Technical Reference for CFAST: An Engineering Tool for Estimating Fire and Smoke Transport (NIST TN 1431)

Published

March 1, 2000

Author(s)

Walter W. Jones, Glenn P. Forney, Richard D. Peacock, Paul A. Reneke

Abstract

CFAST is a zone model capable of predicting the environment in a multi-compartment structure subjected to a fire. It calculates the time evolving distribution of smoke and fire gases and the temperature throughout a building during a user-specified fire. This report describes the equations which constitute the model, the physical basis for these equations, data which are used by the model, and details of the operation of the computer program implementing the model. The means by which one can add new phenomena are detailed, as are the variables and structure of the model. A set of comparisons between the model and a range of real-scale fire experiments is presented. In general, the CFAST model compares favorably with the experiments examined in this report. Although differences between the model and the experiments were clear, they can be explained by limitations of the model and of the experiments.

Citation

Technical Note (NIST TN) - 1431

Report Number

1431

NIST Pub Series

Technical Note (NIST TN)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.tn.1431

Keywords

computer models, predictive models, computer programs, evacuation, fire models, fire research, hazard assessment, toxicity, CFAST

Citation

Jones, W. , Forney, G. , Peacock, R. and Reneke, P. (2000), Technical Reference for CFAST: An Engineering Tool for Estimating Fire and Smoke Transport (NIST TN 1431), Technical Note (NIST TN), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.tn.1431 (Accessed October 16, 2025)