In this study, we experimentally and numerically investigated the effect of elevator movement on the pressure difference between vestibule and living room regulated by the smoke control system in a high-rise building. The elevator and smoke control systems using supplied pressure dampers are considered one of the most important systems for safe evacuation. However, the pressure field and flow rate are strongly disrupted by elevator movement. Thus, they can affect the performance of smoke control systems and hinder evacuation. The experimental results of this study are used to validate the results of the numerical study when elevator is moving at low speed or is stationary. Then, the effect of elevator movement on the pressure difference between the vestibule and living room, which is controlled by the smoke control system, is investigated numerically using ANSYS CFX. The elevator speed is increased from 10 to 70 m/s, corresponding to the real elevator speed increase of 1.5 to 10 m/s based on Reynolds similarity. It is found that the higher the elevator speed, the greater the pressure difference between the vestibule and living room. This shows that the airflow rate should be actively changed by considering the location of the elevator and its speed. The empirical correlation between elevator movement and pressure difference is derived.

In this study, a new network-based unsteady smoke control program, CAU_USCOP (Chung-Ang University, Unsteady Smoke Control Program), was developed for use in high-rise buildings. This program solves the unsteady conservation of mass and energy equation. Using CAU_USCOP, we then analyze the movement of smoke in a high-rise building according to the existence of a natural smoke release unit. Moreover, the strength of the stack effect is estimated using the movement of a neutral plane in a stairwell over time. The neutral plane in the case with the natural smoke release unit descends 90% less than the case without the unit, and the natural exhaust in the fire room should be helpful in reducing the risk from fire.

Ultra-high-rise buildings allow for the efficient use of land, but they are vulnerable to disasters such as fires. Therefore, the development of network models for analyzing the characteristics of smoke movement in ultra-high-rise buildings is necessary for cost-effective design of smoke control systems and operation decisions. A new network-based smoke control program, CAU_ESCAP, is developed in this study, which is a program that can consider the energy transfer. CAU_ESCAP is validated with existing programs, ASCOS and COSMO, by analyzing the smoke movement. After that, fire in an ultra-high-rise building of 55 stories is applied with CAU_ESCAP for analyzing the smoke movement and the mass flow rate of the smoke control system due to the variation of heat release rate and door conditions of the fire floor. The pressure difference between the fire room and the protecting area does not vary in the closed-door case in the fire room, but vary significantly in the opened-door case. Therefore, the smoke from fire would be spread to other spaces if there is no instantaneous increase in the mass flow rate of pressurization when the door is opened by occupants for evacuation.