Intro To Fire Sim-027

Emanuele Gissi
An introduction to
Fire Simulation
with FDS and Smokeview
Updated to FDS 5.4.1
Development
Download a revised version of this manual from: http://www.corbezzolo.org/ You can participate in the development of this manual. Please, contact me at: emanuele.gissi@gmail.com This manual was produced using LYX and OpenOce.org on Ubuntu Linux 9.04. A The LTEX le intro_to_fire_sim-027.tex was compiled on September 21, 2009.
Copyright notice
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License. To view a copy of this license, visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ You are free to use, share, adapt this work. Remember to cite the sources and to use the same open license for derivative work.
About the Author

Emanuele Gissi (emanuele.gissi@gmail.com) is a re ocer since 2002, serving at the Comando provinciale dei Vigili del Fuoco, Genova (Italy), a branch of the governmental re safety national organization (http://www.vigilfuoco.it/). He is a mechanical engineer and obtained a doctorate in technical physics in 2001. His work is focused on incident command, review of performance based re safety design, and re investigation. He provides basic and advanced training on re simulation to re ocers and professionals.
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Preface
This manual was born as a small tutorial for students of re safety engineering courses. Then it grew to the current state. The main goal of this manual is to introduce the student to the complex world of re simulation with Fire Dynamics Simulator and Smokeview, and complements the ocial documentation. The ocial documentation remains an invaluable source of reference for advanced users and this manual is heavily based on it. Some large parts are even copy-pasted and adapted. In this manual, topics are organized in a strict logical order and the basics are thoroughly explained to improve the learning curve. Some advanced topics are completely omitted for the sake of simplicity. According to teaching experience, students understand the logic behind Fire Dynamics Simulator and become autonomous learners after 16 hours of course: they learn to work independently and are able to develop reasonable engineering level applications by themselves.
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Acknowledgments
People
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a federal agency within the Department of Commerce of the United States, is the major driving force behind Fire Dynamics Simulator development. The Fire Dynamics Simulator has been publicly released on 2000. Since its rst release, continued improvements have been made to the software based largely on feedback from its users and on the hard work of some NIST employees. Fire Dynamics Simulator documentation is written and maintained by Kevin McGrattan, Bryan Klein, Simo Hostikka, and Jason Floyd from various organizations. Their user support through the discussion group is always complete, fast, and precious. In a simple word: friendly. I owe to them large parts of this manual and most of my knowledge on re simulation. Thus, I thank them once more.
Ideas
This manual is open content and free, because its published in a format that explicitly allows copying and modifying of its information by anyone. Fire Dynamics Simulator itself is free and in the public domain. Linux1 and Openoce.Org2 are free and open source. I thank the open source movement as a whole, as the best things in life are free.
Linux is an open source operating system. See http://www.ubuntu.com/ for an user friendly Linux distribution. 2 Openoce.org is an open source oce and productivity program for Linux, MS Windows, and MacOS X. See http://www.openoce.org/ for further details.
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Contents
1 Introduction 1.1 1.2 1.3 Complexity of re phenomena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Approaches to re simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Simplication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1 2 4 7 7 8 8 9 9 9 9 9
2 Inside FDS5 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 What are FDS5 ans Smokeview? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Engineering applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Who develops FDS5? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Who uses FDS5? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . How much does it cost? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . How does FDS5 work? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6.1 2.6.2 2.6.3 2.6.4 2.6.5 2.6.6 2.7 2.7.1 2.7.2 2.7.3 2.7.4 2.7.5 Hydrodynamic model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Combustion model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Radiation transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Geometry and multiple meshes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Parallel processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Boundary conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Low speed ow assumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Rectilinear geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Fire growth and spread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Combustion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 ix
Limitations of FDS5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
x 3 Running FDS5 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6
CONTENTS 15
Online resources and user support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Version numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Hardware requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Serial and parallel calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Installing on Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Installing on Ubuntu Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 3.6.1 3.6.2 First install . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Installing a new version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.7 3.8
Compiling an optimized binary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Performing a calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 3.8.1 3.8.2 3.8.3 Running serial FDS5 on Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Running serial FDS5 on Ubuntu Linux . . . . . . . . . . 21 Running parallel FDS5 on Ubuntu Linux . . . . . . . . . 21
3.9
Monitoring progress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.10 Stop a calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 3.11 Visualizing results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 3.12 Output les . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 4 Input le basics 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 25
Syntax of the input le . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Writing an input le . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 The logic behind most FDS5 input les . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Keep it simple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Each model, its input data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Units of measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Reference coordinate system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Prescribing geometric entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Prescribing orientations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
4.10 Prescribing colors and aspect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
CONTENTS 5 General conguration 5.1 5.2 5.3
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Naming the job, HEAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Simulation time, TIME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Miscellaneous, MISC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 43
6 Combustion and radiation 6.1 6.2 6.3
Combustion is not pyrolysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Prescribing a re . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Modeling gas phase combustion, REAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 6.3.1 6.3.2 Ignition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Burning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
6.4 6.5 6.6
CO production in under-ventilated res . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Flame extinction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Radiation transport, RADI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 53
7 Computational domain 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5
Dening a mesh, MESH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Multiple meshes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Conformity to the mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Choosing the right mesh dimension: a sensitivity study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Initial conditions of the computational domain, INIT . . . . . . . 58 61
8 Materials 8.1 8.2 8.3
Dening a material, MATL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Thermal properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Burning properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 8.3.1 8.3.2 8.3.3 Solids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Liquids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION in a MATL line? . . . . . . . . . . 65
8.4 8.5
Properties hell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Resources for material property data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
xii 9 Extra gas species 9.1 9.2
CONTENTS 67
Dening extra gas species, SPEC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 CARBON DIOXIDE and carbon dioxide . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 71
10 Lagrangian particles
10.1 Dening Lagrangian particles, PART . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 10.2 Massless particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 10.3 Water droplets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 11 Boundary conditions 75
11.1 Dening boundary conditions, SURF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 11.2 Predened boundary conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 11.3 Coloring boundary conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 11.4 Examples of boundary conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 11.4.1 Adiabatic surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 11.4.2 Fixed temperature and heat ux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 11.4.3 Fans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 11.4.4 Fans injecting extra gas species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 11.4.5 Dynamic pressure at an open boundary . . . . . . . . . . 82 11.4.6 Prescribing an heat release rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 11.5 Geometric conformity and rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 11.6 Boundary conditions for solids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 11.6.1 Backing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 11.6.2 Setting an initial temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 11.7 Time dependent boundary conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 11.7.1 Simplied ramps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 11.7.2 User dened ramps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 11.8 Injecting Lagrangian particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
CONTENTS 12 Solid geometry
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12.1 Dening solid obstructions, OBST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 12.2 Creating voids inside obstructions, HOLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 12.3 Prescribing a dierent boundary condition, VENT . . . . . . . . . 95 12.4 Default boundary condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 12.5 How thick is a wall? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 12.6 Thin sheet obstructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 12.7 Activating and deactivating objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 12.8 Stair stepping complex geometries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 12.9 Coloring individual objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 12.10Making burning solids disappear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 13 Devices and control logic 103
13.1 Devices, DEVC and PROP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 13.2 Examples of devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 13.2.1 Timer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 13.2.2 Thermometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 13.2.3 Smoke detector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 13.2.4 Beam smoke detector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 13.2.5 Sprinkler and heat detector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 13.3 Basic control logic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 13.4 Advanced control logic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 14 Output 111
14.1 Prescribing output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 14.2 Output control parameters, DUMP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 14.3 Point measurement devices, DEVC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 14.3.1 Record a gas phase quantity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 14.3.2 Record a solid phase quantity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 14.3.3 Record integrated quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
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CONTENTS 14.4 Animated planar slices, SLCF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 14.5 Animated boundary quantities, BNDF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 14.6 Animated isosurfaces, ISOF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 14.7 Realistic smoke and re . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 14.8 Heat release rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 14.9 Visibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 14.10Upper and lower layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 14.11Heat uxes and thermal radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 14.12Interfacing with structural models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 14.13Visualizing Lagrangian particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 14.14Frequently used output quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
15 Real world examples
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15.1 Building a ventilator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 15.2 Prescribing a simplied burning material . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 15.3 Simulation and revelation of smoke of a smoldering re . . . . . 128 15.4 A pan lled of ethanol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 15.5 A simple car parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 15.5.1 Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 15.5.2 Input le and results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 16 Using a GUI 141
List of Figures
3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 4.1 4.2 4.3 6.1 6.2 6.3 7.1 7.2 7.3 A cluster of Linux computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Starting a serial calculation on Windows XP and on Linux Ubuntu 21 Running a parallel calculation and monitoring the system on Ubuntu Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Running Smokeview on Windows XP and on Ubuntu Linux . . . . 24 The structure of an FDS5 namelist group . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Modeling reality in FDS5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 The reference system, a volume, a face, a segment, a point, and a plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Combustion is not pyrolysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Combustion and pyrolysis in a aming match . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Flame extinction criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 The computational domain composed by four meshes . . . . . . 55 Mesh connections: (a) ideal, (b) allowed, and (c) forbidden . . . 56 Geometric object: before and after automatic shifting . . . . . . 56
11.1 Extending the computational domain beyond the vent . . . . . . 78 11.2 brick wall: multiple layers of dierent materials . . . . . . . . 84 11.3 HRRPUA as function of time after SURF activation . . . . . . . . . 87 11.4 VEL and TMP_FRONT as function of time after SURF activation . . 88 12.1 Boundary conditions prescribed with SURF_ID, SURF_IDS, and SURF_ID6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 xv
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LIST OF FIGURES 12.2 OBST, HOLE and VENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 12.3 Setting boundary conditions to exterior boundaries of the computational domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 12.4 Flow velocity on two sides of an oblique wall. Lower side has SAWTOOTH=.FALSE. set. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 14.1 Output of animated planar slices SLCF as viewed in Smokeview . 115 14.2 Output of animated boundary quantities, BNDF as viewed in Smokeview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 14.3 Output of animated isosurfaces, ISOF as viewed in Smokeview . . 118 14.4 Output of soot MASS FRACTION and HRRPUV as viewed in Smokeview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 15.1 Car parking plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 15.2 The entered geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 15.3 Heat release rate curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 15.4 Thermocouples at the center of the car parking. . . . . . . . . . 136 15.5 Gas temperatures in front of window panes vs time. . . . . . . . 136 15.6 FED vs time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 15.7 Layer height vs time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 15.8 AST (Adiabatic Surface Temperature) boundary le at 1200 s. . . 138 15.9 Visibility slice le at 120 s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 15.10Visibility (10 m) isosurface at 300 s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 15.11Net heat ux on boundary surfaces at 1200 s. . . . . . . . . . . 139 16.1 A Blender session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
List of Tables
4.1 4.2 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 6.2 6.3 7.1 7.2 7.3 8.1 8.2 9.1 9.2 Systematic organisation of the input le . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 COLOR values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 HEAD parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 TIME parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 MISC parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Mixture fraction species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 REAC parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 RADI parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 IJK values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 MESH parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 INIT parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 MATL parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 RAMP (temperature) parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Predened extra species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 SPEC parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
10.1 PART parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 11.1 SURF parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 11.2 RAMP (time) parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 xvii
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LIST OF TABLES
12.1 OBST parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 12.2 HOLE parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 12.3 VENT parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 13.1 DEVC parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 14.1 DUMP parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 14.2 Output of devices in mycase_devc.csv le . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 14.3 SLCF parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 14.4 BNDF parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 14.5 ISOF parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 14.6 Output of HRR in mycase_hrr.csv le . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 14.7 Frequently used output quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Chapter 1 Introduction
This chapter presents the problems embedded in re simulation. The text has been adapted from [FDS5 users guide], Introduction by Howard Baum, NIST Fellow Emeritus.
1.1
Complexity of re phenomena
The idea that the dynamics of a re might be studied numerically dates back to the beginning of the computer age. Indeed, the fundamental conservation equations governing uid dynamics, heat transfer, and combustion were rst written down over a century ago. Despite this, practical mathematical models of re, as distinct from controlled combustion, are relatively recent due to the inherent complexity of the problem. Indeed, in his brief history of the early days of re research, Hoyt Hottel noted: A case can be made for re being, next to the life processes, the most complex of phenomena to understand [Hottel 1984]. The diculties revolve about three issues: First, there are an enormous number of possible re scenarios to consider due to their accidental nature. Second, the physical insight and computing power required to perform all the necessary calculations for most re scenarios are limited. Any fundamentally based study of res must consider at least some aspects of blu 1
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION body aerodynamics, multi-phase ow, turbulent mixing and combustion, radiative transport, and conjugate heat transfer; all of which are active research areas in their own right. Finally, the fuel in most res was never intended as such.
Thus, the mathematical models and the data needed to characterize the degradation of the condensed phase materials that supply the fuel may not be available. Indeed, the mathematical modeling of the physical and chemical transformations of real materials as they burn is still in its infancy. In order to make progress, the questions that are asked have to be greatly simplied. To begin with, instead of seeking a methodology that can be applied to all re problems, we begin by looking at a few scenarios that seem to be most amenable to analysis. Hopefully, the methods developed to study these simple problems can be generalized over time so that more complex scenarios can be analyzed. Second, we must learn to live with idealized descriptions of res and approximate solutions to our idealized equations. Finally, the methods should be capable of systematic improvement. As our physical insight and computing power grow more powerful, the methods of analysis can grow with them.
1.2
Approaches to re simulation
To date, four distinct approaches to the simulation of res have emerged. Each of these treats the re as an inherently three dimensional process evolving in time.
Zone models
The rst to reach maturity, the zone models, describe compartment res. Each compartment is divided into two spatially homogeneous volumes, a hot upper layer and a cooler lower layer. Mass and energy balances are enforced for each layer, with additional models describing other physical processes appended as dierential or algebraic equations as appropriate. Examples of such phenomena include re plumes, ows through doors, windows and other vents, radiative and convective heat transfer, and solid fuel pyrolysis. Model development has progressed to the point where documented and supported software implementing these models are widely available, such as CFAST1 .
The Consolidated Model of Fire and Smoke Transport (CFAST) is a two-zone re model used to calculate the evolving distribution of smoke, re gases and temperature throughout compartments of a building during a re. Visit http://cfast.nist.gov/ for further information.
1
1.2. APPROACHES TO FIRE SIMULATION
The relative physical and computational simplicity of the zone models has led to their widespread use in the analysis of re scenarios. So long as detailed spatial distributions of physical properties are not required, and the two layer description reasonably approximates reality, these models are quite reliable. However, by their very nature, there is no way to systematically improve them. The rapid growth of computing power and the corresponding maturing of computational uid dynamics (CFD), has led to the development of CFD based eld models applied to re research problems. Virtually all this work is based on the conceptual framework provided by the Reynolds-averaged form of the NavierStokes equations (RANS). The use of CFD models has allowed the description RANS of res in complex geometries, and the incorporation of a wide variety of physical phenomena. However, these models have a fundamental limitation for re applications the averaging procedure at the root of the model equations. RANS models were developed as a time-averaged approximation to the conservation equations of uid dynamics. While the precise nature of the averaging time is not specied, it is clearly long enough to require the introduction of large eddy transport coecients to describe the unresolved uxes of mass, momentum and energy. This is the root cause of the smoothed appearance of the results of even the most highly resolved re simulations. The smallest resolvable length scales are determined by the product of the local velocity and the averaging time rather than the spatial resolution of the underlying computational grid. Unfortunately, the evolution of large eddy structures characteristic of most re plumes is lost with such an approach, as is the prediction of local transient events. It is sometimes argued that the averaging process used to dene the equations is an ensemble average over many replicates of the same experiment or postulated scenario. However, this is a moot point in re research since neither experiments nor real scenarios are replicated in the sense required by that interpretation of the equations. The application of Large Eddy Simulation (LES) techniques to re is aimed at LES extracting greater temporal and spatial delity from simulations of re performed on the more nely meshed grids allowed by ever faster computers. The phrase LES refers to the description of turbulent mixing of the gaseous fuel and combustion products with the local atmosphere surrounding the re. This process, which determines the burning rate in most res and controls the spread of smoke and hot gases, is extremely dicult to predict accurately. This is true not only in re research but in almost all phenomena involving turbulent uid motion. The basic idea behind the LES technique is that the eddies that account for most of the mixing are large enough to be calculated with reasonable
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
accuracy from the equations of uid dynamics. The hope (which must ultimately be justied by comparison to experiments) is that small-scale eddy motion can either be crudely accounted for or ignored.
DNS
The fourth approach is Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS). DNS is a simulation in computational uid dynamics in which the Navier-Stokes equations are numerically solved without any turbulence model. This means that the whole range of spatial and temporal scales of the turbulence must be resolved in the computational mesh. The computational cost of DNS is very high, even at low Reynolds numbers. For the Reynolds numbers encountered in most industrial applications, the computational resources required by a DNS would exceed the capacity of the most powerful computers currently available.
1.3
Simplication
The equations describing the transport of mass, momentum, and energy by the re-induced ows must be simplied so that they can be eciently solved for the re scenarios of interest. The general equations of uid dynamics describe a rich variety of physical processes, many of which have nothing to do with res. Retaining this generality would lead to an enormously complex computational task that would shed very little additional insight on re dynamics. The simplied equations, developed by Rehm and Baum [Rehm 1978], have been widely adopted by the larger combustion research community, where they are referred to as the low Mach number combustion equations. They describe the low speed motion of a gas driven by chemical heat release and buoyancy forces. The low Mach number equations are solved numerically by dividing the physical space where the re is to be simulated into a large number of rectangular cells. Within each cell the gas velocity, temperature, etc., are assumed to be uniform; changing only with time. The accuracy with which the re dynamics can be simulated depends on the number of cells that can be incorporated into the simulation. This number is ultimately limited by the computing power available. Present day, single processor desktop computers limit the number of such cells to at most a few million. This means that the ratio of largest to smallest eddy length scales that can be resolved by the computation (the dynamic range of the simulation) is on the order of 100. Parallel processing can be used to extend this range to some extent, but the range of length scales that need to be accounted for if all relevant re processes are to be simulated is roughly 104 to 105 because
1.3. SIMPLIFICATION
combustion processes take place at length scales of 1 mm or less, while the length scales associated with building res are of the order of tens of meters.
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
Chapter 2 Inside FDS5

