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Multi-zone Modeling of Size- Resolved Outdoor Ultrafine Particle Entry into a Test House

December 11, 2012

Author(s)

Dong H. Rim, Andrew K. Persily, Lance L. Wallace, William S. Dols, Steven J. Emmerich

Airborne particle transport into buildings is important for human exposure to particles and associated health effects. The present study investigated the entry of size-resolved outdoor ultrafine particles into a test building under three different

Social Disorder, Accidents, and Municipal Wildfires

December 1, 2012

Author(s)

Douglas S. Thomas, David T. Butry, Jeffrey P. Prestemon

Societal safeguards, established by those who have shared perceptions in the importance of safety and taking preventative measures, reduce the incidence of accidents that harm people and damage property. These safeguards prevent or discourage community

Near-Wall Modeling for Large Eddy Simulation of Convective Heat Transfer in Turbulent Boundary Layers

November 18, 2012

Author(s)

Randall J. McDermott, Hyun Wook Park, Kiyoung Moon, Ezgi Oztekin, Changhoon Lee, Jung-il Choi

A well-known challenge for large eddy simulation (LES) is to provide a smooth transition from molecular to turbulent transport near the wall without having to explicitly resolve the viscous sublayer. We propose a simple but efficient approach based on

Translating Behavioral Theory of Human Response into Modeling Practice (NISTGCR 12-972)

November 13, 2012

Author(s)

Steve M. Gwynne

A key limitation of current egress models is the scope and sophistication of the behavioral models that are embedded within them to determine what evacuees do and how long it takes them to do it. Kuligowski has recently produced a predictive behavioral

Modeling of Reinforced Concrete Assemblies under a Column Removal Scenario

November 8, 2012

Author(s)

Yihai Bao, Hai S. Lew, Sashi K. Kunnath

This paper presents a computational investigation of two reinforced concrete beam-column assemblies, each comprising three columns and two beams, subjected to monotonically increasing vertical displacement of the unsupported center column simulating a

Indoor Air Quality Analyses of Commercial Reference Buildings

November 1, 2012

Author(s)

Lisa C. Ng, Amy Musser, Andrew K. Persily, Steven J. Emmerich

Sixteen commercial reference buildings were created in the multizone airflow and contaminant transport program CONTAM in order to support airflow and indoor air quality (IAQ) analyses, which are not possible using the existing EnergyPlus input files for

R134a/Al 2 O 3 Nanolubricant Mixture Pool Boiling on a Rectangular Finned Surface

October 31, 2012

Author(s)

Mark A. Kedzierski

This paper quantifies the influence of Al2O3 nanoparticles on the pool boiling performance of R134a/polyolester mixtures on a rectangular finned boiling surface. Nanolubricants with 10 nm diameter Al2O3 nanoparticles of various volume fractions (1AlO, 2AlO

A Study of Thermal Behavior of a Composite Floor System in Standard Fire Resistance Tests

October 26, 2012

Author(s)

Dilip K. Banerjee, John L. Gross

This report summarizes the characterization of the furnace thermal environment and thermal behavior of members during the fire tests. Additionally, numerical results from a heat transfer finite element model of a representative section of the floor system

Finite-element models of the National Fire Research Laboratory (NFRL)and modular support structure

October 26, 2012

Author(s)

Dat Duthinh

This report documents the development of finite-element models (FEM) of the National Fire Research Laboratory (NFRL) and its modular support structure. The models enable a future user of the NFRL to add a potential test structure and perform thermal and

High Resolution Imagery Collection Utilizing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for Post-Disaster Studies

October 24, 2012

Author(s)

Stuart M. Adams, Marc Levitan, Friedland J. Carol

This paper examines the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as platforms to capture imagery at the neighborhood and individual building level for use in post-disaster field studies. Applications of UAVs in recent disasters as described in the literature

Estimation of Hurricane Wind Speed Probablities: Application to New York City and Other Coastal Locations

October 11, 2012

Author(s)

Dong Hun Yeo, Emil Simiu, Ning Lin

This paper presents a procedure for estimating parametric probabilistic models of hurricane wind speeds from existing information on estimated wind speeds with various mean recurrence intervals (MRIs). Such models may be needed, for example, for the

Helium Dispersion in an Attached Single-Car Residential Garage with and Without Vehicle

October 2, 2012

Author(s)

William M. Pitts, Jiann C. Yang, Marco G. Fernandez, Kuldeep R. Prasad

The dispersion and loss of helium inside a single-car residential garage attached to a single-family house was experimentally characterized by recording time-resolved helium concentrations at multiple locations in the garage and at a single location in the

Measurement of Temperature, Displacement, and Strain in Structural Components Subject to Fire Effects: Concepts and Candidate Approaches

September 28, 2012

Author(s)

Therese P. McAllister, William E. Luecke, Mark A. Iadicola, Matthew F. Bundy

For the last forty years, NIST has led the world in fire metrology through research conducted at the Large Fire Laboratory, which is being expanded to enable experiments on real-scale structures under combined structural and fire loads. The combined

