NIST Special Publication 1019

Sixth Edition

Fire Dynamics Simulator

User’s Guide
Kevin McGrattan
Simo Hostikka
Jason Floyd
Randall McDermott
Marcos Vanella
Eric Mueller
Chandan Paul

[Link]
 NIST Special Publication 1019
Sixth Edition

Fire Dynamics Simulator

User’s Guide
Kevin McGrattan
Randall McDermott
Marcos Vanella
Eric Mueller
Fire Research Division, Engineering Laboratory, Gaithersburg, Maryland
Simo Hostikka
Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
Jason Floyd
Fire Safety Research Institute, UL Research Institutes, Columbia, Maryland
Chandan Paul
The George Washington University, Washington, D.C.

[Link]

April 4, 2025
Revision: FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16

E N T OF C O M
TM M
AR

ER
D EP

CE
ICA
UN
IT

ER

D
E

ST AM
ATES OF

U.S. Department of Commerce

Howard Lutnick, Secretary

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Craig Burkhardt, Acting NIST Director and Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology
 Certain commercial entities, equipment, or materials may be identified in this
document in order to describe an experimental procedure or concept adequately.
Such identification is not intended to imply recommendation or endorsement by the
National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor is it intended to imply that the
entities, materials, or equipment are necessarily the best available for the purpose.

National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 1019

Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol. Spec. Publ. 1019, 504 pages (October 2013)
CODEN: NSPUE2
FDS Developers

The Fire Dynamics Simulator and Smokeview are the products of an international collaborative effort led by
the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Fire Safety Research Institute, UL Research
Institutes. Its developers and contributors are listed below.

Principal Developers of FDS

Kevin McGrattan, NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland

Simo Hostikka, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
Jason Floyd, Fire Safety Research Institute, UL Research Institutes, Columbia, Maryland
Randall McDermott, NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland
Marcos Vanella, NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland
Eric Mueller, NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland
Chandan Paul, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C.

Principal Developer of Smokeview

Glenn Forney, NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland

Collaborators and Contributors

Anthony Hamins, NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland

Jonathan Hodges, Jensen Hughes, Blacksburg, Virginia
Emanuele Gissi, Corpo Nazionale dei Vigili del Fuoco, Italy
William Mell, U.S. Forest Service, Seattle, Washington
Julio Cesar Silva, Rio on Fire, Orlando, Florida
Craig Weinschenk, Fire Safety Research Institute, UL Research Institutes, Columbia, Maryland

i
About the Developers

Kevin McGrattan is a mathematician in the Fire Research Division of NIST. He received a bachelor of
science degree from the School of Engineering and Applied Science of Columbia University in 1987
and a doctorate at the Courant Institute of New York University in 1991. He joined the NIST staff
in 1992 and has since worked on the development of fire models, most notably the Fire Dynamics
Simulator.

Simo Hostikka is an associate professor of fire safety engineering at Aalto University School of Engineer-
ing, since January 2014. Before joining Aalto, he worked as a Principal Scientist and Team Leader at
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. He received a master of science (technology) degree in 1997
and a doctorate in 2008 from the Department of Engineering Physics and Mathematics of the Helsinki
University of Technology. He is the principal developer of the radiation and solid phase sub-models
within FDS.

Jason Floyd is a Principle Research Engineer at the Fire Safety Research Institute, part of the UL Research
Institutes, in Columbia, Maryland. He received a B.S. (1993), M.S (1995), and a Ph.D. (2000) from
the Nuclear Engineering Program of the University of Maryland. After graduating, he was awarded a
National Research Council Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the Building and Fire Research Laboratory of
NIST. He is a principal developer of the combustion, control logic, aerosol, droplet evaporation, and
HVAC sub-models within FDS.

Randall McDermott joined the Fire Research Division at NIST in 2008. He received a B.S. from the
University of Tulsa in Chemical Engineering in 1994 and a Ph.D. from the University of Utah in 2005.
His research interests include subgrid-scale models and numerical methods for large-eddy simulation,
turbulent combustion, immersed boundary methods, and Lagrangian particle methods.

Marcos Vanella joined the Fire Research Division at NIST in 2019. He received diplomas in Mechani-
cal and Aeronautical Engineering from the National University of Cordoba, Argentina, and M.S. and
Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park. His research
interests include computer simulation and scientific software development applied to engineering sys-
tems, mainly in the areas of fluid flow and multiphysics interaction problems.

Glenn Forney is a computer scientist in the Fire Research Division of NIST. He received a bachelor of
science degree in mathematics from Salisbury State College and a master of science and a doctorate in
mathematics from Clemson University. He joined NIST in 1986 (then the National Bureau of Standards)
and has since worked on developing tools that provide a better understanding of fire phenomena, most
notably Smokeview, an advanced scientific software tool for visualizing Fire Dynamics Simulation data.

Eric Mueller joined the Fire Research Division at NIST in 2021. He received a B.S. in Engineering Physics
from Tufts University (2010), an M.S. from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (2012), and a Ph.D. from
the University of Edinburgh (2017), both in fire safety engineering. His research interests include the

iii
 development of sub-models relevant to heat and mass transfer in wildland and wildland-urban interface
fires.

Chandan Paul joined the Fire Research Division at NIST in 2023. He received a Ph.D. in Mechanical
Engineering with a minor in Computational Science from The Pennsylvania State University in 2018.
His research interests include the development of combustion and radiative heat transfer models for
practical engineering applications.

Emanuele Gissi is a professional fire chief of the Italian Fire and Rescue Service (CNVVF) since 2002.
He received a Ph.D. in Engineering Physics from the University of Ancona, Italy, in 2000. In addition
to managing fire brigades, his main interest is bridging the gap between fire research and fire safety
engineering practice. He develops open source tools for FDS.

Anthony Hamins joined the Fire Research Division at NIST in 1989. He received his B.S. from the Uni-
versity of California, Berkeley, in Physics and is Ph.D. from U.C. San Diego in Engineering Physics in
1985. His research interests include fire model validation, fire dynamics, heat and mass transfer pro-
cesses in fires of multiple scales, fire suppression, flame structure, wildland-urban interface fires, and
micro-gravity combustion.

Jonathan Hodges is a Lead Engineer in the Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation Division at
Jensen Hughes in Blacksburg, Virginia. He received a B.S. (2012) and M.S. (2014) from Clemson
University and Ph.D. (2018) from Virginia Tech in Mechanical Engineering. His research interests
include compartment fire dynamics, heat transfer from fires to surfaces, predicting fire growth, wildland-
urban interface fires, and the intersection of physics modeling and artificial intelligence.

William (Ruddy) Mell is an applied mathematician currently at the U.S. Forest Service in Seattle, Wash-
ington. He holds a B.S. degree from the University of Minnesota (1981) and doctorate from the Uni-
versity of Washington (1994). His research interests include the development of large-eddy simula-
tion methods and sub-models applicable to the physics of large fires in buildings, vegetation, and the
wildland-urban interface.

Julio Cesar Silva is a Lead Researcher at Rio on Fire. He worked in the Fire Research Division of NIST
as a Guest Researcher from National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, Brazil. He
received a [Link]. in 2010 and a doctorate in 2014 from Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Civil
Engineering. His research interests include fire-structure interaction and coupling strategies between
FDS and finite-element codes.

Craig Weinschenk is a Director of Research at the Fire Safety Research Institute, part of the UL Research
Institutes, in Columbia, Maryland. He worked in the Fire Research Division at NIST as a National
Research Council Postdoctoral Research Associate in 2011. He received a B.S. from Rowan University
in 2006 in Mechanical Engineering. He received an M.S. in 2007 and a doctorate in 2011 from The
University of Texas at Austin in Mechanical Engineering. His research interests include numerical
combustion, fire-structure interaction, and human factors research of fire-fighting tactics.

iv
Preface

This Guide describes how to use the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS). Because new features are added
periodically, check the current version number on the inside front jacket of this manual.
Note that this Guide does not provide the background theory for FDS. A four volume set of companion
documents, referred to collectively as the FDS Technical Reference Guide [1], contains details about the
governing equations and numerical methods, model verification, experimental validation, and configuration
management. The FDS User’s Guide contains limited information on how to operate Smokeview, the com-
panion visualization program for FDS. Its full capability is described in the Smokeview User’s Guide [2].

v
Disclaimer

The US Department of Commerce makes no warranty, expressed or implied, to users of the Fire Dynamics
Simulator (FDS), and accepts no responsibility for its use. Users of FDS assume sole responsibility under
Federal law for determining the appropriateness of its use in any particular application; for any conclusions
drawn from the results of its use; and for any actions taken or not taken as a result of analysis performed
using these tools.
Users are warned that FDS is intended for use only by those competent in the fields of fluid dynamics,
thermodynamics, heat transfer, combustion, and fire science, and is intended only to supplement the in-
formed judgment of the qualified user. The software package is a computer model that may or may not have
predictive capability when applied to a specific set of factual circumstances. Lack of accurate predictions
by the model could lead to erroneous conclusions with regard to fire safety. All results should be evaluated
by an informed user.
Throughout this document, the mention of computer hardware or commercial software does not con-
stitute endorsement by NIST, nor does it indicate that the products are necessarily those best suited for the
intended purpose.

vii
Acknowledgments

The Fire Dynamics Simulator, in various forms, has been under development for almost 25 years. It was first
released to the public in 2000. Since then, continued improvements have been made to the software based
largely on feedback from its users. Included below are some who made important contributions related to
the application of FDS.

• Ulf Wickström of Luleå University of Technology, Sweden, provided guidance and articles on the adia-
batic surface temperature concept.

• At NIST, Dan Madrzykowski, Doug Walton, Bob Vettori, Dave Stroup, Steve Kerber, Nelson Bryner,
and Adam Barowy have used FDS and Smokeview as part of several investigations of fire fighter line
of duty deaths. They have provided valuable information on the model’s usability and accuracy when
compared to large scale measurements made during fire reconstructions.

• Bryan Klein of Thunderhead Engineering assisted in adding cross-referencing functionality to this doc-
ument, making it easier to view electronically. He also designed the on-line services for revision control,
bug reporting, and general discussion of topics related to FDS.

• At VTT, Joonas Ryynänen implemented and documented the FED/FIC routine.

• The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has provided financial support for the verification and vali-
dation of FDS, along with valuable insights into how fire models are used as part of probabilistic risk
assessments of nuclear facilities. Special thanks to Mark Salley and Dave Stroup.

• The Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) sponsors a training course on the use of FDS and
Smokeview. Chris Wood of ArupFire, Dave Sheppard of the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms (ATF), and Doug Carpenter of Combustion Science and Engineering developed the materials
for the course, along with Morgan Hurley of the SFPE.

• David McGill of Seneca College, Ontario, Canada has conducted a remote-learning course on the use
of FDS, and he has also maintained a web site that has provided valuable suggestions from users.

• Paul Hart of Swiss Re, GAP Services, and Pravinray Gandhi of Underwriters Laboratories provided
useful suggestions about water droplet transport on solid objects.

• François Demouge of the Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment (CSTB) in France assisted with
implementation of synthetic turbulence inflow boundary conditions.

• Max Gould, Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow, assisted in the testing and verification of non-
standard boundary treatment methods.

• Salah Benkorichi at Buro Happold, UK, helped develop the verification cases for 3D heat transfer.

ix
 • Daniel Haarhoff of Jülich Supercomputing Centre, Germany, helped to implement OpenMP directives
and profile the code for FDS v6.

• Timo Korhonen of VTT, Finland, was the principle developer of FDS+Evac (FDS versions prior to
6.7.8).

• Vivien Lecoustre, while at the University of Maryland, College Park, improved RadCal which included
adding 8 additional new fuel species to its database.

• Anna Matala, VTT, Finland, helped develop the 1D pyrolysis model and pyrolysis kinetics parameter
estimation methods.

• Kristopher Overholt, while a post-doc at NIST, was the principal developer of “firebot”, the FDS con-
tinuous integration framework.

• Benjamin Ralph, University of Edinburgh, UK, helped to develop mass and energy transport in the
HVAC model and the system curve approach for defining the operation point of a fan.

• Topi Sikanen, VTT, Finland, worked on the droplet and evaporation algorithms.

• Ben Trettel, The University of Texas at Austin, developed high-order droplet tracking methods and
primary droplet breakup models.

Finally, on the following pages is a list of individuals and organizations who have volunteered their time
and effort to “beta test” FDS and Smokeview prior to its official release. Their contribution is invaluable
because there is simply no other way to test all of the various features of the model.

x
 FDS 6 Beta Testers
Mohammed Assal CFD Algeria
Choon-Bum Choi KyungWon Tech Co., Ltd. (KW Tech), Korea
William J. Ferrante Roosevelt Fire District, Hyde Park, New York, USA
Emanuele Gissi Corpo Nazionale dei Vigili del Fuoco, Italy
Timothy M. Groch Engineering Planning and Management, Inc., Framingham, Massachusetts, USA
Georges Guigay Mannvit Engineering, Iceland
Simon J. Ham Fire Safety Engineering Consultants Limited, UK
Chris Lautenberger Reax Engineering, Berkeley, California, USA
Tim McDonald Endress Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH, Germany
Dave McGill Seneca College, Ontario, Canada
Adrian Milford Sereca Fire Consulting Ltd., British Columbia, Canada
Luca Nassi National Fire Department, Italy
Stephen Olenick Combustion Science and Engineering, Inc., Columbia, Maryland, USA
Natalie Ong Arup Fire Singapore
Chris Salter Hoare Lea and Partners, UK
Joakim Sandström LTU/Brandskyddslaget, Sweden
Julio Cesar Silva Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Boris Stock BFT Cognos GmbH, Aachen, Germany
Csaba Szilagyi OPTOMM Ltd., Budapest, Hungary
Giacomo Villi Università di Padova, Italy
Andreas Vischer Wijnveld//Ingenieure, Osnabrück, Germany
Christopher Wood FireLink, LLC, Tewksbury, Massachusetts, USA

xi
Contents

FDS Developers i

About the Developers iii

Preface v

Disclaimer vii

Acknowledgments ix

Contents xiii

List of Figures xxv

List of Tables xxix

I The Basics of FDS 1

1 Introduction 3
1.1 Features of FDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 What’s New in FDS 6? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2 Getting Started 7
2.1 How to Acquire FDS and Smokeview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.2 Computer Hardware Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.3 Computer Operating System (OS) and Software Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.4 Installation Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

3 Running FDS 9
3.1 Computer Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.1.1 A Brief Primer on Computer Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.1.2 Two Ways to Use Multiple Processors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.2 Launching an FDS Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.2.1 Single Computer Running MS Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.2.2 Multiple Computers Running MS Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.2.3 macOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.2.4 Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.2.5 Using MPI and OpenMP Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.2.6 Running Very Large Jobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

xiii
 3.3 Efficiency of Multi-Process Simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.3.1 MPI Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.3.2 OpenMP Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.4 Monitoring Progress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

4 User Support 21
4.1 The Version Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.2 Common Error Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.3 Support Requests and Bug Tracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

II Writing an FDS Input File 27

5 The Basic Structure of an Input File 29

5.1 Naming the Input File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
5.2 Namelist Formatting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
5.3 Input File Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
5.4 Concatenating Input Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.5 Protecting Old Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.6 Stopping and Restarting Calculations (.restart) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

6 Setting the Bounds of Time and Space 35

6.1 Naming the Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
6.2 Simulation Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
6.2.1 Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
6.2.2 Controlling the Time Step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
6.2.3 Steady-State Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6.3 Computational Meshes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.3.1 Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.3.2 Two-Dimensional and Axially-Symmetric Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.3.3 Multiple Meshes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
6.3.4 Mesh Alignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
6.3.5 Mesh Stretching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
6.3.6 Mesh Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

7 Model Geometry 47
7.1 Specifying Boundary Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
7.2 Creating Rectilinear Obstructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
7.2.1 Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
7.2.2 Thin Obstructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
7.2.3 Specified Versus Actual Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
7.2.4 Overlapping Obstructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
7.2.5 Preventing Obstruction Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
7.2.6 Transparent or Outlined Obstructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
7.2.7 Method for avoiding mesh interfaces in blockage outline view . . . . . . . . . . 50
7.2.8 Creating Holes in Obstructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
7.3 Creating Unstructured Geometry (Beta) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
7.3.1 My First Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

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 7.3.2 Unstructured Geometry Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
7.3.3 Triangulated Surfaces Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
7.3.4 Intersections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
7.3.5 Coloring and Texture Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
7.3.6 Self-Generated Geometries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
7.3.7 Generating Complex Geometries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
7.3.8 Transforming Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
7.3.9 Reading Geometry Node Locations And Connectivity Data From Binary . . . . . 59
7.3.10 Handling Split Cells and Thin Geometries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
7.3.11 GEOM Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
7.3.12 The Big Picture, Run Time, and Accuracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
7.4 Applying Surface Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
7.4.1 Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
7.4.2 Special Vents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
7.4.3 Controlling Vents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
7.4.4 Trouble-Shooting Vents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
7.5 Coloring Obstructions, Geometry, Vents, Surfaces, and Meshes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
7.5.1 Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
7.5.2 Texture Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
7.6 Repeated Objects: The MULT Namelist Group (Table 23.20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
7.6.1 Using MULT for Mesh Refinement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
7.6.2 Using MULT to make shapes out of obstructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

8 Thermal Boundary Conditions 77

8.1 Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
8.2 Surface Temperature and Heat Flux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
8.2.1 Specified Solid Surface Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
8.2.2 Convective Heat Transfer Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
8.2.3 Adiabatic Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
8.3 One-Dimensional Heat Conduction in Solids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
8.3.1 Structure of Solid Boundaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
8.3.2 Thermal Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
8.3.3 Back Side Boundary Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
8.3.4 Initial Solid Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
8.3.5 Walls with Different Materials Front and Back . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
8.3.6 Specified Internal Heat Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
8.3.7 Non-Planar Walls and Targets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
8.3.8 Solid Phase Numerical Gridding Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
8.3.9 Specified Front and Back Surface Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
8.4 3-D Heat Conduction (Beta) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
8.4.1 Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
8.4.2 Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
8.4.3 Surface Linings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
8.4.4 Working with Thin Plates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
8.4.5 1-D Heat Conduction in Solids of Varying Thickness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

9 Fire and Pyrolysis 95

9.1 Specified Heat Release Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

xv
 9.1.1 A Radially-Spreading Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
9.1.2 Compensating for the unresolved surface area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
9.1.3 Thermally-Thick Solids that Burn at a Specified Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
9.1.4 Scaling Pyrolysis (SPyro) Model: Scaled Burning Rate from Cone Data . . . . . 98
9.2 Complex Pyrolysis Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
9.2.1 Reaction Mechanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
9.2.2 Solid Phase Gas Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
9.2.3 Reaction Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
9.2.4 Shrinking and Swelling materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
9.2.5 Multiple Solid Phase Reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
9.2.6 The Heat of Reaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
9.2.7 Liquid Fuels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
9.2.8 Fuel Burnout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
9.2.9 Solid Fuels that can Burn Away . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
9.3 Testing a Pyrolysis Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
9.3.1 Simulating the Cone Calorimeter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
9.3.2 Simulating Bench-scale Measurements like the TGA, DSC, and MCC . . . . . . 119
9.4 Pyrolysis and Energy Conservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

10 Ventilation 125
10.1 Simple Vents, Fans and Heaters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
10.1.1 Simple Supply and Exhaust Vents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
10.1.2 Total Mass Flux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
10.1.3 Heaters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
10.1.4 Louvered Vents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
10.1.5 Specified Normal Velocity Gradient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
10.1.6 Species and Species Mass Flux Boundary Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
10.1.7 Tangential Velocity Boundary Conditions at Solid Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
10.1.8 Synthetic Turbulence Inflow Boundary Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
10.1.9 Random Mass Flux Variation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
10.2 HVAC Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
10.2.1 HVAC Duct Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
10.2.2 HVAC Dampers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
10.2.3 HVAC Node Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
10.2.4 HVAC Fan Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
10.2.5 HVAC Filter Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
10.2.6 HVAC Aircoil Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
10.2.7 Louvered HVAC Vents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
10.2.8 HVAC Mass Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
10.2.9 Specified Flow vs. Unspecified Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
10.3 Sealed Compartments, Leakage, and Void Spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
10.3.1 Specifying Pressure Zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
10.3.2 Leaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
10.3.3 Breaking Pressure Zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
10.3.4 Filling Pressure Zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
10.4 Pressure Boundary Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
10.5 Special Flow Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

xvi
11 User-Specified Functions 155
11.1 Time-Dependent Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
11.2 Temperature-Dependent Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
11.3 Spatially-Dependent Velocity Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
11.4 Scaling, Rotation and Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

12 Chemical Species 161

12.1 Specifying Primitive Species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
12.1.1 Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
12.1.2 Pre-Defined Gas and Liquid Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
12.1.3 User-Defined Gas and Liquid Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
12.1.4 Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
12.1.5 Two Gas Species with the Same Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
12.1.6 Soot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
12.2 Specifying Lumped Species (Mixtures of Primitive Species) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
12.2.1 Combining Lumped and Primitive Species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

13 Combustion 173
13.1 Single-Step, Mixing-Controlled Combustion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
13.1.1 Simple Chemistry Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
13.1.2 Heat of Combustion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
13.1.3 Two-Step Simple Chemistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
13.1.4 Complete Heat of Combustion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
13.1.5 Turbulent Combustion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
13.1.6 Flame Extinction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
13.1.7 Piloted Ignition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
13.1.8 Local Quenching (AIT per ZONE) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
13.2 Complex Stoichiometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
13.2.1 Balancing the Atoms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
13.2.2 Complex Fuel Molecules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
13.2.3 Multiple Fast Reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
13.2.4 Multiple Fuels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
13.2.5 Using the EQUATION input parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
13.3 Finite Rate Combustion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
13.3.1 Multiple Step Reaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
13.3.2 Finite Rate Chemistry using a Detailed Chemical Mechanism . . . . . . . . . . 194
13.3.3 Reaction Rates from Equilibrium Constants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
13.3.4 Third Body Reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
13.3.5 Fall-off Reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
13.3.6 Catalysts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
13.3.7 Chemical Time Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
13.4 Aerosol Deposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
13.4.1 Example Case: Soot Deposition from a Propane Flame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
13.4.2 Soot Surface Oxidation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
13.5 Aerosol Agglomeration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
13.6 Aerosol Scrubbing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
13.7 Vapor Condensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

xvii
14 Radiation 203
14.1 Basic Radiation Parameters: The RADI Namelist Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
14.1.1 Radiation Option 1. No Radiation Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
14.1.2 Radiation Option 2. Optically-Thin Limit; Specified Radiative Fraction . . . . . 204
14.1.3 Radiation Option 3. Optically-Thick; Specified Radiative Fraction . . . . . . . . 205
14.1.4 Radiation Option 4. Optically-Thick; Unspecified Radiative Fraction . . . . . . . 205
14.2 Spatial and Temporal Resolution of the Radiation Transport Solver . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
14.3 Absorption Coefficient of Gases and Soot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
14.3.1 Gray Gas Model (default) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
14.3.2 Wide Band Model (Box Model) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
14.3.3 Weighted Sum of Gray Gases (WSGG) Model (Experimental) . . . . . . . . . . 207
14.4 Radiative Absorption and Scattering by Particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
14.5 Other Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

15 Particles and Droplets 211

15.1 Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
15.2 Massless Particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
15.3 Liquid Droplets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
15.3.1 Thermal Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
15.3.2 Radiative Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
15.3.3 Size Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
15.3.4 Dense Clouds of Droplets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
15.3.5 Primary Breakup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
15.3.6 Secondary Breakup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
15.3.7 Warning Messages Related to Droplets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
15.4 Solid Particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
15.4.1 Basic Geometry and Boundary Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
15.4.2 Drag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
15.4.3 Radiation Absorption and Emission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
15.4.4 Size Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
15.4.5 Solid Particle Movement on Solid Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
15.4.6 Particle Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
15.4.7 Gas Generating Particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
15.4.8 Porous Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
15.4.9 Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
15.4.10 Electrical Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
15.4.11 Target Particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
15.5 Particle Insertion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
15.5.1 Particles Introduced at a Solid Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
15.5.2 Particles or Droplets Introduced at a Sprinkler or Nozzle . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
15.5.3 Particles or Droplets Introduced within a Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
15.5.4 Controlled Particle Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
15.6 Particle Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
15.7 Suppression by Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
15.7.1 Droplet Movement on Solid Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
15.7.2 Reduction of the Burning Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

16 Wind and Atmospheric Stratification 239

xviii
 16.1 Wind Method 1: Specified Wind Speed and Direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
16.2 Wind Method 2: Monin-Obukhov Similarity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
16.2.1 Basic Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
16.2.2 Applying Monin-Obukhov Profiles to FDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
16.3 Wind Method 3: Advanced Meteorological Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
16.3.1 Pressure Gradient Force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
16.3.2 Coriolis Force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
16.3.3 Geostrophic Wind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
16.3.4 Surface Roughness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
16.3.5 Thermal Boundary Conditions at the Ground . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
16.3.6 Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
16.4 Wind Method 4: The “Wall of Wind” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
16.5 Temperature Stratification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
16.5.1 Stack Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
16.6 External Boundary Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

17 Wildland Fire Spread 255

17.1 Thermal Degradation Model for Vegetation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
17.1.1 Solid Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
17.1.2 Gas Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
17.1.3 Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
17.2 Lagrangian Particle Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
17.2.1 Trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
17.2.2 Bulk Density Input Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
17.2.3 Firebrands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
17.2.4 Ember Generation From Particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
17.3 Boundary Fuel Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
17.3.1 Burnout Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
17.4 Comparing the Particle and Boundary Fuel Models of Vegetation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
17.4.1 Combustible Load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
17.4.2 Vegetation Drag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
17.4.3 Vegetation Radiation Absorption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
17.4.4 Vegetation Convective Heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
17.5 Level Set Model for Wildland Fire Spread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
17.5.1 Level Set Vegetation Drag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
17.5.2 Simple Test Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
17.5.3 Ember Generation From Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
17.5.4 Ember Ignition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
17.5.5 Wildfire Spread over Realistic Terrain using QGIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

18 Devices and Control Logic 283

18.1 Device Location and Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
18.2 Device Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
18.3 Special Device Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
18.3.1 Sprinklers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
18.3.2 Nozzles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
18.3.3 Specified Entrainment (Velocity Patch) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
18.3.4 Heat Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

xix
 18.3.5 Smoke Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
18.3.6 Beam Detection Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
18.3.7 Aspiration Detection Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
18.3.8 Fire Depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
18.4 Basic Control Logic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
18.4.1 Creating and Removing Obstructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
18.4.2 Activating and Deactivating Vents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
18.5 Advanced Control Functions: The CTRL Namelist Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
18.5.1 Control Functions: ANY, ALL, ONLY, and AT_LEAST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
18.5.2 Control Function: TIME_DELAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
18.5.3 Control Function: DEADBAND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
18.5.4 Control Function: RESTART and KILL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
18.5.5 Control Function: CUSTOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
18.5.6 Control Function: Math Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
18.5.7 Control Function: PID Control Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
18.5.8 Control Function: PERCENTILE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
18.5.9 Combining Control Functions: A Deluge System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
18.5.10 Combining Control Functions: A Dry Pipe Sprinkler System . . . . . . . . . . . 307
18.5.11 Example Case: activate_vents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
18.6 Controlling a RAMP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
18.6.1 Changing the Independent Variable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
18.6.2 Changing the Dependent Variable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
18.6.3 Freezing the Output Value, Example Case: hrr_freeze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
18.6.4 Example Case: Heat Release Rate of a Spreading Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
18.7 Visualizing FDS Devices in Smokeview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
18.7.1 Devices that Indicate Activation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
18.7.2 Devices with Variable Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
18.7.3 Objects that Represent Lagrangian Particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
18.8 External Control of FDS (Beta) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

19 Numerical Considerations 321

19.1 Simulation Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
19.2 Large Eddy Simulation Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
19.3 Numerical Stability Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
19.3.1 The Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy (CFL) Constraint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
19.3.2 The Von Neumann Constraint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
19.3.3 Stability of particle transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
19.3.4 Heat Transfer Constraint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
19.4 Flux Limiters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
19.5 Limiting the Bounds of Key Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
19.5.1 Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
19.5.2 Density . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

20 Changing the Initial Conditions 329

20.1 Gas Species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
20.2 Temperature and Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
20.3 Heat Release Rate Per Unit Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
20.4 Velocity Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

xx
 20.4.1 Default Initial Velocity Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
20.4.2 Turning off the Flow Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
20.4.3 One-Dimensional Velocity Component Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
20.5 Nonuniform Initial Fields: Velocity, Temperature, Species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
20.6 Unfreezing the Initial Flow Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
20.7 Gravity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

21 Pressure 335
21.1 Accuracy of the Pressure Solver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
21.1.1 Optional Pressure Solvers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
21.1.2 Example Case: Pressure_Solver/duct_flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
21.1.3 Example Case: Pressure_Solver/dancing_eddies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
21.1.4 Example Case: Random Obstructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
21.2 Baroclinic Vorticity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
21.3 Pressure Considerations in Long Tunnels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
21.4 Pressure Considerations in Stairwells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

22 Output 349
22.1 Controlling the Frequency of Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
22.2 Device Output: The DEVC Namelist Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
22.2.1 Gas Phase Quantity at a Single Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
22.2.2 Solid Phase Quantity at a Single Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
22.2.3 Spatially-Integrated Outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
22.2.4 Temporally-Integrated Outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
22.2.5 Linear Array of Point Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
22.3 In-Depth Profiles within Solids: The PROF Namelist Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
22.4 Animated Planar Slices: The SLCF Namelist Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
22.5 Animated Boundary Quantities: The BNDF Namelist Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364
22.6 Animated Isosurfaces: The ISOF Namelist Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
22.7 Plot3D Static Data Dumps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
22.8 SMOKE3D: Realistic Smoke and Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
22.9 Particle Output Quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
22.9.1 Liquid Droplets that are Attached to Solid Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
22.9.2 Solid Particles on Solid Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
22.9.3 Droplet and Particle Densities and Fluxes in the Gas Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
22.9.4 Coloring Particles and Droplets in Smokeview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
22.9.5 Detailed Properties of Solid Particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
22.10 Special Output Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
22.10.1 Heat Release Rate and Energy Conservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
22.10.2 Gas Species Mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
22.10.3 Mass Loss Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
22.10.4 Zone Pressures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
22.10.5 Visibility and Obscuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
22.10.6 Flame Height and Flame Tilt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374
22.10.7 Layer Height and the Average Upper and Lower Layer Temperatures . . . . . . . 375
22.10.8 Thermocouples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
22.10.9 Volume Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
22.10.10 Mass Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378

xxi
 22.10.11 Enthalpy Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380
22.10.12 Heat Flux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380
22.10.13 Adiabatic Surface Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382
22.10.14 Extracting Detailed Radiation Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
22.10.15 Flame Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384
22.10.16 Detailed Spray Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384
22.10.17 Output Associated with Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) . . . . . . . . . . . 388
22.10.18 Fractional Effective Dose (FED) and Fractional Irritant Concentration (FIC) . . . 389
22.10.19 Histograms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390
22.10.20 Complex Terrain and Related Quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
22.10.21 Wind and the Pressure Coefficient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
22.10.22 Dry Volume and Mass Fractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392
22.10.23 Aerosol and Soot Concentration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392
22.10.24 Gas Velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393
22.10.25 Enthalpy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393
22.10.26 Computer Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393
22.10.27 Output File Precision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394
22.10.28 A Posteriori Mesh Quality Metrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394
22.10.29 Extinction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
22.10.30 Fire spread over a surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
22.11 Extracting Numbers from the Output Data Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
22.12 Gas Phase Output Quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402
22.13 Solid Phase Output Quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
22.14 Device, Control, and Other Miscellaneous Output Quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408
22.15 Droplet and Particle Output Quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
22.16 Summary of HVAC Output Quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

23 Alphabetical List of Input Parameters 413

23.1 BACK (Background species) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
23.2 BNDF (Boundary File Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414
23.3 CATF (Concatenate Input Files Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414
23.4 CLIP (Clipping Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414
23.5 COMB (General Combustion Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
23.6 CSVF (Comma Separated Velocity Files) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
23.7 CTRL (Control Function Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416
23.8 DEVC (Device Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416
23.9 DUMP (Output Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
23.10 GEOM (Unstructured Geometry Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420
23.11 HEAD (Header Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
23.12 HOLE (Obstruction Cutout Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
23.13 HVAC (HVAC System Definition) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422
23.14 INIT (Initial Conditions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423
23.15 ISOF (Isosurface Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
23.16 MATL (Material Properties) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
23.17 MESH (Mesh Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
23.18 MISC (Miscellaneous Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
23.19 MOVE (Coordinate Transformation Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
23.20 MULT (Multiplier Function Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430

xxii
 23.21 OBST (Obstruction Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430
23.22 PART (Lagrangian Particles/Droplets) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432
23.23 PRES (Pressure Solver Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
23.24 PROF (Wall Profile Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434
23.25 PROP (Device Properties) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434
23.26 RADF (Radiation Output File Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
23.27 RADI (Radiation Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
23.28 RAMP (Ramp Function Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437
23.29 REAC (Reaction Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438
23.30 SLCF (Slice File Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439
23.31 SM3D (Smoke3D Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440
23.32 SPEC (Species Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440
23.33 SURF (Surface Properties) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442
23.34 TABL (Table Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446
23.35 TIME (Time Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446
23.36 TRNX, TRNY, TRNZ (MESH Transformations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
23.37 VENT (Vent Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448
23.38 WIND (Wind and Atmospheric Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449
23.39 ZONE (Pressure Zone Parameters) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450

24 Error Codes 451

III FDS and Smokeview Development Tools 465

25 The FDS and Smokeview Repositories 467

26 Compiling FDS 469

26.1 FDS Source Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469

27 Output File Formats 471

27.1 Diagnostic Output (.out) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471
27.2 Heat Release Rate and Related Quantities (_hrr.csv) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472
27.3 Device Output Data (_devc.csv) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472
27.4 Control Output Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472
27.5 Device and Control Log File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472
27.6 CPU Usage Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473
27.7 Time Step Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473
27.8 Gas Mass Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473
27.9 Slice Files (.sf) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474
27.10 Plot3D Data (.xyz,.q) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474
27.11 Boundary Files (.bf) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475
27.12 Particle Data (.prt5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475
27.13 Profile Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476
27.14 3-D Smoke Files (.s3d) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476
27.15 Iso-surface Triangulation Files (.iso) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477
27.16 Geometry Boundary, Unstructured Slice Files (.gcf,.gsf) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478
27.17 Isosurface, Geometry and Unstructured Slice Data Files (.viso,.be) . . . . . . . . . . . 479

xxiii
 27.18 Terrain Data Files (.ter) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479
27.19 FDS GEOM I/O binary format (.bingeom) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480
27.20 Unstructured Geometry (.ge,.ge2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480
27.21 FDS HVAC I/O binary format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
27.22 File Extension Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482

Bibliography 485

A Predefined Species 493

xxiv
List of Figures

3.1 MPI scaling study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

3.2 OpenMP timing study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

6.1 Ramping simulation time values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

6.2 Multiple-mesh geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
6.3 Rules governing the alignment of meshes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
6.4 Piecewise-linear mesh transformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
6.5 Polynomial mesh transformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

7.1 Blockage outlines at mesh interfaces and as specified in the input file . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
7.2 Good GEOM: consistent normals on a manifold orientable surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
7.3 Good GEOM: a well formed triangulated surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
7.4 Bad GEOM: vertex shared by the two cubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
7.5 Bad GEOM: the edge shared by the two cubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
7.6 Bad GEOM: FDS cannot differentiate the internal volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
7.7 Good GEOM: adding a thickness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
7.8 Bad GEOM: volume is self-intersecting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
7.9 Linearization at intersections: sphere example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
7.10 Handling thin geometry with cell blocking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
7.11 Results of the circular_burner test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
7.12 Texture mapped sphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
7.13 An example of the multiplier function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
7.14 Using MULT for mesh refinement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
7.15 Creating an OBST sphere using MULT and SHAPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
7.16 Creating an OBST cylinder using MULT and SHAPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
7.17 Creating an OBST cone using MULT and SHAPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
7.18 Creating an OBST rotated box using MULT and SHAPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

8.1 The ht3d_demo test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

8.2 Schematic diagram of an I-beam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
8.3 Results of the checkerboard test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

9.1 Specifying HRRPUA with multiple reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

9.2 Extrapolating cone test data to other heat fluxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
9.3 Simple demonstration of the pyrolysis model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
9.4 Results of the couch test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
9.5 A more complicated demonstration of the pyrolysis model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
9.6 Results of the methanol_evaporation test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
9.7 Results of the liquid_mixture test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
9.8 Results of the box_burn_away test cases 1-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

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9.9 Results of the box_burn_away test cases 5-8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
9.10 Results of the box_burn_away9 and box_burn_away10 test cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
9.11 Results of the box_burn_away11 test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
9.12 Results of the box_burn_away_2D test cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
9.13 Sample results of a tga_analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

10.1 Results of the volume_flow test cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

10.2 The tangential_velocity test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
10.3 Synthetic Eddy Method vent profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
10.4 Synthetic Eddy Method at OPEN boundary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
10.5 An example of simplifying a complex duct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
10.6 Example of fan curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
10.7 Example of a jet fan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
10.8 Results of the HVAC_aircoil case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
10.9 Results of the pressure_rise test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
10.10 Results of the zone_break test cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
10.11 Results of the zone_shape test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
10.12 Results of the door_crack test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
10.13 Snapshots of the pressure_boundary test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
10.14 Results of the parabolic_profile test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
10.15 Boundary layer profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

12.1 Results of the gas_filling test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

13.1 Results of the propane_flame_2reac test cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

13.2 Results of the multiple_reac_n_simple test case. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
13.3 The extinction test cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
13.4 Results of the pvc_combustion test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
13.5 HRR for energy_budget_adiabatic_two_fuels test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
13.6 Wall soot deposition for the propane_flame_deposition test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

14.1 Results of the ramp_chi_r test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

15.1 Results of the spray_burner test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

15.2 Droplet size distributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
15.3 Results of the hot_rods test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
15.4 Example of specified gas mass production from particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
15.5 Results of the particle_flux test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
15.6 Results of the bucket_test_3 case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
15.7 Results of the part_path_ramp_jog case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
15.8 Results of the part_orientation_ramp case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
15.9 Results of the cascade test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
15.10 Results of the e_coefficient test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

16.1 Results of the wind_example_5 and wind_example_10 test cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

16.2 Sample vertical wind and temperature profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
16.3 Results of the wind_example_32 test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
16.4 Coriolis effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
16.5 The atmospheric_boundary_layer test cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

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16.6 Results of the stack_effect test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

17.1 Material parameters describing vegetation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

17.2 The char_oxidation_1 test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
17.3 The char_oxidation_2 test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
17.4 Example of burning vegetation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
17.5 Mass generation of firebrands in the dragon_5a test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
17.6 Results of the ground_vegetation_load test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
17.7 Results of the ground_vegetation_drag test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
17.8 Results of the ground_vegetation_radi test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
17.9 Results of the ground_vegetation_conv test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
17.10 Bova et al. level set test cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
17.11 No wind level set test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
17.12 Satellite and land use images for sample wildland fire spread case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
17.13 Results of sample wildland fire spread simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

18.1 Sketch of sprinkler spray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

18.2 Spray pattern parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
18.3 Results of the bucket_test_2 case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
18.4 Results of the flow_rate test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
18.5 Results of the beam_detector test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
18.6 Results of the aspiration_detector test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
18.7 Results of the control_test_2 case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
18.8 Snapshots of the activate_vents test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
18.9 Sample sine function time ramp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
18.10 Example of freezing the output of a RAMP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
18.11 HRR curve for a spreading fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
18.12 Results of the external_test test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319

21.1 Results of the duct_flow test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

21.2 Results of the dancing_eddies test cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
21.3 Pressure iterations in the dancing_eddies test cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
21.4 Pressure iterations in the random_obstructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
21.5 Snapshot of the helium_2d_isothermal test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
21.6 Convergence test for the tunnel_demo test cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
21.7 The tunnel_pressure_drop cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
21.8 Results of the stairwell test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
21.9 Smokeview rendering of a stairwell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348

22.1 Results of the bucket_test_1 case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368

22.2 Results of the bucket_test_4 case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
22.3 Results of the test_hrr_2d_cyl test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
22.4 Results of the hallways test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
22.5 Results of the thermocouple_time_constant test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
22.6 Results of the mass_flux_comparison test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
22.7 Results of the adiabatic_surface_temperature test case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384
22.8 Format of RADF output file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
22.9 Examples of the measure of turbulence resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
22.10 Haar mother wavelet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396

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22.11 Haar wavelet transforms on four typical signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397

xxviii
List of Tables

5.1 Namelist Group Reference Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

7.1 A sample of color definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

7.2 OBST SHAPE parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

8.1 Coefficients used for forced convection heat transfer correlations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

11.1 Parameters used to control time-dependence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

13.1 Default Critical Flame Temperatures for common fuels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

14.1 Default radiative fraction for some common fuels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

15.1 Drag laws available in FDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

16.1 Suggested values of Obukhov length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

16.2 Davenport-Wieringa roughness length classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

17.1 Default vegetation kinetic constants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

17.2 Rothermel wildland fuel models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

18.1 Suggested values for smoke detector model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

18.2 Control function types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
18.3 Single frame static objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
18.4 Dual frame static objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
18.4 Dual frame static objects (continued) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
18.5 Dynamic Smokeview objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
18.5 Dynamic Smokeview objects (continued) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
18.5 Dynamic Smokeview objects (continued) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
18.6 Dynamic Smokeview objects for Lagrangian particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
18.6 Dynamic Smokeview objects for Lagrangian particles (continued) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

19.1 Parameters effected by SIMULATION_MODE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

19.2 Turbulence model options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
19.3 Flux limiter options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

21.1 Summary of available pressure solvers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338

21.2 Friction factors in tunnels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346

22.1 Parameters that control the frequency of output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351

22.2 Output quantities available for PDPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386
22.3 Coefficients used for the computation of irritant effects of gases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390

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22.4 Gas phase output quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403
22.5 Solid phase output quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
22.6 Output quantities for devices, controls, and miscellaneous functions . . . . . . . . . . . . 408
22.7 Particle and droplet output quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
22.8 HVAC output quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411

23.1 Background species (BACK namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413

23.2 Boundary file parameters (BNDF namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414
23.3 Concatenate Input Files parameters (CATF namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414
23.4 Clipping parameters (CLIP namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414
23.5 General combustion parameters (COMB namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
23.6 Comma separated velocity files (CSVF namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
23.7 Control function parameters (CTRL namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416
23.8 Device parameters (DEVC namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416
23.9 Output control parameters (DUMP namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
23.10 Unstructured geometry parameters (GEOM namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420
23.11 Header parameters (HEAD namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
23.12 Obstruction cutout parameters (HOLE namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
23.13 HVAC parameters (HVAC namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422
23.14 Initial conditions (INIT namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423
23.15 Isosurface parameters (ISOF namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
23.16 Material properties (MATL namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
23.17 Mesh parameters (MESH namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
23.18 Miscellaneous parameters (MISC namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
23.19 Coordinate transformation parameters (MULT namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
23.20 Multiplier function parameters (MULT namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430
23.21 Obstruction parameters (OBST namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430
23.22 Lagrangian particles (PART namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432
23.23 Pressure solver parameters (PRES namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
23.24 Wall profile parameters (PROF namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434
23.25 Device properties (PROP namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434
23.26 Radiation output file parameters (RADF namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
23.27 Radiation parameters (RADI namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
23.28 Ramp function parameters (RAMP namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437
23.29 Reaction parameters (REAC namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438
23.30 Slice file parameters (SLCF namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439
23.31 Smoke3D parameters (SM3D namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440
23.32 Species parameters (SPEC namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440
23.33 Surface properties (SURF namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442
23.34 Table parameters (TABL namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446
23.35 Time parameters (TIME namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446
23.36 MESH transformation parameters (TRN* namelist groups) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
23.37 Vent parameters (VENT namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448
23.38 Wind and atmospheric parameters (WIND namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449
23.39 Pressure zone parameters (ZONE namelist group) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450

26.1 FDS source code files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470

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27.1 File Extension Reference Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483

A.1 Common Pre-defined gas and liquid species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494

A.2 All Pre-defined gas and liquid species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495

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 Part I

The Basics of FDS

1
Chapter 1

Introduction

The software described in this document, Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS), is a computational fluid dynamics
(CFD) model of fire-driven fluid flow. FDS solves numerically a form of the Navier-Stokes equations
appropriate for low-speed (Ma1 < 0.3), thermally-driven flow with an emphasis on smoke and heat transport
from fires. The formulation of the equations and the numerical algorithm are contained in the FDS Technical
Reference Guide [3]. Verification and Validation of the model are discussed in the FDS Verification [4] and
Validation [5] Guides.
Smokeview is a separate visualization program that is used to display the results of an FDS simulation.
A detailed description of Smokeview is found in a separate user’s guide [2].

1.1 Features of FDS

The first version of FDS was publicly released in February 2000. To date, about half of the applications of
the model have been for design of smoke handling systems and sprinkler/detector activation studies. The
other half consist of residential and industrial fire reconstructions. Throughout its development, FDS has
been aimed at solving practical fire problems in fire protection engineering, while at the same time providing
a tool to study fundamental fire dynamics and combustion.

Hydrodynamic Model FDS solves numerically a form of the Navier-Stokes equations appropriate for low-
speed, thermally-driven flow with an emphasis on smoke and heat transport from fires. The core algo-
rithm is an explicit predictor-corrector scheme, second order accurate in space and time. Turbulence is
treated by means of Large Eddy Simulation (LES). It is possible to perform a Direct Numerical Simu-
lation (DNS) if the underlying numerical mesh is fine enough. See Sec. 19.1 for further details.

Combustion Model For most applications, FDS uses a single step, mixing-controlled chemical reaction
which uses three lumped species (a species representing a group of species). These lumped species are
air, fuel, and products. By default the last two lumped species are explicitly computed. Options are
available to include multiple reactions and reactions that are not necessarily mixing-controlled.

Radiation Transport Radiative heat transfer is included in the model via the solution of the radiation trans-
port equation for a gray gas, and in some limited cases using a wide band model. The equation is solved
using a technique similar to finite volume methods for convective transport, thus the name given to it
is the Finite Volume Method (FVM). Using approximately 100 discrete angles, the finite volume solver
requires about 20 % of the total CPU time of a calculation, a modest cost given the complexity of radi-
ation heat transfer. The absorption coefficients of the gas-soot mixtures are computed using the RadCal
1 The Mach Number, Ma, is the ratio of the flow speed over the speed of sound.

3
 narrow-band model [6]. Liquid droplets can absorb and scatter thermal radiation. This is important in
cases involving mist sprinklers, but also plays a role in all sprinkler cases. The absorption and scattering
coefficients are based on Mie theory.

Geometry FDS approximates the governing equations on a rectilinear mesh. Rectangular obstructions are
forced to conform with the underlying mesh.

Multiple Meshes This is a term used to describe the use of more than one rectangular mesh in a calculation.
It is possible to prescribe more than one rectangular mesh to handle cases where the computational
domain is not easily embedded within a single mesh.

Parallel Processing FDS employs OpenMP [7], a programming interface that exploits multiple process-
ing units on a single computer. For clusters of computers, FDS employs Message Passing Interface
(MPI) [8]. Details can be found in Sec. 3.1.2.

Boundary Conditions All solid surfaces are assigned thermal boundary conditions, plus information about
the burning behavior of the material. Heat and mass transfer to and from solid surfaces is usually handled
with empirical correlations, although it is possible to compute directly the heat and mass transfer when
performing a Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS).

1.2 What’s New in FDS 6?

Many of the changes in FDS 6 are improvements to the various sub-models that do not affect the basic
structure or parameters of the input file. Most of the changes listed below do not require additional input
parameters beyond those used in FDS 5.

Hydrodynamics and Turbulence

• Conservative, total variation diminishing (TVD) scalar transport is implemented: Superbee (VLES de-
fault) and CHARM (LES and DNS default). These schemes prevent over-shoots and under-shoots in
species concentrations and temperature.

• Improved models for the turbulent viscosity are implemented: Deardorff (default), Dynamic Smagorin-
sky, and Vreman. These models provide more dynamic range to the flow field for coarse resolution and
converge to the correct solution at fine resolution.

• The conservative form of the sensible enthalpy equation is satisfied by construction in the FDS 6 for-
mulation, eliminating temperature anomalies and energy conservation errors due to numerical mixing.

• The baroclinic torque is included by default.

• Improvements are made to the wall functions for momentum and heat flux. An optional wall heat flux
model accounts for variable Prandtl number fluids.

• Jarrin’s Synthetic Eddy Method (SEM) is implemented for turbulent boundary conditions at vents.

Species and Combustion

• Custom species mixtures (“lumped species”) can be defined with the input group SPEC.

4
 • Turbulent combustion is handled with a new partially-stirred batch reactor model. At the subgrid level,
species exist in one of two states: unmixed or mixed. The degree of mixing evolves over the FDS time
step by the interaction by exchange with the mean (IEM) mixing model. Chemical kinetics may be
considered infinitely fast or obey an Arrhenius rate law.

• It is now possible to transport, produce, and consume product species such as CO and soot. Chemical
mechanisms must be provided by the user and may include reversible reactions.

• It is now possible to deposit aerosol species onto surfaces.

