Wiktionary
n. 1 The near simultaneous ignition of all combustible material in an enclosed area. 2 An unintended electric discharge or arc over or around an insulator
WordNet
n. an unintended electric discharge (as over or around an insulator)
Wikipedia
A flashover is the near-simultaneous ignition of most of the directly exposed combustible material in an enclosed area. When certain organic materials are heated, they undergo thermal decomposition and release flammable gases. Flashover occurs when the majority of the exposed surfaces in a space are heated to their autoignition temperature and emit flammable gases (see also flash point). Flashover normally occurs at or for ordinary combustibles, and an incident heat flux at floor level of .
An example of flashover is ignition of a piece of furniture in a domestic room. The fire involving the initial piece of furniture can produce a layer of hot smoke which spreads across the ceiling in the room. The hot buoyant smoke layer grows in depth, as it is bounded by the walls of the room. The radiated heat from this layer heats the surfaces of the directly exposed combustible materials in the room, causing them to give off flammable gases via pyrolysis. When the temperatures of the evolved gases become high enough, these gases will ignite, throughout their extent.
Flashover is a 2008 documentary film concerning the release of John Deacon from prison after he was wrongfully convicted of arson in 2005.
Flashover may refer to:
- Flashover, a near simultaneous ignition of all combustible material in an enclosed area.
- Flashover (electrical), an electrical arc between exposed commutator segments in a motor or generator.
- Flashover (film), a 2007 documentary film concerning John Deacon's release from prison.
- Flashover Recordings, a trance music record label.
Usage examples of "flashover".
The flashover effect as she opened the door with one foot ignited a huge fireball, blowing her and her baby out into the snow where they mercifully died.
Rocking against him softly, she tasted and sampled, gently at first but then with mounting urgency and determination as the need inside her welled and built, all too swiftly reaching the flashover point.
If the Earth was instantly converted into energy somehow, the flashover would at least have melted the Moon.
That flash when the ships came together was a flashover of high potential.
SunSpot would flashover in a heartbeat, and for a few brief moments would outshine the local star, Lodestar.
The flashover kills all four members of the crew outright, blowing out the fire doors and sending a tongue of flame leaping up the stairwell to the floor above.
As for a flash fire, involving gasoline and butane and a sudden flashover, the intensity was fleeting.
Adora admitted, also wondering what flashover was and if she could ask Zayn to go away.
A conductor, it caused a flashover that dumped millions of watts into the bird within a millisecond.
The wobble set in again, the flashover happened, and the two glowing dots rushed away.
Vana shut her eyes and quivered as his lips started at her knee and went on a journey that culminated in a flashover of pleasure.