Finite element modelling of the pyrolysis of wet wood subjected to fire

The modelling of the pyrolysis of wet wood provides more realistic fire scenarios for structural fire design by taking into account variable thermal properties of wood which are beyond the scope of conventional structural fire design codes. The proposed numerical methodology has been written in MATLAB environment. A 2D nonlinear finite element analysis (FEA) is performed to model the pyrolysis of wet wood subjected to high temperature. The varying of thermal proprieties of wood are discussed from the point of view of changes of structure and chemical composition under fire condition. The validity of the model is established by comparing the predicted results with results from fire resistance tests presented in literature. Qualitatively, the model provides good agreement with the experimental data. It is shown that the model can handle layers of a wooden composite structure. Temperature profiles at different points in the wood sample and the two-dimensional charring depth of Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) panels are calculated and compared with experimental data.