Experimental study on the time‐dependent smoke densities at 39 locations in a multi‐floor building through a digital smoke detector system

The objective of this study was to quantitatively investigate some characteristics of the smoke transportation in multi‐floor buildings. Eight experiments were conducted for worst scenario. The effects of an open window in the burning room on the smoke transportation are also analyzed. The time‐dependent smoke densities at 39 locations in a half‐scale building with an atrium were measured through a digital smoke detector system. The results indicate that the chimney effect plays an important role in the smoke transportation in multi‐floor buildings with atriums. For the effects of the open window, the results suggest that the smoke densities at most locations in the building increase earlier when a window is open but have a smaller peak value than those results in the cases without any outer vents. It is suggested that a building without vertical atrium would be safer than those with long ones. More attention should be paid to those spaces when the fire protection systems are designed for buildings with atriums. The data of the time‐dependent smoke densities at tens of locations in the building are useful for the validation of smoke transportation models. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.