This chapter gives a concise insight on how Fire Dynamics Simulator works and its limitations. Possible engineering applications are presented.
2.1
What are FDS5 ans Smokeview?
Fire Dynamics Simulator, version 5 (FDS5) is a computational uid dynamics FDS5 (CFD) model of re-driven uid ow. The model solves numerically a form of the Navier-Stokes equations appropriate for low-speed, thermally-driven ow with an emphasis on smoke and heat transport from res. The partial derivatives of the conservation equations of mass, momentum and energy are approximated as nite dierences, and the solution is updated in time on a three-dimensional, rectilinear grid. Thermal radiation is computed using a nite volume technique on the same grid as the ow solver. Lagrangian particles are used to simulate smoke movement, sprinkler discharge, and fuel sprays. Smokeview is a companion program to FDS5 that produces images and anima- Smokeview tions of the results. Smokeview is able to visualize re and smoke in a fairly realistic way. Via its three-dimensional realistic renderings, Smokeview is an integral part of the physical model, as it allows one to assess the visibility within a re compartment in ways that ordinary scientic visualization software cannot. Although not part of the FDS5/Smokeview suite maintained at NIST, there are several third-party and proprietary add-ons to FDS5 either available commercially or privately maintained by individual users. The rst version of FDS5 was publicly released in February 2000. 7
CHAPTER 2. INSIDE FDS5
2.2
Engineering applications
Throughout its development, FDS5 has been aimed at solving practical re problems in re protection engineering, while at the same time providing a tool to study fundamental re dynamics and combustion.
Basic use
It is generally recognized that FDS5 can be eectively used in engineering applications to model the following phenomenas: Low speed transport of heat and combustion products from re; Radiative and convective heat transfer between the gas and solid surfaces; Sprinkler, heat detector, and smoke detector activation.
Advanced use
FDS5 can be used to model the following problems, too: Pyrolysis; Flame spread and re growth; Sprinkler sprays and suppression by water. Currently, the users interested in engineering applications should probably avoid using FDS5 to model the latter problems, as they are still subject to intense research study in academic environments. To date, about half of the applications of the model have been for design of smoke control systems and sprinkler/detector activation studies. The other half consist of residential and industrial re reconstructions.
2.3
Who develops FDS5?
Currently, FDS5 is maintained by the Building and Fire Research Laboratory (BFRL) of National Institute of Standards and Technology. The developers at NIST have formed a loose collaboration of interested stakeholders, including: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, a research and testing laboratory similar to NIST; The Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE); Fire protection engineering rms that use the software; Engineering departments at various universities with a particular emphasis on re.
2.4. WHO USES FDS5?
2.4
Who uses FDS5?
The use of re models currently extends beyond the re research laboratories into the engineering, re service and legal communities. FDS5 is intended for use only by those competent in the elds of uid dynamics, thermodynamics, heat transfer, combustion, and re science, and is intended only to supplement the informed judgment of the qualied user. The software package is a computer model that may or may not have predictive capability when applied to a specic set of factual circumstances. Lack of accurate predictions by the model could lead to erroneous conclusions with regard to re safety. Sucient evaluation of any model is necessary to ensure that users can judge the adequacy of its technical basis, appropriateness of its use, and condence level of its predictions.
2.5
How much does it cost?
FDS5 is free and its source code is in the public domain.
2.6
How does FDS5 work?
A brief description of the major features of FDS5 follows.
2.6.1
Hydrodynamic model
FDS5 solves numerically a form of the Navier-Stokes equations appropriate for low- speed, thermally-driven ow with an emphasis on smoke and heat transport from res. The core algorithm is an explicit predictor-corrector scheme, second order accurate in space and time. Turbulence is treated by means of the Smagorinsky form of Large Eddy Simulation (LES). It is possible to perform a Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) if the underlying numerical mesh is ne enough. LES is the default mode of operation.
2.6.2
Combustion model
For most applications, FDS5 uses a single step chemical reaction whose products are tracked via a two-parameter mixture fraction model. The mixture fraction
10
is a conserved scalar quantity that represents the mass fraction of one or more components of the gas at a given point in the ow eld. By default, two components of the mixture fraction are explicitly computed. The rst is the mass fraction of unburned fuel and the second is the mass fraction of burned fuel, as for example the mass of the combustion products that originated as fuel. A two-step chemical reaction with a three parameter mixture fraction decomposition can also be used with the rst step being oxidation of fuel to carbon monoxide and the second step the oxidation of carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide. The three mixture fraction components for the two step reaction are unburned fuel, mass of fuel that has completed the rst reaction step, and the mass of fuel that has completed the second reaction step. The mass fractions of all of the major reactants and products can be derived from the mixture fraction parameters by means of state relations. Lastly, a multiple-step nite rate model is also available.
2.6.3
Radiation transport
Radiative heat transfer is included in the model via the solution of the radiation transport equation for a gray gas, and in some limited cases using a wide band model. The equation is solved using a technique similar to nite volume methods for convective transport, thus the name given to it is the Finite Volume Method (FVM). Using approximately 100 discrete angles, the nite volume solver requires about 20% of the total CPU time of a calculation, a modest cost given the complexity of radiation heat transfer. The absorption coecients of the gas-soot mixtures are computed using [Grosshandler 1993] narrow-band model. Liquid droplets can absorb and scatter thermal radiation. This is important in cases involving mist sprinklers, but also plays a role in all sprinkler cases.
2.6.4
Geometry and multiple meshes
FDS5 approximates the governing equations on a rectilinear mesh. Rectangular obstructions are forced to conform with the underlying mesh. It is possible to prescribe more than one rectangular mesh to handle cases where the computational domain is not easily embedded within a single mesh.
2.7. LIMITATIONS OF FDS5
11
2.6.5
Parallel processing
It is possible to run an FDS5 calculation on more than one computer using the Message Passing Interface (MPI).
2.6.6
Boundary conditions
All solid surfaces are assigned thermal boundary conditions, plus information about the burning behavior of the material. Heat and mass transfer to and from solid surfaces is usually handled with empirical correlations, although it is possible to compute directly the heat and mass transfer when performing a Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS).
2.7
Limitations of FDS5
Although FDS5 can address most re scenarios, there are limitations in all of its various algorithms. Some of the more prominent limitations of the model are listed here.
2.7.1
Low speed ow assumption
The use of FDS5 is limited to low-speed1 ow with an emphasis on smoke and heat transport from res. This assumption rules out using the model for any scenario involving ow speeds approaching the speed of sound, such as explosions, choke ow at nozzles, and detonations.
2.7.2
Rectilinear geometry
The eciency of FDS5 is due to the simplicity of its rectilinear numerical grid and the use of a fast, direct solver for the pressure eld. This can be a limitation in some situations where certain geometric features do not conform to the rectangular grid, although most building components do. There are techniques in FDS5 to lessen the eect of sawtooth obstructions used to represent non rectangular objects, but these cannot be expected to produce good results if, for example, the intent of the calculation is to study boundary layer eects. For
1
Mach numbers less than about 0.3
12
most practical large-scale simulations, the increased grid resolution aorded by the fast pressure solver osets the approximation of a curved boundary by small rectangular grid cells.
2.7.3
Fire growth and spread
Because the model was originally designed to analyze industrial-scale res, it can be used reliably when the Heat Release Rate (HRR) of the re is specied and the transport of heat and exhaust products is the principal aim of the simulation. In these cases, the model predicts ow velocities and temperatures to an accuracy within 10% to 20% of experimental measurements, depending on the resolution of the numerical grid2 . However, for re scenarios where the heat release rate is predicted rather than specied, the uncertainty of the model is higher. There are several reasons for this: 1. Properties of real materials and real fuels are often unknown or dicult to obtain; 2. The physical processes of combustion, radiation and solid phase heat transfer are more complicated than their mathematical representations in FDS5; 3. The results of calculations are sensitive to both the numerical and physical parameters. Current research is aimed at improving this situation, but it is safe to say that modeling re growth and spread will always require a higher level of user skill and judgment than that required for modeling the transport of smoke and heat from specied res.
2.7.4
Combustion
For most applications, FDS5 uses a mixture fraction-based combustion model. The mixture fraction is a conserved scalar quantity that is dened as the fraction of gas at a given point in the ow eld that originated as fuel. In its simplest form, the model assumes that combustion is mixing-controlled, and that the reaction of fuel and oxygen is innitely fast, regardless of the temperature.
It is extremely rare to nd measurements of local velocities and temperatures from re experiments that have reported error estimates that are less than 10%. Thus, the most accurate calculations using FDS5 do not introduce signicantly greater errors in these quantities than the vast majority of re experiments.
2
2.7. LIMITATIONS OF FDS5
13
For large-scale, well-ventilated res, this is a good assumption. However, if a re is in an under-ventilated compartment, or if a suppression agent like water mist or CO2 is introduced, fuel and oxygen are allowed to mix and not burn, according to a few empirically-based criteria. The physical mechanisms underlying these phenomena are complex, and are tied closely to the ame temperature and local strain rate, neither of which are readilyavailable in a large scale re simulation. Subgrid-scale modeling of gas phase suppression and extinction is still an area of active research in the combustion community. Until reliable models can be developed for building-scale re simulations, simple empirical rules are used by FDS5 that prevent burning from taking place when the atmosphere immediately surrounding the re cannot sustain the combustion.
2.7.5
Radiation
Radiative heat transfer is included in the model via the solution of the radiation transport equation (RTE) for a gray gas, and in some limited cases using a wide band model. The RTE is solved using a technique similar to nite volume methods for convective transport, thus the name given to it is the Finite Volume Method (FVM). There are several limitations of the model: First, the absorption coecient for the smoke-laden gas is a complex function of its composition and temperature. Because of the simplied combustion model, the chemical composition of the smokey gases, especially the soot content, can eect both the absorption and emission of thermal radiation. Second, the radiation transport is discretized via approximately 100 solid angles, although the user may choose to use more angles. For targets far away from a localized source of radiation, like a growing re, the discretization can lead to a non-uniform distribution of the radiant energy. This error is called ray eect and can be seen in the visualization of surface temperatures, where hot spots show the eect of the nite number of solid angles. The problem can be lessened by the inclusion of more solid angles, but at a price of longer computing times. In most cases, the radiative ux to far-eld targets is not as important as those in the near-eld, where coverage by the default number of angles is much better.
14
Chapter 3 Running FDS5

This chapter explains how to obtain, install and run FDS5 and Smokeview. The explanation covers Ubuntu Linux and Windows XP.
3.1
Online resources and user support
The primary resource for detailed instructions on how to download executables, manuals, source code and related utilities, is the FDS5-SMV website: http://re.nist.gov/fds FDS5 has two separate manuals: [FDS5 technical reference]; [FDS5 users guide]. The [FDS5 technical reference] guide is broken into three volumes: Mathematical model; Verication; Experimental validation. Smokeview has its own manual: 15
16 [Smokeview users guide].
CHAPTER 3. RUNNING FDS5
The FDS5 and Smokeview users guides only describe the mechanics of using the computer programs. The technical reference guides provides the theory, algorithm details, and verication and validation work. Along with the FDS5 manuals, there are resources available on the Internet. These include an issue tracker, that allows you to report bugs, feature requests and ask specic clarifying questions, and group discussions, which support more general topics than just specic problems. Before using these on-line resources, it is important to rst try to solve your own problems by performing simple test calculations, or debugging your input le.
3.2
Version numbers
Each release of FDS5 and Smokeview is identied by a version number such as FDS_5.0.1 or SMV_5.0.1, where the rst number is the major release (5), the second number (0) is the minor release, and the third (1) indicates the maintenance release number. As a general pattern, major releases will occur every year or so. As the name implies, they dramatically change the functionality or capabilities of the model. Minor releases occur every few months, and may cause minor changes in functionality. Maintenance releases are more frequent and are just bug xes or small renements, and should not aect code functionality. The release notes can help you decide whether the changes should eect the type of applications that you typically do.
3.3
Hardware requirements
FDS requires one or more fast CPUs and a substantial amount of random-access memory (RAM) to run eciently. For minimum specications, the system should have at least a 1 GHz CPU, and 1 GB RAM. The CPU speed will determine how long the computation will take to nish, while the amount of RAM will determine how many mesh cells can be held in memory. 1 GB RAM can hold around 106 cells. To understand the physical meaning, a 20 m x 10 m x 5 m computational domain contains 106 cells, when discretized with cubic cells of 10 cm side.
3.4. SERIAL AND PARALLEL CALCULATIONS
17
Figure 3.1: A cluster of Linux computers A large hard drive is required to store the output of the calculations. It is not unusual for the output of a single calculation to consume many gigabytes of storage space. Smokeview needs an OpenGL graphic card. Look for graphics cards that specifically list OpenGL support for the operating system you intend to use.
3.4
Serial and parallel calculations
FDS can perform serial and parallel calculations: Serial calculations are performed in a single process that uses one only core of current multi-core CPUs. Parallel calculation splits the computational burden on many processes that can be assigned to many dierent cores or CPUs. These CPUs can reside on a single workstation or in a cluster of networked computers. Setting up a cluster of computers is a complex task and it is out of the scope of this manual.
18
3.5
Installing on Windows XP
To install or reinstall FDS5 and Smokeview on a Windows XP system, download Windows installation package from ocial website. The Windows le is a self-extracting compressed archive that will install FDS5, Smokeview and all associated les in the Program Files/FDS folder. Launch the installation by double-clicking on the downloaded le. At the end of the install process, your Windows XP system is ready to perform serial calculations.
3.6
Installing on Ubuntu Linux
These instructions require a basic knowledge of an Ubuntu Linux computer. Ubuntu Linux operating system comes in two basic avors: Ubuntu Linux 32 bit, that can be installed on any type of computer. Ubuntu Linux 64 bit, that can be installed on all AMD 64 bit CPUs with AMD64 extension and all Intel CPUs with EM64T extension. The 64 bit version has the ability to address more RAM memory than 32 bit version (over 4 GB). The 32 bit version is limited to 4 GB of RAM memory. Be aware that Smokeview works much better on a good dedicated graphic card. Some cheap graphic cards can prevent you from using it on Linux.
3.6.1
First install
To install FDS5 and Smokeview on an Ubuntu Linux system, rst, download the latest version of the precompiled FDS5 and Smokeview for Linux from download page on the ocial web site. Depending on your Ubuntu avor, download the 32 bit or the 64 bit compressed archive of the FDS distribution. After downloading to your computer, extract the archive by right clicking on its icon and selecting Extract here in the context menu. Then, move the extracted FDS folder to your preferred location, for example your home directory. In my case the resulting path to FDS folder would be /home/egissi/FDS, as /home/egissi is my home folder.
3.6. INSTALLING ON UBUNTU LINUX
19
After that, look at hidden les of your home folder by selecting View Show hidden files menu in the Nautilus le browser. Locate the .bashrc le in your home directory, and open it for editing by double-clicking its icon. Append the following text to the .bashrc le in the editor window: ### FDS5 and Smokeview environment # Actual path to FDS folder FDS=/home/egissi set your actual path here echo "FDS5 setup ($FDS)" # Setting limits ulimit -s unlimited ulimit -v unlimited # Setting executable and library paths export PATH=$PATH:$FDS/FDS/FDS5/bin export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:$FDS/FDS/FDS5/bin/lib32 export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:$FDS/FDS/FDS5/bin/lib64 Edit the emphasized line and set your actual path to the FDS folder. After that, save the .bashrc le and close the text editor. Open Synaptic package manager by selecting System Administration Synaptic package manager menu and install: On Ubuntu Linux 32 bit: lam-runtime software package; On Ubuntu Linux 64 bit: lam-runtime and ia32-libs software packages. Ubuntu Linux takes care for you of all the needed software dependencies. Close your session and log-in again to put into eect the environment modications. Your Ubuntu Linux system is now ready to perform serial and parallel simulations on a multi-core or multi-CPU workstation.
3.6.2
Installing a new version
When installing a new version of FDS5 and Smokeview, just delete the old FDS folder. After downloading the new version, extract the new FDS folder and drag it to the same position as before. Your Ubuntu Linux system is now ready to perform serial and parallel simulations with the new version.
20
3.7
Compiling an optimized binary
As FDS5 is open source software, users can always download the latest version of FDS5 source code and compile it by themselves using a Fortran 90 and C compiler. Direct compilation is often applied to obtain an FDS5 binary that is optimized for the specic hardware and platform and to fully take advantage of its speed. Compilation is a complex task and is out of the scope of the present manual.
3.8
Performing a calculation
The typical procedure for using FDS5 and Smokeview is to: 1. Set up an FDS5 input le, as mycase.fds, and put it in a folder, as mycase folder. See following chapters to learn how to do it. 2. Run FDS5 on the input les. FDS5 starts and creates many output les in the mycase folder. 3. While FDS5 is running, monitor the development of the calculation. 4. Analyze the generated output les with Smokeview.
3.8.1
Running serial FDS5 on Windows XP
After having set up an input le, open up a command prompt window: select Start Run menu, then type cmd. Move into the mycase folder, where the input le for the case is located, with the cd command. Then run the code by typing the following command: fds5 mycase.fds where fds5 is the name of FDS5 binary and mycase.fds is the input le name. A serial calculation starts and its progress is indicated by diagnostic output that is written out onto the screen.
3.8. PERFORMING A CALCULATION
21
Figure 3.2: Starting a serial calculation on Windows XP and on Linux Ubuntu
3.8.2
Running serial FDS5 on Ubuntu Linux
On an Ubuntu Linux computer select Applications Accessories Terminal menu to open the command prompt. Move into the mycase folder, where the input le for the case is located, with the cd command. Then execute one of the following commands: On Ubuntu Linux 32 bit: fds5_intel_linux_32 mycase.fds On Ubuntu Linux 64 bit: fds5_intel_linux_64 mycase.fds If unsure, just look inside FDS/FDS5/bin folder to discover the right name for FDS5 binaries. Then the simulation starts and its progress is indicated by diagnostic output that is written out onto the screen.
3.8.3
Running parallel FDS5 on Ubuntu Linux
FDS5 uses the Message Passing Library (MPI) for parallel computing. MPI is a language-independent communications protocol used to program parallel computers. Both point-to-point and collective communication are supported. MPIs goals are high performance, scalability, and portability. MPI is the dominant model used in high-performance computing today. The input le for both single and parallel versions of FDS5 are the same. In fact, it is recommended that before embarking on parallel processing, you should run your input le in serial mode to ensure that it is properly set up.
22
Figure 3.3: Running a parallel calculation and monitoring the system on Ubuntu Linux To run FDS5 in parallel, you must break up the computational domain into multiple meshes so that the workload can be divided among the available processors. For the parallel version to work well, there has to be a comparable number of cells in each mesh, or otherwise most of the computers will sit idle waiting for the one with the largest mesh to nish processing each time step. On an Ubuntu Linux computer as congured before, type the following commands to perform a parallel calculation: On Ubuntu Linux 32 bit: lamboot -v mpirun -np 4 fds5_mpi_intel_linux_32 mycase.fds lamhalt -v On Ubuntu Linux 64 bit: lamboot -v mpirun -np 4 fds5_mpi_intel_linux_64 mycase.fds lamhalt -v The lamboot command starts the MPI environment. The mpirun command starts an MPI application, in our case fds5_mpi_intel_linux_32 or fds5_mpi_intel_linux_64, where -np 4 is the number of started processes. The number of processes must match the number of meshes that span the computational domain of the input case. At the end of the calculation, the MPI server is safely stopped with lamhalt command.
3.9. MONITORING PROGRESS
23
3.9
Monitoring progress
Diagnostics for a given calculation are written into a text le called mycase.out, contained in the case folder mycase. The CPU usage and simulation time are written here, so you can monitor it to see how far along the program has progressed. The application System Administration Gnome System Monitor is a process viewer that provides a dynamic real-time view of a running system.
3.10
Stop a calculation
To stop a calculation before its scheduled time, create an empty le in the mycase folder called mycase.stop. The mere existence of this le stops the program gracefully, causing it to dump out the latest ow variables for viewing in Smokeview. Since calculations can be hours or days long, FDS5 has a restart feature. See [FDS5 users guide] for broader details.
3.11
Visualizing results
Smokeview is used before, during and after model runs: before, to check the input data; during a calculation, to monitor a simulations progress; in a post-processing step, to visualize FDS5 data after a calculation has been completed. On Windows XP, Smokeview may be started by double-clicking on the le named mycase.smv, contained in the case folder. On Ubuntu Linux, Smokeview is run from the command prompt by typing: On Ubuntu Linux 32 bit: smv5_linux_32 mycase.smv On Ubuntu Linux 64 bit: smv5_linux_64 mycase.smv
24
Figure 3.4: Running Smokeview on Windows XP and on Ubuntu Linux If unsure, just look inside FDS/FDS5/bin folder to discover the right name for Smokeview binary. Inside Smokeview, menus are accessed by clicking on the graphical window with the right mouse button. The Load/Unload menu may be used to read in the data les to be visualized. The Show/Hide menu may be used to change how the visualizations are presented. For the most part, the menu choices are self explanatory. In case of need, help on using Smokeview can be found on [Smokeview users guide].
3.12
Output les
FDS5 writes out many output les in the mycase folder: Diagnostic output: the le mycase.out consists of a list of input parameters, and an accounting of various important quantities, including CPU usage. Heat release rate and related quantities: the HRR of the re, plus other global energy-related quantities, are automatically written into a text le called mycase_hrr.csv Device output data: data associated with particular devices (link temperatures, smoke obscuration, thermocouples, etc.) is output in comma delimited format in a le called mycase_devc.csv and many other types of les, used by Smokeview for visualisation. The comma delimited format les can easily be imported into Openoce.org Calc or Microsoft Excel for further analysis.
Chapter 4 Input le basics

This chapter teaches the logic of FDS5 input le, its organization and its grammar. Then the standard reference system is explained and some tips and tricks are exposed.
4.1
Syntax of the input le
All the necessary information to perform an FDS5 simulation has to be contained in a single text le. The input le is saved with a name such as mycase.fds. There should be no blank spaces in the job name. Data is specied within the input le by using namelist groups. Each namelist Namelist groups group record occupies a line of text and begins with the & character followed immediately by the name of the namelist group. Then a comma-delimited list of the input parameters is inserted, and nally a forward slash / character closes the namelist group, as shown in Figure 4.1.
Figure 4.1: The structure of an FDS5 namelist group Spaces and new lines can be freely inserted to visually format the namelist group. Comments and notes should be written outside the & / delimiters. For example: Comments 25
26
CHAPTER 4. INPUT FILE BASICS
&OBST XB=0.5,1.1,0.5,1.1,0.0,0.1 / A comment Another comment It is recommended that each namelist group be clearly commented to justify the choice of its parameters and to link it to literature references or direct experimentation. For example, comments like these:
&REAC ID=polyurethane, SOOT_YIELD=0.1875, CO_YIELD=0.02775, C=1.0, H=1.75, O=0.25, N=0.065, HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION=25300., IDEAL=.TRUE. / Gas phase reaction: polyurethane flexible foam (means) from Tewarson SFPE Handbook 3rd ed, SFPE handbook table 3-4.14, p. 3-112. help the reviewer keeping track of the sources of information employed by the user. By deeply commenting the code, the input le becomes the complete and only source of information about the simulated case.
Parameter values
The parameter values can be of the following types: Integers, as in T_END=5400 Real numbers, as in CO_YIELD=0.008 Groups of real numbers, as in XYZ=6.04,0.28,3.65 Groups of integers, as in IJK=90,36,38 Character strings, as in CHID=this_is_a_string Groups of character strings, as in SURF_IDS=burner,steel Logical parameters, as in POROUS_FLOOR=.FALSE. or POROUS_FLOOR=.TRUE. The periods must be included.
Parameter arrays
Sometimes the parameters are multidimensional arrays. For example: MATL_ID(2,3)=brick
4.2. WRITING AN INPUT FILE indicates that the third material component of the second layer is brick. To speed up data input, you can use this notation: MATL_ID(1:3,1)=plastic,insulation,steel
27
which means that the surface is composed by three dierent layers made respectively of plastic, insulation and steel. The notation 1:3 means array element 1 through 3, inclusive. A simplied notation is accepted, too: MATL_ID=plastic,steel is equivalent to: MATL_ID(1:2,1)=plastic,steel These last surfaces are composed by two dierent layers made respectively of plastic and steel. The code is case sensitive: my_burner is not the same as MY_BURNER.
Case sensitivity
To ensure that FDS5 reads the entire input le, add &TAIL / or a comment as TAIL the last line at the end of the input le.
4.2
Writing an input le
When looking at a new scenario, rst select a pre-written input le that resembles the case, make the necessary changes, then run the case at fairly low grid resolution to determine if the geometry is set up correctly. The following le is a slightly modied and simplied version of pplume5.fds, generally included in FDS5 software distribution: ### General configuration &HEAD CHID=pplume5, TITLE=Plume case / name of the case and a brief explanation &TIME T_END=10.0 / the simulation will end at 10 seconds
28
CHAPTER 4. INPUT FILE BASICS &MISC SURF_DEFAULT=wall, TMPA=25. / all bounding surfaces have a wall boundary condition unless otherwise specified, the ambient temperature is set to 25C. &REAC ID=polyurethane, SOOT_YIELD=0.10, N=1.0, C=6.3, H=7.1, O=2.1 / predominant fuel gas for the mixture fraction model of gas phase combustion ### Computational domain &MESH &MESH &MESH &MESH IJK=32,32,16, XB=0.0,1.6,0.0,1.6,0.0,0.8 IJK=32,32,16, XB=0.0,1.6,0.0,1.6,0.8,1.6 IJK=32,32,16, XB=0.0,1.6,0.0,1.6,1.6,2.4 IJK=32,32,16, XB=0.0,1.6,0.0,1.6,2.4,3.2 four connected calculation meshes and their cell numbers / / / /
### Properties &MATL ID=gypsum_plaster, CONDUCTIVITY=0.48, SPECIFIC_HEAT=0.84, DENSITY=1440. / thermophysical properties of gypsum plaster material &PART ID=tracers, MASSLESS=.TRUE., SAMPLING_FACTOR=1 / a type of Lagrangian particles &SURF ID=burner, HRRPUA=600., PART_ID=tracers, COLOR=RASPBERRY / a type of boundary conditions named burner &SURF ID=wall, RGB=200,200,200, MATL_ID=gypsum_plaster, THICKNESS=0.012 / a type of boundary conditions named wall ### Solid geometry &VENT XB=0.5,1.1,0.5,1.1,0.1,0.1, SURF_ID=burner / the burner boundary condition is imposed to a plane face &OBST XB=0.5,1.1,0.5,1.1,0.0,0.1, SURF_ID=wall / a solid is created, wall boundary condition is imposed to all its faces
4.3. THE LOGIC BEHIND MOST FDS5 INPUT FILES &VENT &VENT &VENT &VENT &VENT
29
XB=0.0,0.0,0.0,1.6,0.0,3.2, SURF_ID=OPEN/ XB=1.6,1.6,0.0,1.6,0.0,3.2, SURF_ID=OPEN/ XB=0.0,1.6,0.0,0.0,0.0,3.2, SURF_ID=OPEN/ XB=0.0,1.6,1.6,1.6,0.0,3.2, SURF_ID=OPEN/ XB=0.0,1.6,0.0,1.6,3.2,3.2, SURF_ID=OPEN/ the OPEN boundary condition is imposed to the exterior boundaries of the computational domain
### Output &DEVC XYZ=1.2,1.2,2.9, QUANTITY=THERMOCOUPLE, ID=tc1 / send to output: the data collected by a thermocouple &ISOF QUANTITY=TEMPERATURE, VALUE(1)=100.0 / 3D contours of temperature at 100C &SLCF PBX=0.8, QUANTITY=TEMPERATURE, VECTOR=.TRUE. / vector slices colored by temperature &BNDF QUANTITY=WALL TEMPERATURE / surface WALL_TEMPERATURE at all solid obstructions &TAIL / end of file Not all kinds of FDS5 namelist groups are listed in this input les. In fact, another general rule of thumb when writing input les is to only add to the le parameters that are to change from their default value. That way, you can more easily distinguish between what you impose and FDS5 defaults. In general, the namelist records can be entered in any order in the input le, but it is a good idea to organize them in some systematic way. Be aware that the order of identical namelist groups can be signicant. When Order convention properties overlap the general rule is rst-come, rst-served. For the sake of clarity, users often group similar namelists in homogeneous sections identied by heading comments, as shown in the former example input le.
4.3
The logic behind most FDS5 input les
This section presents the logic behind most FDS5 input les; this same logic is used for the organization of this manual: First, general conguration is performed.
30
CHAPTER 4. INPUT FILE BASICS The case receives a name via the HEAD namelist group, the simulation time is set via the TIME namelist group. Other miscellaneous parameters are prescribed via the MISC namelist group. Then gas phase combustion reaction is set up via the REAC namelist group, the radiation model is congured with RADI. Second, the computational domain is dened via the MESH namelist group. All FDS5 calculations must be performed within a domain that is made up of rectilinear volumes called meshes. Each mesh is divided into rectangular cells, the number of which depends on the desired resolution of the ow dynamics. Some initial conditions are prescribed for the ow domain via the INIT namelist group. Third, some properties are set up: the properties of each material (MATL), the properties of extra gas species (SPEC), the properties of Lagrangian particles (PART), and the types of boundary conditions (SURF).
This is the most challenging part of setting up the simulation: rst, for both real and simulated res, the growth of the re is very sensitive to the thermal properties of the surrounding materials. Second, even if all the material properties are known to some degree, the physical phenomena of interest may not be simulated properly due to limitations in the model algorithms or resolution of the numerical mesh. It is your responsibility to supply the thermal properties of the materials, and then assess the performance of the model to ensure that the phenomena of interest are being captured. Fourth, the solid geometry is entered via OBST, VENT, HOLE namelist groups. A considerable amount of work in setting up a calculation lies in specifying the geometry of the space to be modeled and applying boundary conditions to these objects. The geometry is described in terms of obstructions to the gas phase ow.
4.3. THE LOGIC BEHIND MOST FDS5 INPUT FILES
31
A boundary condition needs to be assigned to each bounding surface of the gas phase domain describing its thermal properties. Both solid obstruction faces and the exterior boundaries of the computational domain need a boundary condition assigned. A re is just one type of boundary condition. Fifth, some control logic and automation is introduced via PROP, DEVC, CTRL namelist groups: devices can be used to control various actions, like creating and removing obstructions, or activating and deactivating fans and vents. Finally, the user prescribes the output quantities (DEVC, SLCF, BNDF, ISOF). All output quantities must be specied at the start of the calculation. In most cases, there is no way to retrieve information after the calculation ends if it was not specied from the start. Much like in an actual experiment, the user must decide before the calculation begins what information to save. The table summarizes this logic and shows a proposed systematic organization of an input le in sections: Table 4.1: Systematic organisation of the input le
Section General conguration Content General information required to perform a simulation, as its name, duration and other miscellaneous parameters. Main gas phase combustion reaction and radiation model. Computational domain Computational domain: dimensions and grid. Initial conditions of the computational domain. Properties Materials, temperature dependent thermophysical properties. Extra gas species properties. Namelist groups HEAD, TIME, MISC
REAC, RADI MESH INIT MATL, RAMP (temperature) SPEC
continued on next page
32

