An Inspection Criterion for Flashover in Compartment Fires Based on Catastrophe Theory

Flashover is a phenomenon whereby a compartment fire undergoes a rapid increase in size and intensity. Such a transition is suggestive of a catastrophe process. In this paper, catastrophe behavior of flashover is analyzed and equilibrium manifold function equation is created based on catastrophe theory. The corresponding relation between system control variables and operating conditions are discussed. The results indicate that the catastrophe form of flashover is swallowtail catastrophe. This result has already been found by Beard et al. Some additional results are presented. Therefore, an inspection criterion for flashover in compartment fires can be determined from the bifurcation set of the swallowtail catastrophe.