• There are an increased number of predefined species that now include liquid properties.

Lagrangian Particles
• The functionality of Lagrangian particles has expanded to include the same heat transfer and pyrolysis
models that apply to solid walls. In other words, you can now assign a set of surface properties to planar,
cylindrical, or spherical particles much like you would for a solid surface.

• More alternatives and user-defined option are available for the liquid droplet size distribution.

• You can specify the radiative properties of the liquid droplets.

• Drag effects of thin porous media (i.e., window screens) can be simulated using planes of particles.

Solid Phase Heat Transfer and Pyrolysis

• The basic 1-D heat transfer and pyrolysis model for solid surfaces remains the same, but there has been
a change in several of the input parameters to expand functionality and readability of the input file.

• The pyrolysis model allows for the surface to shrink or swell, based on the specified material densities.

HVAC
• Filters, louvered vents, and heating/cooling capability has been added for HVAC systems.

• HVAC is now functional with MPI.

Radiation
• RadCal database has been extended to include additional fuel species.

• In cells with heat release, the emission term is based on a corrected σ T 4 such that when this term is
integrated over the flame volume the specified radiative fraction (default 0.35) is recovered. This differs
from FDS 5 and earlier where the radiative fraction times the heat release rate was applied locally as the
emission term.

Multi-Mesh Computations
• By default, FDS now iterates pressure and velocity at mesh and solid boundaries. You can control the
error tolerance and maximum number of iterations via parameters on the PRES line.

5
Control Functions
• CTRL functions have been extended to include math operations.

• The evaluation of RAMPs and DEVCs can be stopped, freezing their value, based upon the activation of a
device or control function.

Devices and Output

• Multiple pipe networks can be specified for sprinklers for reduction of flow rate based on the number of
operating heads.

• The numerical value of a control function can be output with a DEVC.

• A line of devices can be specified using a number of POINTS on one DEVC line.

• Statistical outputs for RMS, covariance, and correlation coefficient are available.

6
Chapter 2

Getting Started

FDS is a computer program that solves equations that describe the evolution of fire. It is a Fortran program
that reads input parameters from a text file, computes a numerical solution to the governing equations, and
writes user-specified output data to files. Smokeview is a companion program that reads FDS output files
and produces animations on the computer screen. Smokeview has a simple menu-driven interface. FDS
does not. However, there are various third-party programs that have been developed to generate the text file
containing the input parameters needed by FDS.
This guide describes how to obtain FDS and Smokeview and how to use FDS. A separate document [2]
describes how to use Smokeview.

2.1 How to Acquire FDS and Smokeview

The project homepage provides detailed instructions on how to download executables, manuals, source-code
and related utilities.

[Link]

The typical FDS/Smokeview distribution consists of an installation package or compressed archive, which
is available for MS Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Old versions can be kept by copying the old version’s installation directly to another location so that it
is not overwritten when installing a new version.

2.2 Computer Hardware Requirements

The only hard requirement to run the compiled versions of FDS and Smokeview is a 64 bit Windows, Linux,
or macOS operating system. The single computer or compute cluster ought to have fast processors (CPUs),
and at least 2 to 4 GB RAM per core. The CPU speed will determine how long the computation will take to
finish, while the amount of RAM will determine how many mesh cells can be held in memory. A large hard
drive is required to store the output of the calculations since the FDS output for a single calculation may
consume more than 10 GB of storage space.
Most computers purchased within the past few years are adequate for running Smokeview with the
caveat that additional memory (RAM) should be purchased to bring the memory size up to at least 2 GB.
This is so the computer can display results without “swapping” to disk. For Smokeview it is also important
to obtain a fast graphics card for the PC used to display the results of the FDS computations.

7
 Running FDS using MPI requires shared disk access to each computer on which cases will be run. On
Windows systems this involves a domain network with the ability to share folders. On a Linux or macOS
system this involves NFS cross mounted files systems with ssh keys setup for password-less login. For
Multi-Mesh calculations, the FDS can operate over standard 100 Mb/s networks. A gigabit (1000 Mb/s)
network will further reduce network communication times improving data transfer rates between instances
of FDS running the parallel cases.

2.3 Computer Operating System (OS) and Software Requirements

The goal of making FDS and Smokeview publicly available has been to enable practicing engineers to
perform fairly sophisticated simulations at a reasonable cost. Thus, FDS and Smokeview have been designed
for computers running Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux.

MS Windows An installation package is available for the 64 bit Windows operating system. Running
FDS/Smokeview any version of MS Windows released prior to Windows 7 is not recommended.

macOS Pre-compiled executables are installed into a user selected directory using an installation script.
macOS 10.4.x or later is recommended. You can always download the latest version of FDS source
and compile FDS for other versions of macOS (see Chapter 26 for details). Note that Rosetta allows
running FDS compiled on x86-64 architecture on Apple silicon systems; therefore the FDS executable
distributed with the macOS bundle will run on the newer Macs. However, if compiling the source na-
tively on Apple silicon with GNU and Open MPI, it is not currently possible to use the ULMAT pressure
solver (which requires Intel MKL libraries), instead ULMAT HYPRE may be used (see Sec. 21.1.1).

Linux Pre-compiled executables are installed into a user selected directory using an installation script. If
the pre-compiled FDS executable does not work (usually because of library incompatibilities), the FDS
Fortran source code can be downloaded and compiled (See Chapter 26 for details). If Smokeview does
not work on the Linux workstation, you can use the Windows version to view FDS output.

2.4 Installation Testing

If you are running FDS under a quality assurance plan that requires installation testing, a test procedure is
provided in Appendix B of the FDS Verification Guide [4]. This guide can be obtained from the FDS-SMV
website.

8
Chapter 3

Running FDS

Each FDS simulation is controlled by a single text-based input file, typically given a name that helps identify
the particular case, and ending with the file extension .fds. This input file can be written directly with a text
editor or with the help of a third-party graphical user interface (GUI). The simulation is started directly via
the command prompt or through the GUI. The creation of an input file is covered in detail in Part II. This
chapter describes how the simulation is run once the input file is written.
If you are new to FDS and Smokeview, it is strongly suggested that you start with an existing input file,
run it as is, and then make the appropriate changes to the file for your desired scenario. By running a sample
case, you become familiar with the procedure, learn how to use Smokeview, and ensure that your computer
is up to the task before embarking on learning how to create new input files.
Sample input files are included as part of the standard installation. A good case for a first time user is lo-
cated in the sub-folder called Fires within the folder called Examples. Find the file called
simple_test.fds and copy it to a folder on your computer that is not within the installation folder. The
reason for doing this is to avoid cluttering up the installation folder with a lot of output files. Follow the
instructions in Sec. 3.1.2 to run this simple single mesh case. The simulation should only take a few minutes.
Once the simulation is completed, use Smokeview to examine the output. In this way, you will quickly learn
the basics of running and analyzing simulations.

3.1 Computer Basics

3.1.1 A Brief Primer on Computer Hardware
FDS simulations can exploit multiple processing units on a single computer or multiple computers on a
network. Before running an FDS simulation, you should familiarize yourself with your computer hardware.
When using a computer running Microsoft Windows, open up the Task Manager, Performance tab, and
look for the number of sockets, cores, and logical processors1 . The socket refers to the physical connector
on the motherboard that has a power supply and a connection to random access memory (RAM). This is
usually referred to as the central processing unit or CPU. Some motherboards have multiple sockets that can
in turn support multiple CPUs, but for typical Windows desktops or laptops, there is one socket/CPU. Each
CPU, however, typically has multiple cores, and each core is essentially an independent processing unit that
shares access to power and memory. Sometimes cores are referred to as physical cores to distinguish them
from logical cores or logical processors. A logical processor is one of multiple threads that can be supported
1 The terms sockets, cores, and logical processors are used by the Windows 10 Task Manager on a computer using an Intel

processor. These terms might vary with different versions of Windows and different processors.

9
by a core. For the purpose of running FDS on a Windows computer, the number of logical processors is the
most important consideration.
If you are running FDS under any variety of Linux or macOS, you can determine the number of logical
processors using the command “lscpu” for Linux or “sysctl hw” for OS X. These operating systems might
use slightly different terms, but the processors are similar if not the same as those on a Windows computer.

3.1.2 Two Ways to Use Multiple Processors

FDS can be run on a single computer, using one or more cores, or it can be run on multiple computers.
Starting with FDS version 6.2.0, for each supported operating system (Windows, Linux, macOS) there is a
single2 executable file called fds (with an .exe file extension on Windows).
There are two ways that FDS can be run in parallel; that is, exploit multiple cores on a single computer
or multiple processors/cores distributed over multiple computers on a network or compute cluster. The first
way is OpenMP (Open Multi-Processing) [7] which allows a single computer to run a single or multiple
mesh FDS simulation on multiple cores. The use of OpenMP does not require the computational domain to
be broken up into multiple meshes, and it will still work with cases that have multiple meshes defined. The
second way to run FDS in parallel is by way of MPI (Message Passing Interface). Here, the computational
domain must be divided into multiple meshes and typically each mesh is assigned its own process. These
processes can be limited to a single computer, or they can be distributed over a network.

What is OpenMP?
If your simulation involves only a single mesh, you can only run it on one computer, but you can exploit
its multiple processors or cores using OpenMP. When you install FDS, it will query your computer to
determine the number of available cores. By default, FDS will use approximately half of the available
cores3 on a single computer. This is done for two reasons: (1) to prevent taking over your entire machine
when running a simulation, and (2) because using all cores for a single simulation may not minimize the
run time. OpenMP works best when exploiting multiple (logical) cores associated with a single (physical)
processor or “socket”. For example, if your computer has two processors, each with 4 cores, using all 8
cores in an OpenMP simulation may not be worthwhile. You need to experiment with your own machine to
determine the strategy that is best for you. To change the number of cores that are available for a given FDS
simulation, you can set an environment variable called OMP_NUM_THREADS. The way to do this depends on
the operating system and will be explained below.
When the job is started, FDS will print the number of cores being used for that job. Note that this setting
only applies until you log out of or restart your machine. To set the default value of available cores upon
startup, the OMP_NUM_THREADS environment variable can also be set in the startup configuration scripts on
the machine. Refer to the documentation for the machine’s operating system for more information on how
to configure environment variables upon startup.

What is MPI?
MPI (Message-Passing Interface) [8] enables multiple computers, or multiple cores on one computer, to run
a multi-mesh FDS job. The main idea is to break up the FDS domain into multiple meshes, and then the
flow field in each mesh is computed as an MPI process. The process can be thought of as a “task” that you
would see in the Windows Task Manager or by executing the “top” command on a Linux/Unix machine.
2 Previous releases of FDS contained two executables, one that ran on a single processor and one that ran on multiple processors.

Starting with FDS 6.2.0, these two executables have been combined into one, and it can run either in serial or parallel mode.
3 To determine the number of cores used by OpenMP, just type fds at the command prompt.

10
MPI handles the transfer of information between the meshes, i.e. MPI processes. Usually, each mesh is
assigned its own process in an MPI calculation, although it is also possible to assign multiple meshes to a
single MPI process. In this way, large meshes can be computed on dedicated cores, while smaller meshes
can be clustered together in a single process running on a single core, without the need for MPI message
passing.
Also note that FDS refers to its meshes by the numbers 1, 2, 3, and so on, whereas MPI refers to its
processes by the numbers 0, 1, 2, and so on. Thus, Mesh 1 is assigned to Process 0; Mesh 2 to Process 1,
and so on. You do not explicitly number the meshes or the processes yourself, but error statements from
FDS or from MPI might refer to the meshes or processes by number. As an example, if a FDS case with five
meshes, the first printout (usually to the screen unless otherwise directed) is:

Mesh 1 is assigned to MPI Process 0

Mesh 2 is assigned to MPI Process 1
Mesh 3 is assigned to MPI Process 2
Mesh 4 is assigned to MPI Process 3
Mesh 5 is assigned to MPI Process 4

This means that 5 MPI processes (numbered 0 to 4) have started and that each mesh is being handled by its
own process. The processes may be on the same or different computers. Each computer has its own memory
(RAM), but each individual MPI process has its own independent memory, even if the processes are on the
same computer.
There are different implementations of MPI, much like there are different Fortran and C compilers. Each
implementation is essentially a library of subroutines called from FDS that transfer data from one process to
another across a fast network. The format of the subroutine calls has been widely accepted in the community,
allowing different vendors and organizations the freedom to develop better software while working within
an open framework. For macOS, we use Open MPI, an open source implementation that is developed
and maintained by a consortium of academic, research, and industry partners ([Link]). For
Windows and Linux, we use Intel MPI.
MPI and OpenMP can be used together. For example, 4 MPI processes can be assigned to 4 different
computers, and each MPI process can be supported by, say, 8 OpenMP threads, assuming each computer
has 8 cores. Most of the speed up is achieved by the MPI. For a reasonably fast network, you can expect 4
MPI processes to speed up the computation time by a factor of about 0.9 times 4. The OpenMP can provide
an extra factor up to about 2, regardless of the number of cores used beyond about 4.

11
3.2 Launching an FDS Job
To start an FDS simulation, you can either use a third-party graphical user interface (GUI) or you can invoke
the computer’s command prompt and type a one-line command, as described in the following sections.

3.2.1 Single Computer Running MS Windows

Open up the special FDS command prompt, CMDfds, which should appear on your desktop when you
install FDS. By opening this special command prompt, a script is run automatically ensuring that the FDS
commands and libraries are all consistent. Change directories (“cd”) to where the input file for the case is
located. Decide how many logical processes you want to devote to the simulation. Suppose you have 8
logical processors (cores) available, and you have an FDS job that uses 4 meshes, type the following at the
command prompt:

fds_local -p 4 -o 2 job_name.fds

This job will exploit all 4 × 2 = 8 logical processors, which you can confirm by opening the Task Manager.
The -p parameter indicates the number of MPI processes, and the -o indicates the number of OpenMP
threads.
The progress of the simulation is indicated by diagnostic output that is written onto the screen. Detailed
diagnostic information is automatically written to a file job_name.out. Screen output can be redirected to a
file via the alternative command:

fds_local ... job_name.fds > job_name.err

It is recommend that the simulation be run in a folder associated with a drive that is physically attached
to the computer. Saving files to a network share or a folder controlled by a cloud service (e.g. OneDrive) can
result in simulation failures if a network issue or a file lock during automated backup results in Windows
preventing FDS from writing data to a file.

3.2.2 Multiple Computers Running MS Windows

The following procedure is intended for a Windows domain network; that is, a network where user accounts
are centrally managed such that any user can log in to any machine using the same credentials.

1. The first time you run a job, you must provide your domain name and password by issuing this com-
mand:
mpiexec -register

2. Create a text file, say [Link], and in it list, line by line, the names of the computers:
fred:3
wilma:2
dino:3
where the number following the name is the number of MPI processes that you want to invoke on that
computer. The sum of all the numbers should be the number of MPI processes for the job, usually equal
to the number of meshes.

3. Test your network by running the following test program:

mpiexec -machine [Link] test_mpi

12
 If this command returns a “Hello World” message from each of the computers you listed in the [Link]
file, proceed to the next step. If this command fails, check the network connection between the com-
puters by using each computer to “ping” the other computers. Also, make sure that the same version of
FDS is installed on all computers.
4. Share (with both read and write privilege) a working directory on your machine. Do not put this direc-
tory within the “Program Files” folder because it is write-protected. Share the working directory with
everybody so that all other computers can see it. Note how this directory is defined on the other com-
puters. Sometimes it is \\<my_computer>\<my_shared_directory>\ and sometimes it is defined via
the numerical IP address, like \\[Link]\<my_shared_directory>\. The definition depends on
the way your domain name server (DNS) works. Blank spaces in directory names or filenames should
be avoided as they can cause problems unless you are a DOS/Windows expert.
5. Within the command prompt, cd to the working directory. At the command prompt, type:
mpiexec -wdir <working directory> -machinefile [Link] fds job_name.fds
where <working directory> is the full path name of the directory from which the command was
invoked.
If you want to use more than one OpenMP thread per MPI process, add the argument
mpiexec ... -env OMP_NUM_THREADS <threads> fds_openmp job_name.fds
If you accidentally set too many OpenMP threads, you can overload your logical processors and reduce
the job efficiency.
6. If successful, you should see the usual FDS printout indicating which MPI processes are assigned to
which computer. If not successful, check with your network administrator or monitor the FDS help
forums for advice.

3.2.3 macOS
To run a single core FDS job on macOS, cd to the working directory and simply type:

fds job_name.fds

Mac systems tend to be single machines, but may have several cores to utilize. It may be helpful to use
the OpenMP version of the code that is provided in the distribution. To run FDS on macOS with OpenMP
do the following:

export OMP_NUM_THREADS=4 # may be set in ~/.bash_profile as well

fds_openmp job_name.fds

Even if you have only one machine, you may use the cores for MPI (distributed) parallel computing.
You can map one or more meshes to a given MPI process or rank. On macOS, without OpenMP (one core
per MPI process), run a four process job like this:

mpiexec -n 4 fds job_name.fds

To utilize MPI and OpenMP together (4 MPI ranks with 4 OpenMP threads each, requiring 16 total
cores) on macOS do:

export OMP_NUM_THREADS=4
mpiexec -n 4 fds_openmp job_name.fds

13
or

mpiexec -n 4 -x OMP_NUM_THREADS=4 fds_openmp job_name.fds

3.2.4 Linux
A compute cluster that consists of a rack of dedicated compute nodes usually runs one of several variants of
the Linux operating system. In such an environment, it is suggested, or required, that you use a job scheduler
like PBS/Torque or Slurm to submit jobs by writing a short script that includes the command that launches
the job, the amount of resources you require, and so on. Tips for running FDS under Linux or macOS can
be found here.
If you opt to run the job without using a job scheduler, you can issue the commands directly at the
command prompt. It is best to do this only when running short, small jobs, for example when testing a
new computer or a new installation. Do not run large, time-consuming jobs this way because your jobs can
potentially interfere with other scheduled jobs. Here is an example of how to run a job that uses four meshes
where two MPI processes are assigned to node001 and two are assigned to node002:

mpiexec -n 4 -host node001,node002 /home/username/.../fds job_name.fds

When the job starts, you should see print out to the screen that looks like this:

Starting FDS ...

MPI Process 0 started on node001

MPI Process 1 started on node001
MPI Process 2 started on node002
MPI Process 3 started on node002
...
Number of MPI Processes: 4

Note that the pre-compiled packages for either macOS and Linux contain the program mpiexec4 , but they
are not exactly the same on each operating system. The Linux installation of FDS makes use of the Intel
MPI libraries, whereas macOS uses Open MPI. The command shown above works under Linux. There are
many options for mpiexec and it is best to experiment with them using a small, multi-mesh job. Check the
screen printout, and also, if possible, login to the nodes that you have specified and run the top command to
see if your processes are running properly.

3.2.5 Using MPI and OpenMP Together

MPI is the better choice when using multiple meshes because it more efficiently divides the computational
work than OpenMP. However, combining MPI and OpenMP in the same simulation is possible. If you have
multiple computers at your disposal, and each computer has multiple cores, you can assign one MPI process
to each computer, and use multiple cores on each computer to speed up the processing of a given mesh
using OpenMP. Typically, the use of OpenMP speeds the calculation by at most factor of 2, regardless of
how many OpenMP threads you assign to each MPI process. It is usually better to divide the computational
domain into more meshes and set the number of OpenMP threads to 1. This all depends on your particular
OS, hardware, network traffic, and so on. You should choose a good test case and try different meshing and
4 There are two very similar programs used to launch MPI jobs—mpiexec and mpirun. The former is typically used at the

command line and the latter is typically used within a job scheduling script.

14
parallel processing strategies to see what is best for you. The following command runs a 4 mesh FDS job
using 4 MPI processes split over two nodes with 4 OpenMP threads attached to each process (Linux):

mpiexec -n 4 -host node001,node002 -genv OMP_NUM_THREADS 4 /home/username/.../fds_

openmp job_name.fds

When the job starts, you should see print out to the screen that looks like this:

Starting FDS ...

MPI Process 0 started on node001

MPI Process 1 started on node001
MPI Process 2 started on node002
MPI Process 3 started on node002
...
Number of MPI Processes: 4
Number of OpenMP Threads: 4

Note that the name of the FDS executable file is fds_openmp rather than fds because there is a separate
FDS executable that recognizes OpenMP commands. The reason for this is that the compiler’s optimization
strategy changes with and without the presence of OpenMP directives. If OpenMP is not considered in the
compilation, the optimization is faster. Thus, it can sometimes be of no advantage to add extra OpenMP
threads to the MPI processes. Of course, results may be different on different computers with different
hardware. It is best to experiment to see what is best for your situation.

3.2.6 Running Very Large Jobs

Most FDS simulations reported in the literature use one to several dozen meshes, and MPI is the method of
choice to parallelize these jobs. Usually the meshes are mapped to MPI processes in a one-to-one manner
and the meshes contain a comparable number of grid cells. However, it is possible to run FDS jobs that
involve thousands of meshes. In 2016, the FDS developers at NIST were given access to the Oak Ridge
Leadership Computing Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. The facility provides users
access to compute clusters with very large numbers of processors connected via a high speed network. FDS
simulations were performed using up to approximately 10,000 MPI processes. If you have access to facilities
such as this one, here are a few pointers:

1. Use MPI only. OpenMP will probably not speed up the run time appreciably, and it will consume cores
that could be put to better use running more MPI processes.

2. Set DT_CPU to some convenient time interval on the DUMP line. This parameter directs FDS to periodically
write out a file (CHID_cpu.csv) that records the wall clock time that each MPI process consumes in the
major subroutines. This can help you determine if any of the MPI processes spend an inordinate amount
of time idling. Note that the CPU file is written out automatically at the end of the simulation.

3. Run your job for a short amount of time to estimate the time required for the full job. Most large compute
clusters will limit you to a certain amount of wall clock time, after which your job is simply stopped. If
you have to use the restart feature in FDS, practice first with a short job to make sure that the job can be
continued properly.

4. Do a strong scaling study for your particular case. That is, run the job a fixed number of time steps with
the least number of meshes that can fit within the machine’s memory. Then divide the mesh by factors

15
of 2, 4, or 8 until reaching a point where the increased number of meshes/processes does not provide a
significant speed up.

16
3.3 Efficiency of Multi-Process Simulations
At the end of a calculation, FDS prints out a file called CHID_cpu.csv that records the amount of CPU time
that each MPI process spends in the major routines. For example, the column header VELO stands for all the
subroutines related to computing the flow velocity; MASS stands for all the subroutines related to computing
the species mass fractions and density. The column header MAIN represents all of the CPU time that is not
explicitly accounted for; that is, time spend in the main control loop. Ideally, this ought to be a few percent
of the overall CPU time usage.

3.3.1 MPI Efficiency

There are two basic approaches to assessing the efficiency or scalability of MPI. The first is known as “weak
scaling,” in which the amount of work done by each MPI process stays the same and additional processes
are added to solve a larger problem. For example, if you are simulating the wind over a patch of terrain,
and you keep adding more and more meshes of the same physical and numerical dimension, assigning each
new mesh to its own MPI process, so as to simulate a larger and larger patch of terrain, then you would
expect that the overall time of the simulation would not increase significantly with each additional mesh.
The efficiency of such a calculation is given by the following expression:
t1
Ew = (3.1)
tN
where t1 is the CPU time for the case with 1 mesh (MPI process), and tN is the CPU time for the case with
N meshes (MPI processes). The left hand plot of Fig. 3.1 shows the results of a weak scaling study of FDS.
Meshes with dimension 50 by 50 by 50 are lined up side by side, ranging from 1 to 432 meshes. Ideally, the
CPU time ought to be about the same for all cases, because each MPI process is doing the same amount of
work. Only mesh to mesh communication should lead to inefficiencies. However, notice in the figure that
the efficiency of the 1, 2, 4, and 8 mesh cases is greater than those with more MPI processes. The reason
for this is that on most compute clusters, each node has multiple cores, and typically jobs run faster when a
node is less than completely full. These test cases were run at NIST, where there is a compute cluster with
8 cores per node, and one with 12 cores per node.
The second way to assess MPI efficiency is known as “strong scaling.” Here, you simulate a given
scenario on a single mesh, and then you divide the mesh so that the cell size and the overall number of cells
does not change. Ideally, if you divide a given mesh into two and run the case with two MPI processes
instead of one, you would expect computational time to decrease by a factor of two. However, more MPI
processes requires more communication among the processes. Additionally, more meshes results in more
mesh boundary cells to compute, even though the overall number of gas phase cells remains the same. The
efficiency of such a set of calculations is given by:
t1
Es = (3.2)
N tN
In the strong study demonstrated here, a single mesh of dimension 180 by 160 by 120 is divided into a
range of smaller meshes, with the smallest partitioning being 432 meshes of dimension 20 by 20 by 20. The
resulting decrease in the CPU time of the entire calculation and the major subroutines is shown in the right
hand plot of Fig. 3.1. Ideally, the CPU time should be inversely proportional to the number of meshes (MPI
processes); that is, the relative CPU times ought to follow the black dotted lines. The one notable exception
to this rule is for “COMM” or COMMunications. This curve represents the time spent in communicating
information across the network.

17
 FDS-6.9.1-1699-g3a398a1-master FDS-6.9.1-1699-g3a398a1-master
1.2 10 0
Strong Scaling Test Total
Weak Scaling Test DIVG
MASS
1
10 -1 VELO

Relative Wall Clock Time

PRES
COMM
0.8 RADI
MAIN
10 -2
Efficiency

0.6
10 -3
0.4

0.2 10 -4
FDS
Ideal
0 10 -5
1 10 100 1000 1 10 100 1000
MPI Processes MPI Processes

Figure 3.1: Example of a weak (left) and strong (right) scaling study.

3.3.2 OpenMP Efficiency

To confirm the speedup provided by OpenMP, a series of test cases5 are run for two mesh sizes (643 and
1283 ), varying the number of OpenMP threads. The setup is a simple channel flow carrying two extra
species to mimic the scalar transport performed in typical fire problems. The results are shown in Fig. 3.2.
Generally, users can expect a factor of 2 speedup using 4 cores (default setting).
FDS-6.9.1-1699-g3a398a1-master
100
64³
128³
80
Relative clock time (%)

60

40

20

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Number of OpenMP threads

Figure 3.2: Benchmark timing comparison for the OpenMP test cases. The computer that ran these jobs has 2 (physi-
cal) sockets, and each socket has 4 (logical) cores. This explains the decrease in efficiency beyond 4 OpenMP threads.

5 The input files are available in the FDS GitHub repository.

18
3.4 Monitoring Progress
Diagnostics for a given calculation are written into a file called [Link]. The current simulation time
and time step is written here, so you can see how far along the program has progressed. By default, the
diagnostics are written out every 100 time-steps after the first 100 time-steps. A different time interval can
be specified by the user:

&DUMP DIAGNOSTICS_INTERVAL=100 /

At any time during a calculation, Smokeview can be run and the progress can be checked visually.
By default, the diagnostics in the [Link] file are verbose. By default, its value is F for jobs involving
32 Meshes or less, and T for bigger numbers. When running large MPI jobs, quieting this output, which
only written by MPI process 0, may be advantageous. To do this, add

&DUMP SUPPRESS_DIAGNOSTICS=T /

Be aware the output file will not monitor mesh boundary velocity errors in this case; it will echo only the
simulation time and time step. You could still output a BNDF of QUANTITY='VELOCITY ERROR', if necessary.
To stop a calculation before its scheduled time, create a file in the same directory as the output files
called [Link]. The existence of this file stops the program gracefully, causing it to dump out the latest
flow variables for viewing in Smokeview.
Since calculations can extend to hours or days, there is a restart feature in FDS. Details of how to use
this feature are given in Sec. 5.6. Briefly, specify at the beginning of calculation how often a “restart” file
should be saved. Should something happen to disrupt the calculation, like a power outage, the calculation
can be restarted from the time the last restart file was saved.
It is also possible to control the stop time and the time restart files are dumped by using control functions
as described in Sec. 18.5.

19
Chapter 4

User Support

Various problem, some related to FDS and some computer-related, may arise over the course of a project.
FDS is a CPU and memory intensive simulation software that can push the computer’s processor and mem-
ory to its limits. In fact, there are no hardwired bounds within FDS that prevent you from starting a cal-
culation that is too large for your hardware. Even if your machine has adequate memory (RAM), you can
still easily set up calculations that can require weeks or months to complete. Predicting at the start of a
simulation just how long and how much memory will be required is difficult. Learn how to monitor the
resource usage of your computer. Start with small calculations and build your way up.
Although many features in FDS are fairly mature, there are many that are not. FDS is used for practical
engineering applications, but also for research in fire and combustion. As you become more familiar with the
software, you will inevitably run into areas that are of current research interest. Indeed, burning a roomful
of ordinary furniture is one of the most challenging applications of the model. So be patient, and learn to
dissect a given scenario into its constitutive parts. For example, do not attempt to simulate a fire spreading
through an entire floor of a building unless you have simulated the burning of the various combustibles with
relatively small calculations.
Along with the FDS User’s Guide, there are resources available on the Internet. These resources include
an “Issue Tracker” for reporting bugs and requesting new features, a “Discussion Group” for clarifying
questions and discussing more general topics rather than just specific problems, and “Wiki Pages” that
provide supplementary information about FDS-SMV development, third-party tools, and other resources.
Before using these on-line resources, it is important to first try to solve your own problems by performing
simple test calculations or debugging your input file. The next few sections provide a list of error statements
and suggestions on how to solve problems.

4.1 The Version Number

When requesting assistance with FDS problems, it is crucial to submit, along with a description of the
problem, the FDS version number. Each release of FDS comes with a version number, for example 6.7.2,
where the first number is the major release, the second is the minor release, and the third is the maintenance
release. Major releases occur every few years, and as the name implies significantly change the functionality
of the model. Minor releases occur every few months, and may cause minor changes in functionality.
Release notes can help you decide whether the changes should affect the type of applications that you
typically do. Maintenance releases are just bug fixes, and should not affect code functionality. To get the
version number, just type the executable at the command prompt without an input file, and the relevant
information will appear, along with a date of compilation (useful to you) and a so-called Git hash tag (useful
to us). The Git hash tag refers to the GitHub repository number of the source code. It allows anyone to

21
obtain the exact source code files that were used to build that version’s executable.
Get in the habit of checking the version number of your executable, periodically checking for new
releases which might already have addressed your problem, and telling us what version you are using if you
report a problem.

4.2 Common Error Statements

An FDS calculation may end before the specified time limit. Following is a list of common error statements
and how to diagnose the problems:
Input File Errors: The most common errors in FDS are due to mistyped input statements. These errors
result in the immediate halting of the program and a statement like, “ERROR: Problem with the HEAD
line.” For these errors, check the line in the input file named in the error statement. Make sure the
parameter names are spelled correctly. Make sure that a / (forward slash) is put at the end of each
namelist entry. Make sure that the correct type of input data is provided for each input parameter, such
as one real number, several integers, or something else. Make sure there are no non-ASCII characters
being used, as can sometimes happen when text is cut and pasted from other applications or word-
processing software. Make sure that the number zero (0) is not typed as the capital letter O and vice
versa. Make sure that the number one (1) is not an exclamation point (!) or lower case letter l. Make sure
apostrophes are used to designate character strings. Make sure the text file on a Unix/Linux machine
was not created on a Windows machine, and vice versa. Make sure that all the parameters listed are still
being used – new versions of FDS often drop or change parameters forcing you to re-examine old input
files.

Numerical Instability Errors: Input errors are numerical errors during a simulation may result in high ve-
locities in the domain that cause the time step size to decrease to a point1 where logic in the code decides
that the results are unphysical and stops the calculation with an error message in the file [Link]. In
these cases, FDS ends by dumping out one final Plot3D file giving you a hint as to where the error is
occurring within the computational domain. Usually, a numerical instability can be identified by fic-
titiously large velocity vectors emanating from a small region within the domain. Common causes of
such instabilities are:

• mesh cells that have an aspect ratio larger than 2 to 1

• a change in grid resolution of more than a factor of 2 at a mesh interface
• mismatched obstructions or hollow ducts at a mesh interface where the grid resolution changes
• high speed flow through a small opening, in particular openings intended to model leakage. There
are better ways to model leakage, as described in Sec. 10.3.2.
• a sudden change in the heat release rate
• the use of ADIABATIC as a solid phase boundary condition. This parameter should only be used
for testing because no solid material has a thermal conductivity of zero. Using this parameter can
cause unphysical fluctuations at the solid-gas interface.
• the removal or creation of an obstruction, like the opening or closing of a door
• a high (>100 g/mol) molecular weight fuel molecule that is not in the FDS database, Appendix A.
In such cases, reduce the molecular weight but maintain the atom ratios or define the fuel specific
heat on SPEC. See Sec. 12.1.3 for details.
1 By default, the calculation is stopped when the time step drops below 0.0001 of the initial time step. This factor can be changed
via the TIME line by specifying the LIMITING_DT_RATIO.

22
 • long, sealed tunnels, in which pressure fluctuations can cause spurious numerical artifacts. See
Sec. 21 for details.
• large number of automatically generated pressure zones. This can happen when a preprocessor
simply converts CAD geometry stored as faces to thin obstructions. For example, on a 10 cm
grid, a typical interior gypsum board wall will appear in an FDS input file as two thin obstruc-
tions representing the gypsum board enclosing a single grid cell wide volume of air. FDS will
automatically identify these regions as pressure zones; however, they can sometimes result in in-
stabilities developing. The pressure zones identified by FDS can be determined by reviewing the
[Link] file. Telling FDS to automatically fill these zones (see Section 10.3.4) or manually
fixing the geometry to fill the regions can reduce these issues.

There are various ways to solve the problem, depending on the situation. Try to diagnose and fix the
problem before reporting it. The originator of the input file is by far the best person to diagnose the
problem.

Inadequate Computer Resources: The calculation might be using more RAM than the machine has (you
will see an error message like “ERROR: Memory allocation failed for ZZ in the routine INIT”) , or the
output files could have used up all the available disk space. In these situations, the computer may or
may not produce an intelligible error message. Sometimes the computer is just unresponsive. It is your
responsibility to ensure that the computer has adequate resources to do the calculation. Remember, there
is no limit to how big or how long FDS calculations can be – it depends on the resources of the computer.
For any new simulation, try running the case with a modest-sized mesh, and gradually make refinements
until the computer can no longer handle it. Then back off somewhat on the size of the calculation so that
the computer can comfortably run the case. Trying to run with 90 % to 100 % of computer resources is
risky; using MPI and multiple machines would be better. If you are using a Linux/Unix machine, make
sure that the stacksize is unlimited, which will allow FDS to access as much of the RAM as possible.
Changing the stacksize limit differs with each shell type, so it is best to do an on-line search to find out
how to ensure that the stacksize is unlimited.

Run-Time Errors: An error occurs either within the computer operating system or the FDS program. An
error message is printed out by the operating system of the computer onto the screen or into the diag-
nostic output file. This message is most often unintelligible to most people, including the programmers,
although occasionally one might get a small clue if there is mention of a specific problem, like “stack
overflow,” “divide by zero,” or “file write error, unit=...” Sometimes the error message simply refers to a
“Segmentation Fault.” These errors may be caused by a bug in FDS, for example if a number is divided
by zero, or an array is used before it is allocated, or any number of other problems. Before reporting
the error to the Issue Tracker, try to systematically simplify the input file until the error goes away. This
process usually brings to light some feature of the calculation responsible for the problem and helps in
the debugging.

MPI Timeout Errors: If there is an error or delay in communication from one MPI (Message Passing
Interface) process to another, you might see an error statement like “ERROR: MPI exchange ... timed
out for MPI process ...” This indicates that, for whatever reason, an MPI message never reached its
destination and the program shut down. The input parameter MPI_TIMEOUT, specified on the MISC line,
sets the time that FDS waits for the communication to complete. By default, it is 600 s. This is an
extremely long period of time to wait for an MPI communication to complete and it typically means
that something has gone very wrong. If you believe that there is a reason for the delay, for example one
mesh is much bigger in size or has much more work to do than other meshes, then set MPI_TIMEOUT to
a larger value and hope for the best. However, the timeout might indicate that there is something wrong

23
 with the way the calculation has been set up, or something wrong with your network and the particular
communication fabric that it uses. If you cannot determine the problem, submit a simple version of the
case that fails to the Issue Tracker.

Mesh Connection Error: If the arrangement of meshes is complicated, FDS may not be able to sort out
which mesh is connected to which, and typically the error message “Mesh connection test timed out
for MPI process ...” appears early in the simulation, before any time-stepping occurs. One possible
remedy to this problem, besides simplifying the mesh arrangement, is to ensure that the fine meshes or
any embedded meshes are listed first in the input file. That way, FDS has a better chance of registering
the proper connections between meshes.

File Writing Errors: Occasionally, especially on Windows machines, FDS fails because it is not permitted
to write to a file. A typical error statement reads:

forrtl: severe (47): write to READONLY file, unit 8598, file C:\Users\...\

The unit, in this case 8598, is just a number that FDS has associated with one of the output files. If this
error occurs just after the start of the calculation, you can try adding the phrase
FLUSH_FILE_BUFFERS=F
on the DUMP line of the input file (see Sec. 22.1). This will prevent FDS from attempting to flush
the contents of the internal buffers, something it does to make it possible to view the FDS output in
Smokeview during the FDS simulation. On some Windows machines, you might encounter security
settings that prevent command line programs such as FDS from writing to system folders that contain
program files. In this case, try to rerun the case in a non-system folder (i.e., a location within your home
directory).

Poisson Initialization: Sometimes at the very start of a calculation, an error appears stating that there is a
problem with the “Poisson initialization.” The equation for pressure in FDS is known as the Poisson
equation. The Poisson solver consists of large system of linear equations that must be initialized at the
start of the calculation. Most often, an error in the initialization step is due to a mesh IJK dimension
being less than 4 (except in the case of a two-dimensional calculation). It is also possible that something
is fundamentally wrong with the coordinates of the computational domain. Diagnose the problem by
checking the MESH lines in the input file.

4.3 Support Requests and Bug Tracking

Because FDS development is on-going, problems will inevitably occur with various routines and features.
The developers need to know if a certain feature is not working, and reporting problems is encouraged.
However, the problem must be clearly identified. The best way to do this is to simplify the input file as
much as possible so that the bug can be diagnosed (i.e., create and submit a minimal working example).
Also, limit the bug reports to those features that clearly do not work. Physical problems such as fires that do
not ignite, flames that do not spread, etc., may be related to the mesh resolution or scenario formulation, and
you need to investigate the problem first before reporting it. If an error message originates from the operating
system as opposed to FDS, first investigate some of the more obvious possibilities, such as memory size,
disk space, etc.
If that does not solve the problem, report the problem with as much information about the error message
and circumstances related to the problem. The input file should be simplified as much as possible so that the
bug occurs early in the calculation. Attach the simplified input file if necessary, following the instructions

24
provided at the web site. In this way, the developers can quickly run the problematic input file and hopefully
diagnose the problem.
Note: Reports of specific bugs, problems, feature requests, and enhancements should be posted to the
Issue Tracker and not the Discussion Group.

25
 Part II

Writing an FDS Input File

27
Chapter 5

The Basic Structure of an Input File

5.1 Naming the Input File

The operation of FDS is based on a single ASCII1 text file containing parameters organized into namelist2
groups. The input file provides FDS with all of the necessary information to describe the scenario. The
input file is saved with a name such as job_name.fds, where job_name is any character string that helps to
identify the simulation. If this same string is repeated under the HEAD namelist group within the input file,
then all of the output files associated with the calculation will then have this common prefix name.
There should be no blank spaces in the job name. Instead use the underscore character to represent
a space. Using an underscore characters instead of a space also applies to the general practice of naming
directories on your system.
Be aware that FDS will simply over-write the output files of a given case if its assigned name is the
same. This is convenient when developing an input file because you save on disk space. Just be careful not
to overwrite a calculation that you want to keep.

5.2 Namelist Formatting

Parameters are specified within the input file by using namelist formatted records. Each namelist record
begins with the ampersand character, &, followed immediately by the name of the namelist group, then a
comma-delimited list of the input parameters, and finally a forward slash, /. For example, the line

&DUMP NFRAMES=1800, DT_HRR=10., DT_DEVC=10., DT_PROF=30. /

sets various values of parameters contained in the DUMP namelist group. The meanings of these various
parameters will be explained in subsequent chapters. The namelist records can span multiple lines in the
input file, but just be sure to end the record with a slash or else the data will not be understood. Do not add
anything to a namelist line other than the parameters and values appropriate for that group. Otherwise, FDS
will stop immediately upon execution.
Parameters within a namelist record can be separated by either commas, spaces, or line breaks. It is
recommended that you use commas or line breaks, and never use tab stops because they are not explicitly
defined in the namelist data structure. Comments and notes can be written into the file so long as nothing
comes before the ampersand except a space and nothing comes between the ampersand and the slash except
appropriate parameters corresponding to that particular namelist group.
1 ASCII – American Standard Code for Information Interchange. There are 128 characters that make up the standard ASCII text.
2A namelist is a Fortran input record.

29
 The parameters in the input file can be integers, reals, character strings, or logical parameters. A logical
parameter (outside of Fortran known as boolean parameter) is either T (for True) or F (for False). The
periods following numbers (e.g. 10.) are a convention for specifying a real as opposed to an integer (10.
is equivalent to 10.0). Character strings that are listed in this User’s Guide must be copied exactly as
written – the code is case sensitive and underscores do matter. The maximum length of most character input
parameters is 60.
Most of the input parameters are simply real or integer scalars, like DT=0.02, but sometimes the inputs
are multidimensional arrays. For example, when describing a particular solid surface, you need to express
the mass fractions of multiple materials that are to be found in multiple layers. The input array MATL_MASS_
FRACTION(IL,IC) is intended to convey to FDS the mass fraction of component IC of layer IL. For example,
if the mass fraction of the second material of the third layer is 0.5, then write

MATL_MASS_FRACTION(3,2)=0.5

To enter more than one mass fraction, use this notation:

MATL_MASS_FRACTION(1,1:3)=0.5,0.4,0.1

which means that the first three materials of layer 1 have mass fractions of 0.5, 0.4, and 0.1, respectively.
The notation 1:3 means array elements 1 through 3, inclusive.
Note that character strings can be enclosed either by single or double quotation marks. Be careful not
to create the input file by pasting text from something other than a simple text editor, in which case the
punctuation marks may not transfer properly into the text file.
Some text file encodings may not work on all systems. If file reading errors occur and no typographical
errors can be found in the input file, try saving the input file using a different encoding. For example, the
text file editor Notepad works fine on a Windows PC, but a file edited in Notepad may not work on Linux
or macOS because of the difference in line endings between Windows and Unix/Linux operating systems.
Other text editors, such as Notepad++, typically work better, but try a simple case first.

5.3 Input File Structure

In general, the namelist records can be entered in any order in the input file, but it is a good idea to organize
them in some systematic way. Typically, general information is listed near the top of the input file, and
detailed information, like obstructions, devices, and so on, are listed below. FDS scans the entire input file
each time it processes a particular namelist group. With some text editors, it has been noticed that the last
line of the file is often not read by FDS because of the presence of an “end of file” character. To ensure that
FDS reads the entire input file, add

&TAIL /

as the last line at the end of the input file. This completes the file from &HEAD to &TAIL. FDS does not even
look for this last line. It just forces the “end of file” character past relevant input.
Another general rule of thumb when writing input files is to only add parameters that make a change
from the default value. That way, you can more easily distinguish between what you want and what FDS
wants. Add comments liberally to the file, so long as these comments do not fall within the namelist records.
The general structure of an input file is shown below, with many lines of the original validation input
3
file removed for clarity.
3 The actual input file, WTC_05.fds, is part of the FDS Validation Suite

30
&HEAD CHID='WTC_05', TITLE='WTC Phase 1, Test 5' /
&MESH IJK=90,36,38, XB=-1.0,8.0,-1.8,1.8,0.0,3.82 /
&TIME T_END=5400. /
&MISC TMPA=20. /
&DUMP NFRAMES=1800, DT_HRR=10., DT_DEVC=10., DT_PROF=30. /

&REAC FUEL = 'N-HEPTANE'

FYI = 'Heptane, C_7 H_16'
C = 7.
H = 16.
CO_YIELD = 0.008
SOOT_YIELD = 0.015 /

&OBST XB= 3.5, 4.5,-1.0, 1.0, 0.0, 0.0, SURF_ID='STEEL FLANGE' / Fire Pan
...
&SURF ID = 'STEEL FLANGE'
COLOR = 'BLACK'
MATL_ID = 'STEEL'
BACKING = 'EXPOSED'
THICKNESS = 0.0063 /
...
&VENT MB='XMIN', SURF_ID='OPEN' /
...
&SLCF PBY=0.0, QUANTITY='TEMPERATURE', VECTOR=T /
...
&BNDF QUANTITY='GAUGE HEAT FLUX' /
...
&DEVC XYZ=6.04,0.28,3.65, QUANTITY='VOLUME FRACTION', SPEC_ID='OXYGEN', ID='EO2_FDS' /
...
&TAIL / End of file.

It is recommended that when looking at a new scenario, first select a pre-written input file that resembles
the case, make the necessary changes, then run the case at fairly low mesh resolution to determine if the
file is set up correctly. It is best to start off with a relatively simple file that captures the main features
of the problem without getting tied down with too much detail that might mask a fundamental flaw in the
calculation. Initial calculations ought to be meshed coarsely so that the run times are less than an hour and
corrections can easily be made without wasting too much time. As you learn how to write input files, you
will continually run and re-run your case as you add in complexity.
Table 5.1 provides a quick reference to all the namelist parameters and where you can find the reference
to where it is introduced in the document and the table containing all of the keywords for each group.

31
 Table 5.1: Namelist Group Reference Table

Group Name Namelist Group Description Reference Section Parameter Table

BNDF Boundary File Output 22.5 23.2
CATF Concatenate Input Files 5.4 23.3
CLIP Clipping Parameters 19.5 23.4
COMB Combustion Parameters 13 23.5
CSVF Initialization File 20.5 23.6
CTRL Control Function Parameters 18.5 23.7
DEVC Device Parameters 18.1 23.8
DUMP Output Parameters 22 23.9
GEOM Unstructured Geometry 7.3 23.10
HEAD Input File Header 6.1 23.11
HOLE Obstruction Cutout 7.2.8 23.12
HVAC Heating, Vent., Air Cond. 10.2 23.13
INIT Initial Condition 20 23.14
ISOF Isosurface File Output 22.6 23.15
MATL Material Property 8.3 23.16
MESH Mesh Parameters 6.3 23.17
MISC Miscellaneous 19 23.18
MOVE Transformation Parameters 11.4 23.19
MULT Multiplier Parameters 7.6 23.20
OBST Obstruction 7.2 23.21
PART Lagrangian Particle 15 23.22
PRES Pressure Solver Parameters 21 23.23
PROF Profile Output 22.3 23.24
PROP Device Property 18.3 23.25
RADF Radiation Output File 22.10.14 23.26
RADI Radiation 14.1 23.27
RAMP Ramp Profile 11 23.28
REAC Reaction Parameters 13 23.29
SLCF Slice File Output 22.4 23.30
SPEC Species Parameters 12 23.32
SURF Surface Properties 7.1 23.33
TABL Tabulated Particle Data 18.3.1 23.34
TIME Simulation Time 6.2 23.35
TRNX Mesh Stretching 6.3.5 23.36
VENT Vent Parameters 7.4 23.37
WIND Wind Parameters 16.2 23.38
ZONE Pressure Zone Parameters 10.3 23.39

32
5.4 Concatenating Input Files
The namelist group CATF allows for the inclusion of input information from different files into a simulation.
The input line:

&CATF OTHER_FILES='file_1.txt','file_2.txt' /

adds the contents of the two listed files into the current input file. The contents of the other files will be
inserted at the location of each respective CATF line in the input file. Up to 20 files can be listed on one CATF
line, and multiple CATF lines can be included in the input file. After reading the input file, FDS creates a
new input file, CHID_cat.fds, and then runs the case.
When using this feature, limit the number of characters per line in both the original and added input files
to 400.

5.5 Protecting Old Cases

When you run a job that has been run previously, FDS will automatically overwrite the old output with new.
If you do not want this to happen, set OVERWRITE=F on the MISC line, in which case FDS will check for the
existence of previously created output files and stop execution if they exist.