from previous page Lagrangian particles properties. Boundary conditions, time dependent boundary conditions. Solid geometry Description of solid geometry, assignment of boundary conditions to bounding surfaces. General properties of devices, devices and control functions used to control various actions, like creating and removing solid obstructions or activating and deactivating boundary conditions. List of calculated quantities to output. PART SURF, RAMP (time) OBST, HOLE, VENT
Control logic
PROP, DEVC, CTRL
Output
DUMP, DEVC, SLCF, BNDF, ISOF
4.4
Keep it simple
Novice users tend to forget that FDS5 is not a Computer Aided Design (CAD) tool, but a CFD code. First, not all geometrical details, all physical and chemical properties of all involved objects need to be entered in the input le. Looking at the example proposed in Figure 4.2 on the next page, chair and table frame eect on the uid ow can be considered negligible. On the contrary, the inuences to uid ow of the separating wall, the table top and seats can become important, depending on the objective of the analysis. So, the rst step of the analysis process is to formulate the problem by seeking answers to the following questions: What is the objective of the analysis? What is the easiest way to obtain that objective? What input data needs to be included? Approximations of the geometry and simplications of the properties are always required to allow an analysis with reasonable eort.
4.5. EACH MODEL, ITS INPUT DATA
33
Figure 4.2: Modeling reality in FDS5 It is better to start o with a relatively simple le that captures the main features of the problem without getting tied down with too much detail that might mask a fundamental aw in the calculation. Initial calculations ought to be meshed coarsely so that the run times are less than an hour and corrections can easily be made without wasting too much time. As you learn how to write input les, you will continually run and re-run your case as you add in complexity.
4.5
Each model, its input data
When entering data into the input le, it is suggested to always consider how models inside FDS5 will use that data. For example: The hydrodynamic model needs to know which cells of the computational domain are open to uid ow and which are instead occupied by solid obstructions. The geometry is discretized and the maximum resolution is the grid cell size.
34
CHAPTER 4. INPUT FILE BASICS The heat transfer model needs the characteristics and the thicknesses of the bounding surfaces of the ow domain to perform heat transfer calculation.
Imagine that the wall separating room 1 and room 2 of Figure 4.2 on the preceding page is 0.19 m thick. Thus, during the calculation: Taken the cell size equal to 0.30 m, the hydrodynamic model considers that wall as if it was 0.30 m thick, because the geometry must conform to the underlying grid. That information is used to obstacle the uid ow. The heat transfer model performs a one-dimensional heat transfer calculation of the wall using the real 0.19 m thickness and the material properties. It may sound strange to novice users, but that wall is. . . both 0.30 m and 0.19 m thick for FDS5.
4.6
Units of measurement
FDS5 employs the units of measurement from the International System (SI). Lengths are expressed in m, time in s, mass in kg, temperature in C, pressure in Pa, heat in kJ, power in kW, conductivity in W/m/K, heat ux in kW/m2 , molecular weight in g/mol. . . This manual contains a comprehensive list of frequent namelist parameters and their units. For a complete list consult the [FDS5 users guide].
4.7
Reference coordinate system
FDS5 coordinate system conforms to the right hand rule. By default, the z axis is considered the vertical. For computational reasons, it is always preferable for the longest horizontal dimension of the model be aligned with the x axis. This often shortens the calculation time.
4.8. PRESCRIBING GEOMETRIC ENTITIES
35
Figure 4.3: The reference system, a volume, a face, a segment, a point, and a plane
4.8
Prescribing geometric entities
Many namelist groups extend their action to volumes, faces, segments, points or planes. As shown in Figure 4.3, FDS5 geometrical entities are always described using some conventional rules. A volume is always represented by a single right parallelepiped with edges parallel Volumes to the axis. Its position and dimensions are described by the coordinates of two opposite vertexes: if point A = (xA , yA , zA ) and point B = (xB , yB , zB ) are the opposite vertexes, its coordinates are entered as xA , xB , yA , yB , zA , zB . For example, &OBST XB=0.5,1.5,2.0,3.5,-2.0,0., SURF_ID=wall / uses the parameter XB to dene a solid obstacle that spans the volume starting at the origin (0.5, 2.0, 2.0) and extending 1 m in the positive x direction, 1.5 m in the positive y direction, and 2 m in the positive z direction. A face is represented by a right plane face with edges parallel to the axis. Its Faces position and dimensions are described by the coordinates of two opposite vertexes, that must lie on the same plane. For example: &VENT XB=0.5,1.1,2.0,3.1,-2.0,-2.0, SURF_ID=fire / uses the parameter XB to dene a at face perpendicular to the z axis imposing a particular boundary condition over a solid. Two of the six coordinates are the same, denoting a at face as opposed to a solid. A segment is bounded by two end points. If point A = (xA , yA , zA ) and point Segments B = (xB , yB , zB ) are the end points, its coordinates are entered following the same convection valid for volumes. For example,
36
&DEVC XB=0.5,1.5,2.0,3.5,-2.0,0., QUANTITY=PATH OBSCURATION, ID=beam1, SETPOINT=0.33 / is a beam smoke detector between (0.5, 2.0, 2.0) and (1.5, 3.5, 0.) end points.
Points
A point is simply identied by its 3 coordinates. For example, the line: &DEVC XYZ=2.,3.,4., QUANTITY=THERMOCOUPLE, ID=termo1 / uses the parameter XYZ to insert a thermocouple at the point of coordinates (2., 3., 4.).
Planes
A plane is represented by a right plane perpendicular to one of the reference axis. For example, these lines: &SLCF PBX=0.5, QUANTITY=TEMPERATURE / is a plane perpendicular to the x axis and intersecting its point (.5, 0., 0.). &SLCF PBY=1.5, QUANTITY=TEMPERATURE / is a plane perpendicular to the y axis and intersecting its point (0., 1.5, 0.). &SLCF PBZ=-.5, QUANTITY=TEMPERATURE / is a plane perpendicular to the z axis and intersecting its point (0., 0., .5). All use the parameters PBX, PBY, PBZ to specify the coordinate in the direction of the perpendicular axis.
4.9
Prescribing orientations
Some FDS5 entities need the prescription of a particular orientation. This is done with one of the following parameters: IOR or ORIENTATION.
IOR
The parameter IOR, index of orientation, is used to prescribe one of the six possible orientations parallel to axis: if the orientation is in the positive x direction set IOR=1, negative x direction IOR=-1, positive y IOR=2, negative y IOR=-2, positive z IOR=3, negative z IOR=-3. For example, the line:
4.10. PRESCRIBING COLORS AND ASPECT &DEVC XYZ=0.7,0.9,2.1, QUANTITY=WALL TEMPERATURE, IOR=-2, ID=ST-1 / designates the surface temperature of a wall facing the negative y direction.
37
The parameter ORIENTATION is used for entities that require a free directional ORIENTATION specication, like a sprinkler. ORIENTATION is specied with a triplet of real number values that indicate the components of the direction vector. The default value of ORIENTATION is (0, 0, 1). For example, the line: &DEVC XYZ=23.91,21.28,0.50, PROP_ID=nozzle, ORIENTATION=1.,1.,0., ID=noz_1 / designates a nozzle oriented towards the (1, 1, 0) vector.
4.10
Prescribing colors and aspect
Colors of objects can be prescribed with two parameters: RGB and COLOR. The RGB parameter is followed by a triplet of integer numbers in the range from RGB 0 to 255, indicating the amount of red, green and blue that make up the color. The COLOR parameter calls the name of a predened color that must be entered COLOR exactly as it is listed in the color table: Table 4.2: COLOR values
ACQUAMARINE, BANANA, BEIGE, BLACK, BLUE, BRICK, BROWN, CADMIUM ORANGE, CARROT, COBALT, CORAL, CRIMSON, CYAN, FIREBRICK, FLESH, GOLD, GRAY, GREEN, INDIGO, MAGENTA, MAROON, MELON, MINT, NAVY, OLIVE, ORANGE, ORCHID, PINK, PURPLE, RASPBERRY, RED, SALMON, SEPIA, SIENNA, SILVER, TAN, TEAL, TOMATO, TURQUOISE, VIOLET, WHITE, YELLOW, ...
You can rapidly nd the whole color table of more than 500 colors by googling for FDS COLOR TABLE on the Internet. For example, both the parameter RGB=0,0,255 and the parameter COLOR=BLUE can be used to obtain a blue object.
38
TRANSPARENCY
Objects can be made semi-transparent by assigning a TRANSPARENCY parameter. The parameter value is a real ranging from 0 to 1, with 0 being fully transparent. The parameter should always be set along with RGB or COLOR. Using COLOR=INVISIBLE causes the object not to be drawn in Smokeview. The parameter OUTLINE=.TRUE. causes the object to be drawn as an outline.
Chapter 5 General conguration

First, general conguration is performed. The case receives a name via the HEAD namelist group, the simulation time is set via the TIME namelist group. Other miscellaneous parameters are prescribed via the MISC namelist group.
5.1
Naming the job, HEAD
The rst thing to do when setting up an input le is to give the job a name. The name of the job is important because often a project involves numerous simulations in which case the names of the individual simulations can help organize the eort. The namelist group HEAD contains two parameters, as in this example: &HEAD CHID=mycase, TITLE=This is a short description / CHID is a string of 30 characters or less used to name the output les created by FDS5. No periods or spaces are allowed. TITLE is a string of 60 characters or less that describes the simulation. It is simply a descriptive text that is passed to various output les. It is always convenient to exactly use the same string for the name of the input le and the CHID. For example, if you name mycase.fds the input le, then set CHID=mycase in the HEAD namelist group. Only one HEAD line can be entered in the input le. The following table summarizes some HEAD parameters: 39
40
CHAPTER 5. GENERAL CONFIGURATION Table 5.1: HEAD parameters

Parameter CHID TITLE Type String String Description Job identier Short description of the job Unit Default output
5.2
Simulation time, TIME
TIME is the namelist group that dene the time duration of the simulation. Usually, only the duration of the simulation is required on this line, via the parameter T_END. The default is 1 s. For example, the following line will instruct FDS5 to run the simulation for 5400 s: &TIME T_END=5400. / If T_END is set to zero, only the set-up work is performed, allowing you to quickly check the geometry in Smokeview. Only one TIME line can be entered in the input le. The following table summarizes some TIME parameters: Table 5.2: TIME parameters
Parameter T_BEGIN T_END Type Real Real Description Starting time for calculation Ending time for calculation Unit s s Default 0. 1.
5.3
Miscellaneous, MISC
MISC is the namelist group of global miscellaneous input parameters. Many parameters for MISC exist, some of them are explained later in this manual. For example: &MISC SURF_DEFAULT=steel /
5.3. MISCELLANEOUS, MISC
41
establishes that all bounding surfaces are to be made of steel unless otherwise specied. Only one MISC line can be entered in the input le. The following table summarizes some MISC parameters: Table 5.3: MISC parameters
Parameter SURF_DEFAULT TMPA U0,V0,W0 GVEC(3) HUMIDITY CO_PRODUCTION RESTART Type String Real Real Real Real Logical Logical Description Default boundary condition SURF for surfaces Ambient temperature Initial prevailing velocity eld Gravity vector Relative Humidity Start three-parameters mixture fraction model Restart previous calculation C m/s m/s2 % Unit Default INERT 20. 0. 0,0,-9.81 40. .FALSE. .FALSE.
42
CHAPTER 5. GENERAL CONFIGURATION
Chapter 6 Combustion and radiation

. . . then gas phase combustion reaction is set up via the REAC namelist group, the radiation model is congured with RADI.
6.1
Combustion is not pyrolysis
A common source of confusion in FDS5 is the distinction between gas phase combustion and solid phase pyrolysis. Pyrolysis is the decomposition or transformation of a compound caused by heat that produce the gaseous fuel. It is the rst chemical reaction that occurs in the burning of many solid fuels, like wood, cloth, paper, and plastic. Gas phase combustion refers to the exothermic chemical reactions between the gaseous fuel and oxygen accompanied by the production of heat and light in the form of ames. So solid phase pyrolysis refers to the generation of fuel vapor at a solid or liquid surface, while the visible ames are not due to combustion of the solid fuel itself, but rather of the gases released by its pyrolysis.
6.2
Prescribing a re
In FDS5, a re is a particular boundary condition applied to a surface bounding the ow eld. There are two ways of designating a re: 43
44
CHAPTER 6. COMBUSTION AND RADIATION
Figure 6.1: Combustion is not pyrolysis The rst is to specify an heat release rate on a surface; this is the same as prescribing a well dened burner. How to do this is described in detail in Section 11.4.6 on page 82. The other is to specify thermophysical properties of fuel materials and to let them pyrolyze. In this case the burning rate of the fuel depends on the net heat feedback to the surface. This approach is explained in Section 8.3.1 on page 63 for solid fuels and in Section 8.3.2 on page 64 for liquids. Both burners and pyrolyzing materials inject the calculated quantities of gaseous fuels in the ow eld. In a realistic re scenario, there may be various types of gaseous fuels originating from the various burning objects in the building and injected into the ow eld.
6.3
6.3.1
Modeling gas phase combustion, REAC

Ignition
Once injected into the ow eld, the gaseous fuels mix with air and burn. There is no need to prescribe an ignition source: the combustion model assumes that
6.3. MODELING GAS PHASE COMBUSTION, REAC
45
Figure 6.2: Combustion and pyrolysis in a aming match fuel gas and oxygen burn on contact. We can imagine that every grid cell hosts a virtual spark plug, that initiates combustion when temperature and local ratio of fuel gas and oxygen are appropriate (See Figure 6.3 on page 50).
6.3.2
Burning
The burning process releases heat and smoke. Whereas there can be many types of combustibles in an FDS5 re simulation, one only gaseous fuel can be simulated by FDS5. In general, you should set the chemistry of the modeled burning gaseous fuel to coincide with the actual predominant burning gaseous fuel. This model simplication is due to computational cost: it is expensive to solve transport equations for multiple gaseous fuels. FDS5 adjusts automatically the burning rates of solids and liquids to account for the dierence in the heats of combustion of the various combustibles. If the stoichiometry of the burning material diers from the global reaction, the heat of combustion of each burning material is used to ensure that an equivalent amount of fuel is injected into the ow domain from the burning object. FDS5 can describe the gas phase reaction in two ways. By default, a so-called mixture fraction model is used to account for the evolution Mixture fraction model of the fuel gas from its surface of origin through the combustion process.
46
The alternative is what is referred to as the nite-rate approach , where all of the Finite-rate approac individual gas species involved in the combustion process are dened and tracked individually. This is a costlier and more complicated approach than the mixture fraction model. This manual covers the mixture fraction model only, as it is simpler and commonly employed for engineering level problems. When the mixture fraction model is applied, a set of scalar variables, Zi , represent the state of the combustion process from pure fuel ( Zi = 1) to pure air ( Zi = 0). FDS5 provides two types of mixture fraction model: Two-parameter mixture fraction model: the rst parameter (Z1 ) is the mass fraction of unburned fuel and the second (Z2 ) is the mass fraction of burned fuel, as for example the mass of the combustion products that originated as fuel. FDS5 uses the two-parameter model by default. Three-parameter mixture fraction model: this combustion model simulates a two-step chemical reaction with three parameters. The rst step of the reaction is the oxidation of fuel to carbon monoxide and the second step the oxidation of carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide. The three mixture fraction components for the two step reaction are unburned fuel (Z1 ), mass of fuel that has completed the rst reaction step (Z2 ), and the mass of fuel that has completed the second reaction step (Z3 ). See Section 6.4 on page 49 to understand why and how to use the three-parameter model. The mass fractions of all of the major reactants and products of combustion as fuel, O2 , CO2 , H2 O, N2 , CO and soot can be derived from the mixture fraction parameters by means of state relations: a set of pre-tabulated functions of the mixture fraction parameters, Zi . In other words, the values of Zi in any given mesh cell determines the mass fraction of all the gases listed. The stoichiometry of the predominant gas phase combustion reaction is prescribed in the input le by one only REAC namelist group: the specied parameters are used to generate the table associating the mass fractions with Zi . FDS5 defaults to propane combustion if no REAC line is entered. In the mixture fraction model, each reaction is assumed to be of the form:
Cx Hy Oz Nv Otherw + O2 O2 CO2 CO2 + H2 O H2 O + CO CO + soot Soot + N2 N2 + H2 H2 + other Other
6.3. MODELING GAS PHASE COMBUSTION, REAC
47
You need only specify the chemical formula of the fuel along with the yields of CO, soot, and H2 , and the amount of hydrogen in the soot, Hf rac . For completeness you can specify the N2 content of the fuel and the presence of other species. FDS5 will use that information internally to determine the amount of combustion products that are formed. The species implicitly dened by FDS5 when doing a mixture fraction calculation for gas phase combustion are as follows: Table 6.1: Mixture fraction species
fuel, oxygen, nitrogen, water vapor, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, soot, other
Note that these species are identied by a lowercase name, and are not to be confused with the species identied by uppercase names dened by the SPEC namelist groups. See Section 9.2 on page 68 for further discussion. The Table 6.2 lists some of the parameters that may be prescribed on the REAC line. Note that the various *YIELD are for well-ventilated, post-ame conditions. There are options to predict various species yields in under-ventilated re scenarios, but these special models still require the post-ame yields for CO, soot and any other species listed in the table. Table 6.2: REAC parameters
Parameter ID C H O N OTHER MW_OTHER CO_YIELD Type String Real Real Real Real Real Real Real Description Identier Number of carbon atoms in the fuel Number of hydrogen atoms in the fuel Number of oxygen atoms in the fuel Number of nitrogen atoms in the fuel Number of other atoms in the fuel Average molecular weight of OTHER, defaults to N2 g/mol 3 8 0 0 0 28 Unit Default
The fraction of fuel mass converted kg/kg 0 into carbon monoxide. continued on next page
48

