Mechanisms of flame spread over convex polymethyl methacrylate building material

Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is a widely used combustible building material in convex structures, such as highway sound barriers and building fa & ccedil;ades. However, most flame spread studies focus on flat surfaces. This study investigates flame spread along convex surfaces through a series of burning experiments with varying curvatures and widths. The average path flame spread rate increases along with a bigger curvature and width. By introducing a dimensionless average path flame spread rate, an empirical correlation linking the average path flame spread rate with sample width and curvature is proposed. In reality, flame spread over convex surface exhibits a distinct time-varying process. For a large curvature, the transition of the flame shape from a wall-fire regime to a pool-fire regime is observed during the process. Moreover, as curvature and width increase, the flame spread transitions from a two-stage process (regime I) to a three-stage process (regime II). In regime II, the transient flame spread rate initially decreases, then increases, and finally decreases again. This behavior is due to the shift from convection dominance to radiation dominance, although radiant heat transfer significantly influences regime I as well. During this transition, a two-peak phenomenon in radiant heat flux emerges, indicating the onset of regime II. Based on this phenomenon, a power-law correlation between curvature and sample width as the critical criterion for triggering regime II is determined. The results of this study have implications concerning the fire safety design of buildings.