Experimental characterisation of two fully-developed enclosure fire regimes

• Characteristics of two enclosure fire regimes are investigated experimentally.
• Regime I is a ventilation limited fire where most energy is trapped inside.
• Regime II is fuel limited where most of the energy flows out of the openings.
• Regime I is more severe from a structural perspective for a small compartment.
• For larger, open-plan spaces, Regime II is the more critical design scenario.

This work revisits the principle characteristics of two unique regimes of behaviour of fully-developed compartment fires first identified during the immense body of research that came to define the compartment fire framework. Experimentation and computational modelling are used to explore, compare and contrast the characteristics of these two Regimes and identify the transition or break point between the two. Their relevance to the design of contemporary infrastructure and need for a greater understanding of both Regimes in this context is discussed.