Abstract
The aim of this paper is to detail the combustion factor used to calculate the design value of the fire load density in accordance with the European design code. The procedure only states the factor value for the mainly cellulosic materials, like wood, paper, cardboard, naturals fibres (cotton, linen) etc., but it gives no information about other types of fuels, like plastics, flammable liquids, rubber, etc.
Considering the vast types of fuels, for a correct appreciation of the input data used by different fire models, it is necessary to better understand the importance of the combustion coefficient and its appropriate value selection.
The combustion factor directly affects the value of the design fire load density which, in turn, affects the Heat Release Rate. Both parameters are used by different type of natural fire models (like parametric curve, zone models, CFD models) to simulate the fire development and to predict the temperature in the analysed space.