Summary of Workshop on Fire-Structure Interaction and Urban and Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Fires Operation Tomodachi: Fire Research

September 28, 2012

Author(s)

Samuel L. Manzello, Sayaka S. Suzuki, Tokiyoshi Yamada

Dr. Samuel L. Manzello of NISTs Engineering Laboratory (EL) served as the USA side organizer of the 2nd Japan-USA workshop held in Tokyo, Japan from July 1 to July 4, 2012. This workshop was known as Operation Tomodachi - Fire Research. Tomodachi means

Motorcoach Tire Fires Passenger Compartment Penetration, Tenability, Mitigation, and Material Performance

September 27, 2012

Author(s)

Erik L. Johnsson, Jiann C. Yang

Full-scale fire experiments were conducted at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to investigate tire fire interactions with the passenger compartment of a motorcoach. A burner was designed to imitate the frictional heating of hub and

Factors Influencing the Smoldering Performance of Polyurethane Foam

September 26, 2012

Author(s)

Mauro Zammarano, Szabolcs Matko, Roland H. Kraemer, Rick D. Davis, Jeffrey W. Gilman, Shivani N. Mehta

The objective of this study was to evaluate whether polyurethane foam (PUF) could be produced as a standard reference material for ultimate use in a standard test intended to ensure the smoldering performance of commercially available upholstered furniture

Characterizing Firebrand Exposure from Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Fires: Results from the 2007 Angora Fire

September 22, 2012

Author(s)

Samuel L. Manzello, Ethan I. Foote

This study examines the size distribution and other characteristics of firebrand exposure during the 2007 Angora Fire, a severe Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) fire in California. Of the 401 houses that received direct interface fire exposure 61% were

Evacuation of People with Disabilities on Stairs

September 18, 2012

Author(s)

Erica D. Kuligowski, Bryan Hoskins, Richard D. Peacock, Emily A. Wiess

The time that it takes a population to reach safety when descending a stairwell during building evacuations is typically described by measureable engineering variables. These engineering variables include stairwell geometry, speed, density, and pre

More Thoughts on Defaults

September 18, 2012

Author(s)

Steve M. Gwynne, Erica D. Kuligowski, Michael Spearpoint

In this paper, the use of default values in egress models is explored and specific values are proposed to combat issues of model misuse. The authors suggest that defaults should represent the most credibly conservative estimates available for core egress

Theory Building: An Examination of the Pre-evacuation Period of the 2001 WTC Disaster

September 18, 2012

Author(s)

Erica D. Kuligowski

This paper presents a portion of the authors PhD dissertation involving a qualitative study of occupant behavior in response to the 2001 World Trade Center (WTC) disaster. Through analyses of transcripts from 245 face-to-face interviews with survivors

Annex 47 Extended Project Summary

September 17, 2012

Author(s)

Natascha S. Milesi-Ferretti, Daniel Choiniere

In 2006, researchers from 22 organizations in ten countries began a joint effort to enable the cost-effective commissioning of existing and future buildings to improve the buildings operating performance. The commissioning techniques developed through

Annex 47 Report 2: Commissioning Tools for Existing and Low Energy Buildings

September 17, 2012

Author(s)

Christian Neumann , Henk Pietsman, Harunori Yoshida , Hideki Yuzawa, Takeshi Watanabe, Katsuhiro Kamitani, Hiroshige Kikuchi , Dirk Jacob, Oliver Baumann, Daniel Choiniere, Natascha S. Milesi-Ferretti

This report summarizes part of the work of IEA-ECBCS Annex 47 Cost-Effective Commissioning of Existing and Low Energy Buildings. It is based on the research findings from the participating countries. The publication is an official Annex report. Report 1,

Commissioning Cost-Benefit and Persistence of Savings: A Report on Cost-Effective Commissioning of Existing and Low Energy Buildings

September 17, 2012

Author(s)

Hannah Friedman, Marti Frank, David Claridge, Kristin Heinemeier, Kim Crossman, Eliot Crowe, Cory Toole, Natascha S. Milesi-Ferretti, Daniel Choniere

Commissioning of new and existing buildings has been shown to reduce energy usage and can also produce non-energy related benefits such as improved occupant comfort. When compared with other initiatives such as installation of high efficiency equipment or

Summary and Conclusions of a Workshop on Quantifying the Contribution of Flaming Residential Upholstered Furniture to Fire (NIST TN 1757) Losses in the United States

September 17, 2012

Author(s)

William M. Pitts

This report summarizes a workshop entitled "Quantifying the Contribution of Flaming Residential Upholstered Furniture to Fire Losses in the United States" that was held at the National Institute of Standards of Technology on March 22-23, 2012. The workshop

A Sensitivity Study of the Heating Behavior of Composite Slab during Frame Fire Resistance Test

September 14, 2012

Author(s)

Dilip K. Banerjee