from previous page
H2_YIELD SOOT_YIELD
Real Real
The fraction of fuel mass converted into hydrogen. Fraction of soot from the fuel. The fraction of fuel mass converted into smoke particulate. Atom fraction of hydrogen in soot The amount of energy released per unit mass of fuel consumed Energy per unit mass oxygen. If the heat of combustion is not explicitly specied, it is calculated as: consumed O2 EPUMO2 Adjust for minor product yields Visibility parameter (see Section 14.9 on page 120) Visibility parameter (see Section 14.9 on page 120)
kg/kg kg/kg
0 0.01
SOOT_H_FRACTION HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION EPUMO2
Real Real Real
0.1 kJ/kg kJ/kg 13100
IDEAL VISIBILITY_FACTOR
Logical Real Real
.FALSE. 3 m2 /kg 8700
MASS_EXTINCTION_COEFFICIENT
IDEAL is a logical value indicating whether or not the EPUMO2 or HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION values represent values for complete combustion (.TRUE.) or for incomplete combustion (.FALSE.). If IDEAL=.TRUE., then FDS5 internally adjusts the resulting heat of combustion to account for products of incomplete combustion specied in CO_YIELD, H2_YIELD, and SOOT_YIELD. A few sample REAC lines are given here, the values are for demonstration only: &REAC ID=methane, C=1., H=4. / &REAC ID=ethylene, C=2., H=4., SOOT_YIELD=0.05 / &REAC ID=propane, SOOT_YIELD=0.01, C=3., H=8., HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION=46460., IDEAL=.TRUE. / &REAC ID=propane, SOOT_YIELD=0.01, C=3., H=8., HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION=46124., IDEAL=.FALSE. / &REAC ID=wood, SOOT_YIELD=0.02, O=2.5, C=3.4, H=6.2, HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION=17700 / Ritchie, et al., 5th IAFSS &REAC ID=polyurethane, SOOT_YIELD=0.1875, CO_YIELD=0.02775,
6.4. CO PRODUCTION IN UNDER-VENTILATED FIRES
49
C=1.0, H=1.75, O=0.25, N=0.065, OTHER=0.002427, MW=27., HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION=25300., IDEAL=.TRUE. / Polyurethane flexible foam (means) from Tewarson SFPE Handbook 3rd ed, SFPE handbook table 3-4.14, p. 3-112.
6.4
CO production in under-ventilated res
An algorithm has been implemented that computes the gas phase combustion as a two step reaction and that predicts the formation and destruction of CO. This algorithm is used when the parameter CO_PRODUCTION is set to .TRUE. on the MISC line: &MISC CO_PRODUCTION=.TRUE. / Even though the algorithm predicts CO formation and its eventual oxidation at elevated temperature, it cannot predict the post-ame yield of CO. For example, within a ashed over compartment, the algorithm predicts the elevated CO levels, but it cannot predict the CO concentration of the exhaust gases that exit the aming region. Thus, even if using this model, you must specify the CO_YIELD that is expected of a well-ventilated re. Note that when active, this algorithm requires the use of three parameters for the mixture fraction instead of the two parameters used when it is disabled and will therefore increase run times and memory usage accordingly. If the simulation you are performing will not result in an under-ventilated re, then there will be little if any benet to enabling the CO production algorithm.
6.5
Flame extinction
Modeling suppression of a re due to the introduction of a suppression agent like CO2 or water mist, or due to the exhaustion of oxygen within a compartment is challenging because the relevant physical mechanisms occur at length scales smaller than a single mesh cell. Flames are extinguished due to lowered temperatures and dilution of the oxygen supply. A simple suppression algorithm has been implemented in FDS5 that attempts to gauge whether or not a ame is viable at the fuel-oxygen interface.
50
Figure 6.3: Flame extinction criteria The default values for the the limiting oxygen index and the critical ame temperature are 15% (volume fraction) and 1427C, respectively as shown in Figure 6.3 on the next page.
6.6
Radiation transport, RADI
For most FDS5 simulations, thermal radiation transport is computed by default and you need not set any parameters to make this happen. However, there are situations where it is important to be aware of issues related to the radiative transport solver. The most important issue involves the fraction of energy released from the re as thermal radiation, commonly referred to as the radiative fraction. It is a function of both the ame temperature (T4 dependence) and chemical composition, neither of which are reliably calculated in a large scale re calculation. In fact, because of the size of the mesh cells, the ame sheet is not well-resolved. To compensate the underestimation of the re radiation, the RADIATIVE_FRACTION is not calculated and is set to 35% by default: every mesh cell cut by the ame radiates that fraction of the chemical energy being released into it. Some of that energy may be reabsorbed elsewhere, yielding a net radiative loss that is less than RADIATIVE_FRACTION, depending mainly on the size of the re and the soot loading. For example: &RADI RADIATIVE_FRACTION=0.45 / sets the fraction of energy released from the re as thermal radiation to 45%. The following table summarizes some RADI parameters:
6.6. RADIATION TRANSPORT, RADI Table 6.3: RADI parameters

Parameter NUMBER_RADIATION_ANGLES RADIATIVE_FRACTION Type Integer Real Description Number of solid angles Radiative Loss Fraction Unit
51
Default 104 0.35
52
Chapter 7 Computational domain

Second, the computational domain is dened via the MESH namelist group. All FDS5 calculations must be performed within a domain that is made up of rectilinear volumes called meshes. Each mesh is divided into rectangular cells, the number of which depends on the desired resolution of the ow dynamics. Some initial conditions are prescribed for the ow domain via the INIT namelist group.
7.1
Dening a mesh, MESH
MESH is the namelist group that denes the volume of the computational domain. For example, &MESH IJK=10,20,30, XB=0.0,1.0,0.0,2.0,0.0,3.0 / denes a mesh that spans the volume starting at the origin (0., 0., 0.) and extending 1 m in the positive x direction, 2 m in the positive y direction, and 3 m in the positive z direction. The mesh is subdivided into uniform cells via the parameter IJK. In this example, the mesh is divided into 10 cm cubes: 10 cubes in x direction, 20 cubes in y direction, and 30 cubes in z direction. Any obstructions or vents that extend beyond the boundary of the mesh are cut o at the boundary. There is no penalty for dening objects outside of the mesh, and these objects will not appear in Smokeview either. 53
54
CHAPTER 7. COMPUTATIONAL DOMAIN
Note that it is best if the mesh cells resemble cubes, that is, the length, width and height of the cells ought to be roughly the same. Keep in mind that the Large Eddy Simulation technique (LES) is based on the assumption that the numerical mesh should be ne enough to allow the formation of eddies that are responsible for the mixing. In general, eddy formation is limited by the largest dimension of a mesh cell, thus shrinking the mesh resolution in one or two directions may not necessarily lead to a better simulation if the third dimension is large. Because an important part of the calculation uses a Poisson solver based on Fast Fourier Transforms (FFTs) in the y and z directions, the second and third dimensions of the mesh should each be of the form 2k 3m 5n , where k, m and n are integers. For example, 64 = 26 , 72 = 23 32 and 108 = 22 33 are good mesh cell divisions, but 37, 99 and 109 are not. The rst number of mesh cell divisions (the I in IJK) does not use FFTs and need not be given as a product of small numbers. Here is a list of numbers between 1 and 1024 that can be factored down to 2s, 3s and 5s: Table 7.1: IJK values 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 16, 18, 20, 24, 25, 27, 30, 32, 36, 40, 45, 48, 50, 54, 60, 64, 72, 75, 80, 81, 90, 96, 100, 108, 120, 125, 128, 135, 144, 150, 160, 162, 180, 192, 200, 216, 225, 240, 243, 250, 256, 270, 288, 300, 320, 324, 360, 375, 384, 400, 405, 432, 450, 480, 486, 500, 512, 540, 576, 600, 625, 640, 648, 675, 720, 729, 750, 768, 800, 810, 864, 900, 960, 972, 1000, 1024. . . The following table summarizes some MESH parameters: Table 7.2: MESH parameters
Parameter ID IJK(3) XB(6) Type String Integer Real Description Identier Number of cells in x, y, and z directions Volume m 10 Unit Default
7.2. MULTIPLE MESHES
55
Figure 7.1: The computational domain composed by four meshes
7.2
Multiple meshes
The computational domain can consist of many connected mesh. Each mesh must have its MESH namelist group. For example, &MESH &MESH &MESH &MESH IJK=32,32,16, IJK=32,32,16, IJK=32,32,16, IJK=32,32,16, XB=0.0,1.6,0.0,1.6,0.0,0.8 XB=0.0,1.6,0.0,1.6,0.8,1.6 XB=0.0,1.6,0.0,1.6,1.6,2.4 XB=0.0,1.6,0.0,1.6,2.4,3.2 / / / /
describes a domain composed of four connected meshes, as in Figure 7.1. The connections must always follow a simple rule of mesh alignment depicted in Mesh alignment Figure 7.2 on the next page: an integer (1, 2, 3. . . ) number of ne cells exactly abuts each coarse cell. The following rules of thumb should also be followed when setting up a multiple mesh calculation: Avoid putting mesh boundaries where critical action is expected, especially re. Sometimes re spread from mesh to mesh cannot be avoided, but
56
Figure 7.2: Mesh connections: (a) ideal, (b) allowed, and (c) forbidden
Figure 7.3: Geometric object: before and after automatic shifting if at all possible try to keep mesh interfaces relatively free of complicated phenomena since the exchange of information across mesh boundaries is not yet as accurate as cell to cell exchanges within one mesh. If a planar obstruction is close to where two meshes abut, make sure that each mesh sees the obstruction. If the obstruction is even a millimeter outside of one of the meshes, that mesh does not account for it, in which case information is not transferred properly between meshes. Experiment with dierent mesh congurations using relatively coarse mesh cells to ensure that information is being transferred properly from mesh to mesh. There are two issues of concern. First, does it appear that the ow is being badly aected by the mesh boundary? If so, try to move the mesh boundaries away from areas of activity. Second, is there too much of a jump in cell size from one mesh to another? If so, consider whether the loss of information moving from a ne to a coarse mesh is tolerable.
7.3
Conformity to the mesh
All geometric objects must conform to the rectangular mesh. If you create geometrical objects that do not precisely conform to the underlying mesh, FDS5 shifts them to the closest mesh cell as shown in Figure 7.3.
7.4. CHOOSING THE RIGHT MESH DIMENSION:A SENSITIVITY STUDY57
7.4
Choosing the right mesh dimension: a sensitivity study
The most important numerical parameter in FDS5 is the grid cell size. CFD models solve an approximate form of the conservation equations of mass, momentum, and energy on a numerical grid. The error associated with the discretization of the partial derivatives is a function of the size of the grid cells and the type of dierencing used. FDS5 uses second-order accurate approximations of both the temporal and spatial derivatives of the Navier-Stokes equations, meaning that the discretization error is proportional to the square of the time step or cell size. In theory, reducing the grid cell size by a factor of 2 reduces the discretization error by a factor of 4. However, it also increases the computing time by a factor of 16 (a factor of 2 for the temporal and each spatial dimension). Clearly, there is a point of diminishing returns as one renes the numerical mesh. Determining what size grid cell to use in any given calculation is known as a grid sensitivity study. In general, you should build an FDS5 input le using a relatively coarse mesh, and then gradually rene the mesh until you do not see appreciable dierences in your results. A point of diminishing returns is reached when the improvement in the quality of the results is outweighed by the cost of the computation. When this point is reached depends on the application. It also depends on the quantities that are of interest. Some quantities, like hot gas layer temperature or height, do not typically require as ne a numerical grid as quantities such as the heat ux to targets near the re. For simulations involving buoyant plumes, a measure of how well the ow eld is resolved is given by the non-dimensional expression D /x, where D is a characteristic re diameter and x is the nominal size of a mesh cell. D is dened as: Q cp T g
2 5
D =
(7.1)
kg where Q is the heat release rate of the re in kW, air density (1.2 m3 ), kJ cp air thermal capacity (1 kg K ), T ambient air temperature (293 K), g m gravitational acceleration (9.81 s2 ).
The quantity D /x can be thought of as the number of computational cells spanning the characteristic (not necessarily the physical) diameter of the re.
58
The more cells spanning the re, the better the resolution of the calculation. It is better to assess the quality of the mesh in terms of this non-dimensional parameter, rather than an absolute mesh cell size. For example, a cell size of 10 cm may be adequate, in some sense, for evaluating the spread of smoke and heat through a building from a sizable re, but may not be appropriate to study a very small, smoldering source. As an example, in the mesh sensitivity study for [NUREG 1824], the D /x values ranged from 4 to 16. These values were used to adequately resolve plume dynamics, along with other geometrical characteristics of the models as well. This range does not indicate what values to use for all models, only what values worked well for that particular set of models.
7.5
Initial conditions of the computational domain, INIT
At the start of any calculation, the temperature is ambient everywhere, the ow velocity is zero everywhere, nothing is burning, and the mass fractions of all species are uniform. To change the starting ambient conditions within some volumetric region of the ow domain add lines of the form: &INIT XB=0.5,0.8,2.1,3.4,2.5,3.6, TEMPERATURE=30. / the initial temperature of the gas phase shall be 30C instead of the ambient within the prescribed volume. This construct can also be used for DENSITY or MASS_FRACTION(n). The INIT construct may be useful in examining the inuence of stack eect in a building, where the temperature is dierent inside and out. For setting initial temperature of a solid obstruction see Subsection 11.6.2. Also the MISC namelist group can be used to set a variety of initial conditions. An initial velocity on the domain can be prescribed via U0, V0, and W0 parameters. Normally, the initial values of the gas velocity in each of the coordinate directions are all 0 m/s, but there are a few applications where it is convenient to start the ow immediately, like in an outdoor simulation involving wind. A dierent ambient temperature of the domain can be prescribed via the TMPA parameter.
7.5. INITIAL CONDITIONS OF THE COMPUTATIONAL DOMAIN, INIT 59 To model a sloping roof or tunnel you can change the direction of the gravity vector. The GVEC parameter contains the 3 components of gravity, in m/s2 . The default is GVEC=0,0,-9.81 For example, &MISC U0=2., TMPA=25., GVEC=-0.114377,0.,-9.809333 / generates an initial wind speed to 2 m/s in +x direction, sets ambient temperature to 25C, and bends the gravity vector in x direction. The following table summarizes some INIT parameters: Table 7.3: INIT parameters
Parameter DENSITY MASS_FRACTION(n) TEMPERATURE XB(6) Type Real Real Real Real Description Initial value of density Initial value of specie n Initial value of temperature Volume Unit kg/m3 kg/kg
Default Ambient Ambient TMPA
60
Chapter 8 Materials
Third, some properties are set up, as the properties of each material (MATL). This chapter covers RAMP (temperature dependent) namelist group, too.
8.1
Dening a material, MATL
The properties of each material used in the model are designated via the MATL namelist group. These properties indicate how rapidly the materials heat up, and how they burn. Each MATL entry in the input le must have an ID that can be referred by other namelist groups. The following table summarizes some MATL parameters: Table 8.1: MATL parameters
Parameter ID DENSITY EMISSIVITY CONDUCTIVITY CONDUCTIVITY_RAMP SPECIFIC_HEAT Type String Real Real Real String Real Description Identier Solid mass per unit volume Emissivity Thermal conductivity Ramp ID for conductivity Specic heat kJ/kg/K 0. continued on next page W/m/K kg/m3 0. 0.9 0. Unit Default
61
62
CHAPTER 8. MATERIALS
from previous page
SPECIFIC_HEAT_RAMP HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION HEAT_OF_REACTION ABSORPTION_COEFFICIENT BOILING_TEMPERATURE
String Real Real Real Real
Ramp ID for specic heat Heat of combustion Heat of reaction Absorption Coecient Boiling temperature kJ/kg kJ/kg 1/m
0. 0. 50 000. 5000.
8.2
Thermal properties
W The MATL namelist group can be used to specify thermal CONDUCTIVITY ( m K ), kg kJ DENSITY ( m3 ), SPECIFIC_HEAT ( kg K ), and EMISSIVITY (0.9 by default) of materials, for example:
&MATL ID=steel, EMISSIVITY=.95, DENSITY=7850., CONDUCTIVITY=45.8, SPECIFIC_HEAT=0.46, / &MATL ID=concrete, DENSITY=2200., CONDUCTIVITY=1.2, SPECIFIC_HEAT=0.88, / &MATL ID=copper, SPECIFIC_HEAT=0.38, CONDUCTIVITY=387., DENSITY=8940. / &MATL ID=gypsum plaster, CONDUCTIVITY=0.48, SPECIFIC_HEAT=0.84, DENSITY=1440. / Thermal properties like conductivity and specic heat can vary signicantly with temperature. In such cases, use the RAMP function like this: &MATL ID=steel, SPECIFIC_HEAT_RAMP=c_steel, CONDUCTIVITY_RAMP=k_steel, DENSITY=7850. / &RAMP ID=c_steel, T=20., F=0.45 / &RAMP ID=c_steel, T=377., F=0.60 / &RAMP ID=c_steel, T=677., F=0.85 / &RAMP ID=k_steel, T=20., F=48. / &RAMP ID=k_steel, T=677., F=30. / &MATL ID=calcium silicate, CONDUCTIVITY_RAMP=k_casi, DENSITY=770., SPECIFIC_HEAT=0.96 /
8.3. BURNING PROPERTIES &RAMP ID=k_casi, T= 25., F=0.18 / &RAMP ID=k_casi, T=200., F=0.19 / &RAMP ID=k_casi, T=500., F=0.20 /
63
For this kind of ramps the parameter F is the value of the actual physical quantity. If CONDUCTIVITY_RAMP is used, there should be no value of CONDUCTIVITY given. Note also that for values of temperature, T, below and above the given range, FDS5 will assume a constant value equal to the rst or last F specied. Each set of RAMP lines must be listed with monotonically increasing T. The following table summarizes some RAMP (temperature) parameters: Table 8.2: RAMP (temperature) parameters
Parameter ID T F Type String Real Real Description Identier Temperature Function value C Unit Default
8.3
8.3.1
Burning properties
Solids
The MATL namelist group can be used to specify the parameters employed in the solid phase pyrolysis process. As already explained in Chapter 6 on page 43, pyrolysis is the decomposition or transformation of a compound caused by heat that produce the gaseous fuel, that is burned during gas phase combustion. FDS5 contains a fairly general description of multi-layered, multi-component, multi-reaction solid: while burning, each material can undergo several reactions that may occur at dierent temperatures and consume dierent amounts of heat. Each individual reaction can produce a single solid residue, water vapor, or fuel gas. Here is an example of a material that burns in the neighborhood of 350C, converting all its mass to fuel gases with NU_FUEL(1)=1.:
64
&MATL ID=my fuel, SPECIFIC_HEAT=1.0, CONDUCTIVITY=0.1, DENSITY=100.0, HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION=15000., N_REACTIONS=1, NU_FUEL(1)=1., REFERENCE_TEMPERATURE(1)=350., HEAT_OF_REACTION(1)=3000. / See next Sections and [FDS5 users guide] for broader description of the problem and its complexity.
8.3.2
Liquids
The MATL namelist group is also used to specify the parameters for burning liquids. For a liquid fuel, the thermal properties are similar to those of a solid material, with a few exceptions. The evaporation rate of the fuel is governed by the Clausius-Clapeyron equation. The only drawback of this approach is that the fuel gases burn regardless of any ignition source. Thus, if a liquid fuel is specied, the fuel begins burning at once. As an example: &MATL ID=ethanol, EMISSIVITY=1.0, NU_FUEL=0.97, HEAT_OF_REACTION=880., CONDUCTIVITY=0.17, SPECIFIC_HEAT=2.45, DENSITY=787., ABSORPTION_COEFFICIENT=40., BOILING_TEMPERATURE=76. / The inclusion of BOILING_TEMPERATURE on the MATL line tells FDS5 to use its liquid pyrolysis model. It also automatically sets N_REACTIONS=1: the only reaction is the phase change from liquid to gaseous fuel. Thus, HEAT_OF_REACTION in this case is the latent heat of vaporization. The gaseous fuel yield, NU_FUEL, is 0.97 instead of 1 to account for impurities in the liquid that do not take part in the combustion process. The thermal conductivity, density and specic heat are used to compute the loss of heat into the liquid via conduction using the same one-dimensional heat transfer equation that is used for solids. Obviously, the convection of the liquid is important, but is not considered in the model. Note also the ABSORPTION_COEFFICIENT for the liquid. This denotes the absorption in depth of thermal radiation. Liquids do not just absorb radiation at the surface, but rather over a thin layer near the surface. Its eect on the burning rate is signicant.
8.4. PROPERTIES HELL
65
8.3.3
HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION in a MATL line?
The HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION is the energy released per unit mass of fuel gas that mixes with oxygen and burns. This has nothing to do with the pyrolysis process. This parameter would better be used in gas phase combustion! If you remember what was said in Chapter 6 on page 43, whereas there can be many types of combustibles in an FDS5 re simulation, only one gaseous fuel can be simulated by FDS5. The stoichiometry of the predominant reaction is specied via the REAC namelist group. In fact, the HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION specied on the REAC line pertains to the only gaseous fuel modeled in gas phase combustion. The HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION specied on the MATL line is that specic to gaseous fuel produced by pyrolysis. If the HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION is specied on the MATL line, FDS5 automatically adjust the mass loss rate of the gaseous fuel injected by the pyrolyzing material, so that the corrected mass loss rate multiplied by the single, global, gas phase heat of combustion produces the expected heat release rate. If, for example, the HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION specied on the REAC line is twice that specied on the MATL line, the mass of pyrolyzing material contained within wall cell will be decremented by that determined by the pyrolysis model, but the mass of fuel gas added to gas phase would be reduced by 50%.
8.4
Properties hell
The scientic community agrees that there is no standardized way of obtaining all of the parameters needed to run FDS5. This is especially true of materials that burn. There are various devices used to measure various properties, but there is no consensus on the exact physical and mathematical description of these, and thus, no standard way of taking bench-scale data and converting it into an FDS5 input le. Recently Nick Dempsey of WPI, Marc Janssens of Southwest Research, and Morgan Hurley of the SFPE were awarded a three year grant to develop an engineering guide that will document the standard test methods used to obtain material properties, and more importantly the physical and mathematical interpretation of these methods that will enable us all to understand what to do with measurements made in the various bench scale devices.
66
A prediction is called blind, if the results are not compared to experimental measures. Grid sensitivity and uncertain material properties make blind predictions of re growth on real materials beyond the reach of the current version of the model. However, the model can still be used for a qualitative assessment of re behavior as long as the uncertainty in the ame spread rate is recognized. For engineering level applications, its strongly advised to recur to simplied re modeling, directly prescribing the HRR of the re scenario taken from literature or direct experimentation, as shown in Section 11.4.6 on page 82.
8.5
Resources for material property data
Here are some web resources for material property data; a broader list of links is maintained on FDS5 web site: NIST Chemistry Webbook: http://webbook.nist.gov/chemistry/ ChemFinder: http://chemnder.cambridgesoft.com/ Parital INSC Material Properties Database: http://www.insc.anl.gov/matprop/thermo.php Cone calorimeter data from Worcester Polytechnic Institute: http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/Depts/Fire/Lab/Cone/Data MatWeb: http://matweb.com Engineering Toolbox: http://engineeringtoolbox.com
Chapter 9 Extra gas species

