Applications of FASTLite.

Published

June 20, 1996

Author(s)

Richard W. Bukowski

Abstract

The use of computer supported fire safety engineering calculations has grown significantly in recent years. One of the early, favorite tools of the fire protection engineer was FIREFORM and later FPEtool, both of which were developed by Bud Nelson. Now NIST has release FASTLite, the successor to these programs. FASTLite retains the set of simple algebraic equations of FIREFORM, but replaces the single room fire model FIRE SIMULATOR with a (maximum) three room version of CFAST modified to provide the operational features of FIRE SIMULATOR which users have come to depend on. These include simple construction of heat release rate curves, pauses in execution to allow modification of the scenario specification, and automatic output in selectable engineering units; all with the faster-than-real-time excuation speeds of the former model. The platform for these developments is CFAST. By integrating the CFAST zone model into FASTLite prior work on its validation and accuracy assessment is applicable and it is possible to add technical improvements to FASTLite, CFAST, and HAZARD as a single family of models. FASTLite also becomes entirely compatible with the others so that users who begin an analysis with FASTLite can build on the same basic input file by adding additional compartments or features supported in CFAST, such as HVAC modeling.

Proceedings Title

Society of Fire Protection Engineers and WPI Center for Firesafety Studies. Computer Applications in Fire Protection Engineering. Technical Symposium. Proceedings. Final Program

Conference Dates

June 20-21, 1996

Conference Location

Worcester, MA

Pub Type

Conferences

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Keywords

predictive models, fire protection engineering, egress, evacuation time, fire growth, fire hazards assessment, fire models, smoke filling

Citation

Bukowski, R. (1996), Applications of FASTLite., Society of Fire Protection Engineers and WPI Center for Firesafety Studies. Computer Applications in Fire Protection Engineering. Technical Symposium. Proceedings. Final Program, Worcester, MA, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=916702 (Accessed July 26, 2024)