The role of the terrain geometry on the flames propagation through a vegetative fuel bed

When a wildland fire occurs the domain geometry is a key parameter in governing the way the fire spreads across the terrain. The effect of this variable on the rate of flames propagation was investigated in this work by means of a computational fluid dynamics software specifically designed to simulate fires in wildland environment. The physics-based model - i.e. relied on the laws of conservation of momentum, energy and mass – was adopted under two different domain configurations (double-slope domains and canyon); the capability of the computational code to correctly predict the fire behaviour was verified by comparison with results of experimental tests available in the literature.