Third, some properties are set up, as the properties of extra gas species (SPEC).
9.1
Dening extra gas species, SPEC
Gases that are introduced into the domain that are neither reactants nor products of combustion, like carbon dioxide from an extinguisher, are tracked separately from the mixture fraction model for gas phase combustion via an additional scalar transport equation. In fact, there does not need to be any re at all, as FDS5 can be used to transport a mixture of non-reacting ideal gases. The namelist group SPEC is used to specify each additional species. Each SPEC line should include at the very least the name of the species via a character string called ID. The following gases are predened in FDS5 and do not need any property to be set up: Table 9.1: Predened extra species
AIR, ARGON, CARBON DIOXIDE, CARBON MONOXIDE, HELIUM, HYDROGEN, METHANE, NITROGEN, OXYGEN, PROPANE, WATER VAPOR.
For example: &SPEC ID=HELIUM / 67
68
CHAPTER 9. EXTRA GAS SPECIES
adds the predened HELIUM gas as an additional specie that can be injected in the domain. To specify a gas not included in the list, the user should input several chemical properties. See [FDS5 users guide] for broader description. If the ambient initial mass fraction of an extra gas specie is something other than 0, then the parameter MASS_FRACTION_0 is used to specify it. For example, the line: &SPEC ID=ARGON, MASS_FRACTION_0=0.1 / species that 10% in mass of ARGON is to be included in the calculation, in addition to the 90% unlisted default ambient specie named AIR. The following table summarizes some SPEC parameters: Table 9.2: SPEC parameters
Parameter ID MASS_FRACTION_0 Type String Real Description Identier Initial mass fraction 0 Unit Default
9.2
CARBON DIOXIDE and carbon dioxide
These extra gas species are identied by an uppercase name, and are not to be confused with the lowercase species implicitly dened by FDS5 when doing a mixture fraction calculation for gas phase combustion, as fuel, oxygen, nitrogen, water vapor, carbon dioxide. . . See Section 6.3 on page 44 for reference. If the user introduces an extra gas in the calculation that is the same as a product of combustion, as in: &SPEC ID=CARBON DIOXIDE / FDS5 will take into account two dierent gases: the implicitly dened carbon dioxide and the extra gas species CARBON DIOXIDE, injected for example to simulate a CO2 extinguisher.
9.2. CARBON DIOXIDE AND CARBON DIOXIDE
69
The rst is a product of combustion, while the second is just another gas: it does not participate to combustion, but it can dilute oxygen and contribute to re suppression. The two gases are tracked separately: carbon dioxide is tracked via the mixture fraction variable and CARBON DIOXIDE is tracked via its own transport equation.
70
CHAPTER 9. EXTRA GAS SPECIES
Chapter 10 Lagrangian particles

Third, some properties are set up, as the properties of Lagrangian particles (PART).
10.1
Dening Lagrangian particles, PART
Lagrangian particles are used in FDS5 as water or liquid fuel droplets, ow tracers, and various other objects that are not dened or conned by the numerical mesh. Sometimes the particles have mass, sometimes they do not. Some evaporate, absorb radiation, etc. PART is the namelist group that is used to prescribe parameters associated with Lagrangian particles. All Lagrangian particles must be explicitly dened via the PART namelist group. Once a particular type of particle or droplet has been described using a PART line, then the name of that particle or droplet type is invoked elsewhere in the input le via the parameter PART_ID. There are no reserved PART_ID, all must be dened. For example, an input le may have several PART lines that include the properties of dierent types of Lagrangian particles: &PART ID=my tracer, MASSLESS=.TRUE. / Then these Lagrangian particles can be introduced in the uid ow from a solid surface via a boundary condition as explained in Section 11.8 on page 89. The following table summarizes some PART parameters: 71
72
CHAPTER 10. LAGRANGIAN PARTICLES Table 10.1: PART parameters

Parameter ID MASSLESS WATER AGE COLOR RGB(3) DT_INSERT XB(6) Type String Logical Logical Real String Integer Real Real Description Identier Massless particles Water droplets Droplet lifetime Color Color Time between insertions Volume, initial particle location s m 0.01 s .FALSE. .FALSE. 100000. Unit Default
10.2
Massless particles
The simplest use of Lagrangian particles is for visualization, in which case the particles are considered massless tracers. In this case, the particles are dened via the line: &PART ID=my tracer, MASSLESS=.TRUE. /
10.3
Water droplets
WATER=.TRUE. declares that the liquid droplets evaporate into WATER VAPOR, a separate gas phase specie that is automatically added to the calculation by this command. By default, WATER=.FALSE., even though the default properties of droplets are that of water. Setting WATER=.TRUE. instructs FDS5 to add WATER VAPOR as an explicitly dened specie, and it also invokes appropriate constants related to the absorption of thermal radiation by the water droplets. It also causes the droplets to be colored blue in Smokeview. For example: &PART ID=droplets, WATER=.TRUE. /
10.3. WATER DROPLETS
73
When a droplet strikes a solid surface, it sticks and is reassigned a new speed and direction. If the surface is horizontal, the direction is randomly chosen. If vertical, the direction is downwards.
74
CHAPTER 10. LAGRANGIAN PARTICLES
Chapter 11 Boundary conditions

Third, some properties are set up, as the types of boundary conditions (SURF). This is the most challenging part of setting up the simulation: rst, for both real and simulated res, the growth of the re is very sensitive to the thermal properties of the surrounding materials. Second, even if all the material properties are known to some degree, the physical phenomena of interest may not be simulated properly due to limitations in the model algorithms or resolution of the numerical mesh. It is your responsibility to supply the thermal properties of the materials, and then assess the performance of the model to ensure that the phenomena of interest are being captured. This chapter covers RAMP (time dependent) namelist group, too.
11.1
Dening boundary conditions, SURF
This chapter describes how to specify the properties of the bounding surfaces of the ow domain. The namelist group that denes the types of boundary conditions is SURF. For example, &SURF ID=warm_surface, TMP_FRONT=25. / denes a surface named warm_surface. Its temperature is xed to 25C. 75
76
CHAPTER 11. BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
While building the solid geometry, the types of boundary conditions will be applied to each of the bounding surfaces of the ow domain: the faces of the solid obstructions and the exterior boundaries of the computational domain. The following table summarizes some SURF parameters: Table 11.1: SURF parameters
Parameter ID ADIABATIC EMISSIVITY HRRPUA MLRPUA
HEAT_OF_VAPORIZATION
Type String Logical Real Real Real Real Real String
Description Identier Adiabatic thermal boundary condition Emissivity HRR per unit area Mass loss rate per unit area Heat of vaporisation for specied HRR only Ignition temperature Material name (Layer, Component) Mass fraction of components (Layer, Component) Thickness of layers (Layer) Back boundary condition Back surface temperature Front surface temperature Initial solid temperature Burn away solid Net heat ux at surface Convective heat ux at surface
Unit
Default
.FALSE. 0.9 kW/m2 kg/m2 /s kJ/kg
0. 0. 0. 5000.
IGNITION_TEMPERATURE
MATL_ID(i,j)
MATL_MASS_FRACTION(i,j)
Real
THICKNESS(i) BACKING TMP_BACK TMP_FRONT TMP_INNER BURN_AWAY NET_HEAT_FLUX

CONVECTIVE_HEAT_FLUX
Real String Real Real Real Logical Real Real
0. VOID
C C C
20. 20. 20. .FALSE.
kW/m2 kW/m2
0. 0.
11.2. PREDEFINED BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
77
from previous page
EXTERNAL_FLUX MASS_FLUX_TOTAL MASS_FLUX(n) MASS_FRACTION(n) VEL VEL_T(2) VOLUME_FLUX POROUS TAU_MF(n) TAU_Q TAU_T TAU_V RAMP_MF(n) RAMP_Q RAMP_T RAMP_V COLOR RGB(3) TRANSPARENCY PART_ID
Real Real Real Real Real Real Real Logical Real Real Real Real String String String String String Integer Real String
External heat ux to surface Total mass ux Mass ux for specie n Mass fraction for specie n Normal velocity Tangential velocity components Normal velocity area Porous boundary condition Ramp time for specie n Ramp time for HRR Ramp time for temperature Ramp time for velocity Ramp ID for specie n Ramp ID for HRR Ramp ID for temperature Ramp ID for velocity Color Color Transparency Lagrangian particle ID
kW/m2 kg/m2 /s kg/m2 /s
0.
0.
m/s m/s m3 /s
0. 0.,0. 0. .FALSE.
s s s s
1. 1. 1. 1.
255,204,102 1
11.2
Predened boundary conditions
FDS5 contains some predened boundary conditions that do not need to be set within a SURF namelist group: INERT, OPEN, and MIRROR. An INERT boundary condition represents an isothermal wall with the temperature INERT xed at ambient temperature. INERT allows for heat loss and is not the same
78
Figure 11.1: Extending the computational domain beyond the vent as an adiabatic surface. An INERT solid is something that never heats up, like a piece of steel that has cold water constantly owing across its back side. In general, this boundary condition should not be used, as it is better to assign actual material properties to everything.
OPEN
An OPEN boundary condition assumes that ambient conditions exist beyond that VENT. OPEN can only be prescribed at an exterior boundary of the computational domain. If you are concerned about the ow through a particular vent, do not use an OPEN boundary because the constant pressure assumption is just an approximation. You should extend your computational domain beyond the vent and build it out of obstructions, as shown in Figure 11.1. The ow in and out will then be treated naturally as part of the solution of the governing equations.
MIRROR
A MIRROR boundary condition denotes a symmetry plane. A MIRROR should span an entire face of the computational domain, essentially doubling the size of the domain. The ow on the opposite side of the MIRROR is exactly reversed. From a numerical point of view, a MIRROR is a no-ux, free-slip boundary. MIRROR can only be prescribed at an exterior boundary of the computational domain.
11.3
Coloring boundary conditions
As explained in Section 4.10 on page 37: &SURF ID=upholstery, RGB=0,255,0 / &SURF ID=carpet, COLOR=VIOLET RED / will cause objects with a boundary condition of type upholstery to be colored green and the objects of type carpet to be violet red.
11.4. EXAMPLES OF BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
79
It is highly recommended that colors be assigned to solid obstructions via the SURF line because, as the geometries of FDS5 simulations become more complex, it is very useful to use color as a spot check to determine if the desired surface properties have been assigned throughout the room or building under study. Another example: &SURF ID=glass, RGB=0,255,0, TRANSPARENCY=.3 / will cause objects with a boundary condition of type glass to be colored green and to be partially transparent.
11.4
Examples of boundary conditions
In the following Sections a list of simple boundary conditions are presented. More complex examples can be found in Chapter 15 on page 127.
11.4.1
Adiabatic surface
For some special applications, it is often desired that a solid surface be adiabatic, that is, there is no net heat transfer (radiative and convective) from the gas to the solid. The line: &SURF ID=adiabatic_surface, ADIABATIC=.TRUE. / denes an adiabatic surface named adiabatic_surface. FDS5 will compute a wall temperature so that the sum of the convective and radiative uxes to the wall is zero.
11.4.2
The line:
Fixed temperature and heat ux
&SURF ID=warm_surface, TMP_FRONT=25. / xes the surface temperature to 25C. The following line species a NET_HEAT_FLUX in units of kW/m2 :
80
CHAPTER 11. BOUNDARY CONDITIONS &SURF ID=warm_surface, NET_HEAT_FLUX=25. /
FDS5 will compute the surface temperature required to ensure that the combined radiative and convective heat ux from the surface is equal to the prescribed ux. The following line species separately the CONVECTIVE_HEAT_FLUX, in units of kW/m2 and the radiative heat ux using TMP_FRONT temperature in C and EMISSIVITY: &SURF ID=warm_surface, CONVECTIVE_HEAT_FLUX=25., TMP_FRONT=150., EMISSIVITY=.9 /
Sign convention
The sign convention is that positive heat ux from a surface heats up the gas.
11.4.3
Fans
For most applications, the ventilation system of a building is described in FDS5 using velocity boundary conditions. For example, fresh air can be blown into, and smoke can be drawn from a compartment by specifying a velocity in the normal direction to a solid surface. However, there are various other facets of velocity boundary conditions that are described below. For example, the line: &SURF ID=supply, VEL=-1.2, TMP_FRONT=50. / denes a surface supplying hot air to the domain at a velocity of 1.2 m/s and temperature of 50C. The volume ux depends on the prescribed area and its alignment with the computational mesh. The line: &SURF ID=supply, VOLUME_FLUX=1.2 / denes a surface extracting air from the domain at a volume ow of 1.2 m3 /s. The velocity depends on the prescribed area and its alignment with the computational mesh. This line: &SURF ID=supply, MASS_FLUX_TOTAL=-1.2 /
11.4. EXAMPLES OF BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
81
supplies air to the domain at a mass ow rate of 1.2 kg/s. The MASS_FLUX_TOTAL is converted internally into a velocity boundary condition whose value for an outow is adjusted based on the local density. The line: &SURF ID=louver, VEL=-1.2, VEL_T=0.5,-0.3 / represents a boundary condition for a louvered vent that pushes air into the space with a normal velocity of 1.2 m/s and a tangential velocity of 0.5 m/s in either the x or y direction and -0.3 m/s in either the y or z direction, depending on what the normal direction is. In cases of limited mesh resolution, it may not be possible to describe a louvered vent or slot diuser using VEL_T because there may not be enough mesh cells spanning the opening. In these cases, you might consider simply specifying a at plate obstruction in front of the VENT with an oset of one mesh cell. The plate will simply redirect the air ow in all lateral directions. Note that either VEL, VOLUME_FLUX, or MASS_FLUX_TOTAL should be prescribed, not both. The choice depends on whether an exact velocity is desired at a given vent, or whether the given volume ux or mass ux is desired. The sign convention is that positive volume or mass ux is drawn out of the Sign convention domain.
11.4.4
Fans injecting extra gas species
There are two species boundary conditions that can be specied: MASS_FLUX(n) and MASS_FRACTION(n) where n refers to a given specie SPEC via its place in the input le. If the mass fraction of the n specie is to be some value at a forced ow boundary (VEL or MASS_FLUX_TOTAL) set MASS_FRACTION(n) equal to the desired mass fraction on the appropriate SURF line. If the mass ux of the n specie is desired, set MASS_FLUX(n) instead of MASS_FRACTION(n). If MASS_FLUX(n) is set, no VEL should be set. It is automatically calculated based on the mass ux. The inputs MASS_FLUX(n) and MASS_FRACTION(n) should only be used for inow boundary conditions. MASS_FLUX(n) should always be positive with units of kg/m2 /s. For example, the lines:
82
CHAPTER 11. BOUNDARY CONDITIONS &SPEC ID=ARGON, MASS_FRACTION_0=0.1 / &SPEC ID=HELIUM / &SURF ID=inlet, MASS_FRACTION(2)=0.2, VEL=-0.3 /
specify that ARGON and HELIUM are to be included in the calculation in addition to the unlisted default AIR. At the inlet, a mixture of helium (20% by mass), argon (10% by mass because nothing dierent is specied), and air (70% by mass making up the rest) ows out at a velocity of 0.3 m/s into the ow domain.
11.4.5
Dynamic pressure at an open boundary
In some situations, it is more convenient to specify a dynamic pressure, rather than a velocity, at a boundary. Suppose that you are modeling the interior of a tunnel, and a wind is blowing at one of the portals that aects the overall ow within the tunnel. If (and only if) the portal is dened using an OPEN vent, then the dynamic pressure at the boundary can be specied like this: &VENT XB=0.,0.,0.,4.,0.,3., SURF_ID=OPEN, DYNAMIC_PRESSURE=2.4 / A dynamic pressure of 2.4 Pa is applied to the specied face. See Section 12.3 on page 95 for a description of the VENT namelist group.
11.4.6
Prescribing an heat release rate
Solids and liquid fuels can be modeled by specifying their relevant properties via the MATL namelist group. However, if you simply want to specify a re of a given Heat Release Rate (HRR), you need not specify any material properties. A specied re is basically modeled as the ejection of gaseous fuel from a solid surface or vent. This is essentially a burner, with a specied heat release rate per unit area, HRRPUA, in units of kW/m2 . For example, the line: &SURF ID=burner, HRRPUA=500. / denes a surface that injects a ow of fuel gas that, when properly mixed with ambient air, burns and produces 500 kW per m2 of emitting surface.
11.5. GEOMETRIC CONFORMITY AND RATES
83
An alternative to HRRPUA with the exact same functionality is MLRPUA, except this parameter species the mass loss rate of fuel gas per unit area in kg/m2 /s. Do not specify both HRRPUA and MLRPUA on the same SURF line. For example: &SURF ID=burner, MRLPUA=5. / species the a mass loss rate of fuel gas per unit area of 5 kg/m2 /s. By specifying HRRPUA or MRLPUA, you are controlling the burning rate rather than letting the material pyrolyze based on the conditions of the surrounding environment.
11.5
Geometric conformity and rates
Be aware that, whenever geometric objects are transformed to become conform to the underlying mesh, their face areas can change. FDS adjusts the value of HRRPUA, MRLPUA, and of other mass uxes to guarantee the user prescribed rates.
11.6
Boundary conditions for solids
The thermal and burning properties of each material are specied via the MATL namelist group. Then materials are invoked by the SURF namelist group to dene boundary conditions for solids. FDS5 performs a one-dimensional heat transfer calculation at each surface of the solid to provide a reasonable bounding surface temperature for the gas phase calculation. A solid boundary can consist of one or multiple layers of dierent materials, and each layer can consist of multiple material components. These combinations of layers and material components are specied on the SURF line via the array parameter called MATL_ID(i,j). The argument i is an integer indicating the layer index, starting at 1, the layer at the exterior boundary. The argument j is an integer indicating the component index. MATL_ID(2,3)=brick indicates that the third material component of the second layer is brick. The components of the solid mixtures are treated as pure substances with no voids. The following is an example of a multi-layer, multi-component surface:
84
Figure 11.2: brick wall: multiple layers of dierent materials
&MATL ID=water, CONDUCTIVITY=0.60, SPECIFIC_HEAT=4.19, DENSITY=1000. / material &MATL ID=brick, CONDUCTIVITY=0.69, SPECIFIC_HEAT=0.84, DENSITY=1600. / material &MATL ID=insulator, CONDUCTIVITY=0.041, SPECIFIC_HEAT=2.09, DENSITY=229. / material &SURF ID=brick wall, MATL_ID(1,1:2)=brick,water, MATL_MASS_FRACTION(1,1:2) = 0.95,0.05, MATL_ID(2,1)=insulator, THICKNESS(1:2)=0.1,0.2 / boundary condition First, materials are dened, then a boundary condition brick wall is prescribed. In brick wall surface (see Figure 11.2), the rst layer is composed of a mixture of brick and water. This is given by the MATL_ID array which species component 1 of layer 1 to be of brick material, and component 2 of layer 1 to be of water material. The mass fraction of each is specied via MATL_MASS_FRACTION: brick is 95% by mass and water is 5%. The rst layer is 0.1 m thick. The innermost layer is made of one only component, insulator, and is 0.2 m thick.
11.6.1
Backing
The heat transfer condition of the innermost layer of a wall is set using the BACKING parameter. This parameter can be set to VOID, INSULATED, or EXPOSED.
11.6. BOUNDARY CONDITIONS FOR SOLIDS For example:
85
VOID
&SURF ID=double_layer, MATL_ID(1:2,1)=plastic,steel, THICKNESS(1:2)=0.1,0.2, BACKING=VOID, TMP_BACK=30. / denes a two layers surface. The external layer is made of one only component, plastic, and is 0.1 m thick. The innermost layer is made of one only component, steel, and is 0.2 m thick. The innermost layer backs up to an air gap. The air gap is at a TMP_BACK temperature of 30C. If TMP_BACK is not set, the air gap defaults to ambient temperature. BACKING=VOID can be safely omitted as it is the default value. A second example: &SURF ID=double_layer, MATL_ID(1:2,1)=plastic,steel, THICKNESS(1:2)=0.1,0.2, BACKING=INSULATED / denes the same two layers surface. In this second case, the innermost layer backs up to an insulating (adiabatic) material, so that no heat is lost to the backing material. As a last example: &SURF ID=double_layer, MATL_ID(1:2,1)=plastic,steel, THICKNESS(1:2)=0.1,0.2, BACKING=EXPOSED / denes the same two layers surface. In this third case, the innermost layer backs up to the room on the other side of the wall. EXPOSED only works if the wall is less than or equal to one mesh cell thick, and if there is a non-zero volume of computational domain on the other side of the wall. FDS5 calculates the heat conduction through the entire THICKNESS and uses the gas phase temperature and heat ux on the front and back sides for boundary conditions. A redundant calculation is performed on the opposite side of the obstruction, so be careful how you specify multiple layers: if the layering is symmetric, the same SURF line can be applied to both sides; however, if the layering is not symmetric, you must create two separate SURF lines and apply one to each side. For example, a asymmetric layered hollow box column that is made of steel and covered on the outside by a layer of insulation material and a layer of plastic on top of the insulation material, would have to be described with two SURF lines like the following:
EXPOSED INSULATED
86
CHAPTER 11. BOUNDARY CONDITIONS &SURF ID=column exterior, BACKING=EXPOSED, MATL_ID(1:3,1)=plastic,insulation,steel, THICKNESS(1:3)=0.002,0.036,0.0063 / &SURF ID=column interior, BACKING=EXPOSED, MATL_ID(1:3,1)=steel,insulation,plastic, THICKNESS(1:3)=0.0063,0.036,0.002 /
11.6.2
Setting an initial temperature
A solid obstruction can be given an initial temperature via the parameter TMP_INNER on the SURF line:
&SURF ID=stuff, MATL_ID=steel, THICKNESS=.1, TMP_INNER=30. / the initial temperature shall be 30C within the concerned face, instead of the ambient.
11.7
Time dependent boundary conditions
When solid obstacles are activated (See Section 12.7 on page 100), the prescribed boundary conditions for their faces begin to come into eect. After activation, temperatures, velocities, burning rates, etc., are ramped-up from their initial values to their prescribed values in roughly 1 s, because nothing can happen instantaneously. This default 1 s ramp can be modied by the user: many SURF parameters can become time dependent and follow a dierent trend after the activation instant.
11.7.1
Simplied ramps
The parameters TAU_Q, TAU_T, TAU_V, TAU_MF(n) indicate that the heat release rate (HRRPUA), surface temperature (TMP_FRONT), normal velocity (VEL, VOLUME_FLUX) or MASS_FLUX_TOTAL, mass fraction or mass ux of specie n are to ramp up to their prescribed values in TAU_* seconds after SURF activation and remain there.
Sign convention
If TAU_* is positive, then the related quantity ramps up like tanh(t/ ). If
11.7. TIME DEPENDENT BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
87
Figure 11.3: HRRPUA as function of time after SURF activation negative, then it ramps up like (t/ )2 . As stated before, the default value for all TAU_* is 1 s. For example, this line: &SURF ID=burner, HRRPUA=4000., TAU_Q=-120 / species a boundary condition for a burner that activates when the calculation starts at t=0 s, ramps up like HRRPUA=4000. (t/120)2 while t<120 s and remains at 4000 kW/m2 after 120 s, as shown in Figure 11.3.
11.7.2
User dened ramps
If something other than a tanh or t2 ramp up is desired, then a user-dened function must be input. To do this, set RAMP_Q, RAMP_T, RAMP_V or RAMP_MF(n) equal to a character string designating the ramp function to use for that particular surface type, then somewhere in the input le generate lines of the form: &RAMP ID=rampname1, T= 0.0, F=0.0 / &RAMP ID=rampname1, T= 5.0, F=0.5 / &RAMP ID=rampname1, T=10.0, F=0.7 / For this kind of ramp, T is the time passed from activation, and F indicates the fraction of the heat release rate, wall temperature, velocity, mass fraction, etc., to apply. Linear interpolation is used to ll in intermediate time points. Note that each set of RAMP lines must be listed with monotonically increasing T. For example, a simple blowing fan can be controlled via the lines:
88
Figure 11.4: VEL and TMP_FRONT as function of time after SURF activation
&SURF ID=blower, VEL=-2., TMP_FRONT=50., RAMP_V=blower_v, RAMP_T=blower_t / &RAMP ID=blower_v, T=20.0, F=1.0 / &RAMP ID=blower_v, T=30.0, F=0.5 / &RAMP ID=blower_v, T=60.0, F=0. / &RAMP ID=blower_t, T=40.0, F=1.0 / &RAMP ID=blower_t, T=50.0, F=1.5 / &RAMP ID=blower_t, T=60.0, F=0.5 / that produce the time trend shown in Figure 11.4 for SURF parameters. The following table summarizes some RAMP (time) parameters: Table 11.2: RAMP (time) parameters
Parameter ID T F Type String Real Real Description Identier Time Function value s Unit Default
11.8. INJECTING LAGRANGIAN PARTICLES
89
11.8
Injecting Lagrangian particles
Lagrangian particles can be introduced into the uid ow from a solid surface via boundary conditions. For example, the following line denes a type of Lagrangian particles: &PART ID=my tracer, MASSLESS=.TRUE. / These Lagrangian particles are then introduced into the uid ow from a solid surface that has the following boundary condition prescribed: &SURF PART_ID=my tracer / Note that a surface on which particles are specied must have a non-zero normal velocity directed into the computational domain. This happens automatically if the surface is burning, hence injecting fuel gas into the ow domain, but must be specied if it is not.
90
Chapter 12 Solid geometry

