Fire Modeling & Simulations

Fire Modeling and Fire Simulations

WorldWide Fire Safety Experts, LLC uses all available experience, training, talent, and expertise to answer questions.  These questions may be posed by insurance carriers, building owners, and/or attorneys.  For example, there could be a question of why a building with a fire sprinkler system burns to the ground.

 

Fire Dynamic Simulator (FDS) is the most reliable and respectable fire model available.  This is used in modeling either recreated fire conditions or anticipated future fire conditions.  This and other technology assist in answering challenging questions of design for future construction projects.  The expertise of WorldWide Fire Safety Experts team means you can be confident in your designs.

Using Fire Modeling for Due Diligence

Fire modeling  and its results play a critical role in litigation support.  For this reason, the selection and assessment of fire data for the fire modeling is an exercise in due diligence.  It is common practice is a clear definition of boundaries conditions.  There should be the application of a sensitivity analysis on known key factors such the fuel size of the fire.

In most cases, there are several variables that cannot be positively identified or determined.  At times, ventilation status was unknown during the fire event.  Yet, we know that ventilation plays an important role in the development and spread of a fire in structures.

Key points needed in Fire Modeling are:

  • Fire investigation to collect data and evidence
  • Desktop research on Code and Regulations
  • Desktop research on validated fire data
  • Test theories and refine input data
  • Formulate opinions based upon facts and findings.

As the saying goes, “a picture is worth a 1,000 words” and with the advent of more powerful computing capabilities, it is now possible to create animated simulated fires.  Now one can say, “an animation is worth a billion words”.  Indeed, both computing capabilities and our understanding of the physics and chemistry of fire modeling keep on improving!

Admissible and Scientifically Reliable

Fire Modeling includes all evidence and data to help support or refute a claim.  Care is required in the documentation of facts and evidence.  Similarly, the analysis of fire modeling should be done by professionals in the field of Fire and Life Safety..

Prediction and Reconstruction

Fire modeling is an extremely powerful and enlightening tool to forecast fire development, spread, mitigation.  All those hypotheses can be investigated and accurate prediction are obtained.

Demonstrative and Convincing

The graphical companion of the FDS is Smokeview (SMV).  It represents to-scale simplified yet realistics graphics over the simulation time.  It is important to calculate accurate temperature and smoke development, but it is more important to be able able to show output data in a clear and persuasive fashion.  FDS and SMV do that.

Below are actual fire scenarios recreated using FDS and SMV of a 2-story townhome.

During the fire 3 occupants were in the residence, two adults and one child.

The mother and her child escape the fire.  The other lady perished in the master bedroom.

This simulation shows smoke development and spread with the effect of the wind factor.

Smoke in 2-Story Home

This simulation shows the fast spread of smoke through the open exit stairs and the second level.

Smoke in Exit Stair

This simulation shows the temperature profile in the exit stairs and it supports claims of burns when evacuating.

Temperature in Exit Stair

This simulation show turbulence strength and direction from the fire flow and it supports a fast burning fire.

Turbulence Vectors in Exit Stairs

This simulation shows the visibility along the exit stairs supporting challenging evacuation early in the fire.

Visibility in Exit Stair

In this simulation, fire sprinklers were placed in the living room and doors to the two bedrooms were closed.

Assumed. Bedrooms Doors Shut, Sprinklers in Living Room

Benefit of Service

Key benefits in the use of fire modeling technology are the following:

  • Gains insights into limiting and prohibitive prescriptive requirements
  • Demystifies and explain realities of fire conditions
  • Expands the realm of design possibilities
  • Supports or refutes proposed hypotheses
  • It is state-of-the-art investigative fire tool
  • Relatively small cost for beneficial outcomes
  • An invaluable tool for investigating a multitude of fire scenarios
  • It can integrate evacuation option with fire scenarios

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