5.6 Stopping and Restarting Calculations (.restart)

An important MISC parameter is called RESTART. Normally, a simulation consists of a sequence of events
starting from ambient conditions. However, there are occasions when you might want to stop a calculation,
make a few limited adjustments, and then restart the calculation from that point in time. To do this, first
bring the calculation to a halt gracefully by creating a file called [Link] in the directory where the output
files are located. Remember that FDS is case-sensitive. The file name must be exactly the same as the CHID
and ‘stop’ should be lower case. If you have a CATF line in your input, you will need to use CHID_cat.stop.
FDS checks for the existence of this file at each time step, and if it finds it, gracefully shuts down the
calculation after first creating a file (or files in the case of a multiple mesh job) called [Link] (or
CHID_nn.restart). To restart a job, the file(s) [Link] should exist in the working directory, and the
phrase RESTART=T needs to be added to the MISC line of the input data file. For example, suppose that the
job whose CHID is “plume” is halted by creating a dummy file called [Link] in the directory where all
the output files are being created. To restart this job from where it left off you will need to delete the file
[Link] so that FDS does not immediately stop the calculation and add RESTART=T to the MISC line of
the input file [Link], or whatever you have chosen to name the input file. The existence of a restart file
with the same CHID as the original job tells FDS to continue saving the new data in the same files as the old4 .
If RESTART_CHID is also specified on the MISC line, then FDS will look for old output files tagged with this
string instead of using the specified CHID on the HEAD line. In this case, the new output files will be tagged
with CHID, and the old output files will not be altered. When running the restarted job, the diagnostic output
of the restarted job is appended to output files from the original job.
There may be times when you want to save restart files periodically during a run as insurance against
power outages or system crashes. If this is the case, at the start of the original run set DT_RESTART=50. on
the DUMP line to save restart files every 50 s, for example. The default for DT_RESTART is 1000000, meaning
4 By default, when a job is restarted, the spreadsheet output files will be appended at the time the job was restarted, not the time
the job was stopped. If you want the output files to be appended without clipping off any existing data, even though some duplicate
output will be left over, then set CLIP_RESTART_FILES to F on the DUMP line.

33
no restart files are created unless you gracefully stop a job by creating a dummy file called [Link]. The
control function feature (see Sec. 18.5) can be used to stop a calculation or dump a restart file when the
computation reaches some measurable condition such as the first sprinkler activation.
Between job stops and restarts, major changes cannot be made in the calculation like adding or removing
vents and obstructions. The changes are limited to those parameters that do not instantly alter the existing
flow field. For example, changing the output frequency of data sent to the heat release rate (*_hrr.csv) or
device (*_devc.csv) files, or even slice file output. The new frequency is set on the DUMP line (see Table
23.9 for a complete list of output frequencies). If no frequency is set on the new run, the frequency from the
previous run is maintained. However, this is not true of DT_RESTART; if no DT_RESTART is present for the
new run, then no restart files will be written (this prevents overwrites of old restart files).
Since the restart capability has been used infrequently by the developers, it should be considered a
fragile construct. Examine the output to ensure that no sudden or unexpected events occur during the stop
and restart.

34
Chapter 6

Setting the Bounds of Time and Space

This chapter describes global input parameters that affect the general scope of the simulation, like the simu-
lation time and the size and extent of the computational domain. Essentially, these parameters establish the
spatial and temporal coordinate systems that are used by all other components of the simulation, which is
why these parameters are usually listed at the top of the input file and why they are described here first.

6.1 Naming the Job

The first thing to do when setting up an input file is to give the job a name. The name of the job is important
because often a project involves numerous simulations in which case the names of the individual simulations
should be meaningful and help to organize the project. The namelist group HEAD contains two parameters,
as in this example:

&HEAD CHID='WTC_05', TITLE='WTC Phase 1, Test 5' /

CHID stands for Character ID, it is a string of 50 characters or less used to tag the output files. If, for
example, CHID='WTC_05', it is convenient to name the input data file WTC_05.fds so that the input file
can be associated with the output files. No periods or spaces are allowed in CHID because the output
files are tagged with suffixes that are meaningful to certain computer operating systems. If CHID is not
specified, then it will be set to the name of the input file minus everything at and beyond the first period.

TITLE is a string of 256 characters or less that describes the simulation. It is simply a descriptive text that
is passed to various output files.

35
6.2 Simulation Time
TIME is the name of a group of parameters that define the time duration of the simulation and the initial time
step used to advance the solution of the discretized equations.

6.2.1 Basics
Usually, only the duration of the simulation is required on this line, via the parameter T_END. The default is
1 s. For example, the following line will instruct FDS to run the simulation for 5400 s.

&TIME T_END=5400. /

If T_END is set to zero, only the set-up work is performed, allowing you to quickly check the geometry in
Smokeview.
To start the time line a number other than zero, use the parameter T_BEGIN to specify the time written
to file for the first time step. This would be useful for matching time lines of experimental data or video
recordings.

6.2.2 Controlling the Time Step

The initial time step size can be specified with DT. This parameter is normally set automatically by divid-
ing the size of a mesh cell by the characteristic velocity of the flow. During the calculation, the time step
is adjusted so that the CFL (Courant, Friedrichs, Lewy) condition is satisfied. The default value of DT is
1 √
(δ x δ y δ z) 3 /Vchar s. In this formula, the characteristic velocity scale is estimated to be Vchar = 0.2 gH m/s,
where δ x, δ y, and δ z are the dimensions of the smallest mesh cell, H is the height of the computational do-
main, and g is the acceleration of gravity. Physically the characteristic velocity is an estimate of the average
velocity of a buoyant plume over the height of the computational domain which provides a reasonable initial
guess for the time step in a typical fire simulation. By default, the time step is not allowed to increase above
its initial value. To allow this to happen, set RESTRICT_TIME_STEP=F
If something sudden is to happen right at the start of a simulation, like a sprinkler activation, setting the
initial time step to avoid a numerical instability caused by too large a time step is beneficial. Experiment
with different values of DT by monitoring the initial time step sizes recorded in the output file job_name.out.
At the end of the first part of the explicit predictor-corrector time update, the time step is checked to
ensure that it is within the appropriate stability bounds. If it is not, it is adjusted up or down by 10 % (or
until it is within limits) and the predictor part of the time step is re-run. If you want to prevent FDS from
automatically changing the time step, set LOCK_TIME_STEP equal to T on the TIME line, in which case the
specified time step, DT, will not be adjusted. This parameter is intended for diagnostic purposes only, for
example, timing program execution. It can lead to numerical instabilities if the initial time step is set too
high.
The diagnostic output file called [Link] contains information about the time step and CFL number in
each mesh. However, for simulations that involve dozens or hundreds of meshes, assessing the global time
step information can be difficult. For detailed information about the time step, there is an optional output
file called CHID_cfl.csv that contains, for every time step, the time (s), time step size (s), maximum CFL
number, the mesh and mesh indices where the maximum CFL value occurs, the six velocity components
on the six faces of the grid cell where the maximum CFL number occurs, and the divergence (1/s), viscos-
ity (kg/m/s), HRRPUV (kW/m3 ), and combustion mixing time (s) where the maximum CFL occurs. Also
listed is the maximum VN (Von Neumann) number and the mesh and cell indices were it occurs. To output
this file, set CFL_FILE to T on the DUMP line. It is normally set to F.

36
The Final Time Step
In some special circumstances controlling the final time step of the calculation may be necessary. By default,
FDS sets the last time step to be T_END - T where T is the current time. Because of floating point arithmetic,
this final time step may be very small and cause unintended consequences. You can control this final time
step in two ways, using the parameters DT_END_MINIMUM or DT_END_FILL (you should not need both). Using
DT_END_MINIMUM has the effect of setting a minimum for the final time step and so T_END is not strictly
observed (hence our default DT_END_MINIMUM is roughly the machine epsilon). The final simulation time
will be T + DT_END_MINIMUM. Alternatively, you could set DT_END_FILL to some value (should be less
than the last time step). Then if T+DT+DT_END_FILL > T_END, where DT is the computed stable time step
(or specified time step), FDS will recompute the time step to be DT = T_END - T. If you set one of these
parameters, double check the [Link] file to make sure the expected behavior has been observed.

Simulation Time Ramp

WARNING: This feature should only be used for verification purposes.

There may be situations where you would like to specify the time step sequence in FDS, most likely to make
a comparison with another application. You can add a TIME_RAMP to the TIME line where the independent
variable, T, specifies the end-of-time-step value of the time (s). The simulation time steps will then take on
the value of the increments between the ramp values. The first time step will be the first value of the ramp
minus T_BEGIN. For example, the following code snippet specifies the time values for the plot in Fig. 6.1,
which simply outputs ambient temperature values at the specified time snapshots.

&TIME T_BEGIN=0., T_END=10., RAMP_TIME='time-ramp' /

&RAMP ID='time-ramp', T=1 /
&RAMP ID='time-ramp', T=2 /
&RAMP ID='time-ramp', T=5 /
&RAMP ID='time-ramp', T=7 /
&RAMP ID='time-ramp', T=9 /

FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
30
Ramp Time (ramp_time)
25

20
Temperature

Expected
15 FDS

10

0
0 2 4 6 8 10
Time (s)

Figure 6.1: An example of ramping the simulation time values.

37
6.2.3 Steady-State Applications
Occasionally, there are applications in which only the steady-state solution (in a time-averaged sense) is
desired. In a time-dependent code such as FDS, reaching steady-state requires that the simulation be run long
enough that a steady-state flow field and gas temperature field develops and that steady-state temperature
profiles develop in solid surfaces. Developing steady-state temperature profiles can take a long time as the
surface must be heated up in-depth. This can make the cost of the calculation prohibitive. Given steady-
state boundary conditions, the time it takes a surface to heat up is proportional to its specific heat. Therefore,
under steady conditions, this time can be accelerated by reducing the specific heat. So that the SPECIFIC_
HEAT inputs on MATL can remain the same but still provide a means to reduce the heating time of a surface,
the MISC input of TIME_SHRINK_FACTOR can be used. The SPECIFIC_HEAT inputs on MATL are reduced by
this factor. For a TIME_SHRINK_FACTOR of 10, the specific heats of the various materials is reduced by a
factor of 10. This speeds up the heating of solid materials roughly by a factor of 10. An example of an
application where this parameter is handy is a validation experiment where a steady heat source warms up a
compartment to a nearly equilibrium state at which point time-averaged flow quantities are measured.
TIME_SHRINK_FACTOR does not reduce the time for the flow and gas temperature fields to develop;
however, these often develop much faster than the wall temperature profile.
Note that when TIME_SHRINK_FACTOR is used a device with QUANTITY='TIME' or a device or control
function with a DELAY will have those values adjusted by the value of TIME_SHRINK_FACTOR. For example
if a 10 s DELAY is specified for a CTRL input with a TIME_SHRINK_FACTOR of 10, then FDS will adjust the
DELAY to 1 s. However, use of time based device or control functions that change the simulation implies a
non-steady scenario where the use of TIME_SHRINK_FACTOR may no longer be appropriate.

38
6.3 Computational Meshes
All FDS calculations must be performed within a domain that is made up of rectilinear volumes called
meshes. Each mesh is divided into rectangular cells, the number of which depends on the desired resolution
of the flow dynamics. MESH is the namelist group that defines the computational domain.

6.3.1 Basics
A mesh is a single right parallelepiped, i.e., a box. The coordinate system within a mesh conforms to the
right hand rule. The origin point of a mesh is defined by the first, third and fifth values of the real number
sextuplet, XB, and the opposite corner is defined by the second, fourth and sixth values. For example,

&MESH IJK=10,20,30, XB=0.0,1.0,0.0,2.0,0.0,3.0 /

defines a mesh that spans the volume starting at the origin and extending 1 m in the positive x direction, 2 m
in the positive y direction, and 3 m in the positive z direction. The mesh is subdivided into uniform cells
via the parameter IJK. In this example, the mesh is divided into 10 cm cubes. It is best if the mesh cells
resemble cubes; that is, the length, width and height of the cells ought to be roughly the same. Non-uniform
mesh cells in particular direction may be specified using the namelist groups TRNX, TRNY and/or TRNZ (See
Sec. 6.3.5).
Any obstructions or vents that extend beyond the boundary of the mesh are cut off at the boundary. There
is no penalty for defining objects outside of the mesh, and these objects will not appear in Smokeview.
The pressure solver in FDS employs Fast Fourier Transforms (FFTs) in the y and z directions, and this
algorithm works most efficiently if the number of cells in these directions (the J and K of IJK) can be factored
into low prime numbers, like 2, 3, and 5. The number of cells in the x direction (the I in IJK) is not affected
by this restriction because the pressure solver does not use an FFT in the x direction. However, since the
pressure solver uses less than 10 % of the total CPU time, the gains in using low prime dimensions are
usually negligible. Experiment with different mesh dimensions to ensure that those that are ultimately used
do not unduly slow down the calculation.

6.3.2 Two-Dimensional and Axially-Symmetric Calculations

The governing equations solved in FDS are written in terms of a three dimensional Cartesian coordinate
system. However, a two dimensional Cartesian or two dimensional cylindrical (axially-symmetric) calcu-
lation can be performed by setting the J in the IJK triplet to 1 on the MESH line. For axial symmetry, add
CYLINDRICAL=T to the MESH line, and the coordinate x is then interpreted as the radial coordinate r. If more
than one mesh is used, all the meshes must be specified as 2-D or CYLINDRICAL—you cannot mix 2-D,
3-D and cylindrical geometries. No boundary conditions should be set at the planes y = YMIN=XB(3) or
y = YMAX=XB(4), nor at r = XMIN=XB(1) in an axially-symmetric calculation if r = XB(1)=0 (Note that
XB(1) does not have to be 0). For better visualizations, the difference between XB(4) and XB(3) should be
small so that the Smokeview rendering appears to be in 2-D. An example of an axially-symmetric helium
plume is given in Sec. 21.2.
When processing results for a CYLINDRICAL simulation, note that integrated output quantities with the
SPATIAL_STATISTIC attribute apply only to the specified 2-D or cylindrical coordinates. Thus, the cylindri-
cal coordinates define a cylindrical sector, like a slice of cake, even though Smokeview will not render it this
way. The fully integrated quantity can be calculated by multiplying the reported value by 2π δ θ , where δ θ
is the difference between YMAX and YMIN in radians. The values chosen for YMAX and YMIN do not matter as
long as the rendering in Smokeview is to your liking.

39
 When performing solid phase heat transfer while using a 2-D CYLINDRICAL coordinate system, you
must designate GEOMETRY='CYLINDRICAL' on a surface (SURF line) that is facing radially outward (positive
r direction) or GEOMETRY='INNER CYLINDRICAL' on a surface that is facing radially inward (negative r
direction). In the latter instance, you must also specify the INNER_RADIUS (m) of the cylinder. For the outer
cylindrical boundary, specify an INNER_RADIUS if appropriate. Its default value is 0 m. Because your inward
and outward facing boundaries might occur at various radii, you must create separate SURF lines for each
with the appropriate values of GEOMETRY and INNER_RADIUS. For an obstruction (OBST), use SURF_ID6 to
assign individual SURF IDs to each of the six faces. Because this is a 2-D simulation, the third and fourth
entries representing the SURF IDs in the y or angular direction can just be designated 'INERT'.

6.3.3 Multiple Meshes

The term “multiple meshes” means that the computational domain consists of more than one computational
mesh, usually connected although this is not required. If more than one mesh is used, there should be a
MESH line for each. The order in which these lines are entered in the input file matters. In general, the
meshes should be entered from finest to coarsest. FDS assumes that a mesh listed first in the input file has
precedence over a mesh listed second if the two meshes overlap. Meshes can overlap, abut, or not touch
at all. In the last case, essentially two separate calculations are performed with no communication at all
between them. Obstructions and vents are entered in terms of the overall coordinate system and need not
apply to any one particular mesh. Each mesh checks the coordinates of all the geometric entities and decides
whether or not they are to be included.

Figure 6.2: An example of a multiple-mesh geometry.

To run FDS in parallel using MPI (Message Passing Interface), you must break up the computational
domain into multiple meshes so that the workload can be divided among the processes. In general, running
multiple mesh cases using MPI is better if you have the resources available, but be aware that two processes

40
will not necessarily finish the job in half the time as one. For MPI to work well, there has to be a comparable
number of cells assigned to each MPI process, or otherwise most of the processes will sit idle waiting for
the one with the largest number of cells to finish processing each time step. You can use multiple meshes on
a single processor without using MPI , in which case one CPU will serially process each mesh, one by one.
If your meshes are uniformly spaced, you can use the MULT feature (Section 7.6) to arrange them. For
example, the lines

&MESH IJK=24,24,24, XB=-0.12,-0.06,-0.12,-0.06,-0.12,-0.06, MULT_ID='mesh' /

&MULT ID='mesh', DX=0.06, DY=0.06, DZ=0.06, I_UPPER=3, J_UPPER=3, K_UPPER=3 /

create a 4 by 4 by 4 array of meshes, each of which is 0.06 m on a side.

Usually in an MPI calculation, each mesh is assigned its own process, and each process its own proces-
sor. However, both assigning more than one mesh to a single process and assigning more than one process
to a single processor is possible. Consider a case that involves six meshes:

&MESH ID='mesh1', IJK=..., XB=..., MPI_PROCESS=0 /

&MESH ID='mesh2', IJK=..., XB=..., MPI_PROCESS=1 /
&MESH ID='mesh3', IJK=..., XB=..., MPI_PROCESS=1 /
&MESH ID='mesh4', IJK=..., XB=..., MPI_PROCESS=2 /
&MESH ID='mesh5', IJK=..., XB=..., MPI_PROCESS=3 /
&MESH ID='mesh6', IJK=..., XB=..., MPI_PROCESS=3 /

The parameter MPI_PROCESS instructs FDS to assign that particular mesh to the given process. In this case,
only four processes are to be started, numbered 0 through 3. Note that the processes need to be invoked in
ascending order, starting with 0. Why would you do this? Suppose you only have four processors available
for this job. By starting only four processes instead of six, you can save time because ‘mesh2’ and ‘mesh3’
can communicate directly with each other without having to transmit data using MPI calls over the network.
Same goes for ‘mesh5’ and ‘mesh6’. In essence, it is as if these mesh pairs are neighbors and need not send
mail to each other via the postal system. The letters can just be walked next door.
For cases involving many meshes, you might want to assign them colors using either the character string
COLOR or the integer triplet RGB. You may also want to consider using the multiplying feature to easily create
a 3-D array of meshes. See Sec. 7.6 for details.
One other useful parameter for larger MPI jobs is called VERBOSE on the MISC line. This logical param-
eter suppresses information related to MPI process and OpenMP thread assignments that is printed to the
diagnostic output files. By default, its value is T for MPI jobs involving 50 or less processes, and F for larger
jobs.

6.3.4 Mesh Alignment

Whether the calculation is to be run using MPI or not, the rules of prescribing multiple meshes are similar,
with some issues to keep in mind. The most important rule of mesh alignment is that abutting cells ought to
have the same cross sectional area, or integral ratios, as shown in Fig. 6.3.
The following rules of thumb should also be followed when setting up a multiple mesh calculation:

• When running multi-mesh calculations you need to closely monitor VELOCITY_ERROR at mesh interfaces,
which is reported in the [Link] file. Check that you are not consistently hitting the MAX_PRESSURE_
ITERATIONS, which defaults to 10. If you are, then this indicates a potential problem and you may
consider increasing this value to 20 or even 100 in some cases. Velocity errors are proportional to mass
loss errors. If your errors are too large for your application, you may need to tighten the VELOCITY_
TOLERANCE or else consider using a different pressure solver, see Sec. 21.1.

41
 This is the ideal kind of mesh to mesh
alignment.

This is allowed so long as there are an in-

tegral number of fine cells abutting each
coarse cell and each coarse cell only sees
fine cells from one mesh.

This is allowed, but of questionable

value.

This is not allowed because each large

cell must be completely covered by small
ones.

This is not allowed because there is a

coarse cell which sees fine cells from two
different meshes.

This is not allowed because there is a non-

integral number of fine cells abutting each
coarse cell.

Figure 6.3: Rules governing the alignment of meshes.

42
 • In general, there is little advantage to overlapping meshes because information is only exchanged at
exterior boundaries. This means that a mesh that is completely embedded within another receives infor-
mation at its exterior boundary, but the larger mesh receives no information from the mesh embedded
within. Essentially, the larger, usually coarser, mesh is doing its own simulation of the scenario and
is not affected by the smaller, usually finer, mesh embedded within it. Details within the fine mesh,
especially related to fire growth and spread, may not be picked up by the coarse mesh. In such cases,
it is preferable to isolate the detailed fire behavior within one mesh, and position coarser meshes at the
exterior boundary of the fine mesh. Then the fine and coarse meshes mutually exchange information.

• Be careful when using the shortcut convention of declaring an entire face of the domain to be an OPEN
vent. Every mesh takes on this attribute. See Sec. 7.4 for more details.

• If a planar obstruction is close to where two meshes abut, make sure that each mesh “sees” the obstruc-
tion. If the obstruction is even a millimeter outside of one of the meshes, that mesh does not account for
it, in which case information is not transferred properly between meshes.

If you would like to check the mesh alignment without running the case, set CHECK_MESH_ALIGNMENT to T
on any MESH line along with setting T_END to zero. If the job stops with no errors, the meshes obey the
alignment rules. This check can sometimes take a few tens of seconds, but you can open Smokeview after
launching the job to check the alignment by eye.
The criterion for rejecting the alignment of two meshes is as follows. Suppose the size of the abutting
coarse grid cell is δ xc and the fine grid cell is δ xf . The meshes are out of alignment if

δ xc − n δ xf
< 0.001 (6.1)
δ xf

where n is the ratio of fine to coarse cells. The value of 0.001 can be changed via the MISC line parameter
ALIGNMENT_TOLERANCE.

Accuracy of the Multiple Mesh Calculation

Experiment with different mesh configurations using relatively coarse mesh cells to ensure that information
is being transferred properly from mesh to mesh. There are two issues of concern. First, does it appear
that the flow is being badly affected by the mesh boundary? If so, check your velocity errors and consider
tightening your velocity tolerance or changing pressure solvers, see Sec. 21.1. Second, is there too much of
a jump in cell size from one mesh to another? If so, consider whether the loss of information moving from a
fine to a coarse mesh is tolerable. Mesh refinement ratios of more than 4:1 to should be avoided if possible.

6.3.5 Mesh Stretching

By default the mesh cells that fill the computational domain are uniform in size. However, it is possible
to specify that the cells be non-uniform in one or two1 of the three coordinate directions. For a given
coordinate direction, x, y or z, a function can be prescribed that transforms the uniformly-spaced mesh to a
non-uniformly spaced mesh. Be careful with mesh transformations! If you shrink cells in one region you
must stretch cells somewhere else. When one or two coordinate directions are transformed, the aspect ratio
of the mesh cells in the 3D mesh will vary. To be on the safe side, transformations that alter the aspect ratio
of cells beyond 2 or 3 should be avoided. Keep in mind that the large eddy simulation technique is based
1 Ifyou are stretching the mesh in two coordinate directions, limit the number of cells to approximately 1 million. The Poisson
solver that is used for two-coordinate stretching exhibits floating point overflow errors during the initialization phase when very
large meshes are used. If you require more than a million cells, consider using multiple meshes instead of one large mesh.

43
 1.5 1.5

1.2 1.2

0.9 0.9
x

x
0.6 0.6

0.3 0.3

0 0
0 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2 1.5 0 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2 1.5

Figure 6.4: Piecewise-linear mesh transformation. Figure 6.5: Polynomial mesh transformation.

on the assumption that the numerical mesh should be fine enough to allow the formation of eddies that are
responsible for the mixing. In general, eddy formation is limited by the largest dimension of a mesh cell,
thus shrinking the mesh resolution in one or two directions may not necessarily lead to a better simulation
if the third dimension is large. Transformations, in general, reduce the efficiency of the computation, with
two coordinate transformations impairing efficiency more than a transformation in one coordinate direction.
Experiment with different meshing strategies to see how much of a penalty you will pay.
Here is an example of how to do a mesh transformation. Suppose your mesh is defined

&MESH IJK=15,10,20, XB=0.0,1.5,1.2,2.2,3.2,5.2 /

and you want to alter the uniform spacing in the x direction. First, refer to the figures above. You need
to define a function x = f (ξ ) that maps the uniformly-spaced Computational Coordinate (CC) 0 ≤ ξ ≤ 1.5
to the Physical Coordinate (PC) 0 ≤ x ≤ 1.5. The function has three mandatory constraints: it must be
monotonic (always increasing), it must map ξ = 0 to x = 0, and it must map ξ = 1.5 to x = 1.5. The default
transformation function is f (ξ ) = ξ for a uniform mesh, but you need not do anything in this case.
Two types of transformation functions are allowed. The first, and simplest, is a piecewise-linear func-
tion. Figure 6.4 gives an example of a piecewise-linear transformation. The graph indicates how 15 uni-
formly spaced mesh cells along the horizontal axis are transformed into 15 non-uniformly spaced cells along
the vertical axis. In this case, the function is made up of straight line segments connecting points (CC,PC), in
increasing order, as specified by the following lines in the input file:

&MESH ..., TRNX_ID='my trnx' /

&TRNX ID='my trnx', CC=0.30, PC=0.50 /
&TRNX ID='my trnx', CC=1.20, PC=1.00 /

Note that an ID may be applied to a set of TRNX lines and invoked using a TRNX_ID, etc., on the desired MESH
lines. This strategy also works when a MULT_ID is applied to the MESH. Alternatively, you may indicate the
integer MESH_NUMBER (based on the order of the MESH lines) for which you wish to apply the transformation
(this approach is deprecated because it requires a set of transformation lines for each mesh, which can be

44
impractical for MPI calculations). To apply the transformation to all meshes, set MESH_NUMBER to 0. Thus,
an equivalent representation of the previous example applied to all meshes would be:

&TRNX CC=0.30, PC=0.50, MESH_NUMBER=0 /

&TRNX CC=1.20, PC=1.00, MESH_NUMBER=0 /

The parameter CC refers to the Computational Coordinate, ξ , located on the horizontal axis; PC is the Phys-
ical Coordinate, x, located on the vertical axis. The slopes of the line segments in the plot indicate whether
the mesh is being stretched (slopes greater than 1) or shrunk (slopes less than 1). The tricky part about this
process is that you usually have a desired shrinking/stretching strategy for the Physical Coordinate on the
vertical axis, and must work backward to determine what the corresponding points should be for the Com-
putational Coordinate on the horizontal axis. Note that the above transformation is applied to the second
mesh in a multiple mesh job. It should be also noted that the start and endpoints should not be specified in
this linear grid transformation.
The second type of transformation is a polynomial function whose constraints are of the form
dn f (CC)
= PC
dξ n
Figure 6.5 gives an example of a polynomial transformation, for which the parameters are specified:

&MESH ..., TRNX_ID='my trnx' /

&TRNX ID='my trnx', IDERIV=0, CC=0.75, PC=0.75 /
&TRNX ID='my trnx', IDERIV=1, CC=0.75, PC=0.50 /

df
which correspond to the constraints f (0.75) = 0.75 and dξ (0.75) = 0.5, or, in words, the function maps 0.75
into 0.75 and the slope of the function at ξ = 0.75 is 0.5 . The transform function must also pass through
the points (0,0) and (1.5,1.5), meaning that FDS must compute the coefficients for the cubic polynomial
f (ξ ) = c0 + c1 ξ + c2 ξ 2 + c3 ξ 3 . More constraints on the function lead to higher order polynomial functions,
so be careful about too many constraints which could lead to non-monotonic functions. The monotonicity
of the function is checked by the program and an error message is produced if it is not monotonic.
Do not specify either linear transformation points or IDERIV=0 points at coordinate values corresponding
to the mesh boundaries. This is done automatically by FDS.

6.3.6 Mesh Resolution

A common question asked by new FDS users is, “What should my grid spacing be?” The answer is not easy
because it depends considerably on what you are trying to accomplish. In general, you should build an FDS
input file using a relatively coarse mesh, and then gradually refine the mesh until you do not see appreciable
differences in your results. This is referred to as a mesh sensitivity study.
For simulations involving buoyant plumes, a measure of how well the flow field is resolved is given by
the non-dimensional expression D∗ /δ x, where D∗ is a characteristic fire diameter
 25
Q̇

∗
D = √ (6.2)
ρ∞ c p T∞ g

and δ x is the nominal size of a mesh cell2 . The quantity, Q̇, is the total heat release rate of the fire. If it
changes over time, you should consider the corresponding change in resolution. The quantity D∗ /δ x can be
2 The characteristic fire diameter is related to the characteristic fire size via the relation Q∗ = (D∗ /D)5/2 , where D is the physical
diameter of the fire.

45
thought of as the number of computational cells spanning the characteristic (not necessarily the physical)
diameter of the fire. The more cells spanning the fire, the better the resolution of the calculation. It is better
to assess the quality of the mesh in terms of this non-dimensional parameter, rather than an absolute mesh
cell size. For example, a cell size of 10 cm may be “adequate,” in some sense, for evaluating the spread
of smoke and heat through a building from a sizable fire, but may not be appropriate to study a very small,
smoldering source.
The FDS Validation Guide [5] contains a table of the values of D∗ /δ x used in the simulation of the vali-
dation experiments. The table is near the end of the chapter that describes all the experiments. These values
range over two orders of magnitude and were chosen based on a grid resolution study and the particular at-
tributes of the given fire scenario. Taking any of these values as an “acceptable” minimum is inappropriate.
There are a number of special output quantities that provide local measures of grid resolution. See
Sec. 22.10.28 for details.

46
Chapter 7

Model Geometry

A considerable amount of work in setting up a calculation lies in specifying the geometry of the space to
be modeled and applying boundary conditions to the solid surfaces. The geometry is described in terms of
rectangular obstructions that can heat up, burn, conduct heat, and so on, and vents from which air or fuel
can be either injected into, or drawn from, the flow domain. A boundary condition needs to be assigned to
each obstruction and vent describing its thermal properties. A fire is just one type of boundary condition.
This chapter describes how to build the model.

7.1 Specifying Boundary Conditions

Before describing how to build up the geometry, it is first necessary to explain how to describe what com-
prises the bounding surfaces of the geometry. The SURF namelist group defines the structure of all solid
surfaces or openings within or bounding the flow domain. Boundary conditions for obstructions and vents
are prescribed by referencing the appropriate SURF line(s) whose parameters are described in this section.
The default boundary condition for all solid surfaces is that of a smooth inert wall with the surface
temperature fixed at TMPA, and is referred to as 'INERT'. Do not confuse this with a surface for which heat
transfer does not occur (this is an adiabatic surface which will change in temperature to maintain zero heat
transfer, refer to Sec. 8.2.3). To maintain the surface temperature at TMPA when exposed to a gas temperature,
which may be above or below TMPA, FDS calculates the required heat transfer coefficient, and hence the heat
transfer between the surface and the gas phase. You can think of INERT as the ultimate ambient temperature
heat sink; such as a water-cooled panel.
If only this boundary condition is needed, there is no need to add any SURF lines to the input file. If
additional boundary conditions are desired, they are to be listed one boundary condition at a time. Each SURF
line consists of an identification string ID='...' to allow references to it by an obstruction or vent. Thus,
on each OBST and VENT line that are to be described below, the character string SURF_ID='...' indicates the
ID of the SURF line containing the desired boundary condition parameters. If a particular SURF line is to be
applied as the default boundary condition, set DEFAULT=T on the SURF line.

47
7.2 Creating Rectilinear Obstructions
The namelist group OBST contains parameters used to define obstructions. The entire geometry of the model
is made up entirely of rectangular solids, each one introduced on a single line in the input file.

7.2.1 Basics
Each OBST line contains the coordinates of a rectangular solid within the flow domain. This solid is defined
by two points (x1 ,y1 ,z1 ) and (x2 ,y2 ,z2 ) that are entered on the OBST line in terms of the real sextuplet XB. In
addition to the coordinates, the boundary conditions for the obstruction can be specified with the parameter
SURF_ID, which designates which SURF line (Sec. 7.1) to apply at the surface of the obstruction. If the
obstruction has different properties for its top, sides and bottom, do not specify only one SURF_ID. Instead,
use SURF_IDS, an array of three character strings specifying the boundary condition IDs for the top, sides
and bottom of the obstruction, respectively. If the default boundary condition is desired, then SURF_ID or
SURF_IDS need not be set. However, if at least one of the surface conditions for an obstruction is the inert
default, it can be referred to as 'INERT', but it does not have to be explicitly defined. For example:

&SURF ID='FIRE', HRRPUA=1000.0 /

&OBST XB=2.3,4.5,1.3,4.8,0.0,9.2, SURF_IDS='FIRE','INERT','INERT' /

puts a fire on top of the obstruction. This is a simple way of prescribing a burner.
In addition to SURF_ID and SURF_IDS, you can also use the sextuplet SURF_ID6 as follows:

&OBST XB=2.3,4.5,1.3,4.8,0.0,9.2,
SURF_ID6='FIRE','INERT','HOT','COLD','BLOW','INERT' /

where the six surface descriptors refer to the planes x = 2.3, x = 4.5, y = 1.3, y = 4.8, z = 0.0, and z = 9.2,
respectively. Note that SURF_ID6 should not be used on the same OBST line as SURF_ID or SURF_IDS.
Obstructions may be created or removed during a simulation. See Sec. 18.4.1 for details.

7.2.2 Thin Obstructions

An obstruction that is relatively thin compared to the gas phase numerical grid spacing is approximated as
an infinitely thin sheet. These obstructions, like window panes, form a flow and (partial) radiation barrier,
but if the numerical mesh is coarse relative to its thickness, the obstruction might be unnecessarily large if
it is assumed to be one layer of mesh cells thick. Smokeview renders this obstruction as a thin sheet, but it
is allowed to have thermally-thick boundary conditions.
This obstruction has the drawback that it is not possible to specify a normal velocity component on
its surface. A thin sheet obstruction can only have one velocity vector on its face, thus a gas cannot be
injected or extracted reliably from a thin obstruction because whatever is pushed from one side is necessarily
pulled from the other. If you want to create a simple fan, for example, the obstruction should be specified
to be at least one mesh cell thick. To prevent FDS from allowing thin sheet obstructions, set THICKEN_
OBSTRUCTIONS=T on the MISC line, or THICKEN=T on each OBST line for which the thin sheet assumption is
not allowed.
Another drawback occurs when using the default FFT-based pressure solver. Thin obstructions are more
prone to errors in the normal velocity at the obstruction. If thin obstructions see large pressure gradients
across the obstruction or are impacted by high normal velocities, then tighter tolerances for the FFT-based
solver or the use of another pressure solver may be warranted. For details see the discussion in Sec. 21.1.

48
 Thin obstructions may generate a mass source without specification of a normal velocity component.
The gas cell next to the obstruction is given a volumetric source term, but the momentum at the surface
remains zero.

7.2.3 Specified Versus Actual Areas

The OBST dimensions specified by XB in the input file may not (usually do not) perfectly align with the
underlying Cartesian mesh. FDS then “snaps” the geometry to fill (or void) the volume of the nearest cell.
Obstructions that are too small relative to the underlying numerical mesh are rejected. That is, if at least two
of the three obstruction dimensions are less than half of the corresponding cell dimensions, the obstruction
is ignored. As mentioned above, if you always want the cell to be filled, then specify THICKEN=T on the OBST
line.
When the OBST snaps to the Cartesian mesh, the area of the cell face is changed, and therefore the total
area of a SURF may slightly change. If a specified mass flux boundary (including HRRPUA) is given, then
FDS will automatically adjust this mass flux so that total of the specified area times the specified mass flux
is maintained.

7.2.4 Overlapping Obstructions

If the faces of two obstructions overlap each other, FDS will choose the surface properties of the obstruction
that is specified second in the input file. If this is unwanted, add OVERLAY=F to the OBST line of the second
obstruction, in which case the surface properties of the first obstruction will be applied. The default value
of OVERLAY is T
When obstructions overlap, Smokeview renders both obstructions independently of each other, often
leading to an unsightly cross-hatching of the two surface colors where there is an overlap. A simple remedy
for this is to “shrink” the obstruction you do not wish to take precedence by slightly by adjusting its coor-
dinates (XB) accordingly. Then, in Smokeview, toggle the “q” key to show the obstructions as you specified
them, rather than as FDS rendered them.
The simulation will be stopped with an error if all of the following occur: (1) surfaces of two obstructions
overlap, (2) the surface properties are different, and (3) one or both of the obstructions can be removed or
created during the simulation.

7.2.5 Preventing Obstruction Removal

Obstructions can be protected from the HOLE punching feature. Sometimes creating create a door or window
using a HOLE is convenient. For example, suppose a HOLE is punched in a wall to represent a door or window.
An obstruction can be defined to fill this hole (presumably to be removed or colored differently or whatever)
so long as the phrase PERMIT_HOLE=F is included on the OBST line. In general, any obstruction can be made
impenetrable to a HOLE using this phrase. By default, PERMIT_HOLE=T, meaning that an obstruction is as-
sumed to be penetrable unless otherwise directed. Note that if a penetrable obstruction and an impenetrable
obstruction overlap, the obstruction with PERMIT_HOLE=F should be listed first.
If the obstruction is not to be removed or rejected for any reason, set REMOVABLE=F This is sometimes
needed to stop FDS from removing the obstruction if it is embedded within another, like a door within a
wall.
In rare cases, you might not want to allow a VENT to be attached to a particular obstruction, in which
case set ALLOW_VENT=F.

49
7.2.6 Transparent or Outlined Obstructions
Obstructions can be made semi-transparent by assigning a TRANSPARENCY on the OBST line. This real param-
eter ranges from 0 to 1, with 0 being fully transparent. The parameter should always be set along with either
COLOR or an RGB triplet. It can also be specified on the appropriate SURF line, along with a color indicator. If
you want the obstruction to be invisible, set COLOR='INVISIBLE'.
Obstructions are typically drawn as solids in Smokeview. To draw an outline representation, set OUTLINE
equal to T

7.2.7 Method for avoiding mesh interfaces in blockage outline view

FDS splits a blockage into separate parts, one part for each mesh. As a result when Smokeview draws block-
ages as outlines it draws extra lines where blockages intersect mesh interfaces. The following procedure can
be used to eliminate these extra lines for a case named say [Link] .

1. Create a one mesh version of [Link]. Name it casename_single.fds (or anything different
than [Link]. Set T_END to 0 and CHID to casename_single.

2. After running casename_single.fds with fds, rename casename_single.smv to [Link].

3. Issue the command: smokeview casename.

4. Select the Show/Hide>Geometry>Obstacles>Outline only menu item to view the blockages as out-
lines.

5. press the q key to toggle between viewing blockages split at mesh boundaries (how fds handles them)
and how blockages are defined in the input file.

Figure 7.1 shows an example where blockages are drawn as specified in the input file and drawn split at
mesh interfaces.

outlines drawn at blockage edges and mesh interfaces outlines drawn as specified in the input file

Figure 7.1: Blockage outlines drawn at mesh interfaces and as specified in the input file.

50
7.2.8 Creating Holes in Obstructions
The HOLE namelist group defines parameters that carve a hole out of an existing obstruction or set of ob-
structions. To do this, add lines of the form

&HOLE XB=2.0,4.5,1.9,4.8,0.0,9.2 /

Any solid mesh cells within the volume 2.0 < x < 4.5, 1.9 < y < 4.8, 0.0 < z < 9.2 are removed. Obstruc-
tions intersecting the volume are broken up into smaller blocks. If the hole represents a door or window, a
good rule of thumb is to punch more than enough to create the hole. This ensures that the hole is created
through the entire obstruction. For example, if the OBST line denotes a wall 0.1 m thick:

&OBST XB=1.0,1.1,0.0,5.0,0.0,3.0 /

and you want to create a door, add this:

&HOLE XB=0.99,1.11,2.0,3.0,0.0,2.0 /

The extra centimeter added to the x coordinates of the hole make it clear that the hole is to punch through
the entire obstruction.
When a HOLE is created, the affected obstruction(s) are either rejected, or created or removed at pre-
determined times. See Sec. 18.4.1 for details. To allow a hole to be controlled with either the CTRL or
DEVC namelist groups, you will need to add the CTRL_ID or DEVC_ID parameter respectively, to the HOLE
line1 . When the state of the HOLE evaluates to F, an obstruction will be placed in the HOLE. By default the
obstruction filling the HOLE will take the color of the surrounding OBST that the HOLE was punched through.
To make the obstruction filling the HOLE a different color than the original obstruction, set the COLOR or
integer triplet RGB on the HOLE line (see Sec. 7.5). If you want the obstruction filling the HOLE to be invisible,
then set COLOR='INVISIBLE'. Additionally, you may use the keyword TRANSPARENCY, real number from 0
to 1, to make the obstruction filling the HOLE transparent. See Sec. 18.4.1 for an example.
If an obstruction is not to be punctured by a HOLE, add PERMIT_HOLE=F to the OBST line. Note that a
HOLE has no effect on a VENT or a mesh boundary. It only applies to OBSTructions.
It is a good idea to inspect the geometry by running either a setup job (T_END=0 on the TIME line) or a
short-time job to test the operation of devices and control functions.

1 If you add a CTRL_ID or DEVC_ID to the HOLE line, do not overlap this HOLE with another. The control logic can fail.

51
7.3 Creating Unstructured Geometry (Beta)
The namelist GEOM describes one or more unstructured closed geometric surfaces that enclose solid portions
of the fluid domain. These surfaces consist of a collection of triangular faces, where each face is built from
three vertices. The user can assign a specific boundary condition to each of the faces.

7.3.1 My First Geometry

To get you acquainted with the new geometry features we allow for some of OBST namelist parameters to be
applied to GEOM. Therefore, subject to the limitations listed at the end of this section (see Sec. 7.3.11), you
should be able to take a case built from OBST and simply do a replace with GEOM to begin using unstructured
geometry. For example, if you have a burner built like this

&OBST XB=-1,1,-1,1,0,0.5, SURF_IDS='FIRE','INERT','INERT' /

You can replace this with

&GEOM XB=-1,1,-1,1,0,0.5, SURF_IDS='FIRE','INERT','INERT' /

Further, the GEOM may be transformed using a MOVE line as discussed in Sec. 7.3.8.

7.3.2 Unstructured Geometry Basics

A simple example of an unstructured solid is given by

&GEOM ID='My Solid'

SURF_ID='FIRE','INERT'
VERTS= -1.0, -1.0, 0.0,
1.0, -1.0, 0.0,
0.0, 1.0, 0.0,
0.0, 0.0, 1.0,
FACES= 1,3,2, 2,
1,4,3, 1,
3,4,2, 1,
2,4,1, 0 /

ID specifies the name, 'My Solid', VERTS specify the coordinates of each vertex (x1 ,y1 ,z1 ; x2 ,y2 ,z2 , ...),
and FACES define each triangular face—three vertices and one boundary condition index: (v1 ,v2 ,v3 ,b). The
vertex indices range from 1 to the number of vertices listed in VERTS. The order of the three vertices defines
which side of the triangle is outward facing. Observed from the outside, the vertices of each triangle should
be ordered counter-clockwise, following the right-hand rule convention.
The boundary condition index b ranges from 0 to the number of entries in SURF_ID. b = 0 applies the
default boundary condition. In the example above, the first face has an index, b = 2, which corresponds to
'INERT', the second and third faces have b = 1 corresponding to 'FIRE', and the fourth corresponds to the
default.

7.3.3 Triangulated Surfaces Quality

In order for FDS to correctly detect the solid portion of the volume from the rest of the fluid domain, some
tests are performed at start on the quality of the triangulated surfaces.
The following conditions are enforced by FDS on the collection of vertices and faces of each GEOM
namelist:

52
 1. Each vertex must be unique, shared by edges, be part of an only well-formed surface so that its neighbor
ring of faces could in theory be continuously deformed to a disk: a vertex that abides to these conditions
is called non-degenerate and manifold. Examples of good and bad vertices are presented in Figure 7.4.

2. Each edge connecting vertices must have a non-zero length, and must always be shared by exactly two
faces. An edge that abides to these conditions is called non-degenerate and manifold. See examples of
good and bad edges in Figure 7.5.

3. Each face cannot intersect the others and must have a non-zero area; such a face is called non-intersecting
and non-degenerate.

4. The vertex orderings for the faces shall be chosen so that adjacent faces have outward consistent normals,
as illustrated in Figure 7.2.

5. Each GEOM namelist may define one or more distinct volumes (unconnected volumes) that should not
mutually intersect or self-intersect. See an example of a bad intersecting geometry in Figure 7.8.

If the previous conditions are respected, a well-formed GEOM namelist is obtained that represents one or
more closed, manifold, orientable, non intersecting triangulated surfaces, that enclose well-defined volumes.
An example of a well-formed triangulated surface is presented in Figure 7.3.

53
Figure 7.2: Good GEOM: consistent normals on a Figure 7.3: Good GEOM: a well formed triangulated
manifold orientable surface. surface.

Whenever one of the checks on these conditions fails, FDS outputs an error message describing the
problem and its location in the domain. For example:

ERROR: GEOM ID='Cube': Non manifold geometry at edge: ...

7.3.4 Intersections
Several types of intersections can happen between GEOMs and between GEOMs and other namelists:

• GEOM - GEOM and GEOM - OBST: whenever these types of intersection happen, FDS attempts to perform
a boolean operation uniting the objects, respecting the boundary conditions of the surfaces. When a
geometry intersects with another geometry, the vertices and edges defining that intersection have not
been input by the user. The exact intersection may be very complicated to discern in the general case,
and we employ a linearization that generates the approximate boundary faces within the cell from edges
defined on its Cartesian faces. An example for two intersecting spheres is shown below in Fig. 7.9. If
the geometry is too complex, this operation can fail. In such a case the cell will be left void. The user is
recommended to apply geometry unions in their preprocessor of choice if possible.

• GEOM - HOLE: currently there is no interaction.

7.3.5 Coloring and Texture Maps

Coloring and texture maps for GEOM objects are specified in the same way as for OBST (see Sec. 7.5).

7.3.6 Self-Generated Geometries

The GEOM namelist allows the quick definition of particular kinds of geometric objects, blocks using XB,
spheres using SPHERE_ORIGIN and SPHERE_RADIUS and a 2D terrain elevations using ZVALS. FDS generates

54
Figure 7.4: Bad GEOM: the vertex shared by the two Figure 7.5: Bad GEOM: the edge shared by the two
cubes is not manifold, because it is connected to two cubes is not manifold, because more than two faces
rings of faces, that cannot be continuously deformed are incident on it. The other edges are manifold.
to a single disk. The other vertices are manifold.

Figure 7.7: Good GEOM: by adding a thickness FDS

Figure 7.6: Bad GEOM: FDS cannot differentiate the
can differentiate the internal volume from the rest of
internal volume from the rest of the domain, because
the domain.
the triangulated surface is open.

55
 Figure 7.8: Bad GEOM: This volume is self-intersecting.

Figure 7.9: Linearization at intersections: sphere example. (Left) Two intersecting spheres as input to FDS. (Right)
The final linearized geometry without hanging vertices.

56
vertices and faces to represent these objects, equivalent to what would have been defined using VERTS and
FACES.

Blocks
A GEOM namelist defining a block is specified by

&GEOM ID='block'
SURF_ID='S1'
XB=0.0,1.0,0.0,1.0,0.0,1.0/

where XB=xmin,xmax,ymin,ymax,zmin,zmax defines the min and max bounds of the block. The XB pa-
rameter is used in the same way as on an OBST or VENT line. A block may be refined into many parts
by specifying the IJK parameter. For example, IJK=8,6,4 would split the block into 8 parts along the x
dimension, 6 parts along the y dimension and 4 parts along the z dimension.
The SURF_ID parameter assigns the specified boundary condition to all the generated faces. Similar to
OBST, you can also use SURF_IDS and SURF_ID6 lists to specify surface conditions (see Sec. 7.2.1).

Spheres
A GEOM namelist defining a sphere centered at (0, 0, 0) with radius 1 is specified by

&GEOM ID='sphere'
SURF_ID='S1'
SPHERE_ORIGIN=0.0,0.0,0.0, SPHERE_RADIUS=1.0/

Spheres are discretized by default so that each face is consistent in size with the grid resolution. One may
specify a N_LEVEL parameter which defines the number of times the sphere is split.

Cylinders
A GEOM namelist defining a cylinder geometry with centroid at CYLINDER_ORIGIN = (0, 0, 0), axis CYLINDER_
AXIS = (1., 0, 0), length CYLINDER_LENGTH = 2. and radius CYLINDER_RADIUS = 0.5 is specified by

&GEOM ID='cylinder', SURF_ID='S1',

CYLINDER_LENGTH=2.,
CYLINDER_RADIUS=.5,
CYLINDER_ORIGIN=0.,0.,0.,
CYLINDER_AXIS=1.,0.,0.,
CYLINDER_NSEG_AXIS=6,
CYLINDER_NSEG_THETA=48 /

where the cylinder is discretized using 6 segments along its axis and 48 segments across its circumference.
The keyword SURF_ID can be replaced by SURF_IDS='S1','S2','S3', where the strings 'S1','S2','S3'
correspond to the surface IDs of top, sides and bottom surfaces respectively.