Fourth, the solid geometry is entered via OBST, VENT, HOLE namelist groups. A considerable amount of work in setting up a calculation lies in specifying the geometry of the space to be modeled and applying boundary conditions to these objects. The geometry is described in terms of obstructions to the gas phase ow. A boundary condition needs to be assigned to each bounding surface of the gas phase domain describing its thermal properties. Both solid obstruction faces and the exterior boundaries of the computational domain need a boundary condition assigned. A re is just one type of boundary condition.
12.1
Dening solid obstructions, OBST
The namelist group OBST contains parameters used to dene obstructions. Each OBST line dene a solid volume within the computational domain. The boundary condition for whole faces of the obstruction can be easily specied prescribing one of the following three parameters: SURF_ID, SURF_IDS, or SURF_ID6. The parameter SURF_ID designates one SURF boundary condition to apply to all the faces of the obstruction. For example:
&OBST XB=2.3,4.5,1.3,4.8,0.0,9.2, SURF_ID=brick wall / 91
92
CHAPTER 12. SOLID GEOMETRY
builds a solid obstruction and apply the brick wall surface type to all its six faces. If the obstruction has dierent properties for its top, sides and bottom, use instead the parameter SURF_IDS, an array of three character strings specifying the boundary condition for the top, sides and bottom of the obstruction, respectively. For example: &OBST XB=2.3,4.5,1.3,4.8,0.0,9.2, SURF_IDS=burner,brick wall,INERT / builds a solid obstruction and applies the burner surface type to the top face (+z direction), brick wall surface type to sides, and INERT surface type to the bottom face (z direction). If the obstruction has dierent properties for all its faces, use instead the parameter SURF_ID6, an array of six character strings specifying the boundary condition for each face. For example: &OBST XB=2.3,4.5,1.3,4.8,0.0,9.2, SURF_ID6=bc-x,bc+x,bc-y,bc+y,bc-z,bc+z / builds a solid obstruction and applies: the bc-x surface type to the x = 2.3 face (face in x direction), the bc+x surface type to the x = 4.5 face (face in +x direction), the bc-y surface type to the y = 1.3 face (face in y direction), the bc+y surface type to the y = 4.8 face (face in +y direction), the bc-z surface type to the z = 0.0 face (face in z direction), the bc+z surface type to the z = 9.2 face (face in +z direction). Note that SURF_ID6 complies to the same convention as the XB parameter. The following table summarizes some OBST parameters:
12.1. DEFINING SOLID OBSTRUCTIONS, OBST
93
Figure 12.1: Boundary conditions prescribed with SURF_ID, SURF_IDS, and SURF_ID6 Table 12.1: OBST parameters
Parameter XB(6) SAWTOOTH THICKEN SURF_ID SURF_IDS(3) SURF_ID6(6) ALLOW_VENT PERMIT_HOLE COLOR RGB(3) TRANSPARENCY OUTLINE DEVC_ID CTRL_ID Type Real Logical Logical String String String Logical Logical String Integer Real Logical String String Description Volume Sawtooth Force at least one cell thick Set boundary condition (all faces) Set boundary conditions (top, side, bottom faces) Set boundary conditions (each of six faces) Allow VENT on OBST Allow OBST to be carved by a HOLE Color Color Transparency Draw as outline in Smokeview ID of DEVC that controls OBSTs existence ID of CTRL that controls OBSTs existence 1 .TRUE. 255,204,102 Unit m .TRUE. .FALSE. INERT INERT INERT .TRUE. .TRUE. Default
94
12.2
Creating voids inside obstructions, HOLE
The HOLE namelist group is used to carve a hole out of an existing obstruction or set of obstructions. To do this, add lines of the form: &HOLE XB=2.0,4.5,1.9,4.8,0.0,9.2 / Any solid mesh cells within the volume 2.0 < x < 4.5, 1.9 < y < 4.8, 0.0 < z < 9.2 are removed. Obstructions intersecting the volume are broken up into smaller blocks. If the hole represents a door or window, a good rule of thumb is to punch more than enough to create the hole. This ensures that the hole is created through the entire obstruction. For example: &OBST XB=1.0,1.1,0.0,5.0,0.0,3.0 / &HOLE XB=0.99,1.11,2.0,3.0,0.0,2.0 / the OBST line denotes a wall 0.1 m thick; the HOLE line creates a door. The extra centimeter added to the x coordinates of the hole make it clear that the hole is to punch through the entire obstruction. If an obstruction is not to be punctured by a HOLE, add the parameter PERMIT_HOLE=.FALSE. to the OBST line. Note that a HOLE has no eect on a VENT or a mesh boundary. It only applies to obstructions. The following table summarizes some HOLE parameters: Table 12.2: HOLE parameters
Parameter XB(6) COLOR RGB(3) TRANSPARENCY DEVC_ID CTRL_ID Type Real String Integer Real String String Description Volume, cutout Color for resulting obstruction Color for resulting obstruction Transparency of resulting obstruction ID of DEVC that controls HOLEs existence ID of CTRL that controls HOLEs existence Unit m Default
12.3. PRESCRIBING A DIFFERENT BOUNDARY CONDITION, VENT
95
Figure 12.2: OBST, HOLE and VENT
12.3
Prescribing a dierent boundary condition, VENT
OBST namelist group can easily prescribe boundary conditions of entire faces of obstacles. But very often you will need to apply a particular boundary condition to a rectangular patch of an entire face or to the exterior boundaries of the computational domain. The VENT namelist group is used to prescribe boundary conditions: on at faces adjacent to obstructions, or exterior boundaries of the computational domain. For example, the lines: &VENT XB=1.0,2.0,2.0,2.0,1.0,3.0, SURF_ID=burner / &OBST XB=0.0,5.0,2.0,3.0,0.0,4.0, SURF_ID=brick wall / build a solid obstacle made of brick wall and apply a burner boundary condition to a rectangular patch on the solid face in y direction. To set boundary conditions to exterior boundaries of the computational domain proceed as in the following example:
96
Figure 12.3: Setting boundary conditions to exterior boundaries of the computational domain ### Computational domain &MESH IJK=32,32,16, XB=0.0,1.6,0.0,1.6,0.0,0.8 / &MESH IJK=32,32,16, XB=0.0,1.6,0.0,1.6,0.8,1.6 / ### Properties &SURF ID=brick wall, COLOR=BROWN / &SURF ID=floor, COLOR=SILVER / &SURF ID=ceiling, COLOR=SLATE GRAY / ### Solid geometry &VENT XB=0.0,0.0,0.0,1.6,0.0,1.4, SURF_ID=brick wall / lower part of -x exterior boundary &VENT XB=0.0,0.0,0.0,1.6,1.4,1.6, SURF_ID=OPEN / upper part of -x exterior boundary &VENT XB=1.6,1.6,0.0,1.6,0.0,1.6, SURF_ID=OPEN / +x exterior boundary &VENT XB=0.0,1.6,0.0,0.0,0.0,1.6, SURF_ID=brick wall / -y exterior boundary &VENT XB=0.0,1.6,1.6,1.6,0.0,1.6, SURF_ID=OPEN / +y exterior boundary &VENT XB=0.0,1.6,0.0,1.6,0.0,0.0, SURF_ID=floor / -z exterior boundary &VENT XB=0.0,1.6,0.0,1.6,1.6,1.6, SURF_ID=ceiling / +z exterior boundary The result is shown in Figure 12.3. A shortcut exists to select mesh boundaries: the MB parameter. This manual will not cover it because it leads to error and confusion when employed with multiple meshes.
12.4. DEFAULT BOUNDARY CONDITION Note that:
97
Only one VENT may be specied for any given wall cell. If additional VENT lines are specied for a given wall cell, FDS5 will output a warning message and ignore the subsequent lines. The rst dened VENT will be applied: rst-come, rst-served. VENT overrides the boundary condition dened by the underlying obstruction: VENT boundary condition wins on OBST boundary condition. A VENT must always be attached to a solid obstruction or exterior boundaries of the computational domain: a ying VENT is not allowed. If FDS5 outputs an error message requesting that the orientation of a VENT be specied, check to make sure that the VENT is a plane and that it is not buried within a solid obstruction. The following table summarizes some VENT parameters: Table 12.3: VENT parameters
Parameter XB(6) PBX, PBY, PBZ IOR SURF_ID DEVC_ID CTRL_ID Type Real Real Integer String String String Description Face Plane Index of orientation Set boundary condition ID of DEVC that controls VENTs existence ID of CTRL that controls VENTs existence INERT Unit m m Default
12.4
Default boundary condition
INERT is the default SURF boundary condition for all solid surfaces and the exterior boundary of the computational domain, if not otherwise specied. If you want to change the default boundary condition, set SURF_DEFAULT pa-
98 rameter on the MISC line. For example: &MISC SURF_DEFAULT=steel /
If the default boundary condition is desired for the faces of an obstruction, then SURF_ID* need not be set. For example: &OBST XB=2.3,4.5,1.3,4.8,0.0,9.2 / builds a solid obstruction and apply the default surface type to all its faces. The same is true for a VENT: &VENT XB=2.3,4.5,1.3,4.8,0.0,0,0 /
12.5
The lines:
How thick is a wall?
&MATL ID=brick, CONDUCTIVITY=0.69, SPECIFIC_HEAT=0.84, DENSITY=1600. / material &SURF ID=brick wall, MATL_ID(1,1)= brick, THICKNESS= 0.1 / boundary condition &OBST XB=0.,10.,0.,.2,0.0,2.7, SURF_ID=brick wall / solid obstruction rst dene a brick material and describe a brick wall boundary condition, then build a solid obstruction applying the brick wall surface type to all its faces. If you carefully examine the prescriptions: The OBST object is 10 m long, 2.7 m high, and 0.2 m thick in the y direction. The brick wall boundary condition (SURF line) prescribe a 0.1 m thicknesses for the same wall.
12.6. THIN SHEET OBSTRUCTIONS At rst sight, these two parameters seem in contradiction.
99
But, if you remember what was anticipated in Section 4.5 on page 33, the THICKNESS parameter indicated by the SURF line, does not need to match the XB dimensions of the solid obstruction prescribed by OBST. In fact, the two parameters are independent from each other: The OBST line describes the overall geometric structure of a solid that obstacles the gas phase ow: it provides data to the hydrodynamic model. The SURF line describes the characteristics of the surfaces of the solid, used to provide a reasonable bounding surface temperature for the gas phase calculation: it provides data to the solid heat transfer model. When a SURF boundary condition is applied to the faces of a solid obstruction, FDS5 performs a separate one-dimensional heat transfer calculation at each face of the solid, using the THICKNESS parameter. There is no communication among the faces. Obviously, this is not an ideal way to perform solid phase heat transfer, but thats currently beyond FDS5 scope!
12.6
Thin sheet obstructions
Obstructions can be at. Often, thin sheets, like a window, form a barrier, but if the numerical mesh is coarse relative to the thickness of the barrier, the obstruction might be unnecessarily large if it is assumed to be one layer of mesh cells thick. All faces of an obstruction are shifted to the closest mesh cell. If the obstruction is very thin, the two faces may be approximated on the same cell face. FDS5 and Smokeview render this obstruction as a thin sheet, but it is allowed to have thermally thick boundary conditions, in other words a not null THICKNESS of the applied SURF. A thin sheet obstruction can only have one velocity vector on its face, thus a gas cannot be injected reliably from a thin obstruction because whatever is pushed from one side is necessarily pulled from the other. For full functionality, the obstruction should be specied to be at least one mesh cell thick. Thin sheet obstructions work ne as ow barriers, but other features are fragile and should be used with caution.
100
To prevent FDS5 from allowing thin sheet obstructions, set THICKEN_OBSTRUCTIONS=.TRUE. on the MISC line, or THICKEN=.TRUE. on each OBST line for which the thin sheet assumption is not allowed.
12.7
Activating and deactivating objects
By default the objects and their prescribed boundary conditions are activated and come to existence when the calculation starts, then they are deactivated and disappear when the calculation ends. If needed, activation and deactivation times of single OBST, VENT and HOLE can be prescribed by a control logic, as explained in Chapter 13 on page 103.
12.8
Stair stepping complex geometries
The eciency of FDS5 is due to the simplicity of its numerical mesh. However, there are situations in which certain geometric features do not conform to the rectangular mesh, such as a sloped ceiling or roof. In these cases, construct the curved geometry using rectangular obstructions, a process sometimes called stair stepping. A concern is that the stair stepping changes the ow pattern near the wall. To lessen the impact of stair stepping on the ow eld near the wall, prescribe the parameter SAWTOOTH=.FALSE. on each OBST line that makes up the stair stepped obstruction. The eect of this parameter is to prevent vorticity from being generated at sharp corners, in eect smoothing out the jagged steps that make up the obstruction. For example, the lines: &OBST XB=0.00, 0.05,-0.01, 0.01, 0.00, 0.05, SAWTOOTH=.FALSE., COLOR=GREEN / &OBST XB=0.05, 0.10,-0.01, 0.01, 0.00, 0.10, SAWTOOTH=.FALSE., COLOR=GREEN / &OBST XB= 0.10, 0.15,-0.01, 0.01, 0.05, 0.15, SAWTOOTH=.FALSE., COLOR=GREEN / ... &OBST XB=0.00, 0.05,-0.01, 0.01, 0.05, 0.10, SAWTOOTH=.TRUE., COLOR=TEAL /
12.9. COLORING INDIVIDUAL OBJECTS
101
Figure 12.4: Flow velocity on two sides of an oblique wall. Lower side has SAWTOOTH=.FALSE. set. &OBST XB=0.05, 0.10,-0.01, 0.01, 0.10, 0.15, SAWTOOTH=.TRUE., COLOR=TEAL / &OBST XB=0.10, 0.15,-0.01, 0.01, 0.15, 0.20, SAWTOOTH=.TRUE., COLOR=TEAL / ... create a two sided oblique wall. The resulting ow is shown in Figure 12.4. This is not a complete solution of the problem, but it does provide a simple way of ensuring that the ow eld around a non-rectangular obstruction is not inhibited by extra drag created at sharp corners.
12.9
Coloring individual objects
Objects may be colored individually, overriding SURF prescription, by specifying a COLOR or RGB value on the respective OBST or VENT line: &OBST XB=..., SURF_ID=carpet, COLOR=INDIGO / This is not recommended. As explained in Section 11.3 on page 78, it is much better to assign a color to each boundary condition.
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12.10
Making burning solids disappear
If a burning object is to disappear from the calculation once it is consumed, set BURN_AWAY=.TRUE. on the corresponding SURF line. The solid object disappears from the calculation cell by cell, as the mass contained by each mesh cells is consumed either by the pyrolysis reactions or by the prescribed HRR. The mass of each mesh cell is the cell face area multiplied by the surface density of the SURF type. An example: &SURF ID=stuff, MATL_ID(1:2,1)=fabric,foam, THICKNESS(1:2)=0.01,0.1, BURN_AWAY=.TRUE. / Keep in mind the following issues: For reacting surfaces, the surface density is computed as a sum of the layer densities multiplied by the layer thicknesses. This value can be overridden by setting SURFACE_DENSITY on the SURF line. For surfaces with prescribed HRRPUA, add SURFACE_DENSITY parameter as this is the only way of dening the mass of the object. Use BURN_AWAY parameter cautiously. If an object has the potential of burning away, a signicant amount of extra memory has to be set aside to store additional surface information as the rectangular block is eaten away. If BURN_AWAY is prescribed, the SURF should be applied to the entire object, not just to a face of the object, because it would be unclear how to handle edges of solid obstructions that have dierent SURF_IDs on dierent faces. See [FDS5 users guide] for broader discussion on the topic.
Chapter 13 Devices and control logic

