Scaling Technique

Physical scaling has been successfully applied throughout the development of fire safety science in the past several decades. It is a very powerful and cost-effective tool to obtain valuable information concerning, e.g. fire characteristics, smoke movement, smoke control, fire development and fire suppression. Typical scaling techniques that have been developed are summarized in this chapter to provide a theoretical benchmark and support for further development of more advanced scaling methods. Different scaling techniques are introduced although the focus is on the Froude scaling method which is the most common one used in fire safety science. Scaling of convective heat transfer, radiative heat transfer and heat conduction is investigated as well as the scaling of water sprays, response time of sprinklers, general combustible materials and wood pallets.