An official website of the United States government
Here’s how you know
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Y Sivathanu, Anthony P. Hamins, George W. Mulholland, Takashi Kashiwagi, R Buch
The optical properties of particulate emitted from fires burning two distinct polydimethylsiloxane fluids (D4 and M2 or MM, where D=(CH3)2SiO and M=(CH3)3SiO2) were obtained using a transmission cell-reciprocal nephelometer in conjunction with gravimetric
A combined theoretical and experimental study is made of the effect that concentration and ionic speciation have on the apparent diffusion coefficient is performed using a nonreactive porous material in a diffusion apparatus. Varying the ionic species
The design of concrete with specified properties for an application is not a new science, but it has taken on a new meaning with the wide use of high performance concretes. The following properties are related to fresh concrete: ease of placement and
Joannie W. Chin, Walter E. Byrd, E Embree, Jonathan W. Martin
The primary method for obtaining laboratory weathering data for a wide range of commercial polymer products including coatings, textiles, elastomers, plastics and polymeric composites is through the use of ultraviolet radiation exposure chambers (UV
A D. Hixson, L Y. Woo, M A. Campo, T Mason, Edward Garboczi
Electrical property measurements (DC conductivity, impedance spectroscopy) were employed to determine the intrinsic conductivities of short conductive fibers in cement matrix composites. Intrinsic conductivity determines the variation of overall
Mark R. VanLandingham, Tinh Nguyen, Walter E. Byrd, Jonathan W. Martin
The atomic force microscope (AFM) was used to monitor changes in surface features of an acrylic melamine polymeric coating that was exposed to a variety of weathering conditions. A technique was developed such that, upon periodic removal from the
D W. Stroup, Laurean A. DeLauter, James J. Lee, G Roadarmel
Two fire tests were conducted using a passenger minivan. The fire test scenarios were selected as part of a fire investigation being conducted by the U.S. Department of Treasury s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. Heat release rate was determined
On September 10, 2001 an informal workshop was held in Oakland, California to discuss the applicability of seismic rehabilitation technologies to enhance the resistance of buildings to progressive collapse in the event of loss of primary load-carrying
When materials are burning in the presence of a continuous, external energy source, they are often more difficult to extinguish and may require an increase in suppression agent to extinguish the fire. This situation could exist for class C fires involving
It has been proposed previously that the formation factor, in conjunction with the self-diffusion coefficient, can be used to determine the apparent diffusion coefficient. Strictly speaking,this application is incorrect. The formation factor is equal to
To understand the freeze-thaw properties of hardened concrete, the air void system must be characterized. Studies of the stereological and statistical properties of entrained air voids in concrete have often involved a number of steps: sample preparation
The Virtual Cement and Concrete Testing Laboratory(VCCTL) consortium was formed in January of 2001. Headquartered in the Building and Fire ResearchLaboratory at the National Institute of Standardsand Technology (NIST), the consortium currentlyconsists of
The Forum for International Cooperation on Fire Research, FORUM, was established about 14 years ago as an informal organization to provide a means for sharing on mutual issues and needs, communication, and cooperation among the world's leaders of fire
ALARM, Alternative Life Safety Analysis for Retrofit Cost Minimization, is a software tool that helps prison facility managers and fire safety engineers achieve cost-effective compliance with the widely-used Life Safety Code of the National Fire Protection
Validation of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) predictions for spray combustion application has been a challenging task due to difficulties in both modeling and experimental measurements. However, validation is considered to be an essential exercise for
For more than one hundred years, the continuous theme underlying the NBS / NIST staff contribution to the crystallography of building materials has been the development of an improved understanding of concrete materials performance. These efforts serve to
Dale P. Bentz, K K. Hansen, H D. Madsen, F A. Vallee, E J. Griesel
As concrete cures in the field, there is a constant competition for the mixing water between evaporation and hydration processes. Understanding the mechanisms of water movement in the drying/hydrating cement paste is critical for designing curing systems
Li Piin Sung, Maria E. Nadal, M E. McKnight, Egon Marx, R Dutruc-Rosset, B Laurenti
The orientation of platelet-like pigments in coatings is affected by the processing conditions resulting in appearance variations of the final product. A set of aluminum-flake pigmented coatings having different flake orientations was pre-pared using
Kevin B. McGrattan, Glenn P. Forney, J E. Floyd, Simo A. Hostikka
Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) is a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelof fire-driven fluid flow. The software described in this document solves numerically a form of the Navier-Stokes equations appropriate for low-speed, thermally-driven flow with an
Kevin B. McGrattan, Howard R. Baum, Ronald G. Rehm, Anthony P. Hamins, Glenn P. Forney, J E. Floyd, Simo A. Hostikka
Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) is a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of fire-driven fluid flow. The equations described in this document are a form of the Navier-Stokes equations appropriate for low-speed, thermally-driven flow with an emphasis on
Kevin B. McGrattan, Glenn P. Forney, J E. Floyd, Simo A. Hostikka
Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) is a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of fire-driven fluid flow. The software described in this document solves numerically a form of the Navier-Stokes equations appropriate for low-speed, thermally-driven flow with an
Researchers at NIST in collaboration with the PATH-D program have been working to improve the durability of residential home construction. These efforts have been in two focus areas: working with industrial consortia to implement greatly improved
Tinh Nguyen, Jonathan W. Martin, S Saunders, E Byrd
rylic-melamine coatings are used extensively for automobile topcoat/base coat systems. However, these materials undergo hydrolysis when they are exposed to water or humid environments. The mode and mechanism of degradation and a physics-based model for
As durability issues become increasingly prominent in concrete design, the need to predict the transport properties of a given concrete mixture becomes critical. For many degradation scenarios (corrosion, sulfate attack, etc.), the diffusion coefficient of