2D Terrain Elevations
A GEOM namelist defining a 2D terrain elevation is given by

&GEOM ID='terrain'
SURF_ID='S1'

57
 IJK=ivals,jvals, XB=xmin,xmax,ymin,ymax,
EXTEND_TERRAIN=etlog, ZVAL_HORIZON=zvhr,
ZVALS=.../

where XB defines a rectangular region bounded by (xmin , ymin ) and (xmax , ymax ) and where ZVALS defines
elevation data in this region. IJK specifies how many vertices occur in this region along each dimension. In
this example ivals values occur along the x dimension and jval values occur along the y dimension. The
ZVALS keyword is used to specify elevations at each (x, y) location. The elevation data specified after the
ZVALS keyword is arranged in row major order. The first row contains ivals elevation values occurring at
the the ymin position from xmin to xmax. Similarly, the last row contains ivals elevation values for the
ymax position again from xmin to xmax. There are then jvals rows and ivals columns of elevation data.
The optional fields EXTEND_TERRAIN and ZVAL_HORIZON are used in the following form. If the computational
domain is set larger than the XB defined terrain patch, such that it contains the terrain completely, setting
EXTEND_TERRAIN=T allows for the terrain to be extended to the domain boundaries. This can be helpful
when trying to reduce boundary effects on a calculation. If, additionally, the real number ZVAL_HORIZON is
set on the GEOM line, this elevation will be used on the domain boundaries when extending the domain. As
with the blocks and spheres, FDS uses the information provided by these keywords to construct vertices and
triangular faces. The bottom elevation of the geometry (used only for visualization purposes in Smokeview)
may be set with the parameter ZMIN.
Additionally, terrain geometries can be specified defining a triangulation with a convex regular bound-
ary, as seen from the top. This triangulation will represent the terrain of interest and will define the top
boundary of a terrain GEOM. The terrain surface is specified by VERTS and FACES as in a basic geometry
(Sec. 7.3.2), and the field IS_TERRAIN needs to be set to T, such that FDS knows this is a terrain unstruc-
tured surface. Surface types per faces are specified in the same manner as in basic geometries. Also, the
EXTEND_TERRAIN logic can also be applied.

Geometries Extruded From Simple Planar Polygons

In this case, a geometry can be defined specifying the VERTS, connectivity POLY, and extrusion distance
EXTRUDE. For example:

&GEOM ID='ExtPoly', SURF_ID='Poly1',

VERTS =
-1.0, -1.0, 1.0,
0.5, -1.0, 1.75,
1.0, -1.0, 2.0,
0.0, 0.0, 1.5,
1.0, 1.0, 2.0,
-1.0, 1.0, 1.0,
POLY = 1, 2, 4, 3, 5, 6,
EXTRUDE=0.5 /

The polygon defined by POLY must be simple, non degenerate (no segment intersections, no repeated
vertices) and all segments must lay on the same plane in three dimensional space. It can have a maximum
of 1000 vertices. The value of EXTRUDE can be a positive or negative real, but not zero. A single surface ID
can be provided, or top, sides and bottom surface IDs through a SURF_IDS field, in the same manner as the
cylinders of Sec. 7.3.6. Note that the bottom surface in SURF_IDS always refers to the polygon defined in
POLY, from where the extrusion operation is performed.

58
7.3.7 Generating Complex Geometries
Generating well-formed complex geometries is a time-consuming and error-prone process. Several third-
party pre-processing tools are provided by the FDS-SMV community for automatically translating CAD
files to GEOM namelists.
These tools should always enforce quality checks on the triangulated surfaces and produce well-formed
GEOM namelists. Links to these tools can be found at the project home page at [Link]
under “Third-Party Tools and Training”.

7.3.8 Transforming Objects

A geometry may be translated, rotated and scaled. For example, in the following GEOM namelist,

&MOVE ID='ChairMove', AXIS=...,...,..., ROTATION_ANGLE=..., DX=, /

&GEOM ID='chair'
SURF_ID='woodSID','apholsterySID',
VERTS=X1,Y1,Z1,...,XM,YM,ZM,
FACES=F1_1,F1_2,F1_3,F1_SID,...,FN_1,FN_2,FN_3,FN_SID
MOVE_ID='ChairMove'/

the chair object is translated and rotated using a reference to the MOVE namelist, defined and explained in
Sec. 11.4.

7.3.9 Reading Geometry Node Locations And Connectivity Data From Binary
In cases where geometries have very large numbers of nodes and surface triangles, greater setup time ef-
ficiency can be achieved by reading this data from an FDS produced binary file. This binary file can be
obtained running the case in setup only mode (T_END=0.0). Consider the chair geometry defined in the pre-
vious section. When a geometry is read by FDS, the XYZ and face connectivity data FACES is automatically
written into a binary file with name CHID_GEOM_ID.bingeom on the run directory (here, GEOM_ID='chair').
If an ID is not provided, the name of the binary file will be CHID_N_GEOM.bingeom, where N_GEOM is the
number defining the order of appearance of the geometry line on the FDS input file.
Then, supposing the case ID is CHID='DiningRoom', the next time the case is run, the geometry line can
be modified to:

&GEOM ID='chair',
SURF_ID='woodSID','apholsterySID',
BINARY_FILE='DiningRoom_chair.bingeom',
MOVE_ID='ChairMove' /

where the presence of BINARY_FILE instructs FDS to read nodes and faces from the binary geometry file.
Note we have deleted the VERTS, FACES arrays from the input line. This manner of loading large geometries
avoids the testing and reading of all lines related to these arrays on the FDS input file. This approach is
particularly efficient in large parallel calculations, where parallel file systems are used. See Sec. 27.19 for
more information on geometry I/O binary format. If a different name than the default is used, it can be
specified in the field BINARY_FILE. The location directory can also be added in the BINARY_FILE string.
Terrains can also be read and written in binary format, and in this case only their top surface triangulation
is recorded. The binary contains their geometry information and terrain type, but the SURF_ID array has to
be provided in the geometry line as shown above. The same requirement is needed for EXTEND_TERRAIN if
terrain extension is desired. The number of surface IDs defined in the binary file connectivities must match
the number of surfaces defined in SURF_ID.

59
Figure 7.10: Handling thin geometry: (left) Cell blocking on either side; (center) CELL_BLOCK_IOR= 3 ; (right)
CELL_BLOCK_IOR=-3 .

7.3.10 Handling Split Cells and Thin Geometries

One current limitation of the unstructured geometry algorithm is that a Cartesian cell cannot be split by a
thin geometry or corner, potentially creating two background pressure zones within one Cartesian cell. By
default, if a cell is split by a thin geometry, FDS will fill in the smaller of the two disjoint volumes. However,
it may be desired to leave one side perfectly smooth while allowing the other to absorb the geometry change.
For example, you want the inside wall of a tunnel or ceiling to be smooth but you are not as concerned with
the outer portion for your problem. In this scenario, you can control which side of the geometry gets filled
by setting either CELL_BLOCK_IOR or CELL_BLOCK_ORIENTATION on the GEOM line. The former is an integer
indicating a Cartesian axis while the latter allows the specification of a vector in any direction. An example
of how this works is shown in Fig. 7.10. Currently, this functionality is limited to geometries where IOR
can define the direction. For example, this would not work for a hollow sphere. For terrain geometries the
default is CELL_BLOCK_IOR=-3.

7.3.11 GEOM Limitations

• Currently no control logic is available on GEOM namelists. That is, adding or removing a GEOM is not
possible.

• The MULT construct cannot currently be applied to geometries.

• Thin geometries and corners cannot split cells, one side must be blocked. See Sec. 7.3.10.

• Backing external is allowed only on a single mesh. If the back surface is on another mesh the backing
will be set to VOID (quietly).

• A VENT cannot be applied to a GEOM. Surface properties must be applied face by face via SURF_ID.

• No VENT implies HVAC cannot be applied to a GEOM surface. This is on our priority list and will be
available in the future.

• Imposing a tangential velocity in geometries cannot be done. NO_SLIP conditions assume a zero tan-
gential velocity. Allowing this capability is also a development priority.

• Neither 3D heat transfer nor BURN_AWAY are available in GEOM.

• The HOLE namelist does not apply to GEOM.

60
 • Subgrid geometries (smaller than a grid cell) are not recommended. They are currently not included in
the treatment of momentum equations. Similarly, gaps should be defined over a cell size thick.

• Using triangular faces that are much smaller than the Cartesian grid cell is not recommended. Each face
will be assigned boundary conditions at unnecessary resolution compared to Cartesian cells.

• Particles will interact with the GEOM, but will not flow underneath a geometry due to surface tension.
That is, if particles are falling on top of a sphere, once they reach the equator they fall directly to the
floor. They will behave as pellets, not droplets.

• Be cautious with soot deposition. While the functionality for deposition exists with geometry, it has not
undergone thorough testing.

7.3.12 The Big Picture, Run Time, and Accuracy

Big picture The long-term goal for complex geometry in FDS is to allow for relatively seamless work-
flow with Building Information Management (BIM) models and complex CAD geometries. However, the
past several years have been spent developing a formulation that is conservative and stable. In so doing, for
the time being we have had to abandon the immersed boundary method and move to a cut cell scheme that
requires an unstructured pressure solver (ULMAT; see Sec. 21.1).

Run time When using complex geometry you may notice slower runtimes for two reasons. First, the setup
time will be noticeably slower, especially if you are not importing geometry from binary (see Sec. 7.3.9).
This is inevitable, because identifying and processing cutcells is time-consuming. Second, the use of UL-
MAT, while more accurate at solid boundaries, is slower than the FFT pressure solver (per iteration). Fur-
ther, ULMAT gets progressively slower as the size of the mesh increases. Therefore, for larger cases using
ULMAT it is important to break the domain up into meshes with less than 150,000 cells (roughly 533 ).

Accuracy The rationale for using curvilinear geometry should be that the accuracy of the Cartesian ge-
ometry is not sufficient. For example, you may have a sloped ceiling or some detail of a room that requires
higher fidelity. When higher accuracy is required, this usually also means that better grid resolution is re-
quired. Keep the fidelity of the geometry and the Cartesian grid consistent with each other. Do not expect a
highly detailed geometry to give improved results if the Cartesian grid is disproportionately coarse.

61
7.4 Applying Surface Properties
Whereas the OBST group is used to specify obstructions within the computational domain, the VENT group
(Table 23.37) is used to prescribe planes adjacent to obstructions or external walls. Note that the label VENT
is used for historical reasons—this group of parameters has evolved well beyond its initial role as simply
allowing for air to be blown into, or sucked out of, the computational domain. See Sec. 10.1 for a discussion
of ventilation strategies that employ the VENT parameters.

7.4.1 Basics
Vents are specified in a similar manner to obstructions, with the sextuplet XB denoting a plane abutting a
solid surface. Two of the six coordinates must be the same, denoting a plane as opposed to a solid. Note that
only one VENT may be specified for any given solid surface. If VENTs overlap , FDS will output a warning
message and ignore redundant VENT lines.
The term VENT is somewhat misleading. Taken literally, a VENT can be used to model components of
the ventilation system in a building, like a diffuser or a return. In these cases, the VENT coordinates form a
plane on a solid surface forming the boundary of the duct. No holes need to be created through the solid; it
is assumed that air is pushed out of or sucked into duct work within the wall. Less literally, a VENT is used
simply as a means of applying a particular boundary condition to a rectangular patch on a solid surface.
A fire, for example, is usually created by first generating a solid obstruction via an OBST line, and then
specifying a VENT somewhere on one of the faces of the solid with a SURF_ID with the characteristics of the
thermal and combustion properties of the fuel. For example, the lines

&OBST XB=0.0,5.0,2.0,3.0,0.0,4.0, SURF_ID='big block' /

&VENT XB=1.0,2.0,2.0,2.0,1.0,3.0, SURF_ID='hot patch' /

specify a large obstruction (with the properties given elsewhere in the file under the name 'big block')
with a “patch” applied to one of its faces with alternative properties under the name 'hot patch'. This
latter surface property need not actually be a “vent,” like a supply or return duct, but rather just a patch with
different boundary conditions than those assumed for the obstruction. Note that the surface properties of a
VENT over-ride those of the underlying obstruction.
A VENT must always be attached to a solid obstruction. Sometimes, a portion of a VENT might extend
beyond a solid, in which case it is either ignored or will trigger an error message. Only the portion of the
VENT that abuts the solid surface is considered. Thus, if the VENT is given a SURF_ID that specifies a value
of HRRPUA (Heat Release Rate Per Unit Area), this rate will only be applied to the portion of the VENT for
which there is a solid beneath.
Also, a VENT derives its orientation by having a solid cell on one side and a gas cell on the other. Do not
extend a VENT to have multiple orientations.
An easy way to specify an entire external wall is to replace XB with MB (Mesh Boundary), a character
string whose value is one of the following: 'XMAX', 'XMIN', 'YMAX', 'YMIN', 'ZMAX' or 'ZMIN' denoting
the planes x = XMAX, x = XMIN, y = YMAX, y = YMIN, z = ZMAX or z = ZMIN, respectively. Like an
obstruction, the boundary condition index of a vent is specified with SURF_ID, indicating which of the listed
SURF lines to apply. If the default boundary condition is desired, then SURF_ID need not be set.
Be careful when using the MB shortcut when doing a multiple mesh simulation; that is, when more than
one rectangular mesh is used. The plane designated by the character string MB may be mistakenly applied
to more than one mesh, possibly leading to confusion about whether a plane is a solid wall or an open
boundary. Check the geometry in Smokeview to assure that the VENTs are properly specified. Use color
as much as possible to double-check the set-up. More detail on color in Sec. 7.5 and Table 7.1. Also, the
parameter OUTLINE=T on the VENT line causes the VENT to be drawn as an outline in Smokeview.

62
 A safer option for multi-mesh calculations might be to use DB (Domain Boundary), which takes the
same options as MB but applies the SURF_ID to the domain boundary.

7.4.2 Special Vents

There are four reserved SURF_ID’s that may be applied to a VENT – 'OPEN', 'MIRROR', 'PERIODIC', and
HVAC. The term reserved means that these SURF_IDs should not be explicitly defined by you. Their properties
are predefined.

Open Vents
The first special VENT is invoked by the parameter SURF_ID='OPEN'. This is used only if the VENT is applied
to the exterior boundary of the computational domain, where it denotes a passive opening to the outside. By
default, FDS assumes that the exterior boundary of the computational domain (the XBs on the MESH line) is a
solid wall. To create a totally or partially open domain, use OPEN vents on the exterior mesh boundaries. It is
sometimes convenient to specify doors or windows that open out to the exterior of the computational domain
by simply specifying it to be OPEN. However, keep in mind that the pressure boundary condition on such an
opening is imperfect, and it is recommended that if the flow through the doorway or window is important,
you should extend the domain a few meters rather than use an OPEN boundary. You would still have to use
the OPEN boundary to open up one or more sides of the computational domain, but these openings would be
far enough away from the modeled door or window that they would not affect the flow pattern.
By default, it is assumed that ambient conditions exist beyond the 'OPEN' vent. However, in some cases,
you may want to alter this assumption, for example, the temperature. If you assume a temperature other
than ambient, specify TMP_EXTERIOR along with SURF_ID='OPEN'. You can modify the time history of this
parameter using a ramp function, TMP_EXTERIOR_RAMP (see Section 11.1 for details about time/temperature
ramps). Use this option cautiously – in many situations if you want to describe the exterior of a building,
it is better to include the exterior explicitly in your calculation because the flow in and out of the doors
and windows will be more naturally captured. See Sec. 16.5.1 for more details. If you want to specify a
non-ambient pressure at the OPEN boundary, see Sec. 10.4.
The OPEN pressure boundary condition is most stable for flows that are predominantly normal to the
vent, either mostly in or mostly out. This is because the prescribed pressure at an OPEN boundary is ill-
conditioned (a small perturbation to the input may lead to large change in the output) if the flow is parallel
to the vent. Suppose, for example, that an outdoor flow is 10 m/s in the x direction and ±0.001 m/s in the
z direction with an OPEN top boundary. The kinetic energy of this flow is roughly k = 50 m2 /s2 . When the
vertical velocity is positive (+0.001 m/s) then the prescribed boundary condition for the stagnation pressure
is set to H = k = 50 m2 /s2 . But when the vertical velocity is negative (-0.001 m/s) then H = 0 (see [1]). For
this reason, OPEN vents should be used with care in outdoor applications. See Section 16.2 for an alternative
approach.
Vents to the outside of the computational domain (OPEN vents) can be opened or closed during a simu-
lation. It is best done by creating or removing a thin obstruction that covers the OPEN VENT. See Sec. 18.4.2
for details.

Mirror Vents
A VENT with SURF_ID='MIRROR' denotes a symmetry plane. Usually, a MIRROR spans an entire face of the
computational domain, essentially doubling the size of the domain with the MIRROR acting as a plane of
symmetry. The flow on the opposite side of the MIRROR is exactly reversed2 . From a numerical point of
2 Note that the mirror image of a scene is not shown in Smokeview.

63
view, a MIRROR is a no-flux, free-slip boundary. As with OPEN, a MIRROR can only be prescribed at an exterior
boundary of the computational domain. Often, OPEN or MIRROR VENTs are prescribed along an entire side of
the computational domain, in which case the “MB” notation is handy.
In conventional RANS (Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes) models, symmetry boundaries are often
used as a way of saving on computation time. However, because FDS is an LES (Large Eddy Simulation)
model, the use of symmetry boundaries should be considered carefully. The reason for this is that an LES
model does not compute a time-averaged solution of the N-S equations. In other words, for a RANS model,
a fire plume is represented as an axially-symmetric flow field because that is what you would expect if you
time-averaged the actual flow field over a sufficient amount of time. Thus, for a RANS model, a symmetry
boundary along the plume centerline is appropriate. In an LES model, however, there is no time-averaging
built into the equations, and there is no time-averaged, symmetric solution. Putting a MIRROR boundary along
the centerline of a fire plume will change its dynamics entirely. It will produce something very much like
the flow field of a fire that is adjacent to a vertical wall. For this reason, a MIRROR boundary condition is not
recommended along the centerline of a turbulent fire plume. If the fire or burner is very small, and the flow
is laminar, then the MIRROR boundary condition makes sense. In fact, in 2-D calculations, MIRROR boundary
conditions are employed in the third coordinate direction (this is done automatically, you need not specify it
explicitly).

Periodic Vents
A VENT with SURF_ID='PERIODIC' may be used in combination with another periodic vent on the opposite
side of the domain. If the domain consists of only a single mesh, the lines:

&VENT MB='XMIN', SURF_ID='PERIODIC' /

&VENT MB='XMAX', SURF_ID='PERIODIC' /

designate that the simulation is periodic in the x-direction. For multi-mesh domains where PERIODIC bound-
ary conditions are applied, the entire domain must be a single large block and the VENT planes must be
specified using PBX, PBY, or PBZ. If xmin = 0 and xmax = 1, for example, use

&VENT PBX=0, SURF_ID='PERIODIC' /

&VENT PBX=1, SURF_ID='PERIODIC' /

By default, in order to handle the most general case of a periodic domain with multiple meshes (imagine a
periodic channel divided into several meshes), FDS treats the pressure boundary condition as what we call
an “interpolated boundary.” This means that the matrix for the pressure Poisson equation is arranged for
Dirichlet boundary conditions (the value of the solution is specified at the boundary). This can lead to small
errors in the solution and sometimes it is desirable to use the true periodic matrix for the Poisson equation.
But with the current solver (Fishpak) this is only possible for a single mesh. If you want to implement true
periodic boundaries for a single mesh case, set the appropriate FISHPAK_BC value to zero on the PRES
line. For example,

&PRES FISHPAK_BC(1:3)=0,0,0 /

Periodic vents may not be used to connect offset vents or vents in different coordinate directions. For such
cases, you must employ HVAC capabilities (see Sec. 10.2).

64
HVAC Vents
A VENT with SURF_ID='HVAC' denotes that the vent is connected to an HVAC system. See Sec. 10.2 for a
description of inputs for HVAC systems.

Circular Vents
Circular or semi-circular vents may be specified as the intersection of a rectangle with coordinates XB and a
circle with center XYZ and radius RADIUS. The rectangular surface cells that are assigned the corresponding
SURF_ID will be those whose centroid falls within the intersection. In the example case called Fires/
circular_burner.fds, the following two lines create a circular vent that is 1 m in diameter and flows
propane gas at a rate of 0.02 kg/m2 /s:

&SURF ID='BURNER', MASS_FLUX(1)=0.02, SPEC_ID(1)='PROPANE', TAU_MF(1)=0.01 /

&VENT XB=-0.6,0.6,-0.6,0.6,0,0, XYZ=0,0,0, RADIUS=0.5, SURF_ID='BURNER',
SPREAD_RATE=0.05/

The XB coordinates designate the orientation of the vent. In this case, the extent of the area specified by
XB is large enough to contain the entire circle. Note also in this example that the parameter SPREAD_RATE
causes the fire to spread outward at a rate of 0.05 m/s. The mass flux of propane through the vent is plotted
in Fig. 7.11. Notice that the mass flux increases following a “t-squared” profile. This is what is expected of
a fire which spreads radially at a linear rate. In this case, the fire reaches the RADIUS of the circle in 10 s, as
expected. Note also that the parameter TAU_MF indicates that the fuel should ramp up quickly once the flame
front reaches a given grid cell. In other words, TAU_MF controls the local ramp-up of fuel; the SPREAD_RATE
controls the global ramp-up. Following the ramp-up, the fuel flows at a rate equal to the area of the circle
times the mass flux of fuel per unit area. Even if the circle is crudely resolved on a coarse grid, the fuel flow
rate will be adjusted to produce the desired value governed by the circular vent.
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
0.02
Burning Rate (circular_burner)

0.015
Burning Rate (kg/s)

0.01

0.005
Ideal (Mdot)
FDS (MLR_FUEL)
0
0 5 10 15 20
Time (s)

Figure 7.11: Results of the circular_burner test case.

7.4.3 Controlling Vents

VENT functionality can be controlled in some cases using “devices” and “controls,” specified via a DEVC_ID
or a CTRL_ID. See Sec. 18.4.2 for details.

65
7.4.4 Trouble-Shooting Vents
Unlike most of the entries in the input file, the order that you specify VENTs can be important. There might
be situations where it is convenient to position one VENT atop another. For example, suppose you want to
designate the ceiling of a compartment to have a particular set of surface properties, and you designate the
entire ceiling to have the appropriate SURF_ID. Then, you want to designate a smaller patch on the ceiling
to have another set of surface properties, like an air supply. In this case, you must designate the supply
VENT first because for that area of the ceiling, FDS will ignore the ceiling properties and apply the supply
properties. FDS processes the first VENT, not the second as it did in versions prior to FDS 5. Now, the rule
for VENTs is “first come, first served.” Keep in mind, however, that the second VENT is not rejected entirely
– only where there is overlap. FDS will also print out a warning to the screen (or to standard error) saying
which VENT has priority. Also, be careful if any of the VENTs are applying OPEN boundary conditions – OPEN
boundaries disable pressure ZONEs, which will change the solution of the problem.
Smokeview can help identify where two VENTs overlap, assuming each has a unique COLOR. Because
Smokeview draws VENTs on top of each other, areas of overlap will have a grainy, awkward appearance
that changes pattern as you move the scene. In situations where you desire the overlap for the sake of
convenience, you might want to slightly adjust the coordinates of the preferred VENT so that it is slightly
offset from the solid surface. Make the offset less than about a tenth of a cell dimension so that FDS snaps
it to its desired location. Then, by toggling the “q” key in Smokeview, you can eliminate the grainy color
overlap by showing the VENT exactly where you specified it, as opposed to where FDS repositioned it. This
trick also works where the faces of two obstructions overlap.
If an error message appears requesting that the orientation of a vent be specified, first check to make sure
that the vent is a plane. If the vent is a plane, then the orientation can be forced by specifying the parameter
IOR. If the normal direction of the VENT is in the positive x direction, set IOR=1. If the normal direction
is in the negative x direction, set IOR=-1. For the y and z direction, use the number 2 and 3, respectively.
Setting IOR may sometimes solve the problem, but it is more likely that if there is an error message about
orientation, then the VENT is buried within a solid obstruction, in which case the program cannot determine
the direction in which the VENT is facing.

66
7.5 Coloring Obstructions, Geometry, Vents, Surfaces, and Meshes
Assigning objects a meaningful color or pattern is useful when visualizing the results of a simulation. There
are two ways to do this in FDS. Either assign a single color, or assign a texture map, which is essentially an
image of your choosing.

7.5.1 Colors
Colors for many items within FDS can be prescribed in two ways; a triplet of integer color values, RGB,
or a character string, COLOR. The three RGB integers range from 0 to 255, indicating the amount of Red,
Green and Blue that make up the color. If you define the COLOR by name, it is important that you type the
name exactly as it is listed in the color tables. Color parameters can be specified on a SURF line, in which
case all surfaces of that type will have that color, or color parameters can be applied directly to obstructions
immersed geometries, or vents. For example, the lines:

&SURF ID='UPHOLSTERY', ..., RGB=0,255,0 /

&OBST XB=..., COLOR='BLUE' /
&GEOM GEOM_ID=..., COLOR='BLUE' /

will color all UPHOLSTERY green and this particular obstruction or geometry blue.
Table 7.1 provides a small sampling of RGB values and COLOR names for a variety of colors3 . Assigning
unique colors to surfaces via the SURF line is very useful for determining if the desired surface properties
have been assigned throughout the geometry.
Obstructions, geometries and vents may be colored individually, over-riding the color designated by the
SURF line. The special case COLOR='INVISIBLE' causes the vent, geometry or obstruction not to be drawn
by Smokeview. Another special case COLOR='RAINBOW' causes the color of the vent, obstruction or mesh to
be randomly selected from the full range of RGB values; this can be useful when using the MULT namelist
group and want to differentiate between the multiplied obstruction, vent or mesh.

7.5.2 Texture Maps

There are various ways of prescribing the color of various objects within the computational domain, but
there is also a way of pasting images onto the obstructions for the purpose of making the Smokeview images
more realistic. This technique is known as “texture mapping.” For example, to apply a wood paneling image
to a wall, add to the SURF line defining the physical properties of the paneling the line:

&SURF ID='wood paneling',..., TEXTURE_MAP='[Link]', TEXTURE_WIDTH=1.,

TEXTURE_HEIGHT=2. /

Assuming that a JPEG file called [Link] exists in the working directory, Smokeview loads and
displays the image wherever the paneling is used. PNG images may also be used for texture maps. Note that
the image does not appear when Smokeview is first invoked. It is an option controlled by the Show/Hide
menu. The parameters TEXTURE_WIDTH and TEXTURE_HEIGHT are the physical dimensions of the image. In
this case, the JPEG image is of a 1 m wide by 2 m high piece of paneling. Smokeview replicates the image as
often as necessary to make it appear that the paneling is applied where desired. Consider carefully how the
image repeats itself when applied in a scene. If the image has no obvious pattern, there is no problem with
the image being repeated. If the image has an obvious direction, the real triplet TEXTURE_ORIGIN should be
added to the VENT or OBST line to which a texture map should be applied. For example,
3A complete listing of all 500+ colors can be found by searching the FDS source code file data.f90.

67
 Table 7.1: A sample of color definitions.

Name R G B Name R G B
AQUAMARINE ■ 127 255 212 MAROON ■ 128 0 0
ANTIQUE WHITE ■ 250 235 215 MELON ■ 227 168 105
BEIGE ■ 245 245 220 MIDNIGHT BLUE ■ 25 25 112
BLACK ■ 0 0 0 MINT ■ 189 252 201
BLUE ■ 0 0 255 NAVY ■ 0 0 128
BLUE VIOLET ■ 138 43 226 OLIVE ■ 128 128 0
BRICK ■ 156 102 31 OLIVE DRAB ■ 107 142 35
BROWN ■ 165 42 42 ORANGE ■ 255 128 0
BURNT SIENNA ■ 138 54 15 ORANGE RED ■ 255 69 0
BURNT UMBER ■ 138 51 36 ORCHID ■ 218 112 214
CADET BLUE ■ 95 158 160 PINK ■ 255 192 203
CHOCOLATE ■ 210 105 30 POWDER BLUE ■ 176 224 230
COBALT ■ 61 89 171 PURPLE ■ 128 0 128
CORAL ■ 255 127 80 RASPBERRY ■ 135 38 87
CYAN ■ 0 255 255 RED ■ 255 0 0
DIM GRAY ■ 105 105 105 ROYAL BLUE ■ 65 105 225
EMERALD GREEN ■ 0 201 87 SALMON ■ 250 128 114
FIREBRICK ■ 178 34 34 SANDY BROWN ■ 244 164 96
FLESH ■ 255 125 64 SEA GREEN ■ 84 255 159
FOREST GREEN ■ 34 139 34 SEPIA ■ 94 38 18
GOLD ■ 255 215 0 SIENNA ■ 160 82 45
GOLDENROD ■ 218 165 32 SILVER ■ 192 192 192
GRAY ■ 128 128 128 SKY BLUE ■ 135 206 235
GREEN ■ 0 255 0 SLATEBLUE ■ 106 90 205
GREEN YELLOW ■ 173 255 47 SLATE GRAY ■ 112 128 144
HONEYDEW ■ 240 255 240 SPRING GREEN ■ 0 255 127
HOT PINK ■ 255 105 180 STEEL BLUE ■ 70 130 180
INDIAN RED ■ 205 92 92 TAN ■ 210 180 140
INDIGO ■ 75 0 130 TEAL ■ 0 128 128
IVORY ■ 255 255 240 THISTLE ■ 216 191 216
IVORY BLACK ■ 41 36 33 TOMATO ■ 255 99 71
KELLY GREEN ■ 0 128 0 TURQUOISE ■ 64 224 208
KHAKI ■ 240 230 140 VIOLET ■ 238 130 238
LAVENDER ■ 230 230 250 VIOLET RED ■ 208 32 144
LIME GREEN ■ 50 205 50 WHITE ■ 255 255 255
MAGENTA ■ 255 0 255 YELLOW ■ 255 255 0

68
&OBST XB=1.,2.,3.,4.,5.,7., SURF_ID='wood paneling', TEXTURE_ORIGIN=1.,3.,5. /

applies paneling to an obstruction whose dimensions are 1 m by 1 m by 2 m, such that the image of the
paneling is positioned at the point (1,3,5). The default value of TEXTURE_ORIGIN is (0,0,0), and the global
default can be changed by added a TEXTURE_ORIGIN statement to the MISC line.
For geometries that are spheres, the parameter TEXTURE_MAPPING='SPHERICAL' on the GEOM line lets
smokeview know to wrap the texture around the sphere rather than to lay it flat from above. The following
FDS input lines from the example test case geom_texture3a.fds defines a sphere using the image sphere_
cover_03.png as a texture map (this image is found in the smokeview installation directory). Figure 7.12
shows a texture mapped sphere using these input lines along with rectangular texture map that was applied.

&SURF ID='surf1'
TEXTURE_MAP='sphere_cover_03.png',COLOR='BLUE',
TEXTURE_WIDTH=1.0,TEXTURE_HEIGHT=1.0,TEXTURE_ORIGIN=0.0,0.0,0.0,
TEXTURE_MAPPING='SPHERICAL'/
&MOVE ID='SPHERE_ROT', AXIS=0.,0.,1., ROTATION_ANGLE=270. /
&GEOM ID='sphere1',SURF_ID='surf1',SPHERE_RADIUS=0.5,
N_LAT=25,N_LONG=50,SPHERE_ORIGIN=0.0,0.0,0.0,MOVE_ID='SPHERE_ROT'

texture map texture mapped sphere

Figure 7.12: Texture mapped sphere.

69
7.6 Repeated Objects: The MULT Namelist Group (Table 23.20)
Sometimes obstructions, holes and vents are repeated over and over in the input file. This can be tedious to
create and make the input file hard to read. However, if a particular set of objects repeats itself in a regular
pattern, you can use a utility known as a multiplier. If you want to repeat an obstruction, for example, create
a line in the input file as follows:

&MULT ID='m1', DX=1.2, DY=2.4, I_LOWER=-2, I_UPPER=3, J_LOWER=0, J_UPPER=5 /

&OBST XB=x1,x2,y1,y2,z1,z2, MULT_ID='m1' /

This has the effect of making an array of obstructions according to the following formulae:

x1’ = x1 + DX0 + i DX ; I_LOWER ≤ i ≤ I_UPPER

x2’ = x2 + DX0 + i DX ; I_LOWER ≤ i ≤ I_UPPER
y1’ = y1 + DY0 + j DY ; J_LOWER ≤ j ≤ J_UPPER
y2’ = y2 + DY0 + j DY ; J_LOWER ≤ j ≤ J_UPPER
z1’ = z1 + DZ0 + k DZ ; K_LOWER ≤ k ≤ K_UPPER
z2’ = z2 + DZ0 + k DZ ; K_LOWER ≤ k ≤ K_UPPER

In situations where the position of the obstruction needs shifting prior to the multiplication, use the param-
eters DX0, DY0, and DZ0.
A variation of this idea is to replace the parameters, DX, DY, and DZ, with a sextuplet called DXB. The six
entries in DXB increment the respective values of the obstruction coordinates given by XB. For example, the
x coordinates are transformed as follows:

x1’ = x1 + DX0 + n DXB(1) ; N_LOWER ≤ n ≤ N_UPPER

x2’ = x2 + DX0 + n DXB(2) ; N_LOWER ≤ n ≤ N_UPPER

N_LOWER and N_UPPER is used to denote the range of N. This more flexible input scheme allows you to create,
for example, a slanted roof in which the individual roof segments shorten as they ascend to the top. This
feature is demonstrated by the following short input file that creates a hollowed out pyramid using the four
perimeter obstructions that form the outline of its base:

&HEAD CHID='pyramid', TITLE='Simple demo of multiplier function' /

&MESH IJK=100,100,100, XB=0.0,1.0,0.0,1.0,0.0,1.0 /
&TIME T_END=0. /
&MULT ID='south', DXB=0.01,-.01,0.01,0.01,0.01,0.01, N_LOWER=0, N_UPPER=39 /
&MULT ID='north', DXB=0.01,-.01,-.01,-.01,0.01,0.01, N_LOWER=0, N_UPPER=39 /
&MULT ID='east', DXB=-.01,-.01,0.01,-.01,0.01,0.01, N_LOWER=0, N_UPPER=39 /
&MULT ID='west', DXB=0.01,0.01,0.01,-.01,0.01,0.01, N_LOWER=0, N_UPPER=39 /
&OBST XB=0.10,0.90,0.10,0.11,0.10,0.11, MULT_ID='south', COLOR='RED' /
&OBST XB=0.10,0.90,0.89,0.90,0.10,0.11, MULT_ID='north', COLOR='BLUE' /
&OBST XB=0.10,0.11,0.11,0.89,0.10,0.11, MULT_ID='west', COLOR='GREEN' /
&OBST XB=0.89,0.90,0.11,0.89,0.10,0.11, MULT_ID='east', COLOR='CYAN' /
&MULT ID='holes', DX=0.15, DZ=0.1, I_UPPER=1, K_UPPER=1 /
&HOLE XB=0.40,0.45,0.00,1.00,0.15,0.20, MULT_ID='holes' /
&TAIL /

The end result of this input file is to create a pyramid by repeating long, rectangular obstructions at the base
of each face in a stair-step pattern. Note in this case the use of N_LOWER and N_UPPER which automatically
cause FDS to repeat the obstructions in sequence rather than as an array.

70
 Figure 7.13: An example of the multiplier function.

Note that the MULTiplication functionality works for MESH, OBST, HOLE, VENT, and INIT lines. For a MESH,
it only applies to the bounds (XB) of the mesh, not the number of cells.
Note also that if a COLOR is specified on a line that includes a MULT_ID, this color will be applied to
all replicates of the object. However, you can set COLOR='RAINBOW' which will instruct FDS to randomly
choose a color for each replicate object.

7.6.1 Using MULT for Mesh Refinement

Note that objects and meshes in the MULT array may be skipped using I_LOWER_SKIP and I_UPPER_SKIP,
etc. The i from the equation above is skipped within this interval. As an example of how this may be useful,
consider the multi-mesh case below with refinement of the interior meshes. The resulting mesh arrangement
is shown in Fig. 7.14.

&MULT ID='interior fine mesh array',

DX=1.0,I_LOWER=1,I_UPPER=2,
DZ=1.0,K_LOWER=1,K_UPPER=2 /

&MULT ID='exterior coarse mesh array',

DX=1.0,I_LOWER=0,I_LOWER_SKIP=1,I_UPPER_SKIP=2,I_UPPER=3,
DZ=1.0,K_LOWER=0,K_LOWER_SKIP=1,K_UPPER_SKIP=2,K_UPPER=3 /

&MESH IJK=8,1,8, XB=0.0,1.0,-0.5,0.5,0.0,1.0, MULT_ID='interior fine mesh array' /

&MESH IJK=4,1,4, XB=0.0,1.0,-0.5,0.5,0.0,1.0, MULT_ID='exterior coarse mesh array' /

7.6.2 Using MULT to make shapes out of obstructions

Block obstructions made using an OBST line are constrained to the box defined by XB. However, MULT can
be used to create an array of obstructions—each of which can be as small as a single grid cell— that can be
manipulated into one of four basic shapes: sphere, cylinder, cone or box. The flow obstruction is created
from the intersection of the OBST array, created using a MULT_ID, and the SHAPE defined on the OBST line.

71
 Figure 7.14: Using MULT for mesh refinement.

Note that this method may be memory intensive since each grid cell can be its own OBST, similar to the way
OBST are decomposed when using BURN_AWAY for pyrolysis.
The first step in carving out the shape is to create a MULT line that defines the replication of the OBST.
Then a SHAPE is entered on the OBST line together with whatever parameters are required; parameters are
listed in Table 7.2.
Table 7.2: OBST SHAPE parameters.

SHAPE Parameters (default values in Table 23.21)

'SPHERE' XYZ, RADIUS
'CYLINDER' XYZ, RADIUS, HEIGHT, ORIENTATION
'CONE' XYZ, RADIUS, HEIGHT, ORIENTATION
'BOX' XYZ, LENGTH, WIDTH, HEIGHT, ORIENTATION, THETA

An example of a sphere is given below. By default, the center of the sphere is at (0,0,0), so only the
RADIUS is required. If the RADIUS is larger than the half-width the OBST array, this is not a problem, but the
end result will not be a sphere. If the RADIUS is smaller than the half-width, this is also permissible, but it is
inefficient.

&MESH IJK=50,50,50, XB=-0.125,0.125,-0.125,0.125,-0.125,0.125/

&SURF ID='shape', COLOR='ORANGE'/
&MULT ID='cube array', DX=0.005,DY=0.005,DZ=0.005, I_UPPER=41,J_UPPER=41,K_UPPER=41/
&OBST XB=-0.105,-0.100,-0.105,-0.100,-0.105,-0.100
MULT_ID='cube array'
SURF_ID='shape'
SHAPE='SPHERE'
RADIUS=0.1/

To create a cylinder we need a height and orientation in addition to the radius. The position of the center
of the bottom face of the cylinder XYZ defaults to (0,0,0). An example of a vertically oriented (default)
cylinder is shown below in Fig. 7.16. Note that the magnitude of the orientation vector is not important; the

72
 Figure 7.15: Creating an OBST sphere using MULT and SHAPE.

vector is only used to specify the direction.

A word of caution about precise area adjustments: Changing the ORIENTATION from the default (0,0,1)
or using SHAPE with multiple meshes voids the area adjustment algorithm. As a result, FDS cannot achieve
the exact mass flux out of the surface as prescribed by the SURF line and the precise area given by the
geometry parameters for the SHAPE on the OBST line. The mass flux FDS generates will be determined by
SURF line and the size of the grid cells the OBST snaps to. If either reorientation or a multiple mesh calculation
is required, first run a sample case to see what total flow rate the surface is achieving (usually found in the
CHID_hrr.csv file). Then manually adjust your mass flux (or HRRPUA) on the appropriate SURF line.

&SURF ID='shape', COLOR='DARK GRAY'/

&MULT ID='cube array', DX=0.005,DY=0.005,DZ=0.005, I_UPPER=41,J_UPPER=41,K_UPPER=41/
&OBST XB=-0.105,-0.100,-0.105,-0.100,-0.105,-0.100
MULT_ID='cube array'
SURF_ID='shape'
SHAPE='CYLINDER'
RADIUS=0.05
HEIGHT=0.2
XYZ=0,0,-0.1
ORIENTATION=0,0,1/

A cone needs basically the same input parameters as a cylinder. The position of the center of the bottom
face is specified using XYZ and the RADIUS of the bottom face, the HEIGHT, and the ORIENTATION must be
specified. An example is shown below in Fig 7.17.

&SURF ID='shape', COLOR='FOREST GREEN'/

&MULT ID='cube array', DX=0.005,DY=0.005,DZ=0.005, I_UPPER=41,J_UPPER=41,K_UPPER=41/
&OBST XB=-0.105,-0.100,-0.105,-0.100,-0.105,-0.100
MULT_ID='cube array'
SURF_ID='shape'
SHAPE='CONE'
RADIUS=0.05
HEIGHT=0.2
XYZ=0,0,-0.1

73
 Figure 7.16: Creating an OBST cylinder using MULT and SHAPE.

ORIENTATION=0,0,1/

Figure 7.17: Creating an OBST cone using MULT and SHAPE.

Finally, the box shape allows to define rotated cuboids. A box shape is defined locally by its HEIGHT,
WIDTH and LENGTH. The location of the box center is provided in XYZ. The angle THETA in degrees specifies
a rotation of the box respect to the global z axis, following right hand rule. Subsequently, the ORIENTATION
direction vector allows for an orientation change respect to the THETA rotated reference frame. This direction
vector changes the box orientation such that the local HEIGHT direction matches it. A simple example is
shown Fig 7.18.

&SURF ID='shape', COLOR='GRAY'/

&MULT ID='cube array', DX=0.005,DY=0.005,DZ=0.005, I_UPPER=41,J_UPPER=41,K_UPPER=41/

74
&OBST XB=-0.105,-0.100,-0.105,-0.100,-0.105,-0.100
MULT_ID='cube array'
SURF_ID='shape'
SHAPE='BOX'
LENGTH=0.075
WIDTH=0.025
HEIGHT=0.05
XYZ=0,0,0.01
ORIENTATION=0.5,0,1
THETA = 45. /

Figure 7.18: Creating an OBST rotated box using MULT and SHAPE.

75
Chapter 8

Thermal Boundary Conditions

This chapter describes how to specify the thermal properties of solid objects.

8.1 Basics
By default, the outer boundary of the computational domain is assumed to be a solid boundary that is
maintained at ambient temperature. The same is true for any obstructions that are added to the scene. To
specify the properties of solids, use the namelist group SURF (Sec. 7.1). Solids are assumed to consist of
layers that can be made of different materials. The properties of each material required are designated via
the MATL namelist group (Sec. 8.3). These properties indicate how rapidly the materials heat up, and how
they burn. Each MATL entry in the input file must have an ID, or name, so that they may be associated with a
particular SURF via the parameter MATL_ID. For example, the input file entries:

&MATL ID='BRICK', CONDUCTIVITY=0.69, SPECIFIC_HEAT=0.84, DENSITY=1600. /

&SURF ID='BRICK WALL', MATL_ID='BRICK', COLOR='RED', BACKING='EXPOSED',
THICKNESS=0.20 /
&OBST XB=0.1,5.0,1.0,1.2,0.0,1.0, SURF_ID='BRICK WALL' /

define a brick wall that is 4.9 m long, 1 m high, and 20 cm thick. Note that the thickness of the wall
indicated by the OBST line is independent of the THICKNESS specified by the SURF line. The OBST line defines
the geometry of the obstruction (i.e., how the obstruction is seen by the flow solver). The SURF line defines
the heat transfer characteristics of the obstruction (i.e., how the obstruction is seen by the 1D solid phase
solver). This allows an obstruction to snap to the local grid but still have the heat transfer solution reflect the
actual thickness.

8.2 Surface Temperature and Heat Flux

This section describes how to specify simple thermal boundary conditions. These are often used when there
is little or no information about the properties of the solid materials. If the properties of the materials are
known, it is better to specify these properties and let the model compute the heat flux to, and temperature
of, the walls and other solid surfaces.

8.2.1 Specified Solid Surface Temperature

Typically, the surface temperature of a solid boundary is predicted by FDS using thermal properties specified
via the MATL namelist group, which are in turn invoked by the SURF entry via the character string MATL_

77
[Link], the input TMP_FRONT, the surface temperature in units of ◦ C, can be used to specify a fixed
temperature boundary condition:

&SURF ID='HOT WALL', COLOR='RED', TMP_FRONT=200. /

Note that there is no need to specify a MATL_ID or THICKNESS. Because the wall is to be maintained at the
given temperature, there is no need to say anything about its material composition or thickness.

8.2.2 Convective Heat Transfer Options

This section is labeled as a special topic because normally modifying the convective heat transfer model in
FDS is not needed. However, there are special cases for which the default model may not be adequate, and
this section describes some options.

Default Convective Heat Transfer Model

In an LES calculation, the convective heat transfer coefficient, h, is based on the larger of the Nusselt (Nu)
numbers for free (natural) and forced convection:
k 2L
 
q̇′′c = h (Tg − Tw ) ; h = max Nufree , Nuforced , (8.1)
L δn
where Tg is the temperature at the center of the gas phase cell adjacent to the surface, Tw is the surface (wall)
temperature, L is a characteristic length, and k is the thermal conductivity of the gas. For planar surfaces,
L is taken as 1 m and for spheres and cylinders, L is taken as the diameter, D. The last argument on the
right-hand side corresponds to the limit for DNS cases. For Lagrangian particles the assumption is that
D ≪ δ n and so the equation for h becomes:
k
h= max (Nufree , Nuforced ) . (8.2)
L
For free (natural) convection, the Nusselt number is a function of the Rayleigh number:
2 g |Tg − Tw |L3 µ k ν
Ra = ; ν= ; α= ; Pr = (8.3)
(Tg + Tw )να ρ ρc p α
The following expressions are simplifications of those given in Ref. [9] under the assumption that Pr = 0.7.

2
0.825 + 0.324 Ra1/6


 Vertical plate or cylinder
1/4
0.54 Ra Horizontal hot plate facing up or cold plate facing down, Ra ≤ 107




1/3
0.15 Ra Horizontal hot plate facing up or cold plate facing down, Ra > 107


Nufree =
 0.52 Ra1/5 Horizontal hot plate facing down or cold plate facing up


1/6

2
0.60 + 0.321 Ra Horizontal cylinder



1/4

2 + 0.454 Ra Sphere

(8.4)
For forced convection, the Nusselt number takes the form:
ρ|u|L
Nuforced = C0 + (C1 Rem −C2 ) Pr1/3 ; Re = (8.5)
µ
The values of the coefficients are given in Table 8.1. Alternatively, specifying custom coefficients by setting
the values of NUSSELT_C0, NUSSELT_C1, NUSSELT_C2, and NUSSELT_M on the SURF line is possible. If using
this feature, you must define the value of all four coefficients.
The length scale, L, is specified by CONVECTION_LENGTH_SCALE on the SURF line. By default, it is 1 m
for plates, and the diameter of a sphere or cylinder.

78
 Table 8.1: Coefficients used for forced convection heat transfer correlations [9]

Geometry C0 C1 C2 m Re
Flat Plate 0 0.0296 0 0.8 ≤ 108
Cylinder 0 0.989 0 0.330 0.4 − 4
Cylinder 0 0.911 0 0.385 4 − 40
Cylinder 0 0.683 0 0.466 40 − 4000
Cylinder 0 0.193 0 0.618 4000 − 40000
Cylinder 0 0.027 0 0.805 40000 − 400000
Sphere 2 0.6 0 0.5

Output for Convective Heat Transfer Regime

It may be useful to visualize which convective heat transfer correlation is being exercised to compute the
heat transfer coefficient. This can be accomplished by using the solid phase output quantity 'CONVECTIVE
HEAT TRANSFER REGIME' on BNDF or DEVC. For wall surfaces (not available for particles), the regime is
mapped to an integer value, 1 = NATURAL, 2 = FORCED, 3 = IMPACT, 4 = RESOLVED, which is color coded
for boundary visualization.

Specified Convective Heat Transfer Coefficient

To specify the convective heat transfer coefficient, set it to a constant using HEAT_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT
on the SURF line in units of W/(m2 K) with optional time dependent ramp using RAMP_HEAT_TRANSFER_
COEFFICIENT. If the back side of the solid obstruction faces the exterior of the computational domain and
the solid conducts heat, the heat transfer coefficient of the back side may be specified using HEAT_TRANSFER_
COEFFICIENT_BACK with optional time dependent ramp ramp using RAMP_HEAT_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT_
BACK. This back side condition is appropriate for a SURF line with BACKING='VOID' or if the solid obstruction
backs to the exterior of the computational domain.

Impinging Jet Heat Transfer Model

The forced convection heat transfer correlations generally apply to flow parallel to a surface. When the
flow is an impinging jet (normal and toward the surface) then the tangential components of velocity are not
well resolved at the impingement point and consequently a fictitiously low value of heat transfer coefficient
will be predicted if special consideration is not given to the surface. If the surface may be subject to an
impinging jet or stagnation point flow (in fire, usually this pertains to ceilings above a fire source), consider
using impinging jet heat transfer model, applied on SURF using HEAT_TRANSFER_MODEL='IMPINGING JET'.
The impinging jet model is an extension of the user-specified h that allows you to specify a Gaus-
sian radial profile parameterized by a center point, XYZ(1:3), a width in meters (m), HEAT_TRANSFER_
COEFFICIENT_SIGMA, and the peak value, h0 , using HEAT_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT, all on the SURF line.
You may determine these parameters using correlations in [9], for example. Take note that the correlations
usually give the average heat transfer coefficient over an area, h̄. It can be shown that the ratio of the peak
to average for a Gaussian profile over area A = πσ 2 is h0 /h̄ ≈ 1.3. An example SURF line is given below.

