An efficient hybrid lattice Boltzmann-volumetric heating source model for fire impact modelling

Abstract: In (bush)fire impact studies (like bushfire-wind-structure interaction analysis), the details of the combustion model and flame behaviour very close to the flaming area are not usually important. Therefore, the existing physical models incorporating a combustion model to simulate (bush)fire, are inefficient as they use computationally expensive fire models. In the current research, a simple volumetric heating source model with Boussineq approximation has been used to study fire behaviour. To further enhance the model efficiency, a Lattice Boltzmann Flow solver has been used. Comparison with the experimental data shows that apart from the areas very close to the burning flame, the proposed model predicts the flow and temperature fields very accurately. Also, a comparison with the FireFOAM solver shows its superior computational efficiency. Keywords: Computational Fluid Dynamics, Bushfire modelling, Lattice Boltzmann method, Volumetric heating source model