Postulations of flame spread mechanisms

An experimental study was conducted to explore the flame spread mechanism over thin solid fuel sheets. Flame spread rates over paper at various inclined angles were measured, and Schlieren photography was used to qualitatively assess heat transfer to the unburnt material in front of the pyrolysis zone. Two different types of flame spread were observed. One is te downward flame spread observed in the range of ?90 to ?30 deg from the horizontal. In this region, flame spread rate was almost constant with time, although it increased slightly with increasing angle. The other type of spread observed was the accelerative upward flame spread at angles of zero to 90 deg. Flame spread at angles from ?30 deg to zero seemed unsatable and increased by repetitive acceleration and deceleration In the range of inclined angles from ?90 to ?30 deg, heat transfer from the flame zone to the unburnt material seemed to take place mainly through the gas phase in the region 0.2 ～ 0.4 cm in front of the pyrolysis zone. In this case, the direction of the gas stream could be considered to oppose that of the flame spread. In the case of upward flame spread, the unburnt material in front of the pyrolysis zone seemed to be heated by convection of the bottom side, where the direction of the gas stream was obviously parallel with that of flame spread.