Fifth, some control logic and automation is introduced via PROP, DEVC, CTRL namelist groups. Devices can be used to control various actions, like creating and removing obstructions, or activating and deactivating fans and vents.
13.1
Devices, DEVC and PROP
From the point of view of FDS5, sprinklers, smoke detectors, heat ux gauges, timers, thermocouples, etc., are devices that operate in specic ways depending on the properties assigned to them. All devices are designated via the DEVC namelist group. The various parameters associated to devices can be grouped and entered in a PROP namelist group. Each PROP line is identied by a unique ID, and it is invoked by the DEVC lines that share the same properties. For example, these lines:
&PROP ID=acme heat detector, QUANTITY=LINK TEMPERATURE, ACTIVATION_TEMPERATURE=74. / &DEVC ID=heat detector 1, XYZ=22.88,19.76,7.46, PROP_ID=acme heat detector / &DEVC ID=heat detector 2, XYZ=27.88,19.76,7.46, PROP_ID=acme heat detector / &DEVC ID=heat detector 3, XYZ=32.88,19.76,7.46, PROP_ID=acme heat detector / 103
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CHAPTER 13. DEVICES AND CONTROL LOGIC
dene a group of heat detectors of the same model. Every device has an associated QUANTITY. When the QUANTITY value passes above, or below, a prescribed threshold the device is activated or deactivated, and changes its state from .FALSE. to .TRUE. or the other way back. The threshold can be as simple as a numeric SETPOINT or can be the result of an activation algorithm. For example, an activation algorithm is used for sprinklers, heat and smoke detectors. . . The following table summarizes some DEVC parameters: Table 13.1: DEVC parameters
Parameter ID QUANTITY XB(6) XYZ(3) IOR ORIENTATION(3) PROP_ID SETPOINT TRIP_DIRECTION INITIAL_STATE LATCH Type String String Real Real Integer Real String Real Integer Logical Logical Description Identier Name of quantity to output. See Table 14.7 on page 123. Volume, face or segment of measurement Point of measurement Index of orientation Direction vector Associated PROP line Value at which device changes state Sign of derivative at rst state change Initial state of device Device cannot change state multiple times 1 .FALSE. .TRUE. 0,0,-1 m m Unit Default
See [FDS5 users guide] for a detailed description of PROP parameters.
13.2. EXAMPLES OF DEVICES
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13.2
Examples of devices
In the following paragraphs some sample devices are listed.
13.2.1
Timer
The simplest example of device is just a timer: &DEVC XYZ=1.2,3.4,5.6, ID=my timer, QUANTITY=TIME, SETPOINT=30. / It changes its state from .FALSE. to .TRUE. when the simulation time increases past 30 s.
13.2.2
Thermometer
The following is a thermometer: &DEVC XYZ=1.2,3.4,5.6, ID=my thermometer, QUANTITY=TEMPERATURE, SETPOINT=60. / It changes its state when the temperature at point (1.2, 3.4, 5.6) increases past 60C.
13.2.3
Smoke detector
A smoke detector is dened in the input le with an entry similar to: &PROP ID=acme smoke detector, QUANTITY=CHAMBER OBSCURATION, LENGTH=1.8, ACTIVATION_OBSCURATION=3.28 / &DEVC ID=SD_29, PROP_ID=acme smoke detector, XYZ=2.3,4.6,3.4 / The SD_29 smoke detector has the following properties: LENGHT is the characteristic length for the single parameter Heskestad model and defaults to 1.8 m. ACTIVATION_OBSCURATION threshold can be set according to the value provided by the manufacturer. The default setting is 3.28%/m. The smoke detector changes its state following the specic activation algorithm.
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13.2.4
Beam smoke detector
A beam detector is dened by: &PROP ID=acme beam, QUANTITY=PATH OBSCURATION, SETPOINT=0.33 / &DEVC ID=B_4, PROP_ID=acme beam, XB=1.0,1.1,0.0,5.0,0.0,3.0 / The B_4 beam detector has the following properties: SETPOINT is the total % obscuration at which the detector activates. XB species the segment covered by the beam. The two endpoints must lie in the same mesh. The beam detector changes its state following the specic activation algorithm.
13.2.5
Sprinkler and heat detector
Here is a very simple example of a sprinkler: &PART ID=water drops, WATER=.TRUE. / &PROP ID=acme spk, QUANTITY=SPRINKLER LINK TEMPERATURE, RTI=148., ACTIVATION_TEMPERATURE=74., PART_ID=water drops, FLOW_RATE=189.3 / &DEVC ID=S_60, XYZ=22.88,19.76,7.46, PROP_ID=acme spk / A sprinkler, known as S_60, is located at a point in space given by XYZ. It is an acme spk type sprinkler, whose properties are given on the PROP line: RTI is the Response Time Index in units of m s.
ACTIVATION_TEMPERATURE is the link activation temperature in C. FLOW_RATE is the ow rate of released water expressed in units of l/min. PART_ID refers the properties of the droplets water drops, dened by a PART namelist group.
13.3. BASIC CONTROL LOGIC
107
This example denes a heat detector, which uses essentially the same activation algorithm as a sprinkler, without the water spray:
&PROP ID=acme heat, QUANTITY=LINK TEMPERATURE, RTI=132., ACTIVATION_TEMPERATURE=74. / &DEVC ID=HD_66, PROP_ID=acme heat, XYZ=2.3,4.6,3.4 /
13.3
Basic control logic
In many re scenarios, the opening or closing of a door or window can lead to dramatic changes in the course of the re. Sometimes these actions are taken intentionally, sometimes as a result of the re. Within the framework of an FDS5 calculation, these actions are represented by the creation or removal of solid obstacles, or the opening or closing of vents. The change of state of a device can be used to trigger an action to occur, like activating and deactivating obstructions, boundary conditions and holes. For example, devices change of state can create or remove obstructions, switch on or o burners, ventilators and fans. For example, in the lines:
&DEVC XYZ=1.2,3.4,5.6, ID=my timer, QUANTITY=TIME, SETPOINT=30. / &OBST XB=2.3,4.5,1.3,4.8,0.0,9.2, SURF_ID=brick wall, DEVC_ID=my timer / the DEVC creates a timer named my timer. The OBST existence depends on the DEVC, thanks to the DEVC_ID=my timer parameter. When the simulation starts the timer has a .FALSE. initial state, thus the OBST is not activated and does not obstacle the ow domain. Then at 30 seconds the timer changes its state to .TRUE., the OBST is activated and comes to life. The following parameters dictate how a device will control something: SETPOINT is the value of the device at which its state changes. For a detection type of device (heat or smoke detectors) this value is calculated from the devices activation algorithm and need not be specied on the DEVC line.
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TRIP_DIRECTION, a positive integer means the device will change state when its value increases past the SETPOINT and a negative integer means the device will change state when its value decreases past the SETPOINT. LATCH, if this logical value is set to .TRUE. the device will only change state once. Otherwise it can change its state several times. INITIAL_STATE, this logical value is the initial state of the device. To remove and then re-create an obstruction in the same place, use two lines since the code simply sees this as two dierent obstructions: &DEVC XYZ=1.2,3.4,5.6, ID=timer1, QUANTITY=TIME, SETPOINT=30., INITIAL_STATE=.TRUE. / &DEVC XYZ=1.2,3.4,5.6, ID=timer2, QUANTITY=TIME, SETPOINT=60., INITIAL_STATE=.FALSE. / &OBST XB=2.3,4.5,1.3,4.8,0.0,9.2, SURF_ID=brick wall, DEVC_ID=timer1 / &OBST XB=2.3,4.5,1.3,4.8,0.0,9.2, SURF_ID=brick wall, DEVC_ID=timer2 / A last example: &PROP ID=acme heat, QUANTITY=LINK TEMPERATURE, RTI=132., ACTIVATION_TEMPERATURE=74. / &DEVC ID=HD_66, PROP_ID=acme heat, XYZ=2.3,4.6,3.4 / &HOLE XB=2.3,4.5,1.3,4.8,0.0,9.2, DEVC_ID=HD_66 / the hole is created when the activation algorithm of the heat detector gives the consensus. Note that a DEVC that is being used for a HOLE should not be used for anything else other than additional HOLE lines. When a HOLE is deactivated, the obstruction to be cut out can have a dierent color and transparency than the original obstruction: just set the COLOR and a TRANSPARENCY value on the HOLE line. When the HOLE becomes activated, the void is created and the prescribed color disappears. Also VENT activation can be controlled by DEVC state. For example, to control a burner with the device my timer, do the following:
13.4. ADVANCED CONTROL LOGIC &DEVC XYZ=1.2,3.4,5.6, ID=my timer, QUANTITY=TIME, SETPOINT=30. / &SURF ID=burner, HRRPUA=4000., TAU_Q=-120 / &VENT XB=0.6,1.0,0.3,0.7,0.0,0.0, SURF_ID=burner, DEVC_ID=my timer /
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Note that at 30 s, the VENT is activated and the burner boundary condition turns on. The prescribed t2 ramp begins at 30 s and ends at 150 s, when HRRPUA reaches its maximum of 4000 kW/m2 . Note that a MIRROR or OPEN VENT should not be activated or deactivated. The reason for this restriction is that abrupt changes in pressure can cause numerical instabilities.
13.4
Advanced control logic
If you desire to control FDS5 objects using more complex logic than can be provided by the use of a single device and its SETPOINT, control functions can be specied using the CTRL namelist group. A control function take as input the outputs of one or more devices and control functions. In this manner, complicated behaviors can be simulated by making functions of other functions. For most of the control function types, the logical value output of the devices and control functions and the time they last changed state are used as the inputs. For any object that a DEVC_ID can be specied for (such as OBST or VENT), a CTRL_ID can be specied instead. See [FDS5 users guide] for broader discussion of the topic.
110
Chapter 14 Output
Finally, the user prescribes the output quantities (DEVC, SLCF, BNDF, ISOF). All output quantities must be specied at the start of the calculation. In most cases, there is no way to retrieve information after the calculation ends if it was not specied from the start.
14.1
Prescribing output
FDS5 computes the temperature, density, pressure, velocity and chemical composition within each numerical grid cell at each discrete time step. There are typically hundreds of thousands to millions of grid cells and thousands to hundreds of thousands of time steps. In addition, FDS5 computes at solid surfaces the temperature, heat ux, mass loss rate, and various other quantities. So the user must carefully select what data to save, much like one would do in designing an actual experiment. Even though only a small fraction of the computed information can be saved, the output typically consists of fairly large data les (it can be many GBytes!). Remember that all output quantities must be specied at the start of the calculation. Before a calculation is started, carefully consider what information should be saved. Typical output quantities for the gas phase include: Gas temperature; Gas velocity; 111
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CHAPTER 14. OUTPUT
Gas species concentration (water vapor, CO2 , CO, N2 ); Smoke concentration and visibility estimates; Pressure; Heat release rate per unit volume; Mixture fraction (or air/fuel ratio); Gas density; Water droplet mass per unit volume. On solid surfaces, FDS5 predicts additional quantities associated with the energy balance between gas and solid phase, including: Surface and interior temperature; Heat ux, both radiative and convective; Burning rate; Water droplet mass per unit area. Global quantities recorded by the program include: Total Heat Release Rate (HRR); Sprinkler and detector activation times; Mass and energy uxes through openings or solids. Time histories of various quantities at a single point in space or global quantities like the res heat release rate (HRR) are saved in simple, comma-delimited text les that can be plotted using a spreadsheet program, like Openoce.org Calc or Microsoft Excel. Most eld or surface data are visualized with Smokeview. FDS5 and Smokeview are used in concert to model and visualize re phenomena. Smokeview performs this visualization by presenting animated tracer particle ow, animated contour slices of computed gas variables and animated surface data. Smokeview also presents contours and vector plots of static data anywhere within a scene at a xed time.
14.3. POINT MEASUREMENT DEVICES, DEVC
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14.2
Output control parameters, DUMP
The namelist group DUMP contains parameters that control the rate at which output les are written, and various other global parameters associated with output les. For example, NFRAMES parameter is the number of output dumps per calculation. The default is 1000. Device data, slice data, particle data, isosurface data, 3D smoke data, boundary data, solid phase prole data, and control function data are saved every (T_END - T_BEGIN) / NFRAMES seconds unless otherwise specied. The following table summarizes some DUMP parameters: Table 14.1: DUMP parameters
Parameter NFRAMES Type Integer Description Number of output dumps per calculation Unit Default 1000
14.3
Point measurement devices, DEVC
The same devices DEVC used for control logic (see Chapter 13 on page 103) are employed to save a given quantity at a single point in space so that this quantity can be plotted as a function of time, like for example a thermocouple temperature measurement. The prescribed QUANTITY is recorded as a column in an output le named mycase_devc.csv. This type of le can be imported into any spreadsheet program. An example: Table 14.2: Output of devices in mycase_devc.csv le
s FDS Time 0.00E+000 C TC_A01 2.00E+001 C TC_A02 2.00E+001
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CHAPTER 14. OUTPUT

from previous page 5.00E+000 1.00E+001 2.98E+001 2.35E+001 2.77E+001 2.26E+001
14.3.1
Record a gas phase quantity
For example, if you just want to record the time history of the temperature at a given point, add:
&DEVC XYZ=6.7,2.9,2.1, QUANTITY=TEMPERATURE, ID=T-1 / and a column will be added to the output le mycase_devc.csv under the label T-1. FDS5 reports the value of the QUANTITY calculated in the cell where the point XYZ is located.
14.3.2
Record a solid phase quantity
When prescribing a solid phase quantity, be sure to position the probe at a solid surface. It is not always obvious where the solid surface is since the mesh does not always align with the input obstruction locations. To help FDS5 locate the appropriate surface, suggest the right orientation of the face using the parameter IOR (index of orientation). There are still instances where FDS5 cannot determine which solid surface is being designated, in which case an error message appears in the diagnostic output le. Re-position the probe and try again. For example, the line &DEVC XYZ=0.7,0.9,2.1, QUANTITY=WALL TEMPERATURE, IOR=-2, ID=wt1 / designates the surface temperature of a wall facing the negative y direction.
14.4. ANIMATED PLANAR SLICES, SLCF
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Figure 14.1: Output of animated planar slices SLCF as viewed in Smokeview
14.3.3
Record integrated quantities
In addition to point measurements, the DEVC group can be used to report integrated quantities. For example, you may want to know the mass ow out of a door or window. To report this, add the line: &DEVC XB=0.3,0.5,2.1,2.5,3.0,3.0, QUANTITY=MASS FLOW, ID=mf1 / Note that in this case, a face is specied rather than a point. QUANTITY=HRR can be used to compute the total heat release rate within a subset of the domain. In this case, the sextuplet XB ought to dene a volume rather than a face. Remember to avoid faces or volumes that cross multiple mesh boundaries: FDS5 has to decide which mesh to use in the integration.
14.4
Animated planar slices, SLCF
The SLCF namelist group parameters allows you to record various gas phase quantities at more than a single point. A slice refers to a subset of the whole domain. It can be a line, face, or volume, depending on the values of XB. Animated vectors can be created in Smokeview if a given SLCF line has the attribute VECTOR=.TRUE. If two SLCF entries are in the same plane, then only one of the lines needs to have VECTOR=.TRUE. Otherwise, a redundant set of velocity component slices will be created. For example, the line:
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CHAPTER 14. OUTPUT
&SLCF PBX=0.8, QUANTITY=TEMPERATURE, VECTOR=.TRUE. / records the temperature and animated velocity vectors on the plane x = 0.8 The following table summarizes some SLCF parameters: Table 14.3: SLCF parameters
Parameter QUANTITY VECTOR XB(6) PBX, PBY, PBZ Type String Logical Real Real Description Name of quantity to output. See Table 14.7 on page 123. Include ow vectors Face Plane m m .FALSE. Unit Default
14.5
Animated boundary quantities, BNDF
The BNDF namelist group parameters allows you to record surface quantities at all solid obstructions. As with the SLCF group, each quantity is prescribed with a separate BNDF line. No physical coordinates need be specied, however, just QUANTITY. For example, the line: &BNDF QUANTITY=WALL_TEMPERATURE / records WALL_TEMPERATURE for all solid obstructions faces. For certain output quantities, additional parameters need to be specied via the PROP namelist group. In such cases, add the character string, PROP_ID, to the BNDF line to tell FDS5 where to nd the necessary extra information. Note that BNDF les can become very large, so be careful in prescribing the time interval. One way to reduce the size of the output le is to turn o the recording of boundary information on desired obstructions. On any given OBST line,
14.5. ANIMATED BOUNDARY QUANTITIES, BNDF
117
Figure 14.2: Output of animated boundary quantities, BNDF as viewed in Smokeview if the string BNDF_OBST=.FALSE. is included, the obstruction is not considered for boundary quantities output. To turn o all boundary recording, set BNDF_DEFAULT=.FALSE. on the MISC line. Then individual obstructions can be turned back on with BNDF_OBST=.TRUE. on the appropriate OBST line. Individual faces of a given obstruction can be controlled via BNDF_FACE(IOR)=.TRUE., where IOR is the index of orientation. The following table summarizes some BNDF parameters: Table 14.4: BNDF parameters
Parameter QUANTITY Type String Description Name of quantity to output. See Table 14.7 on page 123. Unit Default
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CHAPTER 14. OUTPUT
Figure 14.3: Output of animated isosurfaces, ISOF as viewed in Smokeview
14.6
Animated isosurfaces, ISOF
The ISOF namelist group is used to specify the output of gas phase scalar quantities, as three dimensional animated contours. For example, a 300C temperature isosurface shows where the gas temperature is 300C. Three dierent values of the temperature can be saved via the line: &ISOF QUANTITY=TEMPERATURE, VALUE(1)=50., VALUE(2)=200., VALUE(3)=500. / where the values are in C. Any gas phase quantity can animated via isosurfaces, but use caution. To render an isosurface, the desired quantity must be computed in every mesh cell at every output time step. For quantities like TEMPERATURE, this is not a problem, as FDS5 computes it and saves it anyway. However, soot density or oxygen demand substantial amounts of time to compute at each mesh cell. The following table summarizes some ISOF parameters:
14.7. REALISTIC SMOKE AND FIRE Table 14.5: ISOF parameters

Parameter QUANTITY VALUE(3) Type String Real Description Name of quantity to output. See Table 14.7 on page 123. Contour values Unit Default
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14.7
Realistic smoke and re
When you do a re simulation using the default mixture fraction combustion model, FDS5 automatically creates two output les that are rendered by Smokeview as realistic looking smoke and re.
Figure 14.4: Output of soot MASS FRACTION and HRRPUV as viewed in Smokeview By default, the output quantities MASS FRACTION of soot and HRRPUV (heat release rate per unit volume) are used in the visualization.
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CHAPTER 14. OUTPUT
14.8
Heat release rate
Quantities associated with the overall energy budget are reported in the comma delimited le mycase_hrr.csv. This le is automatically generated. The le consists of six columns. The rst column contains the time in seconds. The second through fth columns contain integrated energy gains and losses, all in units of kW. The second column contains the total heat release rate, the third contains the radiative heat loss to all the boundaries (solid and open), the fourth contains the convective and radiative heat loss to the boundaries (i.e. the energy owing out of or into the domain), and the fth contains the energy conducted into the solid surfaces. The sixth column contains the total burning rate of fuel, in units of kg/s. It is included merely as a check of the total heat release rate. An example: Table 14.6: Output of HRR in mycase_hrr.csv le
s FDS_HRR_Time 0.00E+000 5.00E+000 1.00E+001 kW HRR 0.00E+000 2.04E+002 2.16E+002
14.9
Visibility
If you are performing a re calculation using the mixture fraction approach, the smoke is tracked along with all other major products of combustion. The intensity of monochromatic light I passing a distance L through smoke is attenuated according to: I/I0 = eKL (14.1)
The light extinction coecient K, is a product of the density of smoke particulate, YS , and a mass specic extinction coecient Km that is fuel dependent: K = Km YS (14.2)
14.10. UPPER AND LOWER LAYERS
121
As showed by [Mulholland 2002], an estimate of visibility through smoke can be made by using the equation: S = C/K (14.3)
where C is a non-dimensional constant characteristic of the type of object being viewed through the smoke. Since K varies from point to point in the domain, as it depends on smoke density, the visibility S does as well. Keep in mind that FDS can only track smoke whose production rate and composition are specied. Predicting either is beyond the capability of the present version of the model. Three parameter control smoke production and visibility; each parameter is input on the REAC line: SOOT_YIELD is the fraction of fuel mass that is converted to soot. MASS_EXTINCTION_COEFFICIENT, the Km of Equation 14.2 on the facing page. The default value is 8700 m2 /kg, a value suggested for aming combustion of wood and plastics. VISIBILITY_FACTOR, the C of Equation 14.3. C = 8 for a light-emitting sign and C = 3 for a light-reecting sign. C is 3 by default. The visibility S is output via the QUANTITY keyword VISIBILITY.
14.10
Upper and lower layers
Fire protection engineers often need to estimate the location of the interface between the hot, smoke-laden upper layer and the cooler lower layer in a burning compartment. Relatively simple re models, often referred to as two-zone models, compute this quantity directly, along with the average temperature of the upper and lower layers. In a computational uid dynamics (CFD) model like FDS5, there are not two distinct zones, but rather a continuous prole of temperature. Nevertheless, there are methods that have been developed to estimate layer height and average temperatures from a continuous vertical prole of temperature. The quantities LAYER HEIGHT, UPPER TEMPERATURE and LOWER TEMPERATURE can be designated via DEVC lines in the input le. For example, the entry:
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CHAPTER 14. OUTPUT &DEVC XB=2.0,2.0,3.0,3.0,0.0,3.0, QUANTITY=LAYER HEIGHT, ID=whatever /
produces a time history of the smoke layer height at x = 2 and y = 3 between z = 0 and z = 3. If multiple meshes are being used, the vertical path cannot cross mesh boundaries.
14.11
Heat uxes and thermal radiation
There are various ways of recording the heat ux at a solid boundary. If you want to record the net heat ux to the surface, qconvective + qradiative , use the QUANTITY=HEAT FLUX. The individual components, the net convective and radiative uxes, are CONVECTIVE HEAT FLUX and RADIATIVE HEAT FLUX, respectively. If you want to compare predicted heat ux with a measurement, you often need to use GAUGE HEAT FLUX. The dierence between NET HEAT FLUX and GAUGE HEAT FLUX is that the former is the rate at which energy is absorbed by the solid surface; the latter is the amount of energy that would be absorbed if the surface were cold or some temperature specied with GAUGE_TEMPERATURE. All of the above heat ux output quantities are dened at a solid surface.
14.12
Interfacing with structural models
FDS5 solves a one-dimensional heat conduction equation for each boundary cell marking the interface between gas and solid, assuming that material properties for the material layers are provided. The results can be transferred (via either DEVC or BNDF output) to other models that predict the mechanical response of the walls or structure. For many applications, the one-dimensional solution of the heat conduction equation is adequate, but in situations where lateral heat conduction within the solid is signicant, another approach can be followed. FDS5 includes a calculation of the Adiabatic Surface Temperature (AST), a quantity that is representative of the heat ux to a solid surface, following the idea proposed by [Wickstrom 2007]. Obviously, the objective in passing information to a more detailed model is to get a better prediction of the solid temperature (and ultimately its mechanical response) than FDS5 can provide.
14.13. VISUALIZING LAGRANGIAN PARTICLES
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14.13
Visualizing Lagrangian particles
Tracer particles can be injected into the ow eld from vents or obstacles, as shown in Section 11.8 on page 89, and then observed in Smokeview. Streak lines can be drawn, too.
14.14
Frequently used output quantities
The following table shows an organized list of frequently used output quantities. The column Namelist details where the concerned QUANTITY can be specied: B boundary le (BNDF), D device (DEVC), I isosurface le (ISOF), S slice le (SLCF). Table 14.7: Frequently used output quantities
QUANTITY NET HEAT FLUX Description Sum of radiative heat ux and convective heat ux at a solid boundary Radiative heat ux at a solid boundary Convective heat ux at a solid boundary Mass ux at solid surface of the specied specie Mass fraction of the specied specie Volume fraction for the specied specie Estimate height of the interface between the hot, smoke-laden upper layer and the cooler lower layer in a burning compartment Upper layer temperature Lower layer temperature Unit kW/m2 Namelist B,D
RADIATIVE HEAT FLUX
kW/m2 kW/m2 kg/m2 /s kg/kg mol/mol m
B,D B,D B,D D,I,S D,I,S D
CONVECTIVE HEAT FLUX
MASS FLUX MASS FRACTION VOLUME FRACTION LAYER HEIGHT
UPPER TEMPERATURE LOWER TEMPERATURE
C C
D D
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from previous page
MASS FLOW HEAT FLOW VOLUME FLOW VISIBILITY

