in the stairwell and at other locations in the building. This project used the network building flow model CONTAM in conjunction with the zone fire model CFAST to analyze 80 smoke transport scenarios in high-rise buildings. Tenability calculations were performed by a computer program that was specifically written for this purpose. This basic approach has been used for a number of other applications, and it is the only practical approach to analyze the smoke transport due to fires in high-rise buildings. However, the method of analysis leaves much to be desired, and software needs to be developed to more realistically simulate smoke transport from fires in large high-rise buildings. Parameters included in the analyses are weather, stair geometry, building leakage, enclosed elevator lobbies, elevator vent, stair pressurization systems, type of fire, location of fire, and arrangement of open stair doors.

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