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CFD fire simulation of the Swissair Flight 111 in-flight fire – Part II: Fire spread analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2016

F. Jia ,
M. K. Patel ,
E. R. Galea ,
A. Grandison  and
J. Ewer
F. Jia
Affiliation:
Fire Safety Engineering Group, School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, University of Greenwich, London, UK
M. K. Patel
Affiliation:
Fire Safety Engineering Group, School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, University of Greenwich, London, UK
E. R. Galea
Affiliation:
Fire Safety Engineering Group, School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, University of Greenwich, London, UK
A. Grandison
Affiliation:
Fire Safety Engineering Group, School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, University of Greenwich, London, UK
J. Ewer
Affiliation:
Fire Safety Engineering Group, School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, University of Greenwich, London, UK
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Abstract

In 1998, Swissair Flight 111 (SR111) developed an in-flight fire shortly after take-off which resulted in the loss of the aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11, and all passengers and crew. The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada, Fire and Explosion Group launched a four year investigation into the incident in an attempt to understand the cause and subsequent mechanisms which lead to the rapid spread of the in-flight fire. As part of this investigation, the SMARTFIRE Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software was used to predict the ‘possible’ development of the fire and associated smoke movement. In this paper the CFD fire simulations are presented and model predictions compared with key findings from the investigation. The model predictions are shown to be consistent with a number of the investigation findings associated with the early stages of the fire development. The analysis makes use of simulated pre-fire airflow conditions within the MD-11 cockpit and above ceiling region presented in an earlier publication (Part I) which was published in The Aeronautical Journal in January 2006.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 110 , Issue 1107 , May 2006 , pp. 303 - 314
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 2006 

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