&SURF ID='WALL', HEAT_TRANSFER_MODEL='IMPINGING JET', XYZ=0,0,1, HEAT_TRANSFER_

COEFFICIENT=50, HEAT_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT_SIGMA=0.5 /

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Specifying the Heat Flux at a Solid Surface
Instead of altering the convective heat transfer coefficient, a fixed heat flux may be specified directly. Two
methods are available to do this. The first is to specify a NET_HEAT_FLUX in units of kW/m2 . When this
is specified FDS will compute the surface temperature required to ensure that the combined radiative and
convective heat flux from the surface is equal to the NET_HEAT_FLUX. The second method is to specify the
CONVECTIVE_HEAT_FLUX, in units of kW/m2 . The radiative flux is then determined based on the EMISSIVITY
on the SURF line and the wall temperature needed to get the desired CONVECTIVE_HEAT_FLUX. Setting the
EMISSIVITY to zero will result in there being only a convective heat flux from a surface. If NET_HEAT_
FLUX or CONVECTIVE_HEAT_FLUX is positive, the wall heats up the surrounding gases. If NET_HEAT_FLUX or
CONVECTIVE_HEAT_FLUX is negative, the wall cools the surrounding gases. You cannot specify TMP_FRONT
with NET_HEAT_FLUX since NET_HEAT_FLUX combines radiative and convective flux, and FDS must compute
the wall temperature to get the desired flux. Specifying TMP_FRONT and CONVECTIVE_HEAT_FLUX will result
in FDS using the gas temperature adjacent to a wall cell to set the convection heat transfer coefficient to
achieve the desired CONVECTIVE_HEAT_FLUX for that wall cell. If a droplet lands surface with a specified
heat flux, no heat transfer will be predicted between the droplet and the surface. This is because the high
heat transfer rates associated with droplets can lead to nonsensical wall temperatures when trying to enforce
the specific flux which are then likely to result in runtime errors or numerical instabilities.

Logarithmic Law of the Wall

Near-wall treatments, such as wall models or wall functions, aim to mimic the sudden change from molec-
ular to turbulent transport close to the walls using algebraic formulations without the need of resolving
the otherwise computationally expensive region of the near-wall flow-field. The main theory follows di-
mensional analysis based on the idea that shear at the wall is constant. Accordingly, the non-dimensional
velocity u+ is calculated using a wall function [1].
By analogy, we define the non-dimensional temperature T + ≡ (Tg − Tw )/Tτ , where Tg is the gas tem-
perature of the first off-wall grid cell and Tτ is defined with the wall heat flux, q̇′′w , as Tτ = q̇′′w /ρw uτ cp . The
local heat transfer coefficient is then obtained from
q̇′′w ρw cp uτ
h= = (8.6)
Tg − Tw T+
Refer to the FDS Tech Guide [1] for further details of the formulation. To specify this heat transfer model
for a particular surface, set HEAT_TRANSFER_MODEL equal to 'LOGLAW' on the SURF line. Note that the
loglaw model is not well-suited for buoyant flows—it requires a well-resolved “wind” near the surface and
is therefore mainly applicable to forced convection type flows with high grid resolution.

Blowing Heat Transfer

If a surface is emitting (“blowing”) or removing (“sucking”) gas, the flow normal to the surface disrupts
the thermal boundary layer. Blowing tends to decrease the heat transfer coefficient while sucking tends to
increase it. Adding BLOWING=T to the SURF line will account for this effect, except for DNS simulations
where empirical heat transfer correlations are not used. When BLOWING=T, the heat transfer coefficient is
adjusted as follows [10, 11]:
ṁ′′ c p
 
Φh
hblowing = h ; Φh = (8.7)
exp(Φh ) − 1 h
| {z }
BLOWING CORRECTION
where h is the unadjusted heat transfer coefficient, ṁ′′ is the mass flow rate per unit area (positive for
blowing), and c p is the specific heat of the gas.,

80
8.2.3 Adiabatic Surfaces
A common boundary condition for diagnostic simulations is to force all surfaces to be perfectly insulated,
that is, there is no net heat transfer (radiative and convective) from the gas to the solid. For these cases,
specify ADIABATIC=T on the SURF line. FDS will compute a wall temperature so that the sum of the net
convective and radiative heat flux is zero. Specifying a surface to be ADIABATIC is equivalent to NET_HEAT_
FLUX=0 and EMISSIVITY=1. In such cases, it is also common to initialize the gas and surface temperatures
for the purpose of measuring the heat absorbed or generated by objects within the domain, for example:

&INIT XB=..., TEMPERATURE=2000. /

&SURF ID='...', ADIABATIC=T, TMP_FRONT_INITIAL=2000. /

Note that TMP_FRONT_INITIAL sets the initial temperature of the surface and has few other uses except for
this particular application. If the surface is not ADIABATIC and it has material properties, use TMP_INNER to
set the surface and interior temperature.
Also note that no solid surface is truly adiabatic; thus, the specification of an adiabatic boundary condi-
tion should be used for diagnostic purposes only. Actual fire simulations can develop numerical instabilities
if ADIABATIC surfaces are used because the wall temperature and radiation fields are not updated simulta-
neously. If a droplet lands on an ADIABATIC surface, no heat transfer will be predicted between the droplet
and the surface. This is because the high heat transfer rates associated with droplets can lead to nonsensical
wall temperatures when trying to enforce the adiabatic condition which are then likely to result in runtime
errors or numerical instabilities.

81
8.3 One-Dimensional Heat Conduction in Solids
Specified temperature or heat flux boundary conditions are easy to apply, but only of limited usefulness in
real fire scenarios. In most cases, walls, ceilings and floors are made up of several layers of lining materials.
In most fire scenarios, it is sufficient to compute the conduction of heat normal to the solid surface using
a 1-D solver. There are some limited cases for which three-dimensional heat conduction is possible; see
Sec. 8.4.
The MATL namelist group is used to define the properties of the materials that make up bounding solids.
A solid boundary can consist of multiple layers1 of different materials, and each layer can consist of multiple
material components.

8.3.1 Structure of Solid Boundaries

Material layers and components are specified on the SURF line via the array called MATL_ID(IL,IC). The
argument IL is an integer indicating the layer index, starting at 1, the layer at the exterior boundary. The
argument IC is an integer indicating the component index. For example, MATL_ID(2,3)='BRICK' indicates
that the third material component of the second layer is BRICK. In practice, the materials are often listed as
in the following example:

&MATL ID = 'INSULATOR'
CONDUCTIVITY = 0.041
SPECIFIC_HEAT = 2.09
DENSITY = 229. /

&SURF ID = 'BRICK WALL'

MATL_ID = 'BRICK','INSULATOR'
COLOR = 'RED'
BACKING = 'EXPOSED'
THICKNESS = 0.20,0.10 /

Without arguments, the parameter MATL_ID is assumed to be a list of the materials in multiple layers, with
each layer consisting of only a single material component.
When a set of SURF parameters is applied to the face of an OBST, the first MATL_ID defines the first layer
of solid material. The other MATL_IDs are applied in succession. If BACKING='EXPOSED', the last MATL_ID is
applied to the opposite face of the solid. If in the example above, BRICK WALL was applied to the entire OBST
using SURF_ID, then when doing a heat transfer calculation from the +x face to the −x face, FDS would
consider the OBST to be BRICK followed by INSULATOR and the same for a heat transfer calculation from the
−x face to the +x face. To avoid this, specify a second SURF that has the reverse MATL_ID and use SURF_ID6
to apply the two SURF definitions to opposite faces of the OBST.
Mixtures of solid materials within the same layer can be defined using the MATL_MASS_FRACTION key-
word. This parameter has the same two indices as the MATL_ID keyword. For example, if the brick layer
contains some additional water, the input could look like this:

&MATL ID = 'WATER'
CONDUCTIVITY = 0.60
SPECIFIC_HEAT = 4.19
DENSITY = 1000. /

&SURF ID = 'BRICK WALL'

MATL_ID(1,1:2) = 'BRICK','WATER'

1 The maximum number of material layers is 20. The maximum number of material components is 20.

82
 MATL_MASS_FRACTION(1,1:2) = 0.95,0.05
MATL_ID(2,1) = 'INSULATOR'
COLOR = 'RED'
BACKING = 'EXPOSED'
THICKNESS = 0.20,0.10 / <--- for layers 1 and 2

In this example, the first layer of material, Layer 1, is composed of a mixture of brick and water. This
is given by the MATL_ID array which specifies Component 1 of Layer 1 to be brick, and Component 2 of
Layer 1 to be water. The mass fraction of each is specified via MATL_MASS_FRACTION. In this case, brick is
95 %, by mass, of Layer 1, and water is 5 %.
Importantly, the components of the solid mixtures are treated as pure substances with no voids. The
density of the mixture is
!−1
Yi
ρ= ∑ (8.8)
i ρi
where Yi are the material mass fractions and ρi are the material bulk densities defined on the MATL lines.
In the example above, the resulting density of the wall would be about 1553 kg/m3 . The fact that the wall
density is smaller than the density of pure brick may be confusing, but can be explained easily. If the wall
can contain water, the whole volume of the wall can not be pure brick. Instead there are voids (pores) that
are filled with water. If the water is taken away, there is only about 1476 kg/m3 of brick left. To have a
density of 1600 kg/m3 for a partially void wall, a higher density should be used for the pure brick.

8.3.2 Thermal Properties

For any solid material, specify its thermal CONDUCTIVITY (W/(m K)), DENSITY (kg/m3 ), SPECIFIC_HEAT
(kJ/(kg K)), and EMISSIVITY2 (0.9 by default). Both CONDUCTIVITY and SPECIFIC_HEAT can be functions
of temperature. DENSITY and EMISSIVITY cannot. Temperature-dependence is specified using the RAMP
convention. As an example, consider Marinite, a wall material suitable for high temperature applications:

&MATL ID = 'MARINITE'
EMISSIVITY = 0.8
DENSITY = 737.
SPECIFIC_HEAT_RAMP = 'c_ramp'
CONDUCTIVITY_RAMP = 'k_ramp' /
&RAMP ID='k_ramp', T= 24., F=0.13 /
&RAMP ID='k_ramp', T=149., F=0.12 /
&RAMP ID='k_ramp', T=538., F=0.12 /
&RAMP ID='c_ramp', T= 93., F=1.172 /
&RAMP ID='c_ramp', T=205., F=1.255 /
&RAMP ID='c_ramp', T=316., F=1.339 /
&RAMP ID='c_ramp', T=425., F=1.423 /

Notice that with temperature-dependent quantities, the RAMP parameter T means Temperature, and F is the
value of either the specific heat or conductivity. In this case, neither CONDUCTIVITY nor SPECIFIC_HEAT is
given on the MATL line, but rather the RAMP names.
The solid material can be given an ABSORPTION_COEFFICIENT (1/m) that allows the radiation to pen-
etrate and absorb into the solid. Correspondingly, the emission of the material is based on the internal
temperatures, not just the surface. Materials with an ABSORPTION_COEFFICIENT can only be applied to
planar surfaces, not cylinders or spheres.
2 Thevalues of EMISSIVITY that are specified on the various MATL lines that define that material components of the solid
are used to compute an effective emissivity for the front and back surfaces. However, if you specify an EMISSIVITY or
EMISSIVITY_BACK on the SURF line, these values will then take precedence.

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8.3.3 Back Side Boundary Conditions
There are several options for defining the back surface boundary condition of a thermally-thick obstruction.
The default, BACKING='EXPOSED' on the SURF line, assumes that the back side is exposed to the thermal
environment behind the solid. FDS calculates the heat transfer through the solid into the space behind the
wall and vis versa. This heat conduction calculation in the solid is based on the THICKNESS of the material
layers specified on the SURF line, not the dimension of the OBST or other solid to which the SURF is applied.
For example, when modeling a steel plate that is 5 mm thick, if the OBST is approximated as a zero-cell
thick sheet because 5 mm is less than half the grid dimension of 5 cm, then FDS will still compute the
heat transfer through a 5 mm thick plate of steel. If a SURF with BACKING='EXPOSED' is applied to the
surface of a solid whose dimension in the normal direction is at least one gas phase grid cell length greater
than THICKNESS, FDS will then ignore BACKING='EXPOSED' and apply BACKING='VOID' instead. This latter
boundary condition is described below.
If a VENT is applied to a thermally-thick obstruction with 3-D heat conduction, the SURF_ID associated
with this VENT must describe a thermally-thick, 3-D solid as well; that is, the SURF line must have a MATL_ID
and HT3D=T.
An alternative back side boundary condition, BACKING='INSULATED', assumes that the solid backs up
to a perfectly insulated material, in which case no heat is lost to the back side. Use of this condition means
specifying properties of the inner insulating material is not necessary because it is assumed to be perfectly
insulated.
If the wall is assumed to always back up to the ambient, then the attribute BACKING='VOID' should be
set. You can also set the back side exposing gas temperature to be something other than ambient using TMP_
GAS_BACK. A RAMP for TMP_GAS_BACK can be specified with RAMP_TMP_GAS_BACK. The backside heat transfer
coefficient is computed using a natural convection correlation (see the FDS Tech Guide [3]). Similarly, you
can set the front side gas temperature using TMP_GAS_FRONT and ramp RAMP_TMP_GAS_FRONT. This is useful
mainly for diagnostic cases where you want to control the exposing temperature.
The back side emissivity of the surface can be controlled by specifying EMISSIVITY_BACK on the SURF
line. If not specified, the back side emissivity will be calculated during the simulations as a mass-weighted
sum of the MATL emissivities.

8.3.4 Initial Solid Temperature

By default, the initial temperature of the solid material is set to ambient (TMPA on the MISC line). Use TMP_
INNER on the SURF line to specify a different initial temperature of the solid. Note that setting this temperature
causes TMP_FRONT and/or TMP_BACK to be over-ridden. One can also specify an initial temperature profile
using RAMP_T_I where the T value of the ramp is the depth (m) from the face, and the F value is temperature
at that depth. RAMP_T_I profile cannot be used with 3D heat transfer.

8.3.5 Walls with Different Materials Front and Back

If an OBST does not border the edge of the computational domain, FDS calculates the heat transfer through
the specified solid THICKNESS, and it uses the gas phase temperature and heat flux on the front and back
sides for boundary conditions. A redundant calculation is performed on the opposite side of the obstruction.
The first layer listed is applied to the exposed front face and the last layer to the opposite face. Take, for
example, a SURF line that is applied to a solid OBST. On the −x side of the OBST, layer 1 is MATERIAL A,
layer 2 is MATERIAL B, and layer 3 is MATERIAL A. On the +x side the SURF is applied in the same manner.

&SURF ID = 'SYMMETRIC'
BACKING = 'EXPOSED'

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 MATL_ID(1:3,1) = 'MATERIAL A','MATERIAL B','MATERIAL A'
THICKNESS(1:3) = 0.1,0.2,0.1 /

Now consider the SURF definition below. On the −x side of the OBST, layer 1 is MATERIAL A, layer 2 is
MATERIAL B, and layer 3 is MATERIAL C. On the +x side, the SURF is applied in the same manner, layer 1 is
MATERIAL A, layer 2 is MATERIAL B, and layer 3 is MATERIAL C. This means that both sides of the OBST will
compute heat transfer assuming MATERIAL A is the first layer but this is not possible.

&SURF ID = 'NON-SYMMETRIC'
BACKING = 'EXPOSED'
MATL_ID(1:3,1) = 'MATERIAL A','MATERIAL B','MATERIAL C'
THICKNESS(1:3) = 0.1,0.2,0.1 /

Care is needed when specifying multiple layers. If the layering is symmetric, the same SURF line can be
applied to both sides. However, if the layering is not symmetric, two separate SURF lines must be created
and applied one to each side. For example, a hollow box column that is made of steel and covered on the
outside by a layer of insulation material and a layer of plastic on top of the insulation material, would have
to be described with two SURF lines like the following:

&SURF ID = 'COLUMN EXTERIOR'

BACKING = 'EXPOSED'
MATL_ID(1:3,1) = 'PLASTIC','INSULATION','STEEL'
THICKNESS(1:3) = 0.002,0.036,0.0063 /

&SURF ID = 'COLUMN INTERIOR'

BACKING = 'EXPOSED'
MATL_ID(1:3,1) = 'STEEL','INSULATION','PLASTIC'
THICKNESS(1:3) = 0.0063,0.036,0.002 /

If, in addition, the insulation material and plastic are combustible, and their burning properties are specified
on the appropriate MATL lines, then indicating which side of the column would generate the fuel vapor
is needed. In this case, the steel is impermeable. Adding the the parameter LAYER_DIVIDE=2.0 to the
SURF line labeled 'COLUMN EXTERIOR' would result in fuel vapors formed by the heating of the two first
layers ('PLASTIC' and 'INSULATION') being driven out of that surface. Similarly, for the SURF line labeled
'COLUMN INTERIOR', specifying LAYER_DIVIDE=0.0 would indicate that no fuel vapors are to driven into
the interior of the column. In fact, values from 0.0 to 1.0 would work equally because the material 'STEEL'
would not generate any fuel vapors. By default, LAYER_DIVIDE is 0.5 times the number of layers for surfaces
with EXPOSED backing, and equal to the number of layers for other surfaces. See Section 9.2.2 for more
information.

8.3.6 Specified Internal Heat Source

The condensed phase heat conduction equation has a source term that describes the internal sources and sinks
of energy. There are three types of sources that contribute to this term: heats of reaction for the pyrolysis
(see Sec. 9.2), internal absorption and emission of radiation (see Sec. 9.2.7), and the source specified by the
user. An example of the case where specified heat source could be needed is the heating of electrical cables
due to internal current.
The internal source term for each layer of the surface is specified using INTERNAL_HEAT_SOURCE on the
SURF line. Its units are kW/m3 and the default value is zero. An optional time ramp can be specified for each
layer’s heat source using RAMP_IHS. In the example below, the cylindrical surface describing a cable consists
of an outer plastic layer and inner core of metal. The metal core is heated with a power of 300 kW/m3 .

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&SURF ID = 'Cable'
THICKNESS = 0.002,0.008
MATL_ID(1,1) = 'PLASTIC'
MATL_ID(2,1) = 'METAL'
GEOMETRY = 'CYLINDRICAL'
LENGTH = 0.1
INTERNAL_HEAT_SOURCE = 0.,300. /

8.3.7 Non-Planar Walls and Targets

All obstructions in FDS are assumed to conform to the rectilinear mesh, and all bounding surfaces are
assumed to be flat planes. However, many objects, like cables, pipes, and ducts, are not flat. Even though
these objects have to be represented in FDS as “boxes,” you can still perform the internal heat transfer
calculation as if the object were really cylindrical or spherical. For example, the input lines:

&OBST XB=0.0,5.0,1.1,1.2,3.4,3.5, SURF_ID='CABLE' /

&SURF ID='CABLE', MATL_ID='PVC', GEOMETRY='CYLINDRICAL', THICKNESS=0.01 /

can be used to model a power cable that is 5 m long, cylindrical in cross section, 2 cm in diameter. The
heat transfer calculation is still one-dimensional; that is, it is assumed that there is a uniform heat flux
all about the object. This can be somewhat confusing because the cable is represented as an obstruction of
square cross section, with a separate heat transfer calculation performed at each face, and no communication
among the four faces. Obviously, this is not an ideal way to do solid phase heat transfer, but it does provide a
reasonable bounding surface temperature for the gas phase calculation. More detailed assessment of a cable
would require a two or three-dimensional heat conduction calculation, which is not included in FDS.
To represent the inner surface of a cylinder, specify GEOMETRY='INNER CYLINDRICAL' along with an
INNER_RADIUS (m).
Use GEOMETRY='SPHERICAL' to describe a spherical object. Add HORIZONTAL=T to the SURF line if you
have specified a cylindrical geometry and you want to ensure that the heat transfer coefficient is appropriate
for a horizontal cylinder.

8.3.8 Solid Phase Numerical Gridding Issues

Inside solids, FDS solves the one-dimensional heat transfer equation numerically in the direction normal to
the surface. The node spacing for the numerical solver is not
p uniform, in general. The size of first cell at the
surface is automatically chosen to be less than or equal to τk/ρc, where τ is a time constant set to 1 s and
k/ρc is the thermal diffusivity. By default, the node spacing is less dense in the center of the layer and more
dense at the boundaries to better resolve steep gradients in the temperature.
The default parameters governing the node spacing are appropriate for simple heat transfer calcula-
tions, but sometimes pyrolysis reactions cause spurious fluctuations in temperature and burning rate. The
numerical accuracy and stability of the solid phase solution may be improved as follows:

Make the node spacing more uniform inside the material by setting STRETCH_FACTOR(NL)=1. on the SURF
line, where NL designates a particular layer. This will generate a perfectly uniform mesh. Values be-
tween 1 and 2 give different levels of stretching. The default value of 2 indicates that the second cell
is twice as thick as the first, the third is twice the second, and so on until the mid-depth of the layer is
reached, at which point the cells shrink following the same pattern.

Make the mesh cells smaller by setting CELL_SIZE_FACTOR(NL) less than 1, where NL designates a partic-
ular layer. For example, a value of 0.5 makes the mesh cells in the layer half the size.

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Specify the desired cell size by specifying CELL_SIZE(NL) directly, where NL designates a particular layer.
This parameter over-rides STRETCH_FACTOR and CELL_SIZE_FACTOR.
Improve the time resolution by setting WALL_INCREMENT=1 on the TIME line. This forces the solid phase
solution to be updated every time step instead of the default every 2 time steps. If this is still not
sufficient, you can direct that FDS use smaller time steps to update the solid phase heat conduction
calculation than that used by the gas phase solver. This can be done specifically for a selected surface
(SURF) type using the parameter TIME_STEP_FACTOR. Its default value is 10, meaning that the solid
phase time step for that particular SURF type can be sub-divided by at most a factor of 10. The decision
to sub-divide the time step is based on the criterion that the internal temperature of the solid should not
change by more than DELTA_TMP_MAX ◦ C during that sub-step. The default value of DELTA_TMP_MAX
is 10 ◦ C, and this is also a SURF parameter. You can choose QUANTITY='SUBSTEPS' on either a DEVC
or BNDF output line to see how many sub-steps are being used by a particular surface cell or the entire
domain, respectively. You can also ask FDS to use a solid phase time step that obeys the Fourier number
constraint, Fo = δtα/δ x2 = 1; this is done by setting CHECK_FO=T on MISC.
Limit the number of cells in any layer by setting N_LAYER_CELLS_MAX(NL) (default 1000), where NL des-
ignates a particular layer. Reducing this value does not necessarily improve accuracy, but it does save
computing time. However, rarely does the solid phase require this many cells. The output file [Link]
contains the coordinates of the solid phase nodes.
Change when a wall cell is renoded by setting REMESH_RATIO on the SURF line and/or REAC_RATE_DELTA
on the MATL line. If nodes changes size during pyrolysis, FDS will try and renode layers with changing
cell size to optimize the number of nodes. This renoding process is costly if it is done frequently. The
parameter REMESH_RATIO sets the fractional change in the size of a wall cell before FDS will check for
renoding. For example, with the default value of 0.15, FDS will not attempt the first renode of a wall
cell that is initially all 0.1 m nodes unless one node has either increased to 0.115 m or decreased to
0.085 m. A second potential challenge with renoding occurs when there are large cell-to-cell tempera-
ture differences inside a pyrolyzing layer. Renoding will combine cells causing changes in temperature.
If there is a large enough temperature difference, this can cause large swings in the pyrolysis rate. The
parameter REAC_RATE_DELTA, default value of 0.05, sets the fractional change in the pyrolysis rate for
a material that is considered acceptable. If renoding of a layer could cause a temperature change large
enough to achieve that change in pyrolysis rate, then FDS will not renode that layer.
If all the material components react and leave no solid residue, the thickness of the solid will shrink. Each
of the shrinking layers will vanish from the computation when its thickness gets smaller than a prescribed
limiting value. This value can be set on a SURF line using MINIMUM_LAYER_THICKNESS(N), where N is the
index of the layer. If you do not specify a layer index, the value shall be applied to all layers. The default
value is 0.0001 m or 0.1 times the specified THICKNESS, whichever is less. When all the material of a
shrinking surface is consumed but BURN_AWAY is not prescribed, the surface temperature is set to TMP_GAS_
BACK, convective heat flux to zero and burning rate to zero.
See Sec. 9.3 for ways to check and improve the accuracy of the solid phase calculation.

8.3.9 Specified Front and Back Surface Temperature

If a solid obstruction is thermally-thick, typically specifying its surface temperature is undesired because the
surface temperature should establish itself based on the heat flux to, and heat penetration within, the solid.
However, there may be situations where this is desired. One example is for testing the heat conduction
algorithm against analytical solutions for which a specified boundary temperature is typical. An example is
as follows:

87
&SURF ID='...', MATL_ID='...', TMP_FRONT=500., TMP_BACK=20., THICKNESS=0.01 /

This line fixes the front temperature of a 1 cm thick plate to 500 ◦ C and its back side to 20 ◦ C. You do not
need to specify the temperature of both surfaces. If the back side of the obstruction is exposed, you will need
to assign another SURF to the back with the opposite boundary conditions. The front and back temperatures
can be respectively varied with time using the ramps RAMP_T and RAMP_TMP_BACK.

88
8.4 3-D Heat Conduction (Beta)
The 1-D heat conduction model used in FDS is appropriate for most building materials that have a relatively
low thermal conductivity; that is, they are insulating. However, materials like steel have a relatively high
conductivity, and the 1-D conduction model may not be appropriate. FDS does have a limited 3-D heat
conduction capability that is appropriate for structural steel or other solid objects where lateral heat transfer
may be important. The 3-D conduction algorithm in FDS makes use of the 1-D solver. Every third solid
phase time step, the temperature in one of the three coordinate directions is updated in time, and between
each time step, this updated temperature field is transferred to the other two directions. In this way, the 3-D
temperature field is updated over the course of three calls to the solid phase solver.

8.4.1 Basics
For the 3-D algorithm, each obstruction (OBST) that makes up the solid is assumed to consist of a mixture
of different materials (MATLs). Multiple layers can be constructed from multiple obstructions, but these
obstructions are snapped to the gas phase grid. Thus, you cannot specify arbitrarily thick layers like you can
with the 1-D solver.
To invoke the 3-D solver, specify HT3D=T on a SURF line as in this example:

&SURF ID='STEEL SLAB', HT3D=T, COLOR='BLACK' /

&OBST XB=..., SURF_ID='STEEL SLAB', MATL_ID='STEEL', CELL_SIZE=0.003 /
&MATL ID='STEEL', DENSITY=7500, SPECIFIC_HEAT=0.5, CONDUCTIVITY=50 /

Parameters that are used to control the solid phase gridding are preferably given on the OBST line instead of
the SURF line. In this example, the MATL_ID is specified on the OBST line. You can specify a uniformly-spaced
grid using the parameter CELL_SIZE (m) or you can stretch the grid using the parameters STRETCH_FACTOR
and CELL_SIZE_FACTOR. You can also limit the number of grid cells using N_LAYER_CELLS_MAX. These
parameters are explained in Sec. 8.3.8, but when specified on an OBST line, these parameters are scalars and
refer to the single layer formed by that particular obstruction. If these parameters are not specified on the
OBST line, they will be taken from the first layer specified on the SURF line, and if not specified there, they
will take on the default values listed in Sec. 8.3.8.
An appropriate CELL_SIZE, δ , for 3-D heat conduction is based on the material thermal diffusivity,
α = k/(ρ c): s !
τk
δ ≈ min δ x, ; τ =1s (8.9)
ρc
Here, τ is just a unity time scale for the purpose of unit consistency. The gas phase grid cell size is δ x. In the
example above, the 'STEEL' has a conductivity of 0.05 kW/(m K), specific heat 0.5 kJ/(kg K), and density
7500 kg/m3 ; thus, an appropriate CELL_SIZE would be on the order of 0.004 m. FDS will adjust this value
so that an integral number of cells will span the width of the solid object. Choosing a CELL_SIZE much
lower than this recommended value might lead to spurious results, especially if materials of very different
thermal diffusivities are components of the solid object.
You can specify an internal source for the solid obstruction using INTERNAL_HEAT_SOURCE on the OBST
line. Its units are kW/m3 and the default value is zero. An optional time ramp can be specified using
RAMP_IHS.

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8.4.2 Limitations
1. HT3D cannot be applied to an exterior boundary; it must be applied to an OBST for which at least one face
in each coordinate direction is exposed.

2. Avoid contact between 3-D and 1-D solids. If two sides of a 3-D solid touch 1-D solids, there will be
no lateral heat conduction computed in that particular direction.

3. If your 3-D obstruction extends beyond meshes that abut, FDS uses a special algorithm to identify all
the meshes where this obstruction lives, and also those obstructions connected to it. However, if this
algorithm fails to detect all the meshes and you receive an error stating that there is a problem, add the
parameter NEIGHBOR_SEPARATION_DISTANCE to the MISC line. Any mesh within this distance of another
mesh will share geometry information for use in the 3-D heat conduction calculation. If you set this
parameter to a value larger than the width of the computational domain, then all meshes will establish
communication channels for exchanging boundary information.

4. By default, the interior nodes are clustered near the surface and stretched out deeper within the solid. If
you want to maintain uniform spacing, set CELL_SIZE on the SURF or OBST line to indicate the desired
interior node spacing. The CELL_SIZE is typically chosen to be comparable to the gas phase cells. If the
obstruction is thin; that is, less than one gas phase cell thick, the specified CELL_SIZE will only apply
to the heat conduction in the transverse, not normal, direction. The normal direction gridding will be
controlled by the parameters STRETCH_FACTOR and CELL_SIZE_FACTOR. This may be useful in cases
where the specified CELL_SIZE is too coarse to resolve variations in surface definition along the normal
dimension (see Section 8.4.4 for an example).

5. HT3D cannot be applied to an OBST that is to BURN_AWAY. In addition, if the solid undergoes significant
shrinking or swelling, do not use HT3D. “Significant” means that the number of internal cells changes,
in which case the 3-D nodal structure breaks down. To determine if this happens, use the PROFile output
feature (Sec. 22.3) to visualize profiles of internal temperature or other solid phase quantities. These
output files contain the internal node coordinates as a function of time.

6. If a SURF line specifies either HT3D=T or VARIABLE_THICKNESS=T and also specifies an HRRPUA, MLPUA, or
MASS_FLUX, you must specify a MATL_ID on the SURF line and the appropriate OBST lines. The reason for
doubly specifying the MATL_ID is so that the SURF line can be set up properly. Note that the specification
of HRRPUA or similar on the surface of a 3-D or variably thick solid means that no obstruction making
up the solid can have specified internal reactions, i.e. pyrolysis.

Example: Steel Assembly

Figure 8.1 displays a simple test case in which a steel assembly is heated by a small hot object. The plot at
right asserts that the net heat flux integrated over the surface is equal to the heat absorbed by the solid:
Z tZ Z
q̇′′net ′
dS dt = ρs cs ∆Ts dV (8.10)
0 ∂Ω Ω

The integral on the left hand side of Eq. (8.10) is evaluated in FDS using the device line:

&DEVC ID='...', XB=..., QUANTITY='NET HEAT FLUX', SURF_ID='STEEL SLAB'

SPATIAL_STATISTIC='SURFACE INTEGRAL', TEMPORAL_STATISTIC='TIME INTEGRAL' /

The volume enclosed by XB encompasses the entire assembly. The integral on the right is evaluated by:

90
 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
10
Energy Balance (ht3d_demo)
8

Enthalpy (kJ)
6

2
Enthalpy
Integrated Heat Flux
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Time (s)

Figure 8.1: (Left) Surface temperature of a steel assembly exposed to a small hot object. (Right) Plot demonstrating
that the increasing enthalpy of the steel is consistent with the integrated net heat flux over the surface.

&DEVC ID='...', XB=..., QUANTITY='WALL ENTHALPY', IOR=3, SURF_ID='STEEL SLAB'

SPATIAL_STATISTIC='SURFACE INTEGRAL', RELATIVE=T, CONVERSION_FACTOR=10000, /

The quantity 'WALL ENTHALPY' is the total energy within the volume carved out by a wall cell from front to
back. This is why the IOR is included because the integration need only be carried out for upward facing wall
cells. Also, because the unit associated with this quantity is kJ rather than kJ/m2 , the CONVERSION_FACTOR
is needed to cancel out the area of each wall cell (0.01 m by 0.01 m) after the summation. The parameter
RELATIVE=T means that only the change in enthalpy is desired. .

Example: Unprotected Structural Steel

Structural steel members like I-beams are difficult to model for two reasons. First, the underlying grid must
be reasonably well-resolved to capture the cross-sectional shape, and second, the lateral heat transfer can be
important. At best, I-beams are typically modeled as a collection of thin (i.e. zero cell thick) obstructions
representing the web and flanges.

&OBST XB=0.12,1.88,0.51,0.53,0.21,0.79, SURF_ID='STEEL SLAB', MATL_ID='STEEL' /

&OBST XB=0.12,1.88,0.41,0.63,0.76,0.79, SURF_ID='STEEL SLAB', MATL_ID='STEEL' /
&OBST XB=0.12,1.88,0.41,0.63,0.21,0.24, SURF_ID='STEEL SLAB', MATL_ID='STEEL' /
&SURF ID='STEEL SLAB', HT3D=T, COLOR='BLACK', CELL_SIZE=0.1 /

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Figure 8.2: (Left) Cross section of an I-beam. (Center) 3-D representation of the beam. (Right) FDS approximated
thin obstructions.

8.4.3 Surface Linings

In some applications, you might want to perform 3-D heat conduction within collections of abutting obstruc-
tions, each with a MATL_ID. The obstructions might have some outer lining, like fabric on sofa cushions,
for example, and this lining is thinner than a single gas phase grid cell. In other words, this lining material
cannot be represented by an OBST. However, you can specify one or more layers of multi-component materi-
als using MATL_ID, MATL_MASS_FRACTION, and THICKNESS on the SURF line(s) that are assigned to the OBSTs
that also have specified MATL_IDs and MATL_MASS_FRACTIONs.
The way linings are handled depends on the size of the obstruction. If the obstruction is a flat plate
whose depth is less than one-half a grid cell and is represented as a zero-cell thick sheet, then any layer
materials are assumed to add to the thickness of the underlying plate. For example, if a plate of steel is 1 cm
thick and it is assumed to be coated on both sides by layers of insulation that are 2 cm thick, the assembly is
still treated as a thin sheet from the standpoint of the gas phase computation, but the depth is taken as 5 cm
for the purpose of the heat transfer computation.
On the other hand, if the solid is made up of obstructions that are not thin plates, lining materials displace
volume of the underling solid. For example, the following lines of input define a single obstruction made of
steel that is lined with two layers of insulation made up of three different components:

&OBST XB=-0.20, 0.20,-0.20, 0.20,-0.05, 0.05, SURF_ID='SLAB', MATL_ID='STEEL' /

&SURF ID='SLAB', HT3D=T, COLOR='BEIGE', THICKNESS=0.003,0.002,
MATL_ID(1,1:2)='STUFF A','STUFF B', MATL_MASS_FRACTION(1,1:2)=0.3,0.7,
MATL_ID(2,1:2)='STUFF B','STUFF C', MATL_MASS_FRACTION(2,1:2)=0.2,0.8 /
&MATL ID='STUFF A', DENSITY= 50, SPECIFIC_HEAT=1.0, CONDUCTIVITY=0.1 /
&MATL ID='STUFF B', DENSITY= 80, SPECIFIC_HEAT=1.5, CONDUCTIVITY=0.2 /
&MATL ID='STUFF C', DENSITY= 30, SPECIFIC_HEAT=2.5, CONDUCTIVITY=0.3 /
&MATL ID='STEEL', DENSITY=7500, SPECIFIC_HEAT=0.5, CONDUCTIVITY=50. /

The resulting solid has the same dimensions as the one you specify, but 5 mm of its surface material is
replaced by the given layers of “stuff.”

Example: Insulated Structural Steel

An insulated steel beam can be modeled as a hybrid of 1-D and 3-D objects. The heat conducted through
the insulation varies mainly in the direction normal to the surface, while the heat conducted along the steel
beam varies mainly in the lateral direction. The following lines provide an example where a steel plate is

92
coated with insulation. The steel plate is entered as a relatively thin obstruction, and the insulation is applied
to each side via a SURF line. This latter parameter ensures that the thin steel obstruction and the insulation
obstruction are included in the calculation of solid overlap volumes. Note that all dimensions are exact to
ensure that the overlap volumes are computed properly.

&OBST XB=..., SURF_ID='INSULATION', MATL_ID='STEEL', CELL_SIZE=0.1 /

&SURF ID='INSULATION', MATL_ID='STUFF', COLOR='BEIGE', THICKNESS=0.01, HT3D=T /

Note that the CELL_SIZE refers to heat transfer in the lateral direction. The heat transfer in the direc-
tion normal to the insulation and thin steel plate will be gridded according to parameters on the SURF line
'INSULATION'.

8.4.4 Working with Thin Plates

The sample case called Heat_Transfer/[Link] demonstrates how to work with a thin plate of
steel. Consider the following lines of input:

&MATL ID='steel', SPECIFIC_HEAT=0.515, CONDUCTIVITY=16.2, DENSITY=7900 /

&SURF ID='paint', COLOR='BLACK', EMISSIVITY=0.95, HT3D=T /
&SURF ID='no paint', COLOR='SILVER', EMISSIVITY=0.33, HT3D=T /
&OBST XB=0.00,1.20,0.00,0.0031,0.00,1.20, MATL_ID='steel', SURF_ID='no paint' /
&VENT XB=0.00,0.05,0.0000,0.0000,0.00,0.05, SURF_ID='paint', MULT_ID='M', IOR=-2 /
&VENT XB=0.00,0.05,0.0031,0.0031,0.00,0.05, SURF_ID='paint', MULT_ID='M', IOR= 2 /
&VENT XB=0.05,0.10,0.0000,0.0000,0.05,0.10, SURF_ID='paint', MULT_ID='M', IOR=-2 /
&VENT XB=0.05,0.10,0.0031,0.0031,0.05,0.10, SURF_ID='paint', MULT_ID='M', IOR= 2 /
&MULT ID='M', DX=0.10, DZ=0.10, I_UPPER=11, K_UPPER=11 /

There is a single thin OBSTstruction that is 3.1 mm thick and 1.2 m long and 1.2 m wide. The gas phase grid
size is 25 mm, much larger than the plate thickness. From the standpoint of the gas phase fluid solver, this
plate is just a barrier and has no thickness. However, its thickness of 3.1 mm is taken into account by the
3-D heat conduction solver. The plate is assigned a MATL_ID of 'steel' and it is also given a default set
of surface properties using the SURF_ID='no paint'. This SURF_ID invokes the 3-D solver and it assigns
a color and an EMISSIVITY of 0.33. If no EMISSIVITY had been assigned, it would have taken on that of
'steel' which in this case would have taken the default value of 0.9. The VENT lines apply a checkerboard
pattern of “black” or high emissivity squares onto the plate. Figure 8.3 displays an image of the simulation
along with a plot showing a comparison of internal enthalpy and net heat flux.

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 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
250
Energy Balance (checkerboard)
200

Enthalpy (kJ)
150

100

50
Enthalpy
Integrated Heat Flux
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time (s)

Figure 8.3: (Left) Temperature of a thin steel plate subjected to fire. The plate has a patchwork pattern of high and low
emissivity. (Right) Plot comparing the enthalpy of the plate and the net surface heat flux.

8.4.5 1-D Heat Conduction in Solids of Varying Thickness

There are some scenarios that do not call for 3-D heat conduction, but do not have a well-defined THICKNESS
which is needed by the default 1-D heat conduction algorithm. In these cases, the solid might have various
layers of varying thicknesses. In such cases, you do not specify a THICKNESS or a MATL_ID on the SURF
line. Instead, you specify MATL_ID on the obstructions (OBSTs) that make up the solid. Multiple obstructions
can be used to create multiple layers, and each layer can be assigned one or more material components via
MATL_ID(:) and MATL_MASS_FRACTION(:). Unlike the way these parameters are specified on a SURF line,
the single index represents a material component, not a layer. As an example, consider these input lines:

&SURF ID='SKIN', COLOR='BLACK', VARIABLE_THICKNESS=T /

&OBST XB=0.2,0.8,0.2,0.8,0.2,0.8, SURF_ID='SKIN',
MATL_ID='Steel','Aluminum', MATL_MASS_FRACTION=0.8,0.2 /
&HOLE XB=0.3,0.7,0.3,0.7,0.3,0.7 /
&OBST XB=0.3,0.7,0.3,0.7,0.3,0.7, PERMIT_HOLE=F,
MATL_ID='Aluminum', MATL_MASS_FRACTION=1. /

The SURF line serves only to color the surface black and to indicate, via the parameter VARIABLE_THICKNESS,
that the layer thicknesses and material composition are to be conveyed via the OBSTs that make up the solid.
In this case, the solid is a 0.6 m cube made up of steel and aluminum with a hollowed out core made up of
pure aluminum. The material properties are conveyed via MATL lines as described above.

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Chapter 9

Fire and Pyrolysis

FDS has several approaches for describing the pyrolysis of solids and liquids. The approach to take de-
pends largely on the availability of material properties and the appropriateness of the underlying pyrolysis
model. Note that all pyrolysis models in FDS require that you explicitly define the gas phase reaction. See
Chapter 13 for details. A given surface may only use only one pyrolysis model at a time.

9.1 Specified Heat Release Rate

Solids and liquid fuels can be modeled by specifying their relevant properties via the MATL namelist group.
However, no material properties are needed to simply obtain a fire of a given heat release rate (HRR). A
specified fire is modeled as the ejection of gaseous fuel from a solid surface or vent. This is essentially a
burner, with a specified Heat Release Rate Per Unit Area, HRRPUA, in units of kW/m2 . For example

&SURF ID='FIRE', HRRPUA=500. /

applies 500 kW/m2 to any surface with the attribute SURF_ID='FIRE'. See the discussion of time-dependent
quantities in Chapter 11 to learn how to ramp the heat release rate up and down.
An alternative to HRRPUA with the exact same functionality is MLRPUA, except this parameter specifies
the Mass Loss Rate of fuel gas Per Unit Area in kg/(m2 s). Do not specify both HRRPUA and MLRPUA on the
same SURF line.
If either HRRPUA or MLRPUA are specified, but no SPEC_ID is given, then FDS will use the FUEL for the
first REAC input. If a single SPEC_ID is given, then FDS will use that as the fuel. This can only be done if
the species is used as the FUEL in only one REAC input; otherwise use SPEC_ID and MASS_FLUX. If multiple
SPEC_ID along with MASS_FRACTION are given, then FDS will assume that the HRRPUA or MLRPUA refers to
only species corresponding to FUEL inputs on a REAC line. For MLRPUA, FDS will just multiply the MLRPUA by
the MASS_FRACTION of the fuel species to obtain the fuel species mass flux. If there are any non-fuel species,
then the mass flux of those species will be set to preserve their specified MASS_FRACTION. For HRRPUA, FDS
will compute the average heat of combustion for all the fuel species. This average heat of combustion is
used to define the mass flux of the fuel species, i.e., the effective MLRPUA. Non-fuel species are then treated
as with MLRPUA.
In the example below, six fuel species are used for four different surfaces with HRRPUA. Four of the
fuel species are predefined with no HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION on their associated REAC inputs; their heats of
combustion can be determined using their heats of formation. One species has a HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION on
its REAC input. The sixth fuel species is user defined and used in a REAC with no HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION. Its
heat of combustion can be determined using EPUMO2. surface S1 has HRRPUA but no SPEC_ID; therefore, it

95
will use the FUEL species for the first REAC input (METHANE) for the fuel. The fuel mass flux for S1 will be
given by the HRRPUA divided by the METHANE heat of combustion. Surface S2 specifies that the fuel species is
MYFUEL. Surface S3 will have a total mass flux computed using the MASS_FLUX weighted average of the heats
of combustion for PROPANE and ETHANE. Surface S4 will use species MYFUEL2 whose heat of combustion
will be the weighted average of the TOLUENE and HYDROGEN heats of combustion using the SPEC input’s
MASS_FRACTION. Results are shown in Fig. 9.1.

&SPEC ID='TOLUENE',LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY=T/
&SPEC ID='HYDROGEN',LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY=T/
&SPEC FUEL='MYFUEL',C=1,H=1,O=1/
&SPEC ID='MYFUEL2',SPEC_ID='TOLUENE','HYDROGEN',MASS_FRACTION=0.5,0.5/

&REAC FUEL='METHANE'/
&REAC FUEL='PROPANE'/
&REAC FUEL='ETHANE',HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION=40000/
&REAC FUEL='MYFUEL2'/

&SURF ID='S1',COLOR='RED',HRRPUA=1000/
&SURF ID='S2',COLOR='ORANGE',HRRPUA=1000,SPEC_ID='MYFUEL'/
&SURF ID='S3',COLOR='YELLOW',HRRPUA=1000,SPEC_ID='PROPANE','ETHANE',
MASS_FRACTION=0.2,0.8/
&SURF ID='S4',COLOR='GREEN',HRRPUA=1000,SPEC_ID='MYFUEL2'/

If the second surface was specified as:

&SURF ID='S2',COLOR='ORANGE',HRRPUA=1000,SPEC_ID='MYFUEL','NITROGEN',
MASS_FRACTION=0.25,0.75/

then the fuel mass flux would be the same as before, but now it would be diluted with three times the mass
flux of NITROGEN.
10 -3 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
1
Species Mass Flux
0.8 Ideal CH4
Ideal C2H6
Mass Flux (kg/m²/s)

Ideal C3H8
0.6 Ideal CHO
Ideal H2+C7H8
FDS CH4
0.4 FDS C2H6
FDS C3H8
FDS CHO
0.2 FDS H2+C7H8

0
0 1 2 3 4 5
Time (s)

Figure 9.1: Demonstration of specifying HRRPUA with multiple reactions.

9.1.1 A Radially-Spreading Fire

Sometimes modeling a fire that spreads radially at some specified rate is desired. Rather than trying to obtain
material properties to directly model the ignition and spread of the fire, the fire spread rate can be specified
directly. First, a SURF line with a specified heat release rate, HRRPUA, is added with any desired optional
time history parameter, RAMP_Q or TAU_Q (see Section 11.1). Then, specify XYZ and SPREAD_RATE on either

96
a VENT or the same SURF line. The fire is directed to start at the point XYZ (if unspecified, default is the center
point of the VENT) and spread radially at a rate of SPREAD_RATE (m/s). The optional ramp-up of the HRR
begins at the time when the fire arrives at a given point. For example, the lines

&SURF ID='FIRE', HRRPUA=500.0, RAMP_Q='fireramp' /

&RAMP ID='fireramp', T= 0.0, F=0.0 /
&RAMP ID='fireramp', T= 1.0, F=1.0 /
&RAMP ID='fireramp', T=30.0, F=1.0 /
&RAMP ID='fireramp', T=31.0, F=0.0 /
&VENT XB=0.0,5.0,1.5,9.5,0.0,0.0, SURF_ID='FIRE', XYZ=1.5,4.0,0.0, SPREAD_RATE=0.03 /

create a rectangular area via the VENT line on which the fire starts at the point (1.5,4.0,0.0) and spreads
outward at a rate of 0.03 m/s. Each surface cell burns for 30 s as the fire spreads outward, creating a widening
ring of fire. Note that the RAMP_Q is used to turn the burning on and off to simulate the consumption of fuel
as the fire spreads radially. It should not be used to mimic a t-squared fire growth rate – the whole point of
the exercise is to mimic this curve in a more natural way. Eventually, the fire goes out as the ring grows past
the boundary of the rectangle. Some trial and error is probably required to find the SPREAD_RATE that leads
to a desired time history of the heat release rate.
In cases where the fire spreads over an area that is a rectangular plane, specify XYZ and SPREAD_RATE on
the SURF line directly and then apply that SURF line to the obstructions or particles over which you want the
fire to spread. This technique can be useful for simulating the spread of fire through a cluttered space when
the detailed properties of the materials are unknown, or when the uncertainties associated with modeling the
pyrolysis of the solid fuels directly are too great.
If the starting time of the simulation, T_BEGIN, is not zero, be aware that the default start time of the
radially spreading fire is T_BEGIN, not zero. This is also true of TAU_Q, but it is not true of RAMP_Q. Because
this might be confusing, if you start the calculation at a time other than zero, do a quick test to ensure that
the ramps or fire spread behave as expected.

9.1.2 Compensating for the unresolved surface area

If the obstruction or vent with the pyrolysis model represents an object that has more complex shape than a
rectangular box, or if the mesh resolution does not allow resolving the real surface area, adding the parameter
AREA_MULTIPLIER on the SURF line will manually adjust the burning rate with a constant factor. The default
value is 1.0. This factor will also affect the rate of heat transfer between the object and gas phase.

