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Smokeview is a software tool designed to visualize numerical calculations generated by the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS), a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of fire-driven fluid flow. This report documents some of the algorithms Smokeview uses to
Wenjuan Wei, Cynthia H. Reed, Andrew K. Persily, Yinping Zhang
Formaldehyde, which is recognized as a harmful indoor air pollutant for human health, is emitted from urea-formaldehyde resin in wood products. Chamber tests are used to evaluate formaldehyde emission rates from these products. However, there is no
In order to determine the fire resistance of steel members, steel temperatures must be estimated with a high confidence. There can be considerable uncertainty in temperatures of both protected and unprotected steels during fire exposure. This is due to
Douglas S. Thomas, David T. Butry, Jeffrey P. Prestemon
Eighty percent of wildfires are human caused, so it is important for decision makers and land managers to consider the role of prevention activities that minimize the costs and losses of human-caused wildfires. There have been significant efforts aimed at
Jiann C. Yang, William M. Pitts, Marco G. Fernandez, Kuldeep R. Prasad
An experimental apparatus, which was based on the ¿-scale garage previously used for studying helium release and dispersion in our laboratory, was used to obtain effective diffusion coefficients of helium and hydrogen (released as forming gas for safety
Gregory T. Linteris, Nicolas Ball, J. Raynard, Guillermo Rein, Jose L. Torero, M. Forsth, P. Boulet, G. Parent, Z. Acem
Radiative heat transfer to a solid is a key mechanism in fire dynamics, and in-depth absorption is especially of importance for translucent fuels. The sample-heater interaction for radiative heat transfer is experimentally investigated in this study with
Andrew K. Persily, Yanling Wang, Brian J. Polidoro, Steven J. Emmerich
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and others are concerned about the hazard of acute residential carbon monoxide (CO) exposures from portable gasoline powered generators that can result in death or serious and/or lasting adverse health
As various strategies for improving building envelope and HVAC equipment efficiencies are increasingly used to reduce building energy use, a greater percentage of energy loss will occur through building envelope leakage. Although the energy impacts of
Samuel L. Manzello, Sayaka Suzuki, Junichi Suzuki, Yoshihiko Hayashi
Firebrand production from a real-scale structure under well-controlled laboratory conditions was investigated. The structure was fabricated using wood studs and oriented strand board (OSB). A sofa was placed inside the structure and ignited using a
Nathan D. Marsh, Richard G. Gann, John R. Shields, Marc R. Nyden
Efforts are underway in several research groups to adapt existing flammability test methods for the determination of yields of toxic compounds such as CO, HCN, and HCl. These include the NFPA 269 / ASTM E 1678 radiant furnace apparatus, the ISO/TS 19700
Limited information exists on what respiratory threats are present in the fire overhaul environment. Hand-held direct-reading particulate detectors have long been used to monitor respiratory threats for industrial hygiene applications. Therefore, it may be
Alexander Maranghides, Derek McNamara, William Mell, Jason Trook, Blaza Toman
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has a suite of research projects addressing risk reduction in Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) communities. The NIST WUI Team was invited by CAL FIRE to collect post incident data from the California
Melissa K. Taylor, Nicholas G. Paulter Jr., Qijun Zhao, Yi Zhang, Anil K. Jain
Fingerprint minutiae are the most important features used by latent fingerprint examiners, as well as in automated fingerprint recognition systems. Hence, understanding the statistical distribution of minutiae is essential in many fingerprint recognition
Paul E. Stutzman, Katherine Aughenbaugh, Maria Juenger
Geopolymer cements have not found widespread use as a portland cement replacement, in part due to the difficulty in proportioning mixtures in a reliable manner. Unlike portland cements, which are mixed with water, geopolymer cements contain caustic
In 1998, NIST published a review of commercial and institutional building airtightness data that found significant levels of air leakage and debunked the myth of the airtight commercial building (Persily 1998). Since then, NIST has expanded and
This paper quantifies the influence of Al2O3 nanoparticles on the pool boiling performance of R134a/polyolester mixtures on a rectangular finned boiling surface. A nanolubricant containing roughly 10 nm diameter Al2O3 nanoparticles of various volume
Mauro Zammarano, Rick D. Davis, Yeon S. Kim, Richard H. Harris Jr., Marc R. Nyden, Jeffrey W. Gilman, Nasir M. Uddin
Nanoparticles can effectively reduce polymer flammability; however, the impact of nanoparticles on environmental and health safety is still unclear. The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to develop and investigate the effect of nanoparticle-rich
Smoldering propensity of fabrics used in upholstered furniture can be assessed using foam mockups according to the CPSC proposed regulation. This approach requires a polyurethane flexible foam with reproducible and well- characterized smoldering. The
In response to the increasing losses due to WUI fires and to ensure that measurement science keeps pace with needed improvements in materials, fire-resistant design, mitigation response, and building and fire codes, NIST sponsored the Workshop on Wildland
Samuel L. Manzello, Tokiyoshi Yamada, Ann Jeffers, Yoshifumi Ohmiya, Keisuke Himoto, A C. Fernandez-Pello
A workshop, known as Operation Tomodachi Fire Research was held in Tokyo, Japan from July 1 to July 4, 2012. Tomodachi means friendship in Japanese. This workshop, under the direction of Dr. Samuel L. Manzello of EL-NIST and Dr. Tokiyoshi Yamada of the
David M. Lorenzetti, William Stuart Dols, Andrew K. Persily, Michael D. Sohn
CONTAM, a multizone model for predicting whole-building airflow and contaminant transport, has been updated to improve the speed and accuracy of its transport calculations. CVODE, a general-purpose code for solving ordinary differential equations, brings
Evidence suggests that wind driven firebrand showers are a major cause of structural ignition in Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) fires. While firebrands have been researched for over four decades, prior studies have focused mainly on how far firebrands fly
Samuel L. Manzello, Sayaka Suzuki, Yoshihiko Hayashi
Firebrands are a critical mechanism of fire spread in large outdoor fires, such as urban fires in Japan and WUI fires in Australia, Southern Europe, and the USA. Firebrands have been studied for some time however there are few studies on generation of
Samuel L. Manzello, Sayaka Suzuki, Yoshihiko Hayashi
Fires in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) have been a large problem not only in the USA, but all over the world. From a pragmatic point of view, the WUI fire problem can be seen as a structure ignition problem [1]. It is believed that the structures