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Technical Note (NIST TN)

Discriminating Between Smoldering and Flaming Fires Using Alarm Signals

January 3, 2011

Author(s)

William D. Davis

Strategies are developed that make use of signals from smoke and heat alarms to deduce conditions in a room for both flaming and smoldering fires. The issue...

3D Imaging Systems for Manufacturing, Construction, and Mobility (NIST TN 1682)

December 15, 2010

Author(s)

Geraldine S. Cheok, Maris Juberts, Marek Franaszek

The National Defense Center of Excellence for Industrial Metrology and 3D Imaging (COE-IM3DI) is conducting research to enable the next generation of...

Best Practice Guidelines for Structural Fire Resistance Design of Concrete and Steel Buildings

December 1, 2010

Author(s)

Long T. Phan, John L. Gross, Therese P. McAllister

This document is intended to provide practicing engineers and building code officials with a technical resource that contains the current best practice for fire...

Modeling Smoldering Fires using the Computer Model CONTAM

December 1, 2010

Author(s)

William D. Davis

The computer model CONTAM was used to simulate the spread of smoke in a house with a working furnace during smoldering fires. Three smoldering experiments from...

Direct Determination of Phases in Portland Cements by Quantitative X-Ray Powder Diffraction

November 15, 2010

Author(s)

Paul E. Stutzman

The transformation of chemical analyses to phase estimates via the Bogue calculations has been successfully used by industry for the past 70 years. Since its...

Numerical Simulation of Along-Wind Loading on Small Structures Using a Simplified Wind Flow Model

November 10, 2010

Author(s)

Dong Hun Yeo

Aerodynamic measurements of wind-induced pressures on structures are required for the codifi-cation of design wind loads. However, the reliable measurement of...

Alarm Information for Decision Support

November 4, 2010

Author(s)

William D. Davis, Adam M. Barowy, Stephen Kerber

Experiments conducted in a Toledo Ohio school are used to examine the use of signals from simulated heat detectors by incident command. Two approaches are...

A Review of Building Evacuation Models, 2nd Edition

November 1, 2010

Author(s)

Erica D. Kuligowski, Richard D. Peacock, Bryan L. Hoskins

Evacuation calculations are increasingly becoming a part of performance-based analyses to assess the level of life safety provided in buildings. In some cases...

Safety Assessment of Parallel Wire Suspension Bridge Cables Under Thermal Effects

October 25, 2010

Author(s)

Joseph Main, William E. Luecke

This report summarizes a NIST study aimed at assessing the safety of parallel wire suspension bridge cables under thermal effects. Both low temperatures...

Impacts of Airtightening Retrofits on Ventilation Rates and Energy Consumption in a Manufactured Home

September 29, 2010

Author(s)

Steven J. Nabinger, Andrew K. Persily, William Stuart Dols

A retrofit study was conducted in a manufactured house to investigate the impacts of airtightening on ventilation rates and energy consumption. This paper...

Effect of Al₂O₃ Nanolubricant on a Passively Enhanced R134a Pool Boiling Surface with Extensive Measurement and Analysis Details (NIST TN 1677)

September 29, 2010

Author(s)

Mark A. Kedzierski

This paper quantifies the influence of Al2O3 nanoparticles on the pool boiling performance of R134a/polyolester mixtures on a Turbo-BII-HP boiling surface...

Overall and Local Movement Speeds During Fire Drill Evacuations in Buildings up to 31 Stories

September 17, 2010

Author(s)

Richard D. Peacock, Bryan L. Hoskins, Erica D. Kuligowski

The time that it takes an occupant population to reach safety when descending a stairwell during building evacuations is typically described by measureable...

Fabrication, Characterization, and Flammability Testing of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Layer-by-Layer Coated Polyurethane Foam

September 15, 2010

Author(s)

Rick Davis, Yeon S. Kim

The research presented here is the first report of fabricating mulitwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) based thin coatings on polyurethane foam (PUF) using Layer-by...

Impact of Carbon Nanofiber Layer-By-Layer Coatings on Polyurethane Foam Flammability

September 2, 2010

Author(s)

Rick Davis, Yeon S. Kim

This is the first reported use of Layer-by-Layer (LBL) assembly to fabricate thin film coatings on polyurethane foam, of incorporating carbon nanofibers (CNF)...

The effect of shade trees on summertime electricity use in Sacramento, California

September 1, 2010

Author(s)

Geoffrey Donovan, David Butry, Joshua D. Kneifel

Although previous studies have shown that shade trees can reduce summertime electricity use, none have compared these reductions to other common energy...