9.1.3 Thermally-Thick Solids that Burn at a Specified Rate

Real objects, like furnishings, office equipment, and so on, are often difficult to describe via the SURF
and MATL parameters. Sometimes the only information about a given object is its bulk thermal properties, its
“ignition” temperature, and its subsequent burning rate as a function of time from ignition. For this situation,
add lines similar to the following:

&MATL ID = 'stuff'
CONDUCTIVITY = 0.1
SPECIFIC_HEAT = 1.0
DENSITY = 900.0 /

&SURF ID = 'my surface'

COLOR = 'GREEN'
MATL_ID = 'stuff'
HRRPUA = 1000.

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 IGNITION_TEMPERATURE = 500.
RAMP_Q = 'fire_ramp'
THICKNESS = 0.01 /

&RAMP ID='fire_ramp', T= 0.0, F=0.0 /

&RAMP ID='fire_ramp', T= 10.0, F=1.0 /
&RAMP ID='fire_ramp', T=310.0, F=1.0 /
&RAMP ID='fire_ramp', T=320.0, F=0.0 /

An object with surface properties defined by 'my surface' shall burn at a rate of 1000 kW/m2 after a
linear ramp-up of 10 s following its “ignition” when its surface temperature reaches 500 ◦ C. Burning shall
continue for 5 min, and then ramp-down in 10 s. Note that the time T in the RAMP means time from ignition,
not the time from the beginning of the simulation. Note also that now the “ignition temperature” is a surface
property, not material property.
After the surface has ignited, the heat transfer into the solid is still calculated, but there is no coupling
between the burning rate and the surface temperature. As a result, the surface temperature may increase
too much. To account for the energy loss due to the vaporization of the solid fuel, HEAT_OF_VAPORIZATION
can be specified for the surface. For example, when using the lines below, the total heat flux at the material
surface is reduced by a factor 1000 kJ/kg times the instantaneous burning rate.

&SURF ID = 'my surface'

COLOR = 'GREEN'
MATL_ID = 'stuff'
HRRPUA = 1000.
IGNITION_TEMPERATURE = 500.
HEAT_OF_VAPORIZATION = 1000.
RAMP_Q = 'fire_ramp'
THICKNESS = 0.01 /

Finally, if you desire that the burning stop if the surface temperature drops below a specified value, set
EXTINCTION_TEMPERATURE on the SURF line. This value should be less than or equal to the
IGNITION_TEMPERATURE.
The parameters HRRPUA, IGNITION_TEMPERATURE, EXTINCTION_TEMPERATURE, and
HEAT_OF_VAPORIZATION are all telling FDS that you want to control the burning rate yourself, but you
still want to simulate the heating up and “ignition” of the fuel. When these parameters appear on the SURF
line, they are acting in concert. If HRRPUA appears alone, the surface will begin burning at the start of the
simulation, like a piloted burner. The addition of an IGNITION_TEMPERATURE delays burning until your
specified temperature is reached. The addition of HEAT_OF_VAPORIZATION tells FDS to account for the en-
ergy used to vaporize the fuel. For any of these options, if a MATL line is invoked by a SURF line containing
a specified HRRPUA, then that MATL ought to have only thermal properties. The MATL line should have no
reaction parameters, product yields, and so on, like those described in the previous sections. By specifying
HRRPUA, the burning rate is being controlled rather than letting the material pyrolyze based on the conditions
of the surrounding environment. Also note that this simple model assumes that the solid acts like a typical
thermoplastic material, i.e. it pyrolyzes near the surface leaving relatively little char.

9.1.4 Scaling Pyrolysis (SPyro) Model: Scaled Burning Rate from Cone Data
FDS has a simple scaling-based pyrolysis model (SPyro) that scales burning rate data collected from a cone
calorimeter or similar device to a different material thickness and accounts for the dynamic heat feedback
during an FDS simulation. The inputs for this model are similar to Section 9.1.3 with some additional
parameters. The frequently used parameters for this model are:

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 • HRRPUA (Required) Specified heat release rate per unit area (HRRPUA) for the SURF which is multiplied
by RAMP_Q. Typically, HRRPUA is set to 1.0 kW/m2 using this model.

• IGNITION_TEMPERATURE (Required) Specifies ignition temperature of the material in degrees Celsius.

• INERT_Q_REF Specifies whether the test data represents an inert test device where pyrolysis occurs with-
out combustion. This flag applies to all specified test data if an array of experimental data is provided.
(Default False)

• RAMP_Q (Required) Specifies the ID of a RAMP which contains the experimental data with T as time and F
as the measured HRRPUA in kW/m2 . The test data should be adjusted so that 0 s in the ramp represents
the time the sample started burning/pyrolyzing in the test.

• REFERENCE_HEAT_FLUX (Required) Specifies the radiant heat flux in kW/m2 imposed by the test device
to the sample prior to the start of pyrolysis, i.e., what a water-cooled heat flux gauge would measure.

• REFERENCE_THICKNESS Specifies the thickness of the sample in the experiment. If not specified, FDS
will assume the experiment was at the same THICKNESS(1) defined on the SURF line. Note that this
is just the combustible portion of the sample and not any insulation or other inert backing materials.
(Default THICKNESS(1))

Data from up to ten experiments can be specified by specifying arrays for REFERENCE_HEAT_FLUX, RAMP_
Q, and REFERENCE_THICKNESS. If data from multiple experiments are provided, FDS will interpolate between
experimental data when incident heat fluxes are within the range of tested data. Values for REFERENCE_HEAT_
FLUX and REFERENCE_THICKNESS must be grouped by increasing thickness with increasing flux in each group
of thicknesses. Typically, when samples are acquired for cone testing there are slight differences in thickness
due to manufacturing or sample preparation. If, within a group of tests, the REFERENCE_HEAT_FLUX values
are intended to be applied to the same thickness, then REFERENCE_THICKNESS should be specified as the
same, nominal value.
There are other optional parameters which can be used to adjust the model behavior, which are described
below.

• MAXIMUM_SCALING_HEAT_FLUX By default the model does not set an upper limit on the predicted heat
flux used to scale the test data (Default 100,000 kW/m2 ).

• MINIMUM_SCALING_HEAT_FLUX By default the model does not set a lower limit on the predicted heat
flux used to scale the test data. Setting a lower bound to the flux used for scaling may help the model
predictions in some cases such as weakly burning sources on coarse grids which may have poorly
resolved heat feedback (Default 0 kW/m2 ).

• REFERENCE_HEAT_FLUX_TIME_INTERVAL The instantaneous heat feedback in FDS can vary greatly from
time step to time step. In an actual fire the burning rate is tied to the sample temperature, and thermal
inertia means the burning rate changes more slowly than then instantaneous flux. This natural smoothing
can be approximated by setting a smoothing window using REFERENCE_HEAT_FLUX_TIME_INTERVAL in
s (Default 1 s).

The example, spyro_cone_demo.fds, demonstrating the scaling behavior is shown in Fig. 9.2. In this
example there is a material with cone test data at 25, 50, and 75 kW/m2 . Using just the 50 kW/m2 , the
sample is exposed to fluxes of 25, 50, and 75 kW/m2 . It can be seen that at 25 kW/m2 the test data is
stretched out in time by a factor of 2 with a reduction in burning rate of a factor of 2. Similarly at 75
kW/m2 , the curve is collapsed by 50 % with the burning rate increased by 50 %. The 50 kW/m2 simply

99
returns the test data curve. A fourth surface is modeled that uses the 25 and 75 kW/m2 with the sample
exposed to a flux of 50 kW/m2 . The resulting burning rate is an average of the 25 and 75 kW/m2 test data.
Both extrapolation and interpolation do not perfectly reproduce the test data; however, they do capture the
general behavior in terms of burning duration, peak burning rate, and time of peak.
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
500
Spyro Cone Demo
400

HRRPUA (kW/m²)
Cone 25
Cone 50
300 Cone 75
FDS 50-25
FDS 50-50
200 FDS 50-75
FDS 25 75-50

100

0
0 500 1000 1500
Time (s)

Figure 9.2: Demonstration of extrapolating cone test data to other heat fluxes.

100
9.2 Complex Pyrolysis Models
This section describes the parameters that describe the reactions that occur within solid materials when they
are burning. It is strongly recommended before reading this section that you read some background material
on solid phase pyrolysis, for example “Thermal Decomposition of Polymeric Materials,” by Witkowski,
Stec, and Hull, or “Flaming Ignition of Solid Fuels,” by Torero, both of which are in the 5th edition of the
SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering.

9.2.1 Reaction Mechanism

A solid surface in FDS may consist of multiple layers with multiple material components per layer. The
material components are described via MATL lines and are specified on the SURF line that describes the
structure of the solid. Each MATL can undergo several reactions that may occur at different temperatures.
It may not undergo any – it may just heat up. However, if it is to change form via one or more reactions,
designate the number of reactions with the integer N_REACTIONS. N_REACTIONS must be set or else FDS
will ignore all parameters associated with reactions. Note that experimental evidence of multiple reactions
does not imply that a single material is undergoing multiple reactions, but rather that multiple material
components are undergoing individual reactions at distinct temperatures. Currently, the maximum number
of reactions for each material is 10 and the chain of consecutive reactions may contain up to 20 steps.
For a given material, the jth reaction can produce other solid materials whose names are designated with
MATL_ID(i,j), gas species whose names are designated with SPEC_ID(i,j), and particles whose particle
classes are are designated with PART_ID(i,j). Note that the index, i, runs from 1 to the number of materials,
gaseous species, or particle classes. This index does not correspond to the order in which the MATL or SPEC
lines are listed in the input file. For a given reaction, the relative amounts of solid, gaseous, or particle
products are input to FDS via the yields: NU_MATL(i,j), NU_SPEC(i,j), and NU_PART(i,j), respectively.
The yields are all zero by default. If NU_MATL(i,j) is non-zero, then you must indicate what the solid
residue is via MATL_ID(i,j), the ID of another MATL that is also listed in the input file. If NU_SPEC(i,j)
is non-zero, then you must indicate what the gas species is via SPEC_ID(i,j), the ID of another SPEC that
is also listed in the input file. If NU_PART(i,j) is non-zero, then you must indicate what the particle class
is via PART_ID(i,j), the ID of another PART that is also listed in the input file. If particles are specified,
the insertion rate and number of particles is controlled via the particle inputs on the SURF containing the
material. Ideally, the sum of the yields should add to 1, meaning that the mass of the reactant is conserved.
However, there are instances when it is convenient to have the yields that sum to less than one. For example,
the spalling or ablation of concrete can be described as a “reaction” that consumes energy but does not
produce any “product” because the concrete is assumed to have either fallen off the surface in chunks or
pulverized powder. The concrete’s mass is not conserved in the model because it has essentially disappeared
from that particular surface. Producing more mass (yields more than 1) will result in an error message.
For consistency, the HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION(i,j) can also be specified for each species, i, in each re-
action, j. These values are used only if the corresponding heats of combustion for the gaseous species are
greater than zero. Note that HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION(i,j) discussed here is not necessarily the same as the
HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION of the surrogate FUEL used for gas phase combustion (e.g., 'PROPANE'). When the
heats of combustion differ, the mass flux of the surrogate FUEL in the gas phase is adjusted so that the correct
heat release rate is attained. This is further discussed in the next section.
In the example below, the pyrolysis of wood is included within a simulation that uses a finite-rate
reaction instead of the default mixing-controlled model. Notice in this case that all of the gas species
(except for the background nitrogen) are explicitly defined, and as a result, FDS needs to be told explicitly
what gaseous species are produced by the solid phase reactions. In this case, 82 % of the mass of wood is
converted to gaseous 'PYROLYZATE' and 18 % is converted to solid 'CHAR'.

101
&SPEC ID = 'PYROLYZATE', MW=53.6 /
&SPEC ID = 'OXYGEN', MASS_FRACTION_0 = 0.23 /
&SPEC ID = 'WATER VAPOR' /
&SPEC ID = 'CARBON DIOXIDE' /

&MATL ID = 'WOOD'
EMISSIVITY = 0.9
CONDUCTIVITY = 0.2
SPECIFIC_HEAT = 1.3
DENSITY = 570.
N_REACTIONS = 1
A(1) = 1.89E10
E(1) = 1.51E5
N_S(1) = 1.0
MATL_ID(1,1) = 'CHAR'
NU_MATL(1,1) = 0.18
SPEC_ID(1:4,1) = 'OXYGEN','WATER VAPOR','CARBON DIOXIDE','PYROLYZATE'
NU_SPEC(1:4,1) = 0,0,0,0.82
HEAT_OF_REACTION(1) = 430.
HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION(4,1)= 14500. /

Note that the indices associated with the parameters are not needed in this case, but they are shown to em-
phasize that, in general, there can be multiple reactions with corresponding kinetic parameters and products.

9.2.2 Solid Phase Gas Transport

The solid phase conduction/reaction algorithm does not have an explicit transport mechanism for pyrolyzed
gases. Rather, the pyrolyzates are assumed to appear instantaneously at the surface. Which surface is
controlled by the SURF line parameter LAYER_DIVIDE, a real number that specifies the number of layers
whose gaseous pyrolyzates are to be applied to the surface with the given SURF label. For example, if
LAYER_DIVIDE=1.5, the gases generated by the first layer and half of the second layer shall be applied at
the given surface. This same partitioning holds whether or not the solid is shrinking or swelling. Be careful
to ensure that the specified values of LAYER_DIVIDE are consistent for the SURF lines that control opposing
surfaces. If two different SURF lines govern the front and back of a solid obstruction, the specified values of
LAYER_DIVIDE should sum to the total number of layers. Otherwise, the mass of evolved gases may not be
correct.
If LAYER_DIVIDE is not set, it is assumed that for a solid with BACKING='EXPOSED', the gases generated
within a depth of half the total thickness are to be applied at the front surface and the other half at the back.
If the BACKING is not 'EXPOSED', all of the gases will be applied at the front surface.
Suppose, for example, that the solid is composed of a layer of insulation on top of a layer of plastic
on top of a layer of steel. The steel is impermeable. By setting LAYER_DIVIDE=2.0 to the SURF line whose
first layer is the insulation directs the vapors generated by the insulation and plastic to be driven out of the
exterior surface of the insulation. Similarly, for the SURF line that is applied to the steel, specifying LAYER_
DIVIDE=0.0 would indicate that no fuel vapors are to escape the steel surface. Note that in this instance, the
sum of the values of LAYER_DIVIDE is not equal to the number of layers, but this is not a problem because
the layer of steel does not generate any gases.
The solid phase output QUANTITY='LAYER DIVIDE DEPTH' can check if the LAYER_DIVIDE is being
applied correctly. For example, the input line

&BNDF QUANTITY='LAYER DIVIDE DEPTH', CELL_CENTERED=T /

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shows the distance from the surface where the pyrolyzates are directed toward that surface, as opposed to
the opposite side of the solid.

9.2.3 Reaction Rates

The mass per unit volume of material component i, ρs,i (x,t), is a function of the depth into the solid, x, and
time, t. It evolves in time according to the following equation:
N Nm r,i N
∂ ρs,i r,i ′

= − ∑ ri j + ∑ ∑ νs,i′ j ri′ j (i′ ̸= i) (9.1)

∂t j=1 i′ =1 j=1

where
Ei j
 
n n nO ,i j
ri j = Ai j ρs,is,i j Ts t,i j exp − XO2 2 (9.2)
R Ts
The term, ri j , defines the rate of reaction at the temperature, Ts , of the ith material undergoing its jth reaction.
The second term on the right of the equation (9.1) represents the contributions of other materials producing
the ith material as a residue with a yield of νs,i′ j . This term is denoted by NU_MATL(:,j) on the i′ -th MATL
line. ρs,i is the density of the ith material component of the layer, defined as the mass of the ith material
component divided by the volume of the layer. Thus, ρs,i is a quantity that increases if the ith material
component is produced as a residue of some other reaction, or decreases if the ith component decomposes.
ns,i j is the reaction order and prescribed under the name N_S(j), and is 1 by default. If the value of ns is not
known, it is a good starting point to assume it is 1. nt, j is prescribed under the name N_T(j). By default, nt, j
is zero.
The pre-exponential factor1 , Ai j , is prescribed under the name A(j) on the MATL line of the ith material,
with units of s−1 . Ei j , the activation energy, is prescribed via E(j) in units of J/mol. Remember that 1 kcal
is 4.184 kJ, and be careful with factors of 1000. For a given reaction, specify both A and E, or neither. Do
not specify only one of these two parameters. Typically, these parameters only have meaning when both are
derived from a common set of experiments, like TGA (thermogravimetric analysis).
The fourth term of the reaction rate equation (9.2) can be used to simulate oxidation reactions. If the
heterogeneous reaction order nO2 ,i j is greater than zero, the reaction rate is affected by the local oxygen
volume fraction, XO2 . It is calculated from the gas phase (first grid cell) oxygen volume fraction XO2 ,g by
assuming simultaneous diffusion and consumption so that the concentration profile is in equilibrium. The
concentration at depth x is given by

XO2 (x) = XO2 ,f exp(−x/Lg ) (9.3)

where Lg is the gas diffusion length scale and XO2 ,f is computed to satisfy simultaneous mass transfer and
solid phase reaction rates (see FDS Tech Guide [3]). nO2 ,i j is prescribed under the name N_O2(j) on the MATL
line of the ith material. It is zero by default. Lg is prescribed under the name GAS_DIFFUSION_DEPTH(j),
and it is 0.001 m by default. The heat release rate per unit area associated with oxidation reactions can
be output using the solid phase QUANTITY called 'OXIDATIVE HRRPUA'. This is an integral in depth of the
contributions from all reactions and all materials for a given solid surface.
You can specify MAX_REACTION_RATE(j) (kg/m3 s) to limit the reaction rate, ri j , below a specified value.
1 For versions of FDS up to and including 6.7.7, the form of the reaction rate expression was slightly different than the one
currently used. In these older versions, the density term on the right hand side of Eq. (9.2) was divided by the initial density of
the layer. For first-order reactions (ns,i j = 1), this older form is equivalent to the current form. However, for reactions that are not
first-order (ns,i j ̸= 1), the new value of Ai j = Aold
i j /ρs (0)
ns,i j −1 , where ρ (0) is the initial density of the layer.
s

103
Estimating Kinetic Parameters
The kinetic constants, A and E, are typically not available for most real materials. However, there is a way to
model material decomposition using a simplified reaction scheme. The key assumption is that each material
component undergoes only one reaction. If, for example, the composite material undergoes three distinct
reactions, it must be represented by three material components, each of which undergoes one reaction. If
there is an additional residue left over, then a fourth material component is needed. Any or all of the material
components can leave behind a residue.
In lieu of specifying A and E, there are several parameters that can be used by FDS to derive effective
values, the most important of which is the REFERENCE_TEMPERATURE (◦ C). To understand this parameter,
consider the plot shown in Fig. 9.3. These curves represent the results of a hypothetical TGA experiment
in which a single component material undergoes a single reaction that converts the solid into a gas. The
Normalized Mass (blue curve, Ys ) decreases as the sample is slowly heated, in this case at a rate of 5 K/min.
The Normalized Mass Loss Rate (red curve) is the rate of change of the normalized mass as a function of
time (− dYs / dt). Where this curve peaks is referred to in FDS as the REFERENCE_TEMPERATURE, which is
not necessarily equivalent to an ignition temperature, nor is it necessarily the surface temperature of the
burning solid. Rather, it is simply the temperature at which the mass fraction of the material decreases at its
maximum rate within the context of a TGA or similar experimental apparatus.
The kinetic constants for component i of a multi-component solid are given by2 :
2
e rp,i R Tp,i e rp,i E/R Tp,i
Ei,1 = ; Ai,1 = e (9.4)
Ys,i (0) Ṫ Ys,i (0)

where Tp,i and rp,i /Ys,i (0) are the reference temperature and rate, respectively. The REFERENCE_RATE is
the normalized mass loss rate, in units of s−1 , at the given REFERENCE_TEMPERATURE divided by the mass
fraction, Ys,i (0), of the material component in the original sample undergoing the reaction. For a single
component, single reaction material, Ys,1 (0) = 1. The HEATING_RATE (Ṫ ) is the rate at which the temperature
of the TGA (or equivalent) test apparatus was increased. It is input into FDS in units of K/min (in the
formula, it is expressed in K/s). Its default value is 5 K/min. In Fig. 9.3, the area under the red curve
(Normalized Mass Loss Rate) is equal to the heating rate (in units of K/s).
There are many cases where it is only possible to estimate the REFERENCE_TEMPERATURE (Tp ) of a par-
ticular reaction because micro-scale calorimetry data is unavailable. In such cases, an additional parameter
can be specified to help fine tune the shape of the reaction rate curve, assuming some sort of measurement
or estimate has been made to indicate at what temperature, and over what temperature range, the reaction
takes place. The PYROLYSIS_RANGE (∆T ) is the approximate width (in degrees Celsius or Kelvin) of the
normalized mass loss rate curve, assuming its shape to be roughly triangular. Its default value is 80 ◦ C.
Using these input parameters, an estimate is made of the peak reaction rate, rp,i , with which Ei,1 , then Ai,1 ,
are calculated.
rp,i 2 Ṫ
= (1 − νs,i ) (9.5)
Ys,i (0) ∆T
The parameter, νs,i , is the yield of solid residue.
When in doubt about the values of these various parameters, just specify the REFERENCE_TEMPERATURE.
Note that FDS will automatically calculate A and E using the above formulae. Do not specify A and E if
you specify the REFERENCE_TEMPERATURE, and do not specify PYROLYSIS_RANGE if you specify REFERENCE_
RATE. For the material decomposition shown in Fig. 9.3, the MATL would have the form:
2 These formulas have been derived from an analysis that considers a first-order reaction. When using this method, do not specify

a non-unity value for the reaction order N_S on the MATL line.

104
 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release

dYs
1 2
= −AYs exp(−E/RTs ) Ys (0) = 1
dt
0.8 1.6
Normalized Mass

0.6 1.2 Tp = 300 ◦ C

0.4 0.8 rp = 0.002 s−1
0.2 0.4
Ṫ = 5 K/min
νs = 0
0 0
0 100 200 300 400
Temperature (°C)

Figure 9.3: The blue curve represents the normalized mass, Ys = ρs /ρs (0), of a solid material undergoing heating at a
rate of 5 K/min. The red curve represents the reaction rate, − dYs / dt. The ordinary differential equation that describes
the transformation is shown at right. Note that the parameters Tp , rp , and νs represent the “reference” temperature,
reaction rate, and residue yield of the single reaction. From these parameters, values of A and E can be estimated using
the formulae in (9.4). The full set of parameters for this case are listed in pyrolysis_1.fds.

&MATL ID = 'My Fuel'

...
N_REACTIONS = 1
SPEC_ID(1,1) = '...'
NU_SPEC(1,1) = 1.
REFERENCE_TEMPERATURE(1) = 300.
REFERENCE_RATE(1) = 0.002
HEATING_RATE(1) = 5.
HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION(1) = ...
HEAT_OF_REACTION(1) = ... /

Note that the indices have been added to the reaction parameters to emphasize the fact that these parameters
are stored in arrays of length equal to N_REACTIONS. If there is only one reaction, the (1) may be omitted,
but using it anyways ensures consistency. If the default combustion model is used, you can denote that the
reaction produces fuel gas using the appropriate SPEC_ID. The HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION is the energy released
per unit mass of fuel gas that mixes with oxygen and combusts. This has nothing to do with the pyrolysis
process. It is often convenient when there are multiple materials that are pyrolyzing in a model, to represent
the pyrolyzates using some average gas species. Specifying the HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION for each material
ensures that the fuel vapors from different materials combust to produce the proper amount of energy. The
mass loss rate of fuel gases is automatically adjusted so that the effective mass loss rate multiplied by the
gas phase heat of combustion for the average fuel species produces the expected heat release rate. This
adjustment uses the value of HOC_COMPLETE, see Sec. 13.1.4, on the REAC line. If, for example, the HOC_
COMPLETE specified on the REAC line is twice that specified on the MATL line, the mass of contained within
wall cell will be decremented by that determined by the pyrolysis model, but the mass added to gas phase
would be reduced by 50 %. A different value of heat of combustion can be specified for each species, i, in
each reaction, j, via the parameter HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION(i,j).

Modeling Upholstered Furnishings

The example input file called Fires/[Link] demonstrates a simple way to model upholstered furniture.
Modeling a couch requires a simplification of its structure and materials. At the very least, we want the
upholstery to be modeled as a layer of fabric covering polyurethane foam. The thermal properties of each

105
are needed, along with estimates of the “reference” temperatures as described above. The foam might be
described as follows:

&MATL ID = 'FOAM'
SPECIFIC_HEAT = 1.0
CONDUCTIVITY = 0.1
DENSITY = 40.0
NU_SPEC = 1.
SPEC_ID = 'POLYURETHANE'
REFERENCE_TEMPERATURE = 280.
HEAT_OF_REACTION = 800. /

Note that these properties are completely made up. Both the fabric and the foam decompose into fuel gases
via single-step reactions. The fuel gases from each have different composition and heats of combustion.
FDS automatically adjusts the mass loss rate of each so that the “effective” fuel gas is that which is specified
on the REAC line. Figure 9.4 shows the fire after 1 min, 2 min, 3 min, and 10 min. Only the flame zone of
the fire is shown; the smoke is hidden so that you can see the fire progressing along the couch. Also shown
in the Fig. 9.4 is the heat release rate of the burning couch. The “Expected HRR” is a rough estimate of the
peak HRR of a piece of furniture of this size.

106
 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
4000
Heat Release Rate (couch)

3000
Heat Release Rate (kW)

Expected Peak
2000 FDS (HRR)

1000

0
0 2 4 6 8 10
Time (min)

Figure 9.4: Smokeview images of the couch test case after 1, 2, 3, and 10 min, plus the heat release rate as a function
of time.

9.2.4 Shrinking and Swelling materials

Many practical materials change in thickness during the thermal reactions. For example:
• Non-charring materials will shrink as material is removed from the condensed phase to the gas phase.

• Porous materials like foams would shrink when the material melts and forms a non-porous layer.

• Some charring materials swell, i.e., get thicker, when a porous char layer is formed.

• Intumescent fire protection materials would swell significantly, creating an insulating layer.

107
In FDS, the layer thickness is updated according to the ratio of the instantaneous material density and the
density of the material in its pure form, i.e., the DENSITY on the MATL line. In cases involving several material
components, the amount of swelling and shrinking is determined by the maximum and sum of these ratios,
respectively. In mathematical terms, this means that in each time step the size of each condensed phase cell
is changed according to the ratio δ
maxi ρs,i ρs,i
    
ρi if max i ρi ≥1
δ= (9.6)
∑i ρs,i ρ
   
ρi if maxi ρs,ii < 1

For example, if the original material with a DENSITY of 500 kg/m3 is completely converted into a residue
with a DENSITY of 1000 kg/m3 , the thickness of the material layer will be half of the original.
Shrinking is prevented by setting ALLOW_SHRINKING to F on the MATL line. Swelling is prevented by
setting ALLOW_SWELLING to F on the MATL line. By default, these flags are true. Shrinking/swelling does not
take place if any of the materials with non-zero density has the corresponding flag set to false.

9.2.5 Multiple Solid Phase Reactions

The solid phase reaction represented by Fig. 9.3 is fairly simple—a single, homogeneous material is heated
and gasified completely. Figure 9.5 depicts a more complicated case. Here, a solid material that contains
10 % (by mass) water and 90 % dry solid. The water evaporates in the neighborhood of 100 ◦ C and the dry
solid then pyrolyzes in the neighborhood of 300 ◦ C, leaving 20 % of its mass behind in the form of a solid
residue. The full set of parameters for this case are listed in pyrolysis_2.fds.
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release

dYs,1
1 2 = −A1,1 Ys,1 exp(−E1,1 /RTs ) Ys,1 (0) = 0.1
dt
dYs,2
0.8 1.6 = −A2,1 Ys,2 exp(−E2,1 /RTs ) Ys,2 (0) = 0.9
dt
Normalized Mass

0.6 1.2 dYs,3 dYs,2

= −νs,2,1 Ys,3 (0) = 0.0
dt dt
0.4 0.8

0.2 0.4 Tp,1,1 = 100 + 273 K Tp,2,1 = 300 + 273 K

−1
rp,1,1 = 0.0016 s rp,2,1 = 0.0012 s−1
0 0
0 100 200 300 400 νs,1,1 = 0 νs,2,1 = 0.2
Temperature (°C)
Ṫ = 5 K/min

Figure 9.5: Normalized mass (∑ Ys,i , blue curve) and mass loss rate (∑ dYs,i / dt, red curve) for a material that contains
10 % water (by mass) that evaporates at a temperature of 100 ◦ C, and 90 % solid material that pyrolyzes at 300 ◦ C,
leaving a 20 % (by mass) residue behind. Note that the numbered subscripts refer to the material component and the
reaction, respectively. The system of ordinary differential equations that governs the transformation of the materials is
shown at right.

The plot in Fig. 9.5 contains two sets of curves. The solid curves represent the solution of the set of
equations computed using a Matlab ODE solver, and the underlying dashed curves are a “fit” of the Matlab
solution using FDS. The MATL line for the solid material contains the following three parameters that define
its decomposition:

&MATL ID = '...'
...
REFERENCE_TEMPERATURE = 300.
PYROLYSIS_RANGE = 100.
HEATING_RATE = 5. /

108
The REFERENCE_TEMPERATURE is the temperature in ◦ C where the mass loss rate is at its peak. The HEATING_
RATE is the linear temperature rise (◦ C/min) used in the TGA experiment, which is represented here by the
Matlab solution. The PYROLYSIS_RANGE is the approximate “width” of the second red hump in Fig. 9.5, fit
by inspection. That is, the value of 100 ◦ C was chosen by trial and error. This is typically how one would
choose kinetic parameters in FDS to match a given TGA curve.

9.2.6 The Heat of Reaction

Equation (9.2) describes the rate of the reaction as a function of temperature. Most solid phase reactions
require energy; that is, they are endothermic. The amount of energy consumed, per unit mass of reactant
that is converted into reaction products, is specified by the HEAT_OF_REACTION(j). Technically, this is
the enthalpy difference between the products and the reactant. A positive value indicates that the reaction
is endothermic; that is, the reaction takes energy out of the system. Usually the HEAT_OF_REACTION is
accurately known only for simple phase change reactions like the vaporization of water. For other reactions,
it must be determined empirically (e.g., by differential scanning calorimetry).

9.2.7 Liquid Fuels

The evaporation rate of a liquid fuel is analogous to the convective heating rate in that the evaporation rate is
a function of a mass transfer coefficient, hm , much like thermal convection is a function of the heat transfer
coefficient, h, discussed in Section 8.2.23 . The FDS Technical Reference Guide [1] provides further details
on how the evaporation rate is computed.
The properties of a liquid fuel are given on the MATL line:

&REAC FUEL = 'ETHANOL'

CO_YIELD = 0.001
SOOT_YIELD = 0.008 /

&MATL ID = 'ETHANOL LIQUID'

EMISSIVITY = 1.
NU_SPEC = 1.
SPEC_ID = 'ETHANOL'
HEAT_OF_REACTION = 837
CONDUCTIVITY = 0.17
SPECIFIC_HEAT = 2.44
DENSITY = 794
ABSORPTION_COEFFICIENT = 1140
BOILING_TEMPERATURE = 78.5 /

&SURF ID = 'ETHANOL POOL'

COLOR = 'YELLOW'
MATL_ID = 'ETHANOL LIQUID'
THICKNESS = 0.1 /

The inclusion of BOILING_TEMPERATURE on the MATL line tells FDS to use its liquid pyrolysis model. It also
automatically sets N_REACTIONS=1, that is, the only “reaction” is the phase change from liquid to gaseous
fuel. Thus, HEAT_OF_REACTION in this case is the latent heat of vaporization. The thermal conductivity,
density and specific heat are used to compute the loss of heat into the liquid via conduction using the same
one-dimensional heat transfer equation that is used for solids. Obviously, the convection of the liquid is
important, but is not considered in the model. The ABSORPTION_COEFFICIENT denotes the absorption in
3 As with the convective heat transfer coefficient, there is an option to specify a fixed MASS_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT (m/s)

on the SURF line that describes a liquid pool.

109
depth of thermal radiation into the liquid. Liquids do not just absorb radiation at the surface, but rather over
a thin layer near the surface. Its effect on the burning rate can be significant.
In this example, 'ETHANOL' is a known species; that is, it is listed in Appendix A. For this reason, only
its CO and soot yield need to be specified. If the species is not known, then you must furnish additional
information. Sec. 12.1.3 contains details, but in brief, only the molecular weight of the gas species is of
relevance for the liquid pool evaporation model. If the liquid has multiple components, like gasoline or
kerosene, individual MATL line can be provided for each component. A single gas phase fuel species can still
be used by having each MATL line contain the same SPEC_ID. If this is the case, provide the liquid component
molecular weights, MW, with units of g/mol on the MATL lines. These unique molecular weights are used when
computing the evaporation rates of the individual liquid components.

Evaporation of a Pure Liquid

A useful sample case found in the Pyrolysis folder is called methanol_evaporation.fds. A 1 m by 1 m
pan filled with methanol at T∞ = 20 ◦ C is exposed to a uniform heat flux, q̇′′ = 20 kW/m2 . The boiling
temperature of methanol is Tb = 64.65 ◦ C, its specific heat, c = 2.48 kJ/(kg·K), and heat of vaporization,
hv = 1099 kJ/kg. At steady state, the heat balance at the pool surface is

q̇′′total − q̇′′c = ṁ′′ hv Ts (9.7)

where q̇′′c is the heat being conducted away from the surface. If q̇′′c is made zero, which can be done by using
BACKING='INSULATED' and a high thermal conductivity, then the pool surface temperature,Ts , will approach
the boiling temperature,Tb . In this example, since there is no gas phase combustion reaction (REAC), no
burning occurs. The left hand plot in Fig. 9.6 displays the computed evaporation rate, ṁ′′ , versus the ideal,
q̇′′total /hv Tb . The former approaches the latter as all of the absorbed energy is used to evaporate the liquid.
The right hand plot shows the computed liquid surface temperature versus the liquid boiling temperature.
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
0.025 100
Liquid Evaporation (methanol_evaporation) Liquid Evaporation (methanol_evaporation)
0.02 80
Mass Loss Rate (kg/m²/s)

Temperature (°C)

0.015 60

0.01 40

0.005 20
Computed Evaporation Rate (mdot) Measured Boiling Temperature (Tb)
Ideal Evaporation Rate (mdot2) Surface Temperature (Tsurf)
0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Time (min) Time (min)

Figure 9.6: (Left) Mass loss rate of the methanol versus its expected steady state value. (Right) Computed surface
temperature versus the liquid boiling temperature.

Liquid Mixtures
Most liquid fuels of interest in fire protection engineering are not pure liquids, but rather blends, like gaso-
line. Each component liquid has a unique boiling point, heat of vaporization, molecular weight, and specific
heat that affect its evaporation rate. It is possible to specify the individual liquid components, but have them
all evaporate to form the same gaseous fuel vapor. The reason for this is to save on computing cost. If

110
each component were to evaporate to form a unique gaseous fuel species, a separate transport equation and
combustion reaction would needed for each. Consider the following example—a mixture of hydrocarbon
fuels is mixed with water forming an emulsion. The pool is specified as follows:

&SPEC ID='WATER VAPOR' /

&REAC FUEL='N-HEXANE' /
&SURF ID = 'POOL'
COLOR = 'YELLOW'
MATL_ID(1,1:6) = 'HEXANE','HEPTANE','OCTANE','DECANE','BENZENE','WATER'
MATL_MASS_FRACTION(1,1:6) = 0.521,0.054,0.063,0.023,0.200,0.139
THICKNESS = 0.002 /

Water is to evaporate and form 'WATER VAPOR', but the other components are all to form 'N-HEXANE'. On
each MATL line for each liquid component, either 'WATER VAPOR' or 'N-HEXANE' is declared as the SPEC_
ID, along with the BOILING_TEMPERATURE, MW, SPECIFIC_HEAT, and HEAT_OF_REACTION (i.e. the heat of
vaporization). Additionally, a HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION may be specified on the MATL line to indicate that the
liquid component has a different heat of combustion than n-hexane and FDS should adjust its evaporation
rate accordingly.
An example demonstrating evaporation of a liquid mixture is found in the Pyrolysis folder and called
liquid_mixture.fds. In this example, a 1 m by 1 m by 2 mm deep pool containing a mixture of hydrocar-
bon liquids and water is completely evaporated to form water vapor and the surrogate gaseous fuel vapor,
n-hexane. Figure 9.7 displays the mass of water and fuel vapor as a function of time.
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
1.5
Evaporated Mass (liquid_mixture)

1
Expected Fuel Mass
Mass (kg)

Expected Water Mass

FDS (N-HEXANE)
FDS (WATER VAPOR)
0.5

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Time (s)

Figure 9.7: Evaporated mass of water and fuel species from an emulsified liquid fuel.

9.2.8 Fuel Burnout

The thermal properties of a solid or liquid fuel determine the length of time for which it can burn. In general,
the burnout time is a function of the mass loss rate, ṁ′′ , the density, ρs , and the layer thickness, δs :

ρs δs
tb = (9.8)
ṁ′′
However, each type of pyrolysis model handles fuel burnout in a slightly different way. These differences
will be highlighted in the individual sections below.

111
Solid Fuel Burnout When the Burning Rate is Specified
If you specify the burning rate using HRRPUA (Heat Release Rate Per Unit Area) or MLRPUA (Mass Loss Rate
Per Unit Area), the solid surface will continue to burn at the specified rate indefinitely with no fuel burnout.
You may use RAMP_Q to stop the burning at a desired time. You can estimate this “burnout time” for a surface
using the heat of combustion, ∆H, material density, ρs , material thickness, δs , and HRRPUA, q̇′′f :

ρs δs ∆H
tb = (9.9)
q̇′′f

The burnout time is not calculated and applied automatically because there are instances where the underly-
ing solid is not considered fuel; that is, the burning rate and duration are not determined by the composition
of the solid surface.
An alternative to ramping the HRR up and down is to specify BURN_DURATION (s) on the SURF line. This
is the time duration after ignition when the fire will extinguish. The default value of this parameter is a very
large number, meaning that by default a fire with a specified HRR will burn indefinitely.

Solid Fuel Burnout When the Burning Rate is Not Specified

If you use are using a pyrolysis model in which the MATL lines have N_REACTIONS greater than or equal
to 1, the burnout time of the pyrolyzing solid fuel is calculated automatically by FDS based on the layer
THICKNESS, component DENSITY, and the calculated reactions rates of the materials.

Liquid Fuel Burnout

The burnout time of a liquid fuel is calculated automatically based on the liquid layer THICKNESS, liquid
DENSITY, and the calculated burning rate.

9.2.9 Solid Fuels that can Burn Away

If a combustible solid is to disappear from the simulation once it is consumed, set BURN_AWAY=T on the SURF
line that is applied to the OBST. The solid object disappears from the calculation cell by cell as the mass
contained within each solid cell is consumed either by the pyrolysis reactions or by the prescribed HRR.
The following issues should be kept in mind when using BURN_AWAY:

• Use BURN_AWAY cautiously. If an object has the potential of burning away, a significant amount of extra
memory has to be set aside to store additional information for newly exposed surfaces.

• The heat conduction into an OBST that can BURN_AWAY is limited to 1-D. On the SURF line, specify the
THICKNESS to be approximately that of a single cell, and also set BACKING='VOID'. It is assumed that
the solid is relatively well-insulated and that the in-depth temperature profile drops off relatively quickly
at the surface. When a cell is removed, the newly exposed surface is initially at ambient temperature but
heats up quickly at the surface.

• If the volume of the obstruction changes because it has to conform to the uniform mesh, FDS does not
adjust the burning rate to account for this as it does with various quantities associated with areas, like
HRRPUA.

• A parameter called BULK_DENSITY (kg/m3 ) can be specified on the OBST line to designate the combustible
mass of the solid object. The calculation uses the user-specified object dimensions, not those of the
mesh-adjusted object. This parameter over-rides all other parameters with which a combustible mass

112
 would be calculated. Note that without a BULK_DENSITY specified, the total amount of mass burned will
depend upon the grid resolution. The use of the BULK_DENSITY parameter ensures a specific fuel mass
per unit volume that is independent of the grid resolution. Note that in the event that the solid phase
reaction involves the production of solid residue (like char or ash), the BULK_DENSITY refers to the mass
of the solid that is converted to gas upon reaction. You can visualize the decrease in the bulk density of
a burning solid using the output quantity 'BULK DENSITY' with a slice (SLCF) or device (DEVC).

• If BURN_AWAY is prescribed on a SURF line, that single SURF_ID should be applied to the entire OBST, not
to specific faces, because it is unclear how to remove solid obstructions that have different SURF_IDs on
different faces. An exception to this rule is where a BULK_DENSITY is applied to the OBST, in which case
the OBST will disappear when the mass of fuel designated by BULK_DENSITY is consumed rather than
that of any particular face.

• By default, newly exposed surfaces take on the same SURF_ID that has been applied to the original
obstruction. However, you can specify an optional SURF_ID_INTERIOR on the OBST line to define surface
properties of newly exposed surfaces. For example, an upholstered cushion might have a surface layer
of fabric whereas a newly exposed grid cell within the cushion will not.

• To compensate for the inaccurate obstruction area, an additional parameter AREA_MULTIPLIER can be
added on the SURF line. It will multiply all mass and energy fluxes with a user-specified factor. Check
that the BURN_AWAY works as expected if these two features are combined.

• The mass of the object is based on the densities of all material components (MATL), but it is only con-
sumed by mass fluxes of the known species. If the sum of the gaseous yields is less than one, it will take
longer to consume the mass.

Examples
Simple examples demonstrating how solid fuels can be forced to disappear from the domain are labeled
Fires/box_burn_away. These are examples of a solid block of material that is pyrolyzed until it is com-
pletely consumed. The heat flux is generated by placing hot surfaces around the box. There is no combustion
because the AUTO_IGNITION_TEMPERATURE has been set to a very high value. The properties of the solid ma-
terial are chosen simply to assure a quick calculation. The objective is to ensure that the pyrolyzed fuel mass
is consistent with the mass of the original block. The block is 0.4 m on a side, with a density of 20 kg/m3 .
The total mass is:
(0.4)3 m3 × 20 kg/m3 = 1.28 kg (9.10)

Case 1 (box_burn_away1) The solid material undergoes a single-step pyrolysis reaction at 200 ◦ C that
converts it all to fuel gas. Figure 9.8 displays the evolution of the fuel gas.

Case 2 (box_burn_away2) This case is similar to Case 1, except that the solid material vaporizes to form
an inert 'GAS' with a molecular weight of 50 g/mol.

Case 3 (box_burn_away3) The pyrolysis rate is specified implicitly via HRRPUA, even though the fuel gas
does not burn.

113
Case 4 (box_burn_away4) This case is similar to Case 3, but the heat of combustion for the solid material
is set to a different value from that of the primary gas phase fuel, ethylene. The solid material has a specified
heat of combustion of 30,000 kJ/kg while ethylene has a specified value of 40,000 kJ/kg. Figure 9.8 shows
that the amount of ethylene generated is 0.75 × 1.28 kg = 0.96 kg. Because there is only one gas phase
reaction, the amount of ethylene gas produced generates an equivalent amount of heat as the solid material
would with its lower heat of combustion.
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
1.5 1.5
Pyrolyzed Mass (box_burn_away1) Pyrolyzed Mass (box_burn_away2)

1 1
Mass (kg)

Mass (kg)
Ideal Ideal
FDS (fuel) FDS (GAS)

0.5 0.5

0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time (s) Time (s)

FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
1.5 1.5
Pyrolyzed Mass (box_burn_away3) Pyrolyzed Mass (box_burn_away4)

1 1
Mass (kg)

Mass (kg)

Ideal
FDS (fuel)

0.5 0.5

Ideal
FDS (fuel)
0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time (s) Time (s)

Figure 9.8: Output of box_burn_away test cases 1-4.

Case 5 (box_burn_away5) This case is a repeat of Case 1, but with N_SIMPLE_CHEMISTRY_REACTIONS set
to 2. The results should match Case 1 because the creation of fuel gas should be based upon the total heat
of combustion for 'METHANE' and not the heat of combustion for the first reaction.

Case 6 (box_burn_away6) The solid material generates two fuel gases with equal masses, m1 = m2 =
0.64 kg, and both fuel gases have the same heat of combustion, ∆H1 = ∆H2 = 50, 000 kJ/kg. However, the
gas phase reactions assign different heats of combustion, ∆H1′ = 50, 000 kJ/kg and ∆H2′ = 25, 000 kJ/kg.
The equivalent masses of gases generated, m′1 and m′2 , are determined via mi ∆Hi = m′i ∆Hi′ for i = 1, 2. As a
result, the second fuel will have twice as much effective mass in the gas phase.

Case 7 (box_burn_away7) This case demonstrates that it is possible to burn and make disappear a thin,
zero-cell thick obstruction. Versions of FDS prior to 6.7.2 did not allow this to happen. In the test case,
a 0.4 m by 0.4 m by 0.01 m thin slab with a density of 20 kg/m3 is heated and evaporates away, creating
0.032 kg of fuel gas.

114
Case 8 (box_burn_away8) This case is similar to Case 4, except that the burning rate is specified using the
parameter MLRPUA.
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
1.5 1.5
Pyrolyzed Mass (box_burn_away5) Pyrolyzed Mass (box_burn_away6)

1 1
Mass (kg)

Mass (kg)
0.5 0.5
Ideal Fuel 1
Ideal Fuel 2
Ideal FDS (fuel 1)
FDS (fuel) FDS (fuel 2)
0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time (s) Time (s)

FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
0.04 1.5
Pyrolyzed Mass (box_burn_away7) Pyrolyzed Mass (box_burn_away8)

0.03
1
Mass (kg)

Mass (kg)
0.02

0.5
0.01
Ideal Ideal
FDS FDS (fuel)
0 0
0 5 10 15 20 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time (s) Time (s)

Figure 9.9: Output of box_burn_away test cases 5-8.

Case 9 (box_burn_away9) A solid cube of foam with side length L = 0.4 m and density ρ1 = 20 kg/m3
pyrolyzes with a residue fraction of ν1 = 0.5. The block is covered by a δ = 0.002 m fabric layer with
density ρ2 = 50 kg/m3 and residue fraction ν2 = 0.2. The 3-D heat transfer algorithm is invoked. The
expected mass of gaseous fuel is:
 
2
m = L (L − 2δ )(1 − ν1 )ρ1 + 2δ (1 − ν2 )ρ2 = 0.6592 m (9.11)

Note that the 3-D heat conduction equation is solved via 1-D segments in all three coordinate directions.
Each segment accounts for the layers that are perpendicular to its direction, but not those that are parallel.
As a result, the pyrolyzed mass in this example is less than expected if one were to consider the actual 3-D
object.

Case 10 (box_burn_away10) This case is the same as box_burn_away1 with the addition of a 1 cm thick
plate attached to the side of the solid made of the same material. The plate is 0.6 m by 0.6 m by 0.01 m thick
adding 0.072 kg of additional fuel mass.

115
 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
1 1.5
Pyrolyzed Mass (box_burn_away9) Pyrolyzed Mass (box_burn_away10)
0.8

1
0.6
Mass (kg)

Mass (kg)
Ideal
FDS (fuel)
0.4
0.5

0.2
Ideal
FDS (fuel)
0 0
0 50 100 150 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time (s) Time (s)

Figure 9.10: Output of box_burn_away9 and box_burn_away10 test cases.

Case 11 (box_burn_away11) The “box” in this case consists of 0.4 m by 0.4 m by 1 cm plates forming a
collection of 10 cm cubical compartments. There are 15 plates in all, each with a density of 20 kg/m3 . The
total mass is 0.48 kg.
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
1.5
Pyrolyzed Mass (box_burn_away11)

1
Mass (kg)

Ideal
FDS (fuel)

0.5

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time (s)

Figure 9.11: Output of box_burn_away11 test case.

Case 1, 2D (box_burn_away_2D and box_burn_away_2D_residue) Case 1 is repeated in two dimensions.

In the latter case, only half of the mass is converted to fuel, leaving behind a residue that is 50 % of the
original mass. The box is forced to burn away by setting the BULK_DENSITY to 10 kg/m3 . This is the
combustible mass. These two cases exhibit a fictitious increase in solid mass when new unburned surfaces
are exposed as entire mesh cells disappear. The increased mass is just an artifact of reporting the residual
solid mass as the product of surface density and surface area. Both the final solid mass and the gaseous
degradation products should match the expected values at the end of the simulation. The results are shown
in Fig. 9.12.

116
 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
1.5 1.5
Pyrolyzed Mass (box_burn_away_2D) Pyrolyzed Mass (box_burn_away_2D_residue)

1 1
Ideal (fuel) Ideal (fuel)
Mass (kg)

Mass (kg)
Ideal (solid) Ideal (solid)
FDS (fuel) FDS (fuel)
FDS(solid) FDS(solid)
0.5 0.5

0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time (s) Time (s)

Figure 9.12: Output of box_burn_away_2D test cases.

