GoZone: a numerical model for travelling fires

It has been shown that fire in large compartments tend to burn locally and to move across the floor over a period of time generating a non-uniform temperature distribution. These fires are widely known as “travelling fires” (Rein et al., 2007). In this work, the framework of a new numerical model for travelling fires is briefly presented, followed by a practical case of comparison with an experimental large-scale fire test. The model is based on a zone model combined with a cellular automata model. GoZone, the software in which the model has been implemented is aimed to describe for any shape of compartment the complex dynamics of the fire from ignition, to a phase of growing localised fire that eventually may travel in the compartment, possibly followed by a flashover.