Database-Assisted Design for Wind: Veering Effects on High-Rise Structures

August 15, 2010

Author(s)

Dong Hun Yeo, Emil Simiu

Atmospheric boundary layer winds experience two types of effects due to friction at the ground surface. One effect is the increase of the wind speeds with...

A Green Laser Pointer Hazard

August 2, 2010

Author(s)

Jemellie Galang, Alessandro Restelli, Edward W. Hagley, Charles W. Clark

An inexpensive green laser pointer was found to emit 20 mW of infrared radiation during normal use. This is potentially a serious hazard that would not be...

An Intra-Volume Ad Hoc Array Concept for Improved Public-Safety Communications

August 1, 2010

Author(s)

Christopher L. Holloway

Here we report on the testing and measurements of the ad hoc array concept in buildings. The overall concept is to use randomly located or placed wireless...

Multimode Fiber Launch Study: Estimating the Impact on Measurements of Delay

August 1, 2010

Author(s)

Tasshi Dennis

The purpose of this study was to evaluate measurement uncertainties introduced into time delay calibrations of multimode fiber reference spools. While the...

Database-Assisted Design for Wind: Concepts, Software, and Example for High-Rise Reinforced Concrete Structures

July 23, 2010

Author(s)

Dong Hun Yeo

Time-domain analyses of wind effects on high-rise structures have been made possible in recent years by advances in wind pressure measurement and computer...

Modeling the Effects of Outdoor Gasoline Powered Generator Use on Indoor Carbon Monoxide Exposures Phase II

July 8, 2010

Author(s)

Wang Liangzhu, Steven Emmerich, Ryan Powell

The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) conducted a study for CDC to examine the impact of distance of gasoline-powered portable electric...

Characterization of Tissue-Equivalent Materials for High-Frequency Applications (200 MHz to 20 GHz)

July 1, 2010

Author(s)

James R. Baker-Jarvis, Sung Kim, Luke Leschallinger, Justin Johnson, Brad Givot

The purpose of this report is to summarize the characterization of a number of high-frequency solid, liquid, and semisolid tissue-equivalent materials, from 200...

Occupant Behavior in a High-rise Office Building Fire

June 10, 2010

Author(s)

Erica D. Kuligowski, Bryan L. Hoskins

Survey responses from occupants involved in a 32-story high-rise building evacuation during an actual fire were collected and analyzed to study the pre...

Development and Verification of a Linear-Fit Mixed System Rating Method for Unitary Two-Speed and Variable-Speed Air Conditioners

June 7, 2010

Author(s)

William V. Payne

A linear-fit method of rating residential-type air conditioning systems was evaluated based on performance predictions and laboratory testing of one two-speed...

Effect of Al2O3 Nanolubricant on R134a Pool Boiling Heat Transfer with Extensive Measurement and Analysis Details

May 5, 2010

Author(s)

Mark A. Kedzierski

This paper quantifies the influence of Al2O3 nanoparticles on the pool boiling performance of R134a/polyolester mixtures on a roughened, horizontal, flat...

Report on Residential Fireground Field Experiments

April 27, 2010

Author(s)

Jason D. Averill, Lori Moore-Merrell, Adam M. Barowy, Robert Santos, Richard D. Peacock, Kathy Notarianni, Doug Wissoker

Over the past three decades, fire department response has expanded from fire prevention and fire suppression to include multiple other community services such...

Building Information Exchange for Fire Responders Workshop: Proceedings

March 26, 2010

Author(s)

Jason D. Averill, David G. Holmberg, Alan B. Vinh, William D. Davis

Presently, there is no integrated solution for delivering building data into the hands of emergency responders. Technically, there are many challenges to...

Measurement Science Roadmap for Net-Zero Energy Buildings

March 18, 2010

Author(s)

Joan Pellegrino, Arthur H. Fanney, Andrew K. Persily, Piotr A. Domanski, William M. Healy, Steven T. Bushby

Buildings account for nearly a third of the world s energy use today, and this share is expected to rise along with population growth and levels of prosperity...

Measurement Challenges in Achieving Energy Monitoring Systems in Buildings

March 3, 2010

Author(s)

William M. Healy

The benefits of energy conserving approaches in buildings are often not apparent to building occupants because of the insufficient feedback provided regarding...

Effects of Accelerated Ultraviolet (UV) Weathering on Firefighter Protective Clothing Outer Shell Fabrics

February 25, 2010

Author(s)

Rick Davis, Joannie Chin, Chiao-Chi Lin

The Outer Shell of the jacket and pants of the firefighter s protective clothing is constructed of a fabric that is commonly a blend of polyaramid...

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