9.3 Testing a Pyrolysis Model

The SURF and MATL lines describing the pyrolysis of real materials consist of a combination of empirical and
fundamental properties, often originating from different sources. How do you know that the various property
values and the associated thermo-physical model in FDS constitute an appropriate description of the solid?
For a full-scale simulation, it is hard to untangle the uncertainties associated with the gas and solid phase
routines. However, you can perform a simple check of any set of solid phase model by essentially turning
off the gas phase. In the following sections, guidance is provided on how to perform a quick simulation of
the cone calorimeter and bench-scale measurements like thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), differential
scanning calorimetry (DSC), and micro-combustion calorimetry (MCC).

9.3.1 Simulating the Cone Calorimeter

This section describes how to set up a simple model of the cone calorimeter or similar apparatus. This is not
a full 3-D simulation of the apparatus, but rather a 1-D simulation of the solid phase degradation under an
imposed external heat flux. While a full 3-D simulation of the cone heater and sample holder can be created
in FDS, such a simulation would take some time to complete and would not disentangle issues with the solid
phase model from uncertainties in the gas phase. It is worthwhile to perform a quick simulation like the one
described here to test the solid phase model only.
1. Create a trivially small mesh, just enough to allow FDS to run. Since the gas phase calculation is
essentially being shut off, you just need nine cells total (IJK=3,1,3) for the pressure solver to function
properly.

2. On the MISC line, set SOLID_PHASE_ONLY=T to turn off the gas phase fluid flow computation. This
reduces the CPU time. Note that convective and radiative heat transfer to/from the surface is still applied
using the ambient temperature as the assumed gas and far-field temperature. The HEAT_TRANSFER_
COEFFICIENT is either specified or computed from the gas phase thermal conductivity divided by the
wall-normal grid spacing. It is be best to specify it explicitly.

3. Create SPEC lines to list any gas species created in the pyrolysis process. A REAC line is not needed, as
there is no gas phase combustion allowed.

4. On the TIME line, set WALL_INCREMENT=1 to force FDS to update the solid phase every time step (nor-
mally it does this every other time step), and set DT to a value that is appropriate for the solid phase

117
 calculation. Since there is no gas phase calculation that will limit the time step, it is best to control this
yourself.

5. Generate MATL lines, plus a single SURF line, as you normally would, except add EXTERNAL_FLUX to the
SURF line. This is simply a “virtual” source that heats the solid. Think of this as a perfect radiant panel
or conical heating unit. You can control the EXTERNAL_FLUX using either TAU_EF or RAMP_EF. This is
useful if you want to ramp up the heat flux following ignition to account for the additional radiation
from the flame. See Sec. 11.1 for more details about ramps.

6. On the SURF line, set

a gas temperature, TMP_GAS_FRONT (◦ C), and optionally a
HEAT_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT (W/(m2 ·K)), allowing you to control the convective heat flux from gas
to surface and vice versa.

7. Assign the SURF_ID to a VENT that spans the bottom of the computational domain. Create OPEN vents on
all other faces of the computational domain.

8. Add solid phase output devices to the solid surface, like 'WALL TEMPERATURE', 'TOTAL HEAT FLUX',
'GAUGE HEAT FLUX', and 'WALL THICKNESS'. Use these to track the condition of the solid as a function
of time. The generation rate of the various gases is output via the quantity 'MASS FLUX' along with the
appropriate SPEC_ID. Do not specify the quantity 'BURNING RATE' because FDS assumes that this is
specific for fuel gas, and in this exercise there is no fuel gas.

Compare your results to measurements made in a bench-scale device, like the cone calorimeter. Keep in
mind, however, that the calculation and the experiment are not necessarily perfectly matched. The cal-
culation is designed to eliminate uncertainties related to convection, combustion, and apparatus-specific
phenomena. Below is an FDS input file that demonstrates how you can test a candidate pyrolysis model by
running very short calculations. The simulation only involves the solid phase model. Essentially, the gas
phase calculation is shut off except for the imposition of a 50 kW/m2 “external” heat flux. The solid in
this example is a 8.5 mm thick slab of PMMA. For more details, see the FDS Validation Guide under the
heading “FAA Polymers.”

&HEAD CHID='pmma_example', TITLE='Black PMMA at 50 kW/m2' /

&MESH IJK=3,3,3, XB=-0.15,0.15,-0.15,0.15,0.0,0.3 /
&TIME T_END=600., WALL_INCREMENT=1, DT=0.05 /
&MISC SOLID_PHASE_ONLY=T /
&SPEC ID='METHANE' /
&MATL ID='BLACKPMMA'
ABSORPTION_COEFFICIENT=2700.
N_REACTIONS=1
A(1) = 8.5E12
E(1) = 188000
EMISSIVITY=0.85
DENSITY=1100.
SPEC_ID='METHANE'
NU_SPEC=1.
HEAT_OF_REACTION=870.
CONDUCTIVITY = 0.20
SPECIFIC_HEAT = 2.2
&SURF ID='PMMA SLAB'
COLOR='BLACK'
BACKING='INSULATED'
MATL_ID='BLACKPMMA'
THICKNESS=0.0085
EXTERNAL_FLUX=50 /

118
&VENT XB=-0.05,0.05,-0.05,0.05,0.0,0.0, SURF_ID = 'PMMA SLAB' /
&DUMP DT_DEVC=5. /
&DEVC XYZ=0.0,0.0,0.0, IOR=3, QUANTITY='WALL TEMPERATURE', ID='temp' /
&DEVC XYZ=0.0,0.0,0.0, IOR=3, QUANTITY='MASS FLUX', SPEC_ID='METHANE', ID='MF' /
&DEVC XYZ=0.0,0.0,0.0, IOR=3, QUANTITY='WALL THICKNESS', ID='thick' /
&TAIL /

9.3.2 Simulating Bench-scale Measurements like the TGA, DSC, and MCC
There are a number of techniques to measure the thermo-physical properties of a solid material. Most of
these involve heating a very small sample at a relatively slow, linear rate. In this way, thermal conduction
is minimized and the sample can be considered thermally-thin. FDS has a special feature that mimics ther-
mogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and micro-combustion calorimetry
(MCC) measurements. To use it, set up your input file as you normally would. Then, add the flag TGA_
ANALYSIS=T to the SURF line you want to analyze. Only one SURF line can be analyzed at a time. Doing
multiple SURF lines will require multiple runs. The linear heating rate (K/min) and final sample temperature
(◦ C) are respectively specified using TGA_HEATING_RATE and TGA_FINAL_TEMPERATURE. The default values
are 5 K/min and 800 ◦ C. The initial temperature is TMPA. Note that this feature is only appropriate for a SURF
line that describes a thermally-thick sample consisting of a single layer with multiple reacting components.
For example, the following SURF line describes a material that consists of three components:

&SURF ID = 'Cable Insulation'

TGA_ANALYSIS = T
TGA_HEATING_RATE = 60.
THICKNESS = 0.005
MATL_ID(1,1) = 'Component A',
MATL_ID(1,2) = 'Component B',
MATL_ID(1,3) = 'Component C',
MATL_MASS_FRACTION(1,1:3) = 0.26,0.33,0.41 /

The two TGA entries will force FDS to perform a numerical version of the TGA, DSC and MCC measure-
ments. The THICKNESS and other boundary conditions on the SURF line will be ignored. After running the
analysis, which only takes a second or two, FDS will then shut down without running the actual simulation.
To run the simulation, either remove the TGA entries or set TGA_ANALYSIS to F.

Note: If applying TGA_ANALYSIS to a case where the SURF is associated with a PART class yet to be inserted
into the calculation, FDS may not find the SURF and hence throw an error. In this case, create a simple case
with a single particle that is inserted at the start.

The result of the TGA_ANALYSIS is a single comma-delimited file called CHID_tga.csv. The first and
second columns of the file consist of the time and sample temperature. The third column is the normalized
sample mass; that is, the sample mass divided by its initial mass. The following columns list the mass
fractions of the individual material components. The next column is the total mass loss rate, in units of s−1 ,
followed by the mass loss rates of the individual material components. The next column is the heat release
rate per unit mass of the sample in units of W/g, typical of an MCC measurement. The final two columns
are the rate of heat absorbed by the sample normalized by its original mass and by its instantaneous mass,
respectively. The former is labeled DSC and the latter STA, both in units of W/g. STA means Simultane-
ous Thermal Analysis, where a TGA and DSC measurement are made simultaneously, in which case the
instantaneous mass of the sample is available.

119
 The timestep used in the TGA analysis can be controlled with TGA_DT on the SURF line. The output
spacing for temperature can be set with TGA_DUMP on the SURF line.
The TGA, MCC or DSC/STA output can be multiplied by X_CONVERSION_FACTOR, where X is TGA, MCC, or
DSC, respectively. For example, the DSC output assumes that an endothermic reaction is represented by a
positive peak, and an exothermic reaction by a negative peak. To flip this around, set DSC_CONVERSION_
FACTOR=-1.
Details of the output quantities are discussed in Sec. 22.10.17. Further details on these measurement
techniques and how to interpret them are found in the FDS Verification Guide [4].

Example
Results for an analysis (Pyrolysis/tga_analysis.fds) of a simplified version of wood are shown in
Fig. 9.13. The sample, referred to as “wet wood”, contains 10 % “water” by mass. It is heated at a rate
of β = 5/60 K/s and undergoes three reactions: the evaporation of “water”, the conversion of “dry wood”
to “char”, and the conversion of “char” to “ash”.
The upper two plots in Fig. 9.13 show the results of the TGA analysis; that is, the decrease in mass as a
function of sample temperature. The left plot shows the total sample mass and the right shows the individual
components. Below these are two plots that show the mass loss rates of the total sample and its components.
These plots are simply the (negative) values of the first derivative of the upper plots.
The lower left plot in Fig. 9.3.2 shows the results of the MCC analysis; that is, the gas phase combustion
heat release rate per unit mass of the original sample. Note that this MCC plot does not include evidence of
the evaporation of water because water vapor does not combust. The integral (with respect to time) under
the MCC curve yields Q = 12 680 J/g. The heat of combustion of the “cellulose,” which is the assumed gas
phase fuel resulting from the pyrolysis of dry wood and char, is hc = 14 988 J/g. The dry wood and char
constitute Y = 0.846 of the original sample, thus hc Y ≈ Q.
The lower right plot Fig. 9.3.2 shows the results of the DSC/STA analysis. The black curve (DSC)
represents the rate of heat absorbed per unit mass of the original sample. The red curve represents the rate of
heat absorbed per unit mass of the pyrolyzing sample. The three peaks represent the endothermic reactions
where heat from the hot gas is used to evaporate water or pyrolyze the wood and char. The plateaus between
the reaction peaks represent the heating of the solid only. For example, at a temperature of 500 ◦ C, only ash
remains and the value of the DSC curve is q̇DSC (500) ≈ 0.0045 W/g from which the value of the specific
heat can be computed:
q̇DSC (500)
cp = ≈ 1 kJ/(kg K) (9.12)
Y (500) β
The term Y (500) ≈ 0.054 in the denominator is the ratio of mass of the ash at 500 ◦ C to the mass of the
original wet wood. For the STA curve, the specific heat is obtained simply by dividing the STA value
q̇STA (500) ≈ 0.0834 W/g by the heating rate, β .

q̇STA (500)
cp = ≈ 1 kJ/(kg K) (9.13)
β

120
 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
1.2 1.2
TGA Results (tga_analysis) TGA Results (tga_analysis)
1 1

Component Mass Fraction

Total Mass Fraction

0.8 0.8
dry wood
char
0.6 0.6 ash
water
0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2

0 0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Temperature (°C) Temperature (°C)

10 -3 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release 10 -3 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release

3 TGA Results (tga_analysis) 3 TGA Results (tga_analysis)

Component Mass Loss Rate (1/s)

Total Mass Loss Rate (1/s)

2 2
dry wood
char
1 1 ash
water

0 0

-1 -1

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Temperature (°C) Temperature (°C)

FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
30 12
MCC Results (tga_analysis) DSC Results (tga_analysis)
25 10
Heat Release Rate (W/g)

Heating Rate (W/g)

20 8
Expected DSC
Expected STA
15 6 FDS DSC
FDS STA
10 4

5 2

0 0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Temperature (°C) Temperature (°C)

Figure 9.13: Sample results of a tga_analysis.

121
9.4 Pyrolysis and Energy Conservation
The HEAT_OF_REACTION is the energy gained or lost in converting the material to residue(s) and/or gas(es).
In other words the HEAT_OF_REACTION is the enthalpy of the products at the current solid temperature minus
the enthalpy of the initial material at the current solid temperature. For total internal energy to be conserved,
this must hold true. A challenge is that while the heat of reaction may be known for a solid material,
detailed knowledge of the material enthalpy or the enthalpy of any residue or gaseous products is often not
known. In cases where a reference enthalpy for a material is known, you can input on the MATL line the
REFERENCE_ENTHALPY in kJ/kg and the REFERENCE_ENTHALPY_TEMPERATURE in ◦ C.
FDS will attempt to adjust all material enthalpies so that internal energy is conserved. For each material
reaction a linear equation is defined:
Nresidues Nspecies
Hx (Tref ) + Hx,adj + Hx,r (Tref ) = νi Hi (Tref ) + Hi,adj + ν j H j (Tref ) (9.14)


∑ ∑
i=1 j=1

where H(T ) is the enthalpy of a material or gas, Hr is the HEAT_OF_REACTION, Tref is the temperature at
which the HEAT_OF_REACTION was specified for, ν is a yield, and Hadj is a constant that forces the correct
enthalpy to balance the reactions. During initialization, H(T ) for a material is initialized using the defined
SPECIFIC_HEAT or ramp. H(T ) for a gas is defined per the discussion in Sec. 12.1.2. No adjustment
parameter is included for gases since typically pyrolysis is either producing a predefined species such as
carbon dioxide or water vapor or it is producing a fuel species use on REAC. For a predefined species, the
enthalpy is known. When a non-predefined species is used on REAC, FDS adjusts the species enthalpy so that
the correct HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION is obtained. This means it cannot be adjusted again to balance a material
reaction.
The result is a system of linear equations where the Hadj values are the unknowns. This results in a
matrix whose row count is the total number of reactions over all materials, and whose column count is the
total number of materials that are either a reactant or a residue. The number of rows and columns may not
be equal to one another. If they are equal, provided the matrix is not singular, then a standard matrix solution
can be done. If there are more equations than materials, then the system is overdetermined, and there may
not be a solution that conserves energy. In this case, a least-squares solution of the system is performed to
find the best possible values for the Hadj values. A warning message will be written in this case. If there are
more materials than reactions, then the system is under-determined, and there will be an infinite number of
solutions. In this case, the matrix is solved to yield a minimal solution for Hadj values. That is it attempts to
find values for Hadj where the vector of values has the smallest magnitude.
In the case of a singular matrix, a warning is written that no adjustment is done. A singular matrix
happens when a row in the matrix is a linear combination of one or more other rows. If this happens, there
is likely an error in one of the MATL definitions.
The value of Tref used for a reaction is the value specified by the REFERENCE_TEMPERATURE for that
reaction. If no value is given (when the reaction is defined using A and E), then FDS will do a virtual TGA
using just the single reaction for the single material. The temperature where the peak reaction rate occurs
is used for Tref . Since in most cases the specific heat of a material and the specific heats of its residues and
product gases are not the same, the heat of reaction is temperature dependent. FDS will create a temperature
dependent array for the heat of reaction that accounts for this where the value at Tref is fixed to the value
specified with HEAT_OF_REACTION.
This process of adjusting enthalpies can be skipped by setting ADJUST_H=F on a MATL line. This should
be done when material reactions do not represent actual chemical reactions. If no HEAT_OF_REACTION is
specified for a MATL with a reaction then ADJUST_H=F will be set. Note that this means if a reaction has
HEAT_OF_REACTION that is actually zero, and enthalpy adjustment is desired, then set HEAT_OF_REACTION to
0 in the input file for that reaction.

122
 If the sum of the yields is less than 1, then for the purpose of solving for the Hadj values, FDS will
assume that the missing mass is a material with the same specific heat as the original material.
If a material has a reaction where N_O2 is set and the adjustment process needs to determine the
REFERENCE_TEMPERATURE, then a value for the oxygen concentration is needed. This value will default
to the ambient oxygen concentration for the simulation; however, it can be overridden on a material basis
by specifying X_O2_PYRO for that material. This may be needed if, for example, the kinetics and heat of
reaction(s) for a material were developed using a specific oxygen concentration.

123
Chapter 10

Ventilation

This chapter explains how to model a ventilation system. There are two ways to do this. First, is to explicitly
specify air flow rates into and out of compartments, see Sec. 10.1 for a description of simple velocity bound-
ary conditions. Second, is to model airflow rates using an HVAC system, see Sec. 10.2 for a description of
modeling HVAC systems.

10.1 Simple Vents, Fans and Heaters

The ventilation system of individual compartments within a building is described using velocity boundary
conditions. For example, fresh air can be blown into, and smoke can be drawn from, a compartment by
specifying a velocity in the normal direction to a solid surface. However, there are various other facets of
velocity boundary conditions that are described below.

10.1.1 Simple Supply and Exhaust Vents

The easiest way to describe a supply or exhaust fan is to specify a VENT on a solid surface, and designate
a SURF_ID with some form of specified velocity or volume flow rate. The normal component of velocity is
usually specified directly via the parameter VEL. If VEL is negative, the flow is directed into the computational
domain, i.e., a supply vent. If VEL is positive, the flow is drawn out of the domain, i.e., an exhaust vent. For
example, the lines

&SURF ID='SUPPLY', VEL=-1.2, COLOR='BLUE' /

&VENT XB=5.0,5.0,1.0,1.4,2.0,2.4, SURF_ID='SUPPLY' /

create a VENT that supplies air at a velocity of 1.2 m/s through an area of nominally 0.16 m2 , depending
on the realignment of the VENT onto the FDS mesh. Regardless of the orientation of the plane x = 5, the
flow will be directed into the room because of the sign of VEL. In this example the VENT may not be exactly
0.16 m2 in area because it may not align exactly with the computational mesh. If this is the case then
VOLUME_FLOW can be prescribed instead of VEL. The units are m3 /s. If the flow is entering the computational
domain, VOLUME_FLOW should be a negative number, the same convention as for VEL. Note that a SURF with a
VOLUME_FLOW prescribed can be invoked by either a VENT or an OBST, but be aware that in the latter case, the
resulting velocity on the face or faces of the obstruction will be given by the specified VOLUME_FLOW divided
by the area of that particular face. For example:

&SURF ID='SUPPLY', VOLUME_FLOW=-5.0, COLOR='GREEN' /

&OBST XB=..., SURF_ID6='BRICK','SUPPLY','BRICK','BRICK','BRICK','BRICK' /

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dictates that the forward x-facing surface of the obstruction is to have a velocity equal to 5 m3 /s divided by
the area of the face (as approximated within FDS) flowing into the computational domain.
Note that VEL and VOLUME_FLOW should not be specified on the same SURF line. The choice depends on
whether an exact velocity is desired at a given vent, or whether the given volume flow is desired.
Note also that if the VENT or OBST crosses mesh boundaries, the specified VOLUME_FLOW will be recom-
puted in each mesh so that the desired volume flow is achieved. This was not the case in FDS version 6.3 and
earlier. The sample cases called volume_flow_1.fds and volume_flow_2.fds in the Flowfields folder
demonstrate that a VENT or an OBST can be divided among several meshes. In both cases, air is drawn from
a 1 m by 1 m by 1 m box at a rate of 0.01 m3 /s. These cases also ensure that the VENT or OBST need not
be aligned with the mesh to yield the desired flow rate. Figure 10.1 displays the volume flow drawn though
an OPEN boundary on an opposite face of the box with either a VENT (left) or OBST (right) with a specified
volume flow.
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
0.015 0.015
Flow Test (volume_flow_1) Flow Test (volume_flow_2)
Volume Flow (m³/s)

Volume Flow (m³/s)

0.01 0.01

0.005 0.005

Expected Expected
FDS FDS
0 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Time (s) Time (s)

Figure 10.1: Flow rate of air drawn through a unit cube via a VENT (left) and OBST (right) with specified VOLUME_
FLOW.

10.1.2 Total Mass Flux

Most often, a simple supply or exhaust vent is specified by setting either a normal velocity or volume flux at
a solid surface. However, it is also possible to specify the total mass flow rate per unit area (kg/(m2 s)) via
the parameter MASS_FLUX_TOTAL. This parameter uses the same sign convention as VEL above. In fact, the
value entered for MASS_FLUX_TOTAL is converted internally into a velocity boundary condition whose value
for an outflow is adjusted based on the local density. Note that MASS_FLUX_TOTAL should only be used for
an outflow boundary condition; for inflow use MASS_FLUX which is discussed in Sec. 10.1.6.

10.1.3 Heaters
You can create a simple heating vent by changing the temperature of the incoming air

&SURF ID='BLOWER', VEL=-1.2, TMP_FRONT=50. /

The VENT with SURF_ID='BLOWER' would blow 50 ◦ C air at 1.2 m/s into the flow domain. Making VEL
positive would suck air out, in which case TMP_FRONT would not be necessary.
Note that if HRRPUA or solid phase reaction parameters are specified, no velocity should be prescribed.
The combustible gases are ejected at a velocity computed by FDS.

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10.1.4 Louvered Vents
Most real supply vents are covered with some sort of grill or louvers which act to redirect, or diffuse, the
incoming air stream. It is possible to mimic this effect, to some extent, by prescribing both a normal and
the tangential components of the flow. The normal component is specified with VEL as described above.
The tangential is prescribed via a pair of real numbers VEL_T representing the desired tangential velocity
components in the other two coordinate directions (x or y should precede y or z). For example, the line in
the example case Flowfields/tangential_velocity.fds

&SURF ID='LOUVER', VEL=-2.0, VEL_T=3.0,0.0, TAU_V=5., COLOR='GREEN' /

is a boundary condition for a louvered vent that pushes air into the space with a normal velocity of 2 m/s
and a tangential velocity of 3 m/s in the first of the two tangential directions. Note that the negative sign
of the normal component of velocity indicates that the fluid is injected into the computational domain.
The tangential velocity of 3 m/s indicates that the flow is in the positive y direction. Both the normal and
tangential velocity components are ramped up with either TAU_V or RAMP_V, as shown in Fig. 10.2.
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
4
Velocity Components (tangential_velocity)

3
Velocity (m/s)

1 Exact (u)
Exact (v)
FDS (u)
FDS (v)
0
0 5 10 15 20
Time (s)

Figure 10.2: Normal and tangential velocity components at a louvered vent, compared to the ideal curve.

In cases of limited mesh resolution, there may not be enough mesh cells spanning the opening for VEL_T
to operate correctly. In these cases, you might consider simply specifying a flat plate obstruction in front of
the VENT with an offset of one mesh cell. The plate will simply redirect the air flow in all lateral directions.
If the louvered vent is part of an HVAC system, see 10.2.7 for details on how to specify the louver.

10.1.5 Specified Normal Velocity Gradient

It is sometimes desirable to specify a Neumann boundary condition (specified gradient) for the velocity in
the direction normal to the boundary. For example, the following allows inflow and outflow along the top of
the domain, but ∂ w/∂ z = 0. Note that FREE_SLIP=T only sets ∂ u/∂ z = 0 and ∂ v/∂ z = 0.

&SURF ID = 'sky', COLOR = 'INVISIBLE', VEL_GRAD=0., FREE_SLIP=T /

&VENT MB='ZMAX', SURF_ID='sky' /

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10.1.6 Species and Species Mass Flux Boundary Conditions
There are two types of species boundary conditions (see Chapter 12 for a general discussion of gas species).
By default, gas species do not penetrate solid surfaces and you need not specify anything if that is all that is
needed. If the mass fraction of the species is to be some value at a forced flow boundary where VEL, VOLUME_
FLOW, or MASS_FLUX_TOTAL is specified, set MASS_FRACTION(:) equal to the desired species mass fractions
on the appropriate SURF line. If the mass flux of the species is desired, set MASS_FLUX(:) instead of MASS_
FRACTION(:). If MASS_FLUX(:) is set, do not specify VEL, VOLUME_FLOW, or
MASS_FLUX_TOTAL. These are automatically calculated based on the specified mass flux. The inputs MASS_
FLUX(:) and typically MASS_FRACTION(:) should only be used for inflow boundary conditions. MASS_
2
FLUX(:) should be positive with units of kg/(m s). Also note that the background species cannot be speci-
fied when using MASS_FRACTION. The mass fraction of the background species will be set to account for any
mass fraction not specified with other species.
Here is an example of how to specify a surface that generates methane at a rate of 0.025 kg/(m2 s):

&SPEC ID='METHANE' /
&SURF ID='METHANE BURNER', SPEC_ID(1)='METHANE', MASS_FLUX(1)=0.025 /
&VENT XB=..., SURF_ID='METHANE BURNER' /

Here is example of how to specify a surface that blows methane with a velocity of 0.1 m/s:

&SPEC ID='METHANE' /
&SURF ID='METHANE BLOWER', MASS_FRACTION(1)=1.0, SPEC_ID(1)='METHANE', VEL=-0.1 /
&VENT XB=..., SURF_ID='METHANE BLOWER' /

Note that specifying a combination of VEL and MASS_FRACTION can lead to inaccurate results if the specified
velocity is small because diffusion will dominate the mass transport. To obtain an accurate species mass
flux at a boundary, use MASS_FLUX.
Alternatively, add CONVERT_VOLUME_TO_MASS=T for velocity boundaries (VEL, VOLUME_FLOW, or MASS_
FLUX_TOTAL), which converts volume flow to a mass flux based on the specified boundary composition
(MASS_FRACTION) and temperature (TMP_FRONT):

p∞W Q̇
ṁ′′α = ρZα u = Zα (10.1)
RT A
where ρ is the density, Zα is the mass fraction of α, u is the velocity normal to the surface, p∞ is the ambient
pressure, W is the mixture molecular weight, R is the ideal gas constant, T is the surface temperature, Q̇ is
the volume flow rate, and A is the area of the vent. Note that using CONVERT_VOLUME_TO_MASS=T converts
the SURF into a mass flux boundary condition and so velocity profiles may not be applied.

10.1.7 Tangential Velocity Boundary Conditions at Solid Surfaces

The no-slip condition implies that the continuum tangential gas velocity at a surface is zero. In turbulent
flow the velocity increases rapidly through a boundary layer that is only a few millimeters thick to its “free-
stream” value. In most practical simulations, it is not possible to resolve this boundary layer directly; thus,
an empirical model is used to represent its effect on the overall flow field. For a DNS (Direct Numerical
Simulation), the velocity gradient at the wall is computed directly from the resolved velocity near the wall
(NO_SLIP=T by default). For an LES (Large Eddy Simulation), a “log law” wall model is applied. The
“sand grain” surface roughness1 (in meters) is set by ROUGHNESS on SURF. See the FDS Technical Reference
1 Note the sand grain roughness, s, is different than the aerodynamic roughness, z0 , used in atmospheric flows (see Sec. 16.3.4).

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Guide [3] for wall model details. To force a solid boundary to have a free-slip condition, set FREE_SLIP=T
on the SURF line. In LES, to override the wall model and force a no-slip boundary condition, set NO_SLIP=T
on the SURF line.

10.1.8 Synthetic Turbulence Inflow Boundary Conditions

Real flows of low-viscosity fluids like air are rarely perfectly stationary in time or uniform in space—they
are turbulent (to some degree). Of course, the turbulence characteristics of the flow may have a significant
impact on mixing and other behaviors, so the specification of nominally constant and uniform boundary
conditions may be insufficient. To address this issue, FDS employs a synthetic eddy method (SEM)2 . Refer
to Jarrin [12] for a detailed description. In brief, “eddies” are injected into the flow at random positions on the
boundary and advect with the mean flow over a short distance near the boundary equivalent to the maximum
eddy length scale. Once the eddy passes through this region it is recycled at the inlet of the boundary with
a new random position and length scale. The eddies are idealized as velocity perturbations over a spherical
region in space with a diameter (eddy length scale) selected from a uniform random distribution. The
selection procedures guarantee that prescribed first and second-order statistics (including Reynolds stresses)
are satisfied.
Synthetic turbulence is invoked by setting the number of eddies, N_EDDY, the characteristic eddy length
scale, L_EDDY, and either the root mean square (RMS) velocity fluctuation, VEL_RMS, or the Reynolds stress
tensor components, REYNOLDS_STRESS(3,3) on the VENT line. In Fig. 10.3 we show examples using SEM
for flat, parabolic, atmospheric, and ramp profiles with 10 % turbulence intensity (see the sem_* test series
in the Turbulence verification subdirectory). The input lines for the atmospheric case are (see Section 16.5
for further discussion of profile parameters).

&SURF ID='inlet', VEL=-1, PROFILE='ATMOSPHERIC', Z0=0.5, PLE=0.3 /

&VENT MB='XMIN', SURF_ID='inlet', N_EDDY=100, L_EDDY=0.2, VEL_RMS=.1 /

Note that the Reynolds stress is symmetric and only the lower triangular part needs to bep specified. The
RMS velocity fluctuation is isotropic (equivalent for each component). Thus, VEL_RMS ≡ 2k/3, where
k ≡ ⟨ 12 u′i u′i ⟩ is the turbulent kinetic energy per unit mass. Below is an example illustrating the equivalence
between the RMS velocity fluctuation and the diagonal components of the Reynolds stress. Note that if
VEL_RMS is specified, this is equivalent to

REYNOLDS_STRESS(1,1) = VEL_RMS**2
REYNOLDS_STRESS(2,2) = VEL_RMS**2
REYNOLDS_STRESS(3,3) = VEL_RMS**2

and all other components of REYNOLDS_STRESS are zero. If the fluctuations are not isotropic, then the
Reynolds stresses must be specified component-wise.
In Chapter 7 of Jarrin’s thesis [12], he introduces the Modified Synthetic Eddy Method in which the
eddy length scales are anisotropic. This allows more realistic characterization of stream-wise vortices in a
turbulent boundary layer. To specify the length scales corresponding to the σi j values in Jarrin’s Eq. (7.1)
use L_EDDY_IJ(3,3). Here is an example with random values for the eddy length scales and Reynolds stress
components:

&VENT XB=... , SURF_ID='WIND', N_EDDY=500,

L_EDDY_IJ(1,1)=21., L_EDDY_IJ(1,2)=6.22, L_EDDY_IJ(1,3)=4.23
L_EDDY_IJ(2,1)=2.35, L_EDDY_IJ(2,2)=5.66, L_EDDY_IJ(2,3)=2.50

2 SEM may not be used for HVAC vents, which are strict mass flux boundaries.

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 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
1 1
Prescribed mean
Prescribed rms
0.8 FDS mean 0.8
FDS rms

0.6 0.6 Prescribed mean

z (m)

z (m)
Prescribed rms
FDS mean
0.4 0.4 FDS rms

0.2 0.2

0 0
0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
u (m/s) u (m/s)

FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
1 1
Prescribed mean Prescribed mean
Prescribed rms Prescribed rms
0.8 0.8
FDS mean FDS mean
FDS rms FDS rms
0.6 0.6
z (m)

z (m)
0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2

0 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
u (m/s) u (m/s)

Figure 10.3: Synthetic Eddy Method vent profiles: flat (upper left), parabolic (upper right), atmospheric (lower left),
and linear ramp (lower right).

L_EDDY_IJ(3,1)=5.42, L_EDDY_IJ(3,2)=0.78, L_EDDY_IJ(3,3)=1.01

REYNOLDS_STRESS(1,1)=2.16, REYNOLDS_STRESS(1,2)=0., REYNOLDS_STRESS(1,3)=-0.47
REYNOLDS_STRESS(2,1)=0., REYNOLDS_STRESS(2,2)=1.53, REYNOLDS_STRESS(2,3)=0.
REYNOLDS_STRESS(3,1)=-0.47, REYNOLDS_STRESS(3,2)=0., REYNOLDS_STRESS(3,3)=4.259 /

Synthetic Turbulence at OPEN Boundaries

For wind simulations (see Sec. 16.2) it may be necessary to add a degree of inflow turbulence in order to
match atmospheric conditions without drastically increasing the size of the computational domain. The
Synthetic Eddy Method of Jarrin [12] may be invoked on the VENT line with an 'OPEN' boundary. This
should be used in conjunction with a WIND line to specify the mean wind field. For example,

&WIND SPEED=10, DIRECTION=270, ... /

&VENT DB='XMIN', SURF_ID='OPEN', N_EDDY=500, L_EDDY=3, VEL_RMS=1 /

Figure 10.4 shows results from a demonstration case (sem_open_wind.fds). In this case the mean
wind speed is 10 m/s at 10 m elevation with a Monin-Obukhov length of −667 m (unstably stratified)
and an aerodynamic roughness of z0 = 0.022 m. The ground temperature is set to 20 ◦ C and the ambient
temperature is set to 19.18 ◦ C based on the Monin-Obukhov profile. The rms velocity fluctuation at the inlet
is set to 1 m/s. The lateral boundaries are 'PERIODIC'. The inflow, outflow, and top boundary conditions

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are set to 'OPEN'. Note that a special OPEN boundary condition for WIND has been developed, which is
discussed in the FDS Tech Guide [3].
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
10 10
Monin-Obukhov profile Monin-Obukhov profile
Prescribed rms FDS mean
8 8
FDS mean
FDS rms
6 6
z (m)

z (m)
4 4

2 2

0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 19 19.2 19.4 19.6 19.8 20
u (m/s) T (C)

Figure 10.4: Synthetic Eddy Method at OPEN boundary with prescribed WIND field: (left) Monin-Obukhov velocity
profile, (right) Monin-Obukhov temperature profile.

10.1.9 Random Mass Flux Variation

The current implementation of the Synthetic Eddy Method does not allow variation in mass flux defined on
a SURF line. For example, the parameters HRRPUA and MASS_FLUX follow a user-specified time history which
does not include random fluctuations. However, you may specify a mass flux variation using the parameter
MASS_FLUX_VAR. For example, if you want a 10 % variation in a heat release rate per unit area of 100 kW/m2
then use

&SURF ID='burner', HRRPUA=100., MASS_FLUX_VAR=0.1 /

Using the boundary file output quantity 'MASS FLUX' might help to visualize the variation. For example,

&BNDF QUANTITY='MASS FLUX', CELL_CENTERED=T /

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10.2 HVAC Systems
There are occasions where simply defining fixed flow and fixed species boundary conditions is not sufficient
to model the behavior of an HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) system. If the ability
to transport heat and combustion products through a duct network or the ability to fully account for the
pressurization of a compartment due to a fire on the flows in a duct network is important, you can make
use of a coupled HVAC network solver. The solver computes the flows through a duct network described
as a mapping of duct segments and nodes where a node is either the joining of two or more ducts (a tee
for example) or where a duct segment connects to the FDS computational domain. For more information
on coupled hybrid modeling in fire safety engineering, interested readers may want to refer to Ralph et al.’s
literature review of the topic [13].
By default the HVAC solver does not allow for mass storage in the duct network (i.e., what goes in
during a time step, goes out during a time step). However, if you set N_CELLS for and HVAC duct, then the
HVAC solver will account for mass storage and will compute transient species and energy transport through
the ducts.
HVAC components such as fans and binary dampers (fully open or fully closed) can be included in the
HVAC network and are coupled to the FDS control function capability. Three fan models are available for
use.
The HVAC solver is invoked if there is an HVAC namelist group present in the input file. An HVAC
network is defined by providing inputs for the ducts; duct nodes; and any fans, dampers, filters, or heating
and coiling coils present in the system. Additionally you must define the locations where the HVAC network
joins the computational domain. The basic syntax for an HVAC component is:

&HVAC TYPE_ID='componenttype', ID='componentname', ... /

where:

• TYPE_ID is a character string that indicates the type of component that the namelist group is defining.
TYPE_ID can be DUCT, NODE, FAN, FILTER, AIRCOIL, or LEAK (see Sec. 10.3.2).

• ID is a character string giving a name to the component. The name must be unique amongst all other
components of that type; however, the same name can be given to components of different types (i.e., a
duct and a node can have the same name but two ducts cannot).

A number of examples of simple HVAC systems are given in the HVAC folder of the sample cases and are
discussed in the FDS Verification Guide.
As described in the Technical Reference Manual, the HVAC pressure solution is not directly coupled to
the FDS pressure solution. Rather there is implicit coupling using the wall boundary condition for HVAC
vents. At times this can result in stability problems. There are two methods of attempting to resolve this.
The first method is the keyword HVAC_PRES_RELAX on the MISC line with a default value of 1.0. At each
time step FDS evaluates the average pressure in the FDS gas cells adjacent to nodes connecting the FDS
n+1
domain to the HVAC network, PFDS . The node pressure at time step n+1,Pnode , is taken as:
n+1 n n+1
Pnode = Pnode ) + PFDS
(1 − HVAC_PRES_RELAX HVAC_PRES_RELAX (10.2)

Setting this parameter closer to 0 reduces the sensitivity of the HVAC solution to short, transient pressure
changes in the FDS domain; however, doing so will also result in the HVAC solution lagging for longer
duration pressure changes.
The second method is setting the keyword HVAC_LOCAL_PRESSURE on the MISC line. When set, this will
cause FDS to use the ZONE pressure at a vent plus the stagnation pressure of any flow normal to the vent to

132
determine the pressure boundary condition for a node connected to the FDS domain rather than the ZONE
pressure plus the the pressure derived from the local value of H.

10.2.1 HVAC Duct Parameters

A typical input line specifying a duct is as follows:

&HVAC TYPE_ID='DUCT', ID='ductname', NODE_ID='node 1','node 2', AREA=3.14,

LOSS=1.,1., LENGTH=2., ROUGHNESS=0.001, FAN_ID='fan 1', DEVC_ID='device 1' /

Or, if you are using HVAC mass transport, as follows:

&HVAC TYPE_ID='DUCT', ID='ductname', NODE_ID='node 1','node 2', AREA=3.14,

LOSS=1.,1., LENGTH=2., ROUGHNESS=0.001, FAN_ID='fan 1', DEVC_ID='device 1',
N_CELLS=200 /

where:

• AIRCOIL_ID is the ID of an aircoil located in the duct. The operation of the aircoil can be controlled by
either a device or a control function.

• AREA is the cross sectional area of the duct in m2 .

• DAMPER is a logical parameter indicating the presence of a damper in the duct. The state of the damper
is controlled by either a device or a control function (see Sec. 10.2.2).

• DIAMETER is the diameter of the duct in m.

• DEVC_ID is the ID of a DEVC for a damper, fan, or aircoil in the duct. An alternative is CTRL_ID.

• FAN_ID is the ID of a fan located in the duct. Instead of specifying a FAN_ID, you could specify the
VOLUME_FLOW rate (m3 /s) through the duct. The operation of the fan can be controlled by either a device
or a control function.

• LENGTH is the LENGTH of the duct in m. If this is not specified, it will be computed automatically as the
difference between the XYZ of the duct’s endpoints or as the distance along the path between endpoints
if WAYPOINTS are defined.

• LOSS is a pair of real numbers giving the forward and reverse dimensionless "minor losses" loss coeffi-
cient (Kminor ) in the duct. Minor losses are pressure losses through components such as tees, valves and
bends. However, you can use LOSS to represent wall friction losses if you want - in this case ensure
you leave ROUGHNESS unset so that the HVAC solver does not compute a friction factor. The forward
direction is defined as flow from the first node listed in NODE_ID to the second node listed in NODE_ID.

• MASS_FLOW is a fixed mass flow rate (kg/s) through the duct. Do not specify both MASS_FLOW and
VOLUME_FLOW for the same duct. Its value in time may be changed by either using the characteristic
time, TAU_VF, to define a tanh (TAU_VF>0) or t2 ramp (TAU_VF<0); or RAMP_ID to specify the flow over
time. MASS_FLOW should only be specified for conditions where the upstream node density will not
change during the solution process.

• N_CELLS Enables HVAC mass transport. It defines the number of cells used in a discretized duct.

133
 • NETWORK_ID Used for Smokeview visualization. All ducts and nodes with a common NETWORK_ID can
be selected or deselected as a group in Smokeview. If no value is given, the duct will be placed in the
Unassigned network.

• NODE_ID gives the IDs of the nodes on either end of the duct segment. Positive velocity in a duct is
defined as flow from the first node to second node.

• PERIMETER is used along with AREA to specify a duct with non-circular cross-section. The DIAMETER
will be computed as the hydraulic diameter.

• RAMP_LOSS If specified this RAMP is a multiplier for the LOSS.

• REVERSE is a logical parameter that when T indicates that the specified FAN_ID blows from the second
node to the first. REVERSE has no effect on VOLUME_FLOW or MASS_FLOW as a duct input. If VOLUME_FLOW
or MASS_FLOW is specified for a duct and the reverse flow direction is needed, change the sign of the
input to negative.

• ROUGHNESS is the absolute roughness in m of the duct that is used to compute the friction factor for the
duct. If ROUGHNESS is not set, the HVAC solver will not compute the friction factor and the wall friction
will be zero - if this is the case you may want to account for wall friction losses in LOSS. "Perfectly
smooth" ducts and pipes still have wall losses and therefore setting ROUGHNESS to zero will tell the
HVAC solver to compute the minimum friction factor (which is non-zero) - this is not the same as
leaving ROUGHNESS unset.

• ROUND flag indicating a round duct.

• SQUARE flag indicating a square duct.

• VOLUME_FLOW is a fixed flow rate (m3 /s) through the duct. Only specify one of MASS_FLOW or VOLUME_
FLOW. If you specify VOLUME_FLOW, its value in time either using the characteristic time, TAU_VF, to
define a tanh (TAU_VF>0) or t2 ramp (TAU_VF<0); or RAMP_ID to specify the flow over time. VOLUME_
FLOW cannot be controlled by a device or control function. This can, however, be cone using a constant
volume flow FAN.

• WAYPOINTS is an array of coordinates in m that define the path a duct takes. Currently this only used
for Smokeview visualization of the HVAC network. Up to 30 WAYPOINTS can be defined. For example:
WAYPOINTS(1,1:3)=1,1,1, WAYPOINTS(2,1:3)=2,2,2 as part of a duct input would mean the duct
starts at the first node, then goes to the point (1,1,1), then to (2,2,2), and finally to the second node.

Note that only one of AIRCOIL_ID, DAMPER, or FAN_ID should be specified for a duct. Also note that if one
of these is specified, but no device or control function is provided, then the item will be assumed to be on or
open as appropriate.
If ROUND or SQUARE are set, then only one of AREA, DIAMETER, or PERIMETER should be set. Otherwise
two of the three are required.
To reduce the computational cost of the HVAC solver, a duct should be considered as any length of duct
that connects two items that must be defined as nodes (i.e., a connection to the FDS domain, a filter, or a
location where more than two ducts join). That is, a duct should be considered as any portion of the HVAC
system where flow can only be in one direction at given point in time (flow can reverse direction over time).
For example the top of Figure 10.5 shows a segment of an HVAC system where flow from a tee goes through
an expansion fitting, two elbows, an expansion fitting, and a straight length of duct before it terminates as a
connection to the FDS domain.

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 Figure 10.5: An example of simplifying a complex duct.

This could be input as each individual fitting or duct with its associated area and loss as shown in the
middle of the figure; however, this would result in five duct segments (one for each component) with six
node connections resulting in eleven parameters (five velocities and six pressures) which must be solved for.
This is not needed since whatever the flow rate is in any one segment of the duct, that same flow rate exists in
all other segments; thus, the velocities in any segment can be found by taking the area ratios, v1 /v2 = A2 /A1 .
Since flow losses are proportional to the square of the velocity, an equivalent duct can be constructed using
the total length of the duct, and a representative area (Aeff ) or diameter. The pressure losses associated with
all the segments of the duct can be collapsed to a single effective loss (Keff ) by summing all of the fitting
losses (Kminor ) through the duct as follows:
 2
Aeff
Keff = ∑ (Kminor )i (10.3)
i Ai

where i is a fitting and Ai is the area associated with the fitting loss.

10.2.2 HVAC Dampers

Dampers can be modeled in one of two ways. The first method is a simple binary (flow or no flow) damper.
This can be placed in a duct by adding the keyword DAMPER along with either a CTRL_ID or DEVC_ID. When
the control or device is T the damper will be open, and when F the damper will be closed and block 100 %
of the duct area. The example below shows a duct with a damper that that is linked to a DEVC that closes the
damper at 10 s.

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&HVAC TYPE_ID='DUCT',ID='EXHAUST 2',NODE_ID='TEE','EXHAUST 2',AREA=0.01,
LENGTH=1.0,LOSS=0,0,DAMPER=T,DEVC_ID='TIMER'/
&DEVC QUANTITY='TIME',ID='TIMER',SETPOINT=10,INITIAL_STATE=T,XYZ=0,0,0/

To start with the damper in the closed position and then open at a later time, the INITIAL_STATE of the
DEVC should not be set to T. The following example shows a duct with a damper which starts closed and
then opens at 10 s. For further details see the HVAC_damper example case, which is documented in the
Verification Guide.

&HVAC TYPE_ID='DUCT',ID='EXHAUST 2',NODE_ID='TEE','EXHAUST 2',AREA=0.01,

LENGTH=1.0,LOSS=0,0,DAMPER=T,DEVC_ID='TIMER'/
&DEVC QUANTITY='TIME',ID='TIMER',SETPOINT=10,XYZ=0,0,0/

The second method is to specify a RAMP_LOSS for the duct. This approach multiplies the LOSS array for
the duct by the output of the RAMP. This allows for dampers that have leakage and/or dampers that have a
variable position other than fully open or fully closed. An example is shown below where the LOSS in the
duct changes from 1,1 at 10 s to 2000,2000 at 11 s.

&HVAC TYPE_ID='DUCT',ID='EXHAUST 2',NODE_ID='TEE','EXHAUST 2',AREA=0.01,

LENGTH=1.0,LOSS=1,1,RAMP_LOSS='LOSS RAMP'/
&RAMP ID='LOSS RAMP',T=10,F=1/
&RAMP ID='LOSS RAMP',T=11,F=2000/

10.2.3 HVAC Node Parameters

Below are three example duct node inputs representing a typical tee-type connection (multiple ducts being
joined), a connection to the FDS domain, and a connection to the ambient outside the FDS domain.

&HVAC TYPE_ID='NODE', ID='tee', DUCT_ID='duct 1','duct 2',..'duct n',

LOSS=lossarray, XYZ=x,y,z /
&HVAC TYPE_ID='NODE', ID='FDS connection', DUCT_ID='duct 1', VENT_ID='vent',
LOSS=enter,exit /
&HVAC TYPE_ID='NODE', ID='ambient', DUCT_ID='duct 1', LOSS=enter,exit,
XYZ=x,y,z, AMBIENT=T /

where:

• AMBIENT is a logical value. If T, then the node is connected to the ambient (i.e., it is equivalent to the
OPEN boundary condition on a SURF line).

• DUCT_ID gives the IDs of the ducts connected to the node. Only one duct is allowed if the node is
AMBIENT or has a VENT_ID. Up to 10 ducts can be connected to a node.

• FILTER_ID gives the ID a filter located at the node. A node with a filter must have two connected ducts.
This means a filter cannot be located at an ambient node, a node that is attached to a VENT, or node with
three or more ducts.

• LOSS is an n by n array of real numbers giving the dimensionless loss coefficients for the node. LOSS(I,J)
is the loss coefficient for flow from duct I to duct J expressed in terms of the downstream duct area (see
discussion in 10.2.1 on how to adjust losses for area changes). For a terminal node (e.g., a node con-
nected to the ambient or to a VENT) the LOSS is entered as a pair of numbers representing loss coefficient
for flow entering the HVAC system and for flow exiting the HVAC system.

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 • NETWORK_ID Used for Smokeview visualization. All ducts and nodes with a common NETWORK_ID can
be selected or deselected as a group in Smokeview. If no value is given, the node will be placed in the
Unassigned network.

• VENT_ID is the name of the VENT where the node connects to the FDS computational domain. No two
VENTs should be defined with the same VENT_ID.

• XYZ is a triplet of real numbers giving the coordinates of the node. If the node is connected to the FDS
domain, then do not specify XYZ as FDS will compute it as the centroid of the VENT.

A duct node must either have two or more ducts attached to it or it must have either AMBIENT=T or a specified
VENT_ID. When defining a VENT as a component of an HVAC system you must set SURF_ID to 'HVAC' and
you must set the VENT_ID.
It is permissible to have individual VENT lines for an HVAC system span multiple meshes; however, the
entire VENT must lie within a single pressure zone.
Note that a VENT being used for an HVAC system must be present throughout the simulation. The VENT
should not have a CTRL_ID or DEVC_ID. This also includes the solid surface it is attached; i.e., any OBST the
VENT is attached to also needs to be present throughout the simulation. Turning on or off a VENT connected
to an HVAC system, requires a damper in the duct connected to VENT.

10.2.4 HVAC Fan Parameters

Below are sample inputs for the three types of fans supported by FDS.

&HVAC TYPE_ID='FAN', ID='constant volume', VOLUME_FLOW=1.0, LOSS=2./

&HVAC TYPE_ID='FAN', ID='quadratic', MAX_FLOW=1., MAX_PRESSURE=1000., LOSS=2. /
&HVAC TYPE_ID='FAN', ID='user fan curve', RAMP_ID='fan curve', LOSS=2. /

where:

• LOSS is the loss coefficient for flow through the fan when it is not operational. FDS assumes a default
value of 1.

