The development of external thermal insulation in buildings has given rise to a risk of fire spread by the façade of buildings, as was demonstrated by the recent Grenfell Tower fire. In order to assess this risk, several countries have enforced mandatory real-scale tests, but these test methods are very different from one country to the next. In these tests, the fire performance assessment is based on different criteria, such as temperature thresholds or propagation. Considering all these differences, comparing the results obtained between different façade fire tests is difficult. The aim of this study is to develop an alternative approach based on a numerical tool (FDS), in order to compare façade fire tests. The analysis focuses on the dynamic evolution of the incident heat flux and its surface distribution. Results indicate that this new approach is able to discriminate between the test benches, and a correlation was exposed between surface impact and heat flux.

International Seminar on Fire and Explosion Hazards (9; 2019; Saint Petersburg, Russia). Proceedings of the Ninth International Seminar on Fire and Explosion Hazards [Электронный ресурс]. Vol. 2: 21-26 April 2019, Saint Petersburg, Russia / Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Autonomous Non-Profit Organization "Fire and Explosion Safety", Gefest Holding Ltd ; [edited by A. Snegirev [et al.]. — Электрон. текстовые дан. (1 файл : 98,7 Мб). — Saint Petersburg, 2019. — Загл. с титул. экрана. — Свободный доступ из сети Интернет (чтение, печать, копирование). — Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0. — <URL:http://elib.spbstu.ru/dl/2/k19-97.pdf>. — <URL:http://doi.org/10.18720/SPBPU/2/k19-97>.