SOOT VOLUME FRACTION
Calculate integrated mass ow through a given planar area. Calculate integrated heat ow through a given planar area. Calculate integrated volume ow through a given planar area. Visibility length through smoke Soot volume fraction Fractional eective dose based on CO, CO2 , and O2 as proposed by [Purser 2002] Gas temperature. Temperature of a simulated thermocouple, usually close to the gas temperature. Solid interface temperature. See Section 14.12 on page 122. Gas phase velocity. Gas phase wall normal velocity. Elapsed wall clock time
kg/s kJ/s m3 /s m mol/mol
D D D D,I,S D,I,S D
FED
TEMPERATURE THERMOCOUPLE
C C
D,I,S D
WALL TEMPERATURE
ADIABATIC SURFACE TEMPERATURE
C C m/s m/s s
B,D B,D D,I,S D,B D
VELOCITY NORMAL VELOCITY WALL CLOCK TIME
These quantities require the specication of a gas specie using SPEC_ID.
Here are some examples of output quantities: &DEVC XYZ=0.1,0,2.39, QUANTITY=THERMOCOUPLE, ID=2.4 / &DEVC XB=0.1,0.1,0,0,0.0,2.4, QUANTITY=LAYER HEIGHT, ID=layer_h / &ISOF QUANTITY=TEMPERATURE, VALUE(1)=60.0 / &SLCF PBY= -3., QUANTITY=TEMPERATURE, VECTOR=.TRUE. / &BNDF QUANTITY=ADIABATIC SURFACE TEMPERATURE / There are some output quantities that require a specie name via SPEC_ID, as for example the MASS FRACTION quantity. The SPEC_ID can select one of
14.14. FREQUENTLY USED OUTPUT QUANTITIES
125
the species implicitly dened when doing a mixture fraction calculation (fuel, oxygen, nitrogen, water vapor, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, soot, other), or an extra gas specie from those dened via a SPEC line: &SLCF PBX= 0.1, QUANTITY=VOLUME FRACTION, SPEC_ID=carbon dioxide / volume fraction of carbon dioxide issued from mixture fraction model gas phase combustion model &SLCF PBX= 0.1, QUANTITY=VOLUME FRACTION, SPEC_ID=CARBON DIOXIDE / volume fraction of carbon dioxide defined in a SPEC namelist group and injected separately in the flow domain
126
CHAPTER 14. OUTPUT
Chapter 15 Real world examples

This chapter shows some real world examples.
15.1
Building a ventilator
If you just want to blow gases in a particular direction, create a thin (zero cells thick) OBST and apply to it, via SURF_ID only, a SURF line that has the parameter POROUS=.TRUE. along with the other velocity parameters described above. This allows hot, smokey gases to pass through the obstruction, much like a free-standing fan. These obstructions are merely at plates, by necessity. For example: &SURF ID=blow, POROUS=.TRUE., VEL=5.0 / pushes towards +x direction &OBST XB=4.0,5.0,-0.2,-0.2,1.4,1.8 / The velocity VEL associated with a POROUS surface represents the velocity in the positive or negative coordinate direction, as indicated by its sign. Sign convention
15.2
Prescribing a simplied burning material
Real objects are often dicult to describe via the SURF and MATL parameters. So simplied descriptions of burning solid fuels are possible. If ignition temperature and burning rate as a function of time from ignition are known, add lines similar to the following: 127
128
CHAPTER 15. REAL WORLD EXAMPLES &MATL ID=stuff, CONDUCTIVITY=0.1, SPECIFIC_HEAT=1.0, DENSITY=900.0 / &SURF ID=my_surf, MATL_ID=stuff, HRRPUA=1000., IGNITION_TEMPERATURE=500., HEAT_OF_VAPORIZATION=1000., RAMP_Q=fire_ramp, THICKNESS=0.01 / &VENT XB=0.6,1.0,0.3,0.7,0.0,0.0, SURF_ID=my_surf / &RAMP ID=fire_ramp, T=0.0, F=0.0 / &RAMP ID=fire_ramp, T=10.0, F=1.0 /
IGNITION_TEMPERATURE delays the emission of fuel gas until the specied temperature is reached: when the surface temperature reaches 500C, the object starts emitting fuel gas. HEAT_OF_VAPORIZATION tells FDS5 to account for the energy used to vaporize the fuel; in the example, the net heat ux at the material surface is reduced by a factor 1000 kJ/kg times the instantaneous burning rate. If a MATL line is invoked by a SURF line containing a specied HRRPUA, then that MATL ought to have only thermal properties and no reaction parameters, product yields. . . By specifying HRRPUA, you are controlling the burning rate rather than letting the material pyrolyze based on the conditions of the surrounding environment.
15.3
Simulation and revelation of smoke of a smoldering re
By default, FDS5 assumes that the smoke from a re is generated in direct proportion to the heat release rate. A value of SOOT_YIELD=0.01 on the REAC line means that the smoke generation rate is 1% of the fuel burning rate. The smoke in this case is not explicitly tracked by FDS5, but rather is assumed to be a function of the mixture fraction variables that are explicitly tracked. Suppose, however, that you want to dene your own smoke and that you want to specify its production rate independently of the HRR (or even instead of an actual re, like a smoldering source). You also want to dene a mass extinction coecient for the smoke and an assumed molecular weight (as it will be tracked like a gas specie). Finally, you also want to visualize the smoke using the SMOKE3D feature in Smokeview. Use the following lines:
15.4. A PAN FILLED OF ETHANOL
129
&SPEC ID=my smoke, MW=29., MASS_EXTINCTION_COEFFICIENT=8700. / &SURF ID=smolder, TMP_FRONT=1000., MASS_FLUX(1)=0.0001, COLOR=RED / &VENT XB=0.6,1.0,0.3,0.7,0.0,0.0, SURF_ID=smolder / &PROP ID=Acme Smoke, QUANTITY=CHAMBER OBSCURATION, SPEC_ID=my smoke / &DEVC XYZ=1.00,0.50,0.95, PROP_ID=Acme Smoke, ID=smoke_1 / &DUMP SMOKE3D_QUANTITY=my smoke, DT_PL3D=30. /
15.4
A pan lled of ethanol
Here is an example of a steel pan lled with a thin layer of ethanol: &MATL ID=ethanol, EMISSIVITY=1.0, NU_FUEL=0.97, HEAT_OF_REACTION=880., CONDUCTIVITY=0.17, SPECIFIC_HEAT=2.45, DENSITY=787., ABSORPTION_COEFFICIENT=40., BOILING_TEMPERATURE=76. / &MATL ID=steel, EMISSIVITY=.95, DENSITY=7850., CONDUCTIVITY=45.8, SPECIFIC_HEAT=0.46, / &MATL ID=concrete, DENSITY=2200., CONDUCTIVITY=1.2, SPECIFIC_HEAT=0.88, / &SURF ID=pool, MATL_ID=ethanol,steel,concrete, THICKNESS=0.01,0.001,0.05 / &VENT XB=0.,1.,0.,1.,0.,0., SURF_ID=pool /
15.5
15.5.1
A simple car parking

Description
In Figure 15.1 on the following page a simple case of a re in a car parking is proposed. The data are for demonstration only, and the proposed solution is only one of the many possible solutions. The objectives of the analysis are: Study the critical times for evacuation and rescue operations from re brigade of the car parking.
130
CHAPTER 15. REAL WORLD EXAMPLES
Figure 15.1: Car parking plan
15.5. A SIMPLE CAR PARKING
131
Obtain adiabatic surface temperature to predict the mechanical response of the structure. The following input le is called car_parking.fds, and it is deeply commented.
15.5.2
Input le and results
### General configuration &HEAD CHID=car_parking, TITLE=Covered car parking (10 cars) / Name of the case and a brief explanation. &TIME T_END=3600.0 / The simulation ends at 3600 seconds. &MISC SURF_DEFAULT=wall, CO_PRODUCTION=.TRUE. / All bounding surfaces have a wall boundary condition unless otherwise specified. Calculation of formation and destruction of CO at elevated temperatures activated. &REAC ID=polyurethane, SOOT_YIELD=0.1875, CO_YIELD=0.02775, C=1.0, H=1.75, O=0.25, N=0.065, HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION=25300., IDEAL=.TRUE. / Gas phase reaction: polyurethane flexible foam (means) from Tewarson SFPE Handbook 3rd ed, SFPE handbook table 3-4.14, p. 3-112. ### Computational domain &MESH &MESH &MESH &MESH IJK=32,30,10, XB= 0.0, 8.5, 0.5, 8.5, IJK=32,30,10, XB=-8.5, 0.0, 0.5, 8.5, IJK=32,30,10, XB= 0.0, 8.5,-7.5, 0.5, IJK=32,30,10, XB=-8.5, 0.0,-7.5, 0.5, Four connected calculation meshes and total 38400 cells. 0.0,2.4 / 0.0,2.4 / 0.0,2.4 / 0.0,2.4 / their cells numbers,
### Properties # Walls &MATL ID=gypsum plaster, CONDUCTIVITY=0.48, SPECIFIC_HEAT=0.84, DENSITY=1440. / Thermo-physical properties of gypsum plaster. &SURF ID=wall, COLOR=BRICK, MATL_ID=gypsum plaster,
132

THICKNESS=0.03 / Type of boundary condition for walls. # Cars Burning surface of the car: (4 + 2 + 4 + 2) * 1.3 + 4 * 2 = 23.6 m2 HRR max for a car: 5000 kW, HRR ramps up in 600 s HRRPUA: 5000 / 23.6 = 211.86 kW/m2 (approx: whole car burns) &SURF ID=first_car, HRRPUA=211.86, TAU_Q=-600, COLOR=FLESH / Type of boundary conditions for the first burning car, a burner. &MATL ID=car_mat, CONDUCTIVITY=54.0, SPECIFIC_HEAT=0.465, DENSITY=7850.0 / Properties for steel taken from NUREG-1805 pg. 2-11 &SURF ID=car, MATL_ID=car_mat, HRRPUA=211.86, TAU_Q=-600, IGNITION_TEMPERATURE=250., THICKNESS=0.005, BACKING=INSULATED, COLOR=DARK OLIVE GREEN 1 / Type of boundary conditions for other cars. ### Solid geometry &OBST &OBST &OBST &HOLE &HOLE &HOLE &HOLE &HOLE &VENT &VENT &VENT &VENT &VENT &OBST &OBST &OBST XB= 7.5 , 7.75,-7.5, 7.5 ,0.0, 2.4 / E wall XB= -7.5 ,-7.75,-7.5, 7.5 ,0.0, 2.4 / W wall XB= -7.75, 7.75, 7.5, 7.75,0.0, 2.4 / N wall XB= -1.5 , 1.5 , 7.0, 8.0 ,0.0, 2.0 / N entrance The entrance is open since the beginning. XB= 7.0 , 8.0 , 2.0, 7.0 ,2.0, 2.2, COLOR=PALE GREEN, DEVC_ID=NE_broke, TRANSPARENCY=.6 / NE window XB= -7.0 ,-8.0 , 2.0, 7.0 ,2.0, 2.2, COLOR=PALE GREEN, DEVC_ID=NW_broke, TRANSPARENCY=.6 / NW window XB= 7.0 , 8.0 ,-2.0,-7.0 ,2.0, 2.2, COLOR=PALE GREEN, DEVC_ID=SE_broke, TRANSPARENCY=.6 / SE window XB= -7.0 ,-8.0 ,-2.0,-7.0 ,2.0, 2.2, COLOR=PALE GREEN, DEVC_ID=SW_broke, TRANSPARENCY=.6 / SW window Window panes are broken by temperature. XB= -7.5 , 7.5 ,-7.5, 7.5 ,2.4, 2.4, SURF_ID=wall / soffit PBX= 8.5 , SURF_ID=OPEN / E opening PBX=-8.5 , SURF_ID=OPEN / W opening PBY= 8.5 , SURF_ID=OPEN / N opening PBZ= 2.4 , SURF_ID=OPEN / top opening Domain borders are open. XB= 3.0 , 7.0 , 5.0, 7.0 ,0.2, 1.5, SURF_ID=car / +E2 car XB= 3.0 , 7.0 , 2.0, 4.0 ,0.2, 1.5, SURF_ID=car / +E1 car XB= 3.0 , 7.0 , -1.6, 0.4 ,0.2, 1.5, SURF_ID=car / E0 car, Asymmetric parking
133
&OBST XB= 3.0 , 7.0 , -2.0,-4.0 ,0.2, 1.5, SURF_IDS=first_car,first_car,car / -E1 car &OBST XB= 3.0 , 7.0 , -5.0,-7.0 ,0.2, 1.5, SURF_ID=car / -E2 car &OBST XB=-3.0 ,-7.0 , 5.0, 7.0 ,0.2, 1.5, SURF_ID=car / +W2 car &OBST XB=-3.0 ,-7.0 , 2.0, 4.0 ,0.2, 1.5, SURF_ID=car / +W1 car &OBST XB=-3.0 ,-7.0 , -1.0, 1.0 ,0.2, 1.5, SURF_ID=car / W0 car &OBST XB=-3.0 ,-7.0 , -2.0,-4.0 ,0.2, 1.5, SURF_ID=car / -W1 car &OBST XB=-3.0 ,-7.0 , -5.0,-7.0 ,0.2, 1.5, SURF_ID=car / -W2 car ### Control logic &DEVC ID=NE_broke, XYZ= 7.0, 4.5, 2.1, QUANTITY=TEMPERATURE, SETPOINT=300. / &DEVC ID=NW_broke, XYZ=-7.0, 4.5, 2.1, QUANTITY=TEMPERATURE, SETPOINT=300. / &DEVC ID=SE_broke, XYZ= 7.0,-4.5, 2.1, QUANTITY=TEMPERATURE, SETPOINT=300. / &DEVC ID=SW_broke, XYZ=-7.0,-4.5, 2.1, QUANTITY=TEMPERATURE, SETPOINT=300. / These devices effectively break window panes at 300C. ### Output &DEVC &DEVC &DEVC &DEVC &DEVC &DEVC &DEVC &DEVC &ISOF &ISOF &SLCF &SLCF &SLCF XYZ=0.1,0,2.39, QUANTITY=THERMOCOUPLE, ID=2.4 XYZ=0.1,0,2.0 , QUANTITY=THERMOCOUPLE, ID=2.0 XYZ=0.1,0,1.6 , QUANTITY=THERMOCOUPLE, ID=1.6 XYZ=0.1,0,1.2 , QUANTITY=THERMOCOUPLE, ID=1.2 XYZ=0.1,0, .8 , QUANTITY=THERMOCOUPLE, ID=0.8 XYZ=0.1,0, .4 , QUANTITY=THERMOCOUPLE, ID=0.4 Thermocouples. XYZ=0.1,0,2.0 , QUANTITY=FED, ID=FED / FED calculation. XB=0.1,0.1,0,0,0.0,2.4, QUANTITY=LAYER HEIGHT, ID=layer_h / Layer height calculation. QUANTITY=TEMPERATURE, VALUE(1)=60.0 / 3D contours of temperature at 60C. QUANTITY=VISIBILITY, VALUE(1)=10.0 / 3D contours of VISIBILITY 10 m. PBX= 0.1, QUANTITY=TEMPERATURE, VECTOR=.TRUE. / PBY= -3., QUANTITY=TEMPERATURE, VECTOR=.TRUE. / Vector slices colored by temperature. PBX= 0.1, QUANTITY=VISIBILITY / / / / / / /
134

&SLCF PBZ= 2.0, QUANTITY=VISIBILITY / Visibility slices. &SLCF PBX= 0.1, QUANTITY=VOLUME FRACTION, SPEC_ID=carbon monoxide / &SLCF PBX= 0.1, QUANTITY=VOLUME FRACTION, SPEC_ID=carbon dioxide / &SLCF PBX= 0.1, QUANTITY=VOLUME FRACTION, SPEC_ID=oxygen / species slices. &BNDF QUANTITY=WALL TEMPERATURE / &BNDF QUANTITY=NET HEAT FLUX / &BNDF QUANTITY=ADIABATIC SURFACE TEMPERATURE / Quantities at all solid obstructions. &TAIL / end of file
135
Figure 15.2: The entered geometry
Figure 15.3: Heat release rate curve
136
Figure 15.4: Temperatures measured by the thermocouples at the center of the car parking area. The eect on temperatures of the glazing breaking is noticeable.
Figure 15.5: Gas temperatures measured in front of the window panes vs time. It is prescribed that the glazing breaks eectively at 300C. The SE glass is the nearest to the re and breaks at about 370 s; the NE glass breaks at about 612 s. The others follow later.
137
Figure 15.6: FED vs time is shown here. At FED=.3 an occupant standing at the center of the car parking is incapacitated by toxic gases.
Figure 15.7: Layer height vs time is shown. The smoke evacuation is not enough to keep the smoke layer near the ceiling.
138
Figure 15.8: AST (Adiabatic Surface Temperature) boundary le at 1200 s.
Figure 15.9: Visibility slice le at 120 s.
139
Figure 15.10: Visibility (10 m) isosurface at 300 s.
Figure 15.11: Net heat ux on boundary surfaces at 1200 s.
140
Chapter 16 Using a GUI

An open source, multi platform Graphical User Interface (GUI) for FDS5 is currently being developed.
Figure 16.1: A Blender session This FDS GUI will be based on the Blender project (http://www.blender.org), an open source 3D modeler available for Linux, Windows and MacOS X platforms. It will be released. . . when its ready!
141
142
CHAPTER 16. USING A GUI
Bibliography
[Hottel 1984] H C Hottel. Stimulation of Fire Research in the United States After 1940 (A Historical Account). Combustion Science and Technology, 39:110, 1984.
[FDS5 users guide] McGrattan K, Hostikka S, Floyd J, Fire dynamics simulator (version 5) User guide, NIST Special Publication 1019-5, 2008. [FDS5 technical reference] McGrattan K, Bryan K, Hostikka S, Floyd J, Fire dynamics simulator (version 5) Technical guide, NIST Special Publication 1019-5, 2008. [Smokeview users guide] Forney G P, Users Guide for Smokeview Version 5 A Tool for Visualizing Fire Dynamics Simulation Data, NIST Special Publication 1017-1, 2007. [FDS5+EVAC 2008] Korhonen T, Hostikka S, Fire dynamics simulator with evacuation, version 5, VTT Research notes, Espo (Finland), 2008. [Rehm 1978] R.G. Rehm and H.R. Baum. The Equations of Motion for Thermally Driven, Buoyant Flows. Journal of Research of the NBS, 83:297308, 1978. Verication and Validation of Selected Fire Models for Nuclear Power Plant Applications. NUREG 1824, United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC, 2007.
[NUREG 1824]
[Grosshandler 1993] W. L. Grosshandler. RADCAL: A Narrow-Band Model for Radiation Calculations in a Combustion Environment, NIST TN 1402; 52 p. April 1993. 143
144
BIBLIOGRAPHY
[Wickstrom 2007] U. Wickstrom, D. Duthinh, and K.B. McGrattan. Adiabatic Surface Temperature for Calculating Heat Transfer to Fire Exposed Structures. In Proceedings of the Eleventh International Interam Conference. Interscience Communications, London, 2007. [Purser 2002] D.A. Purser. SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering, chapter Toxicity Assessment of Combustion Products. National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, Massachusetts, 3rd edition, 2002.
[Mulholland 2002] G.W. Mulholland. SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering, chapter Smoke Production and Properties. National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, Massachusetts, 3rd edition, 2002.
Index
Adiabatic Surface Temperature (AST), 122 BURN_AWAY, 102 Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS), 4 EXPOSED, 85 Finite-rate approach, 46 Fire Dynamics Simulator, version 5 (FDS5), 7 Heat Release Rate (HRR), 12, 24, 66, 82, 112, 115, 120 INERT, 77 INSULATED, 85 Large Eddy Simulation (LES), 3 Light extinction coecient, 120 Mass extinction coecient, 120 Message Passing Library (MPI), 21 MIRROR, 78 Mixture fraction model, 45 OPEN, 78 Reynolds-averaged form of the NavierStokes equations (RANS), 3 SAWTOOTH, 100 Sign convention, 80, 81, 86, 127 Smokeview, 7 Visibility factor, 121 VOID, 85 Zone models, 2, 121 145

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Intro To Fire Sim-027

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Emanuele Gissi

Updated to FDS 5.4.1

About the Author

x 3 Running FDS5 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6

4.10 Prescribing colors and aspect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

CONTENTS 5 General conguration 5.1 5.2 5.3

Naming the job, HEAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Simulation time, TIME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Miscellaneous, MISC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 43

6 Combustion and radiation 6.1 6.2 6.3

6.4 6.5 6.6

CO production in under-ventilated res . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Flame extinction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Radiation transport, RADI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 53

7 Computational domain 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5

8 Materials 8.1 8.2 8.3

Properties hell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Resources for material property data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

xii 9 Extra gas species 9.1 9.2

CONTENTS 12 Solid geometry

15 Real world examples

1.2. APPROACHES TO FIRE SIMULATION

Chapter 2 Inside FDS5

What are FDS5 ans Smokeview?

CHAPTER 2. INSIDE FDS5

Who develops FDS5?

2.4. WHO USES FDS5?

Who uses FDS5?

How much does it cost?

FDS5 is free and its source code is in the public domain.

How does FDS5 work?

A brief description of the major features of FDS5 follows.

CHAPTER 2. INSIDE FDS5

Geometry and multiple meshes

2.7. LIMITATIONS OF FDS5

Low speed ow assumption

Mach numbers less than about 0.3

CHAPTER 2. INSIDE FDS5

Fire growth and spread

2.7. LIMITATIONS OF FDS5

CHAPTER 2. INSIDE FDS5

Chapter 3 Running FDS5

Online resources and user support

16 [Smokeview users guide].

CHAPTER 3. RUNNING FDS5

3.4. SERIAL AND PARALLEL CALCULATIONS

Serial and parallel calculations

CHAPTER 3. RUNNING FDS5

Installing on Ubuntu Linux

3.6. INSTALLING ON UBUNTU LINUX

Installing a new version

CHAPTER 3. RUNNING FDS5

Compiling an optimized binary

Running serial FDS5 on Windows XP

3.8. PERFORMING A CALCULATION

Figure 3.2: Starting a serial calculation on Windows XP and on Linux Ubuntu

Running serial FDS5 on Ubuntu Linux

Running parallel FDS5 on Ubuntu Linux

CHAPTER 3. RUNNING FDS5

3.9. MONITORING PROGRESS

CHAPTER 3. RUNNING FDS5

Chapter 4 Input le basics

Syntax of the input le

CHAPTER 4. INPUT FILE BASICS

Sometimes the parameters are multidimensional arrays. For example: MATL_ID(2,3)=brick

The logic behind most FDS5 input les

4.3. THE LOGIC BEHIND MOST FDS5 INPUT FILES