• MAX_FLOW is the maximum volumetric flow of the fan in m3 /s. This input activates a quadratic fan model.
Value must be > 0.

• MAX_PRESSURE is the stall pressure of the fan in units of Pa. This input activates a quadratic fan model.
Value must be > 0.

• RAMP_ID identifies the RAMP that contains a table of pressure drop across the fan (Pa) versus the volu-
metric flow rates (m3 /s) for a user-defined fan curve.

• TAU_FAN defines a tanh (TAU_FAN > 0) or t2 ramp (TAU_FAN < 0) for the fan. This is applied to the flow
rate computed by any of the three types (constant flow, quadratic, or user-defined ramp) of fans.

• VOLUME_FLOW is the fixed volumetric flow of the fan (m3 /s). If you wish to have a time dependent flow
use the VOLUME_FLOW input for a duct rather than for a fan.

Note that only one set of fan model inputs (VOLUME_FLOW, RAMP_ID, or MAX_FLOW + MAX_PRESSURE) should
be specified. Also note that FAN defines a class of fans rather than one specific fan. Therefore, more than
one duct can reference a single FAN.

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Fan Curves
In Sec. 10.1 there is a discussion of velocity boundary conditions, in which a fan is modeled simply as a
solid boundary that blows or sucks air, regardless of the surrounding pressure field. In the HVAC model, this
approach to modeling a fan occurs when the fan is specified with a VOLUME_FLOW. In reality, fans operate
based on the pressure drop across the duct or manifold in which they are installed. A very simple “fan curve”
is given by: s
|∆p − ∆pmax |
V̇fan = V̇max sign(∆pmax − ∆p) (10.4)
∆pmax
This simple “fan curve” is the “quadratic” fan model as the pressure is proportional to the square of the
volume flow rate.
The volume flow in the absence of a pressure difference, MAX_FLOW, is given by V̇max . The pressure
difference, ∆p = p1 − p2 , indicates the difference in pressure between the downstream compartment, or
“zone,” and the upstream. The subscript 1 indicates downstream and 2 indicates upstream. The term,
∆pmax , is the maximum pressure difference, MAX_PRESSURE, the fan can operate upon, and it is assumed to
be a positive number. The flow through a fan will decrease from V̇max at zero pressure difference to 0 m3 /s
at ∆pmax . If the pressure difference increases beyond this, air will be forced backward through the fan.
If the downstream pressure becomes negative, then the volume flow through the fan will increase beyond
MAX_FLOW. More complicated fan curves can be specified by defining a RAMP. In the example inputs below,
one fan of each type is specified. A constant volume flow fan with a VOLUME_FLOW of 10 m3 /s, a quadratic
fan with MAX_FLUX=10 and MAX_PRESSURE=500, and a user-defined fan with the RAMP set to the values of the
quadratic fan in 200 Pa increments,

&HVAC TYPE_ID='FAN', ID='constant volume', VOLUME_FLOW=10.0/

&HVAC TYPE_ID='FAN', ID='quadratic', MAX_FLOW=10., MAX_PRESSURE=500./
&HVAC TYPE_ID='FAN', ID='user fan curve', RAMP_ID='fan curve'/
&RAMP ID='fan curve',T=-10.00,F= 1000/
&RAMP ID='fan curve',T= -7.75,F= 800/
&RAMP ID='fan curve',T= -4.47,F= 600/
&RAMP ID='fan curve',T= 4.47,F= 400/
&RAMP ID='fan curve',T= 7.75,F= 200/
&RAMP ID='fan curve',T= 10.00,F= 0/
&RAMP ID='fan curve',T= 11.83,F= -200/
&RAMP ID='fan curve',T= 13.42,F= -400/
&RAMP ID='fan curve',T= 14.83,F= -600/
&RAMP ID='fan curve',T= 16.12,F= -800/
&RAMP ID='fan curve',T= 17.32,F=-1000/

Figure 10.6 displays the fan curves for the inputs shown above. Additional examples can be found in the
ashrae7 and fan_test example cases, which are documented in the Verification Guide.

Jet Fans
Fans do not have to be mounted on a solid wall, like a supply or an exhaust fan. If you just want to blow gases
in a particular direction, create an obstruction OBST, at least one cell thick, and apply to it VENT lines that
are associated with a simple HVAC system. This allows hot, smokey gases to pass through the obstruction,
much like a free-standing fan. See the example case jet_fan.fds which places a louvered fan (blowing
diagonally down) near a fire (see Fig. 10.7).
You may also want to construct a shroud around the fan using four flat plates arranged to form a short
passageway that draws gases in one side and expels them out the other. The obstruction representing the fan

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 1000

500

Static Pressure (Pa)

0

-500
constant volume
quadratic
user fan curve
-1000
-10 -5 0 5 10 15 20
Volume Flow Rate (m³/s)

Figure 10.6: Fan curves corresponding to a constant fan with VOLUME_FLOW=10, a quadratic fan with MAX_FLOW=10
and MAX_PRESSURE=500, and a user-defined RAMP equivalent to the quadratic fan.

can be positioned about halfway along the passage (if a louvered fan is being used, place the fan at the end
of the passage).

Figure 10.7: Jet fan with a louvered output UVW=-1,0,-1.

System Curves
An HVAC system can be characterized with two curves. One, already discussed, is the fan curve which
describes the flow through the fan as a function of the pressure head across the fan. This is a curve with
zero flow at maximum pressure and maximum flow at zero pressure. The second is the system curve. This
describes how the flow in an HVAC system changes as the pressure imposed by a fan changes. The system
curve accounts for all the losses in the system plus any pressure differences seen at the inlets and outlets to
the system. For an HVAC system whose inlets and outlets are all at the same pressure, the system curve will
have zero flow at zero pressure and increasing flow as the fan pressure increases. The operation point for a
specific combination of an HVAC system and a fan is given by the intersection of these two curves.
For relatively simple HVAC networks with only a single fan for in any given duct run and no large

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variation in pressures over the network inlet and outlets, FDS uses a simple approach for selecting the fan
pressure that essentially considers the system curve to be the inverse of the fan curve. For more complex
networks, FDS can generate a system curve. This is done at each time step, as the system curve depends
on the specific configuration of the HVAC system (status of fans and dampers) and the pressures at the
inlets and outlets to the system. The operation point of a fan is then set by finding the intersection of that
fan’s curve with that fan’s system curve (i.e., a curve built by finding the flow rate in the HVAC system
for various pressures added at the location of the fan). This approach significantly increases the cost of the
HVAC solver as it must now solve a system curve for multiple fan pressures, determine the operation point,
and then perform the HVAC solution used for wall boundary conditions. However, since the HVAC solver is
generally a very small portion of the overall cost of a simulation, this increased cost should not significantly
impact the overall run time.
This method is turned on by setting HVAC_QFAN=T on the MISC line.

10.2.5 HVAC Filter Parameters

A filter must be located at a node with two connected ducts. A filter cannot be located at an ambient node,
a node that is attached to a VENT, or node with three or more ducts. A sample input for a filter is given by:

&HVAC TYPE_ID='FILTER', ID='filter 1', LOADING=0., SPEC_ID='SOOT',

EFFICIENCY=0.99, LOADING_MULTIPLIER=1, CLEAN_LOSS=2., LOSS=100./

where:

• AREA is the area in m2 associated with the flow loss measurement. Typically this is the area of the filter.
If not provided, the average of the two attached duct areas will be used.

• CLEAN_LOSS is the dimensionless loss coefficient for flow through the filter when it is clean (zero load-
ing).

• EFFICIENCY is an array of the species removal efficiency from 0 to 1 where 0 is no removal of that
species and 1 is complete filtration of the species. The species are identified using SPEC_ID.

• LOADING is an array of the initial loading (kg) of the filter for each species being filtered.

• LOADING_MULTIPLIER] is an array of the species multiplier, Mi , used in computing the total filter loading
when computing the loss coefficient of the filter.

• LOSS invokes a linear loss coefficient model where the dimensionless loss coefficient, K, is given as a
linear function of the total loading, KFILTER = KCLEANL OSS + KLOSS ∑ (Li Mi ), where Li is the species
loading and Mi is a multiplier. Only one of LOSS or RAMP_ID should be specified.

• RAMP_ID identifies the RAMP that contains a table of pressure drop across the filter as a function of total
loading (the summation term given in the definition of LOSS above). Only one of LOSS or RAMP_ID
should be specified.

• SPEC_ID identifies the tracked species for the inputs of LOADING_MULTIPLIER and LOADING.

A sample set of filter inputs is shown below. These lines define a filter that removes the species PARTICULATE
with 100 % efficiency. The filter has an initial loss coefficient of 1 and that loss increases by a factor of 7332
for each kg of PARTICULATE captured by the filter. For further details see the sample case HVAC_filter,
which is documented in the Verification Guide.

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&SPEC ID='PARTICULATE',MW=28.,MASS_FRACTION_0=0.001,SPECIFIC_HEAT=1./
&HVAC TYPE_ID='NODE',ID='FILTER',DUCT_ID='DUCT1','DUCT2',XYZ(3)=0.55,
FILTER_ID='FILTER'/
&HVAC TYPE_ID='FILTER',ID='FILTER',CLEAN_LOSS=1.,SPEC_ID='PARTICULATE',EFFICIENCY=1.,
LOSS=7732.446,LOADING_MULTIPLIER=1./

Note that a filter input refers to a class of filters and that multiple ducts can reference the same filter defini-
tion.

10.2.6 HVAC Aircoil Parameters

An aircoil refers to a device that either adds or removes heat from air flowing through a duct. In a typical
HVAC system this is done by blowing the air over a heat exchanger (hence the term aircoil) containing a
working fluid such as chilled water or a refrigerant. A sample input line is as follows:

&HVAC TYPE_ID='AIRCOIL', ID='aircoil 1', EFFICIENCY=0.5,

COOLANT_SPECIFIC_HEAT=4.186, COOLANT_TEMPERATURE=10., COOLANT_MASS_FLOW=1./

where:
• COOLANT_MASS_FLOW is the flow rate of the working fluid (kg/s).
• COOLANT_SPECIFIC_HEAT is the specific heat (kJ/(kg K)) of the working fluid.
• COOLANT_TEMPERATURE is the inlet temperature of the working fluid (◦ C).
• EFFICIENCY is the heat exchanger efficiency, η, from 0 to 1. A value of 1 indicates the exit temperatures
on both sides of the heat exchanger will be equal.
• FIXED_Q is the constant heat exchange rate. A negative value indicates heat removal from the duct. The
heat exchange rate can be controlled by either RAMP_ID or by TAU_AC.
• TAU_AC defines a tanh (TAU_AC>0) or t2 ramp (TAU_AC<0) for the aircoil. This is applied to the FIXED_Q
of the aircoil. Alternatively, a RAMP_ID can be given.
Note that either FIXED_Q or the set COOLANT_SPECIFIC_HEAT, COOLANT_MASS_FLOW,
COOLANT_TEMPERATURE, and EFFICIENCY should be specified. In the latter case, the heat exchange is com-
puted as a two step process. First, the outlet temperature is determined assuming 100 % efficient (i.e., both
fluids exit at the same temperature):
c p,gas uduct Aduct ρduct Tduct,in + c p,fluid ṁfluid Tfluid,in
Tfluid,out = (10.5)
c p,gas uduct Aduct ρduct + c p,fluid ṁfluid
Second, the actual heat exchanged is computed using the EFFICIENCY.
q̇coil = η c p,fluid ṁfluid (Tfluid,in − Tfluid,out ) (10.6)
Note that an aircoil input refers to a class of aircoils and that multiple ducts can reference the same aircoil
definition.
The sample input file HVAC_aircoil.fds demonstrates the use of the aircoil inputs. A constant flow
duct removes air (defined as 28 g/mol with a specific heat of 1 kJ/(kg K)) from the floor and injects in
through the ceiling at a volume flow rate of 1 m3 /s. An aircoil is defined with a working fluid flowing at
10 kg/s and 100 ◦ C with a specific heat of 4 kJ/(kg K). The aircoil has an efficiency of 50 %. Using the
above equations the aircoil will add 45.2 kW of heat to the gas flowing through the duct resulting in a duct
exit temperature of 332 K. These results are shown in Fig. 10.8.

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 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
60 60
Coil Heat Addition (HVAC_aircoil) Duct Exit Temperature (HVAC_aircoil)

50 50

Exit Temperature (K)

Heat Addition (kW)

40 40

30 30
Ideal Q Ideal T
FDS Q FDS T
20 20
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Time (s) Time (s)

Figure 10.8: (Left) Heat addition and (Right) duct exit temperature for the HVAC_aircoil case.

10.2.7 Louvered HVAC Vents

The HVAC system being modeled may either have louvers that redirect the flow leaving a vent or the
orientation of the real vent may not lie along one of the axes in FDS. To define the flow direction for an
HVAC outlet, you can use the keyword UVW on VENT. UVW is the vector indicating the direction of flow from
the VENT. For example:

&OBST XB=1.0,2.0,0.0,1.0,0.0,1.0 /
&VENT XB=1.0,1.0,0.0,1.0,0.0,1.0, SURF_ID='HVAC', ID='HVAC OUTLET', UVW=-1,0,1 /

The above input defines a vent lying in the y-z plane facing in the −x direction. The flow vector indicates
that the flow from this vent is in the −x direction with a 45 degree up angle (the x and z components are
equal in size). FDS will set the tangential velocity of the vent to obtain the specified direction indicated by
UVW. This will only be done if the vent is inputting gas into the domain. Note that the values given for UVW
are normalized to a unit vector.

10.2.8 HVAC Mass Transport

FDS can account for the time delay of species and enthalpy transport through HVAC networks by discretiz-
ing individual HVAC ducts. This can by done using either N_CELLS on an HVAC duct input or by setting
HVAC_MASS_TRANSPORT_CELL_L on MISC. The input N_CELLS divides the length on the duct into N_CELLS
uniform segments. The parameter HVAC_MASS_TRANSPORT_CELL_L defines a cell length that is applied to all
ducts in an input file unless overridden by N_CELLS. When specified, the number of cells for a duct is the
duct LENGTH divided by HVAC_MASS_TRANSPORT_CELL_L rounded to the nearest integer (minimum of 1 cell).
The current HVAC solver does not account for heat loss in the HVAC network.
If a duct is discretized, then all other ducts in that ductrun must also be discretized. There is no require-
ment that the same cell size be used for all ducts in a ductrun. A ductrun is any collection of interconnected
HVAC components where a path exists between two components via traversing ducts in the ductrun.
If you are using DEVCs to output spatially-integrated statistics as per Sec. 22.2.3 (such as VOLUME MEAN,
VOLUME INTEGRAL or MASS INTEGRAL) then be aware that, even if the integration volume bound by XB en-
capsulates the spatial location of a duct, the quantity in the duct will not be recorded by the DEVC. For
example, if there is 1 m3 of species 1 initialized in an upstream FDS compartment which is transported to
a downstream FDS compartment via an HVAC network with a total volume greater than 1 m3 , the value of
total mass of species 1 output by a DEVC recording the VOLUME INTEGRAL of DENSITY will reduce to zero

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during the time for which it is in the HVAC network domain.
By default, cells in a mass transport duct are initialized to ambient values. A duct can be initialized
a duct to other values by specifying NODE_ID on INIT plus TEMPERATURE and/or SPEC_ID plus VOLUME_
FRACTION or MASS_FRACTION. The values in the duct will then be set by linear interpolation of the values at
the duct nodes.

10.2.9 Specified Flow vs. Unspecified Flow

There are two basic approaches for defining HVAC networks in FDS.
In the first approach, one can specify enough VOLUME_FLOW and MASS_FLOW inputs such that all flows
everywhere in the network are known. For example, if a tee has three ducts and two of the ducts have
specified flow, then the third duct flow is known based on conservation of mass at that node. If all flows are
specified everywhere in the HVAC network, then LOSS inputs for ducts and nodes are not needed. Do not
over specify flows. For example, if a node has three ducts, do not specify VOLUME_FLOW or MASS_FLOW for
more than two of the ducts. This ensures that any numerical round-off error does not result in conservation
errors.
In the second approach, one or more ducts have flows that are not specified, in this case FDS must solve
for the pressures at either end of the duct to determine the flow through the duct. As one example, if a tee
has three ducts and only one of the ducts has a specified flow, then FDS will use the relative pressure drops
along the two other ducts to determine the flow. If no LOSS inputs are given, then FDS may not correctly
solve for the flow. As another example, losses in the HVAC network limit how quickly flow in the ducts
can change over time. If there is a single duct connecting two rooms with no LOSS inputs given, then small
pressure changes can lead to large changes in duct velocity and increase the risk of a numerical instability. If
you specify an HVAC network where flow is being solved for by FDS, then you must provided LOSS inputs
for each possible flow path. FDS will perform a check at startup and return an error message if it finds
insufficient losses have been specified; however, this check may not discover all cases.

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10.3 Sealed Compartments, Leakage, and Void Spaces
All buildings have spaces that are relatively sealed off from the larger interior, like plenum spaces, closed
rooms, HVAC ducts, and so on. In reality, these spaces are connected via seams and gaps such that none are
perfectly sealed. However in FDS, these spaces are assumed to be perfectly sealed unless you say otherwise.
This section introduces the concept of a “pressure zone” and how to work with them, in particular how to
handle leakage.
These spaces are important because FDS assumes pressure to be composed of a “background” compo-
nent, p(z,t), plus a perturbation pressure, p̃(x,t). Most often, p is just the hydrostatic pressure, and p̃ is the
flow-induced spatially-resolved perturbation. If the computational domain has no sealed void spaces and
there is at least one OPEN boundary, FDS can assume that the background pressure is simply atmospheric
pressure and that it is the same throughout the entire domain. However, if void spaces exist, their back-
ground pressures will be different. For example, if a fire starts in a sealed compartment, the background
pressure must rise above atmospheric.
FDS has an algorithm that identifies regions within the computational domain that are sealed; that is,
are not connected to an OPEN boundary. Thus, it is not necessary for you to explicitly declare these regions,
or “pressure zones.” However, if you desire that a pressure zone be connected to another via a leak path,
you need to explicitly declare it. The next section discusses how to do that.

10.3.1 Specifying Pressure Zones

A pressure zone can be any region within the computational domain that is separated from the rest of the
domain, or the exterior, by solid obstructions. There is an algorithm within FDS to identify these zones
based solely on your specified obstructions. Consequently, it is not necessary that you identify these zones
explicitly in the input file. However, you might want to have a particular zone leak to another zone or to the
exterior of the domain. In that case, the basic syntax for a pressure ZONE is:

&ZONE XYZ=1.2,3.4,5.6, LEAK_AREA(0)=0.001 /

The parameter XYZ specifies a single point (1.2, 3.4, 5.6) that is within a sealed compartment, and it is not
embedded within a solid obstruction. There can be multiple ZONEs declared. The indices of the zones, which
are required for the specification of leaks and fans, are determined simply by the order in which they are
specified in the input file. By default, the exterior of the computational domain is Zone 0. If there are no
OPEN boundaries, the entire computational domain will be assumed to be Zone 1.
There are several restrictions to assigning pressure zones. First, the declared pressure zones must be
completely within a region of the domain that is bordered by solid obstructions. “Breaking” pressure zones
by removing obstructions between them is possible. An example of how to break pressure zones is given
below. Second, pressure zones can span multiple meshes, but checking the pressures in each mesh to ensure
consistency is recommended. If the ZONE does span multiple meshes, you do not need to add multiple XYZ
points for each mesh. A search algorithm will determine all other grid cells belonging to that pressure zone.
Note that removing a solid obstruction (like a door or window) separating two pressure zones will result
in FDS merging the two zones into one such that the background pressure within each remains nearly the
same.

Example Case: Pressure Rise in a Compartment

This example tests several basic features of FDS. A narrow channel, 3 m long, 0.002 m wide, and 1 m tall,
has air injected at a rate of 0.1 kg/m2 /s over an area of 0.2 m by 0.002 m for 60 s, with a linear ramp-
up and ramp-down over 1 s. The total mass of air in the channel at the start is 0.00718 kg. The total

144
mass of air injected is 0.00244 kg. The domain is assumed two-dimensional, the walls are adiabatic, and
STRATIFICATION is set to F simply to remove the slight change in pressure and density with height. The
domain is divided into three meshes, each 1 m long and each with identical gridding. Pressure, temperature,
and density are expected to rise during the 60 s injection period. Afterwards, the temperature, density, and
pressure should remain constant, according to the equation of state. Figure 10.9 shows the results of this
calculation. The density matches exactly showing that FDS is injecting the appropriate amount of mass.
The steady state values of the pressure, density and temperature are consistent with the ideal values obtained
from the first law of thermodynamics.
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release 10 4 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
70 6
Temperature (pressure_rise) Pressure (pressure_rise)
60 5

50 4
Temperature (°C)

Pressure (Pa)
Ideal (Temp) Ideal (Pres)
40 FDS (Temp 3)
3 FDS (Pres 3)

30 2

20 1

10 0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Time (s) Time (s)

FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
1.7
Density (pressure_rise)
1.6

1.5
Density (kg/m³)

1.4
Ideal (Dens)
FDS (Dens 3)
1.3

1.2

1.1

1
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Time (s)

Figure 10.9: Output of pressure_rise test case.

Example Case: Breaking Pressure Zones

In this example, three simple compartments are initially isolated from each other and from the ambient
environment outside. Each compartment is a separate pressure zone. Air is blown into Zone 1 at a constant
rate of 0.1 kg/s, increasing its pressure approximately 2000 Pa by 10 s, at which time Zone 1 is opened to
Zone 2, decreasing the overall pressure in the two zones to roughly one-third the original value because the
volume of the combined pressure zone has been roughly tripled. At 15 s, the pressure is further decreased
by opening a door to Zone 3, and, finally, at 20 s the pressure returns to ambient following the opening of a
door to the outside. Figure 10.10 displays the pressure within each compartment. Notice that the pressures
do not come to equilibrium instantaneously. Rather, the PRESSURE_RELAX_TIME (on the PRES line) is applied
to bring the zones into equilibrium over a specified period of time. This is done for several reasons. First,
in reality doors and windows do not magically disappear as they do in FDS. It takes a finite amount of time

145
 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
2500 2500
Ideal (Pres1) Ideal (Pres1)
Pressure (zone_break_fast) Ideal (Pres2)
Pressure (zone_break_slow) Ideal (Pres2)
2000 Ideal (Pres3) 2000 Ideal (Pres3)
FDS (pres_1) FDS (pres_1)
FDS (pres_2) FDS (pres_2)
Pressure (Pa)

Pressure (Pa)
1500 FDS (pres_3) 1500 FDS (pres_3)

1000 1000

500 500

0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time (s) Time (s)

Figure 10.10: Output of zone_break test cases. The figure on the left results from using a pressure relaxation time
of 0.5 s. The figure on the right uses 1 s, the default.

to fully open them, and the slowing of the pressure increase/decrease is a simple way to simulate the effect.
Second, relatively large pressure differences between zones wreak havoc with flow solvers, especially ones
like FDS that use a low Mach number approximation. To maintain numerical stability, FDS gradually brings
the pressures into equilibrium. This second point ought to be seen as a warning.
Do not use FDS to study the sudden rupture of pressure vessels! Its low Mach number formulation does
not allow for high speed, compressible effects that are very important in such analyses. The zone breaking
functionality described in this example is only intended to be used for relatively small pressure differences
(<0.1 atm) between compartments. Real buildings cannot withstand substantially larger pressures anyway.

Example Case: Irregularly Shaped Zone

This example is similar to the ones in the previous section, except in this case, the pressure zone is L-shaped
and split across two meshes. The objective is simply to ensure that the specification of the pressure zone
is properly accounted for in the model. Figure 10.11 compares the predicted pressure in the compartment
compared to an exact solution. Air is injected into the compartment for 5 s, after which the compartment is
opened to a smaller compartment. At 15 s, the smaller compartment is opened to the outside.
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
4000
Pressure (zone_shape)

3000
Pressure (Pa)

Ideal (Pres)
2000 FDS (pres_1)

1000

0
0 5 10 15 20 25
Time (s)

Figure 10.11: Output of zone_shape test case. Shown is the pressure in an L-shaped compartment that is opened to
another compartment at 5 s, and the outdoors at 15 s.

146
10.3.2 Leaks
With a few notable exceptions, like containment buildings for nuclear power plants, real world construction
is not air tight. Small gaps occur along windows and doors and where walls abut each other and the floors
and ceilings. As a compartment is pressurized by a fire, air will escape through these small gaps. This is
referred to as leakage.
Leakage is inherently a subgrid scale phenomenon because the leakage area is usually very small. In
other words, it is not possible to define a leak directly on the numerical mesh. It is sometimes possible
to “lump” the leaks into a single mesh-resolvable hole, but this is problematic for two reasons. First, the
leakage area rarely corresponds neatly to the area of a single mesh cell-sized hole. Second, the flow speeds
through the hole can be large and cause numerical instabilities.
A better way to handle leakage is by exploiting the HVAC model. The compartment surface that is
leaking can be thought of as a large HVAC vent that connects via a very small duct to the outside. This
allows the leakage to be removed over a large area in the domain (just as it would be in reality) while
correctly capturing the actual area of the leakage path. There are two approaches to this. The first approach
is by exploiting only pressure zones. A pressure zone is a user-specified volume within the computational
domain that is entirely surrounded by solid obstructions. For example, the interior of a closed room can
be, and should be, declared a pressure zone. In this approach surfaces within a pressure zone are denoted
as leaking, and those surfaces can be considered an HVAC vent that connects to the outside via a tiny duct
whose area is the leakage area. This leakage approach will prevent a compartment from seeing large pressure
changes as fires grow and decay, but it cannot account for effects like exterior wind or the stack effect. The
second approach is intended for leaks with well defined locations (a cracked open door where the crack size
is subgrid) or for leaks where the stack effect is important. It uses the local pressure (which includes the
zone pressure), which allows for leakage to vary in magnitude.

Pressure Zone Leakage

The pressure zone leakage approach is intended to capture the bulk leakage that occurs through walls. This
approach assumes that the amount of leaking gas is very small, and that it will exchange sufficient heat as
it moves through a wall to be at the same temperature as the wall surface. With this approach the pressure
between the source and destination zones is used to compute a leakage flow via the HVAC model. That flow
is then uniformly imposed over all surfaces designated as part of the leakage path. The first step is to define
pressure zones, leakage areas, and a description of the surfaces through which leaking occurs:

&ZONE XYZ=..., LEAK_AREA(0)=0.0001 /

&ZONE XYZ=..., LEAK_AREA(1)=0.0002, LEAK_AREA(0)=0.0003 /
&SURF ID='LEAKY EXTERIOR WALL',..., LEAK_PATH=1,0 /
&SURF ID='LEAKY INTERIOR WALL',..., LEAK_PATH=1,2 /

The first line designates a region of the computational domain to be Pressure Zone 1. Note that the order of
the ZONE lines is important; that is, the order implicitly defines Zone 1, Zone 2, etc. Zone 0 is by default the
ambient pressure exterior. In this example, a leak exists between Zone 1 and the exterior Zone 0, and the
area of the leak is 0.0001 m2 (1 cm by 1 cm hole, for example). Zone 2 leaks to Zone 1 (and vice versa)
with a leak area of 0.0002 m2 . Zone 2 also leaks to the outside with an area of 0.0003 m2 . Note that zones
need not be physically connected for a leak to occur, but in each zone, except for the exterior, there must
be some surface with a designated LEAK_PATH. Here, in Zones 1 and 2 there are surfaces defined by both
'LEAKY EXTERIOR WALL' and 'LEAKY INTERIOR WALL' so as to provide a surface over which to apply the
leakage. Leakage is uniformly distributed over all of the solid surfaces assigned the LEAK_PATH. The order
of the two pressure zones designated by LEAK_PATH is unimportant, and the solid obstructions where the

147
leakage is applied need not form a boundary between the two zones. Note that LEAK_PATH_ID can be used
instead of LEAK_PATH. To use LEAK_PATH_ID provide the ID for the two ZONES where specifying 'AMBIENT'
indicates Zone 0.
The volume flow, V̇ , through a leak of area AL is given by
s
|∆p|
V̇leak = Cd AL sign(∆p) 2 (10.7)
ρ∞

where Cd is a discharge coefficient, ∆p is the pressure difference (Pa) between the adjacent compartments
and ρ∞ is the ambient density (kg/m3 ). The discharge coefficient normally seen in this type of formula is
sometimes assumed to be 1, but you may change it.
As the interior pressure rises in a typical building, the leakage area grows as small gaps, cracks, and
other leakage paths open up. Leakage tests performed according to test standards such as ASTM E779
provide two additional data points to quantify this behavior. These are the LEAK_PRESSURE_EXPONENT and
the LEAK_REFERENCE_PRESSURE. The use of these additional inputs are shown in the equation below as n
and ∆pref respectively where AL,ref is given by LEAK_AREA.
 n−0.5
|∆p|
AL = AL,ref (10.8)
∆pref
By default, n = 0.5 and ∆pref = 4 Pa, meaning that the leak area will not change with pressure. The
DISCHARGE_COEFFICIENT is 1 by default.
The HVAC output quantities can be used to determine the leakage flows. FDS names the duct connecting
Zone A with Zone B 'LEAK A B' and the duct nodes 'LEAK A B' for the Zone A side of the leak and 'LEAK
B A' for the Zone B side. Note that for the duct names, FDS will use the lower numbered zone as Zone A.
FDS is limited by default to a maximum of 200 ZONE inputs. This can be increased if needed by the
parameter MAX_LEAK_PATHS on the MISC line.

Localized Leakage
The localized leakage approach addresses situations where the leakage is not necessarily from one sealed
pressure zone to another. For example, the gap created by a partially opened door might be too narrow to
explicitly resolve, but the hot gases escaping at the top and cold gases entering at the bottom may still be
represented in the model. The localized leakage approach uses the local pressure rather than the mean zone
pressure, allowing one to define multiple leakage paths for windows and doors that might span a significant
height, like in a stairwell where stack effect might be important. To use this approach two VENT lines are
linked via an HVAC line with TYPE_ID='LEAK'. For example, the input lines

&VENT XB=..., SURF_ID='SURF 1', ID='VENT 1' /

&VENT XB=..., SURF_ID='SURF 2', ID='VENT 2' /
&HVAC ID='LEAK1', TYPE_ID='LEAK', VENT_ID='VENT 1', VENT2_ID='VENT 2', AREA=0.001 /

specify a 0.001 m2 leak between the VENTs named 'VENT 1' and 'VENT 2'. If the leakage path is to outside
of the domain, set VENT2_ID='AMBIENT', in which case the second node will be assigned the name of the first
with 'AMB' added, e.g. 'VENT 1 AMB'. Each VENT must be given an explicit SURF_ID. Wall heat transfer will
be computed based upon the specified SURF_ID. Following are some rules and practices regarding localized
leakage:

• The SURF_ID for a VENT with localized leakage is not 'HVAC'. Each VENT must be given an explicit
SURF_ID.

148
 • Each VENT must lie in one pressure zone; however, it may span more than one MESH.

• You may add the parameters LEAK_PRESSURE_EXPONENT, LEAK_REFERENCE_PRESSURE, and

DISCHARGE_COEFFICIENT to the HVAC line, according to Eqs. (10.7) and. (10.8).

• All localized leakage HVAC components are given the NETWORK_ID='LEAK'.

• A VENT used for localized leakage should not be given a SURF_ID with a LEAK_PATH input.

• The localized leakage area should not also be part of the LEAK_AREA defined on a ZONE line.

• A VENT used for localized leakage should not have any other input defining a mass flow.

• Particles can be transported through a localized leakage path by setting TRANSPORT_PARTICLES=T on

the HVAC line. This requires that the two VENTs have identical area and orientation and offset by no more
than one grid cell.

• A localized leakage VENT must be present for the entire simulation. If you wish to have, for example, a
door that leaks when closed but is opened during the simulation, then define the VENTs for the leakage
to be on the floor, above the door, or to the side of the door. The leakage path will still be present with
the door opened, but the pressure across the leak path will be much lower and the leak flow will be
insignificant compared to the doorway flow.

• Unlike the zone leakage approach, localized leakage has the option to preserve the energy of the gas
flowing through the leak. For example, for a door crack using pressure zone leakage, the outflowing gas
at the top of the door takes on the same temperature as the outside. To maintain hot gas flowing out of
the leak, add LEAK_ENTHALPY=T to the HVAC input. For each outflowing wall cell, this will compute the
enthalpy difference between the temperature of the leak flow and the temperature of the surface and add
it as a source of heat to the adjacent gas cell. The default value is LEAK_ENTHALPY=F.

• Localized leakage has the option of changing the flow loss by specifying LOSS on the HVAC input. The
default is LOSS=1, the same as for pressure zone leakage.

Example Case: door_crack

This example involves a small compartment that contains a fan in one wall and a closed door with leakage
at its bottom in the opposite wall. A small (160 kW) fire is added to the compartment. Initially, the pressure
rises due to the heat from the fire and the fan blowing air into the compartment. Eventually the pressure rise
inside the compartment exceeds the maximum pressure of the fan, at which point the compartment begins
to exhaust from both the fan and the leakage. Pressure will continue to rise due to the fire until the pressure
relief due to leakage and back flow through the fan equals the pressure increase from the fire.

10.3.3 Breaking Pressure Zones

There are two parameters on the PRES line that control iterative procedures related to the coupling of velocity
and pressure. One is called RELAXATION_FACTOR and its default value is 1. When there is an error in the
normal component of velocity at a solid boundary, this parameter dictates that the correction be applied in 1
time step. If its value were 0.5, the correction would be applied in 2 time steps.
A similar parameter is the PRESSURE_RELAX_TIME. It controls the rate at which the pressures in adja-
cent compartments are brought into equilibrium following a breach. Its default value is 1 s, meaning that
equilibrium is achieved in roughly a second.

149
 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
1100 200
Pressure (door_crack) HRR (door_crack)
1050
150

Heat Release Rate (kW)

1000
Pressure (Pa)

950 100

900
50
850

800 0
0 200 400 600 800 0 200 400 600 800
Time (s) Time (s)

Figure 10.12: Output of door_crack test case. Symbols are expected values.

10.3.4 Filling Pressure Zones

Sometimes a complicated geometry might have relatively small void spaces that are not connected to other
parts of the domain or OPEN boundaries. Sometimes these spaces are desired; sometimes not. That is,
sometimes they are artifacts of the geometry generation software. If you do not want these void spaces
within the domain, you can set a parameter called MINIMUM_ZONE_VOLUME on the MISC line. This parameter,
which has units of m3 , tells FDS to fill in all void spaces less than this minimum volume. By default, its
value is 0 m3 , meaning that no voids are filled. If you make its value huge, all voids will be filled.
On rare occasions completely suppressing pressure ZONEs completely may be required. Although not
recommended, this approach might be useful for debugging or diagnostic purposes. To remove all implicit
ZONEs, set NO_PRESSURE_ZONES on the MISC line. This is not the same as setting a high value for MINIMUM_
ZONE_VOLUME. Rather, it tells FDS to simply ignore the void spaces and use the same background pressure
throughout the domain.

150
10.4 Pressure Boundary Conditions
In some situations, it is more convenient to specify a pressure, rather than a velocity, at a boundary. Suppose,
for example, that you are modeling the interior of a tunnel, and a wind is blowing at one of the portals that
affects the overall flow within the tunnel. If (and only if) the portal is defined using an OPEN vent, then the
dynamic pressure at the boundary can be specified like this:

&VENT XB=..., SURF_ID='OPEN', DYNAMIC_PRESSURE=2.4, PRESSURE_RAMP='wind' /

&RAMP ID='wind', T= 0.0, F=1.0 /
&RAMP ID='wind', T=30.0, F=0.5 /
.
.

The use of a dynamic pressure boundary affects the FDS algorithm as follows. At OPEN boundaries, the
hydrodynamic pressure (head) H is specified as

H = DYNAMIC_PRESSURE/ρ∞ + |u|2 /2 (outgoing)

H = DYNAMIC_PRESSURE/ρ∞ (incoming) (10.9)

where ρ∞ is the ambient density and u is the most recent value of the velocity on the boundary. The
PRESSURE_RAMP allows for alteration of the pressure as a function of time. Note that you do not need to
ramp the pressure up or down starting at zero, like you do for various other ramps. The net effect of a
positive dynamic pressure at an otherwise quiescent boundary is to drive a flow into the domain. However,
a fire-driven flow of sufficient strength can push back against this incoming flow.
The following lines, taken from the sample case, pressure_boundary, demonstrates how to specify a
time-dependent pressure boundary at the end of a tunnel. The tunnel is 10 m long, 1 m wide, 1 m tall with
a fire in the middle and a pressure boundary imposed on the right side. The left side (XMIN) is just an OPEN
boundary with no pressure specified. It is assumed to be at ambient pressure.

&VENT MB = 'XMIN' SURF_ID = 'OPEN' /

&VENT MB = 'XMAX' SURF_ID = 'OPEN', DYNAMIC_PRESSURE=2.4, PRESSURE_RAMP='wind_ramp' /
&RAMP ID='wind_ramp', T= 0., F= 1. /
&RAMP ID='wind_ramp', T=15., F= 1. /
&RAMP ID='wind_ramp', T=16., F=-1. /

Figure 10.13 shows two snapshots from Smokeview taken before and after the time when the positive pres-
sure is imposed at the right portal of a tunnel. The fire leans to the left because of the preferential flow in
that direction. It leans back to the right when the positive pressure is directed to become negative.

151
Figure 10.13: Snapshots from the sample case pressure_boundary showing a fire in a tunnel leaning left, then
right, due to a positive, then negative, pressure imposed at the right portal.

10.5 Special Flow Profiles

By default, the air injected at a vent has a uniform or “top hat” velocity profile, but the parameter PROFILE
on the SURF line can yield other profiles.

Parabolic
PROFILE='PARABOLIC' produces a parabolic profile with VEL (m/s) being the maximum velocity or VOLUME_
FLOW (m3 /s) being the desired volume flow. As an example, the test case in the Flowfields examples folder
called parabolic_profile.fds demonstrates how you can create a circular or rectangular vent, each with
a parabolic inlet profile. The two VENT lines below create circular and rectangular inlets, respectively, each
of which inject air (or the background gas) at a rate of 0.5 m3 /s into the compartment.

&SURF ID='BLOW', VOLUME_FLOW=-0.5, PROFILE='PARABOLIC' /

&VENT SURF_ID='BLOW', XB=-3,1,-3,1,0,0, RADIUS=2., XYZ=-1,-1,0 /
&VENT SURF_ID='BLOW', XB= 3,5,-2,1,0,0 /

The purpose of the test case is to ensure that the proper amount of gas (in this case nitrogen) is forced into
the compartment, as confirmed by the pressure rise. Figure 10.14 displays a comparison of the calculated
versus the exact pressure rise in a large compartment with these two parabolic vents. The pressure should
rise according to the equation and analytical solution:

dp γ V̇  γ V̇ 
= p =⇒ p(t) − p0 = p0 e V t − 1 (10.10)
dt V
where the ratio of specific heats, γ = 1.4, volume flow rate, V̇ = 1 m3 /s, volume, V = 4000 m3 , and ambient
pressure, p0 = 101325 Pa. Note that to obtain this simple result, FDS was run with the option CONSTANT_
SPECIFIC_HEAT_RATIO set to true.

Boundary Layer (Circular Vent)

PROFILE='BOUNDARY LAYER' may be used for circular vents created using RADIUS. By adding VEL_BULK on
the SURF line together with VEL, FDS will produce a plug flow core profile, with max velocity given by VEL,
and a quadratic profile in the boundary layer. The form of the profile is illustrated in Fig. 10.15 for a circular

152
 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
2500
Pressure (parabolic_profile)
2000

Pressure (Pa)
1500

1000

500
Exact (Pressure)
FDS (pres)
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time (s)

Figure 10.14: Results of the parabolic_profile test case

vent. The functional form of the velocity profile (here taken a vertical profile) is

 wmax  if r ≤ R − δ


w(r) = 
r−(R−δ )
2  (10.11)
 wmax 1 − δ if R − δ < r ≤ R

The bulk velocity is the volumetric flow rate divided by the circular flow area. VEL_BULK is negative pointing
into the domain. The boundary layer thickness is δ . This feature is handy for dealing with the case where
the maximum velocity is higher than the bulk velocity. Here is an example input file line:

&SURF ID='JET', VEL=-69, VEL_BULK=-53, PROFILE='BOUNDARY LAYER', ... /

wmax ∂w
=0
∂r

d R
Figure 10.15: Boundary layer profile.

153
Chapter 11

User-Specified Functions

Many of the parameters specified in the FDS input file are fixed constants. However, there are several pa-
rameters that may vary in time, temperature, or space. The namelist groups, RAMP and TABL, allow you to
control the behavior of these parameters. RAMP allows you to specify a function with one independent vari-
able (such as time) and one dependent variable (such as velocity). TABL allows you to specify a function of
multiple independent variables (such as a solid angle) and multiple dependent variables (such as a sprinkler
flow rate and droplet speed).
FDS limits the number of RAMPs that can be specified in the input file. This limit is controlled by the
parameter MAX_RAMPS on MISC. The default value is 100.

11.1 Time-Dependent Functions

At the start of any calculation, the temperature is ambient everywhere, the flow velocity is zero everywhere,
nothing is burning, and the mass fractions of all species are uniform. You can control the rate at which
things turn on, or turn off, by specifying time histories either with pre-defined functions or with user-defined
functions. The parameters TAU_Q, TAU_T, and TAU_V indicate that the heat release rate (HRRPUA); surface
temperature (TMP_FRONT); and/or normal velocity (VEL, VOLUME_FLOW), or MASS_FLUX_TOTAL are to ramp up
to their prescribed values as follows, using the heat release rate, Q̇(t), as an example:

Q̇0 (t/τ)2 if TAU_Qis negative

(
Q̇(t) = (11.1)
Q̇0 tanh (t/τ) if TAU_Qis positive

Q̇0 is the user-specified heat release rate. If the fire ramps up following a t-squared curve, then it remains
constant after TAU_Q seconds. These rules apply to TAU_T and TAU_V as well. The default value for all TAUs
is 1 s1 . If something other than a tanh or t-squared ramp up is desired, then a user-defined function can be
input. To do this, set RAMP_Q, RAMP_T or RAMP_V equal to a character string designating the ramp function to
use for that particular surface type, then somewhere in the input file generate lines of the form:

&RAMP ID='rampname1', T= 0.0, F=0.0 /

&RAMP ID='rampname1', T= 5.0, F=0.5 /
&RAMP ID='rampname1', T=10.0, F=0.7 /

Here, T is the time, and F indicates the fraction of the heat release rate, wall temperature, velocity, mass
1 You can change the default ramp-up time by setting TAU_DEFAULT on the MISC line.

155
fraction, etc., to apply. Linear interpolation2 is used to fill in intermediate time points. Note that each set of
RAMP lines must have a unique ID and that the lines must be listed with monotonically increasing T. Note also
that the TAUs and the RAMPs are mutually exclusive. For a given surface quantity, both cannot be prescribed.
As an example, a simple blowing vent can be controlled via the lines:

&SURF ID='BLOWER', VEL=-1.2, TMP_FRONT=50., RAMP_V='BLOWER RAMP', RAMP_T='HEATER

RAMP' /
&RAMP ID='BLOWER RAMP', T= 0.0, F=0.0 /
&RAMP ID='BLOWER RAMP', T=10.0, F=1.0 /
&RAMP ID='BLOWER RAMP', T=80.0, F=1.0 /
&RAMP ID='BLOWER RAMP', T=90.0, F=0.0 /
&RAMP ID='HEATER RAMP', T= 0.0, F=0.0 /
&RAMP ID='HEATER RAMP', T=20.0, F=1.0 /
&RAMP ID='HEATER RAMP', T=30.0, F=1.0 /
&RAMP ID='HEATER RAMP', T=40.0, F=0.0 /

Use TAU_T or RAMP_T to control the ramp-ups for surface temperature. The surface temperature at time t,
Tw (t), is
Tw (t) = T0 + f (t) (TMP_FRONT− T0 ) (11.2)
where f (t) is the result of evaluating the RAMP_T at time t, T0 is the ambient temperature, and TMP_FRONT
is specified on the same SURF line as RAMP_T. Use TAU_MF(N) or RAMP_MF(N) to control the ramp-ups for
either the mass fraction or mass flux of species N. For example:

&SURF ID='...', MASS_FLUX(1:2)=0.1,0.3, SPEC_ID(1:2)='ARGON','NITROGEN',

TAU_MF(1:2)=5.,10. /

indicates that argon and nitrogen are to be injected at rates of 0.1 kg/(m2 s) and 0.3 kg/(m2 s) over time
periods of approximately 5 s and 10 s, respectively.
When a time-base RAMP is evaluated, the time used for the RAMP is the time since the item (e.g., VENT,
OBST, DEVC) using the RAMP became active. This means RAMPs use the actual time if the activation time of the
item using the RAMP is the same as T_BEGIN (see 6.2.1). Otherwise, they are evaluated using the time from
when the RAMP activates. Therefore, if you are setting T_BEGIN in order to test a time-based CTRL or DEVC
that is ultimately linked to a RAMP, then you should set T_BEGIN to be slightly less than the time the RAMP
will activate. For example, if you are testing a VENT that is to open at 10 s whose SURF_ID uses a RAMP, then
T_BEGIN should be set slightly less than 10 s.
Table 11.1 lists the various quantities that can be controlled by RAMPs.

2 By default,
FDS uses a linear interpolation routine to find time or temperature-dependent values between user-specified points.
The default number of interpolation points is 5000, more than enough for most applications. However, you can change this value
by specifying NUMBER_INTERPOLATION_POINTS on any RAMP line.

156
 Table 11.1: Parameters for controlling the time-dependence of given quantities.

Quantity Group Input Parameter(s) TAU RAMP ID

Volume Flow HVAC VOLUME_FLOW TAU_FAN RAMP_ID
Heating Rate HVAC FIXED_Q TAU_AC RAMP_ID
Heat Release Rate SURF HRRPUA TAU_Q RAMP_Q
Heat Flux SURF , etc.
NET_HEAT_FLUX TAU_Q RAMP_Q
Temperature SURF TMP_FRONT TAU_T RAMP_T
Velocity SURF VEL TAU_V RAMP_V
Volume Flux SURF VOLUME_FLOW TAU_V RAMP_V
Mass Flux SURF MASS_FLUX_TOTAL TAU_V RAMP_V
Mass Fraction SURF MASS_FRACTION(N) TAU_MF(N) RAMP_MF(N)
Mass Flux SURF MASS_FLUX(N) TAU_MF(N) RAMP_MF(N)
Particle Mass Flux SURF PARTICLE_MASS_FLUX TAU_PART RAMP_PART
External Heat Flux SURF EXTERNAL_FLUX TAU_EF RAMP_EF
Pressure VENT DYNAMIC_PRESSURE PRESSURE_RAMP
Flow PROP FLOW_RATE FLOW_TAU FLOW_RAMP
Gravity MISC GVEC(1) RAMP_GX
Gravity MISC GVEC(2) RAMP_GY
Gravity MISC GVEC(3) RAMP_GZ

11.2 Temperature-Dependent Functions

Thermal properties like conductivity and specific heat can vary significantly with temperature. In such cases,
use the RAMP function like this:

&MATL ID = 'STEEL'
FYI = 'A242 Steel'
SPECIFIC_HEAT_RAMP = 'c_steel'
CONDUCTIVITY_RAMP = 'k_steel'
DENSITY = 7850. /

&RAMP ID='c_steel', T= 20., F=0.45 /

&RAMP ID='c_steel', T=377., F=0.60 /
&RAMP ID='c_steel', T=677., F=0.85 /

&RAMP ID='k_steel', T= 20., F=48. /

&RAMP ID='k_steel', T=677., F=30. /

Note that for temperature ramps, as opposed to time ramps, the parameter F is the actual physical quantity,
not just a fraction of some other quantity. Thus, if CONDUCTIVITY_RAMP is used, there should be no value
of CONDUCTIVITY given. Note also that for values of temperature, T, below and above the given range, FDS
will assume a constant value equal to the first or last F specified. Note also that the DENSITY of a material
cannot be controlled with a RAMP function.

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11.3 Spatially-Dependent Velocity Profiles
Similar to using PROFILE=`ATMOSPHERIC' on SURF, it is possible to specify PROFILE=`RAMP' to generate
1D or 2D profiles of the normal component of velocity on a surface. The following code generates a u(z)
profile on the `XMIN' boundary.

&SURF ID='inlet', VEL=-7.72, PROFILE='RAMP', RAMP_V_Z='u_prof' /

&VENT MB='XMIN', SURF_ID='inlet'/

&RAMP ID='u_prof', T=0., F=0. /

&RAMP ID='u_prof', T=0.0098, F=0. /
&RAMP ID='u_prof', T=0.01005, F=0.2474 /
&RAMP ID='u_prof', T=0.01029, F=0.4521 /
&RAMP ID='u_prof', T=0.01077, F=0.6256 /
&RAMP ID='u_prof', T=0.01174, F=0.7267 /
&RAMP ID='u_prof', T=0.01368, F=0.8238 /
&RAMP ID='u_prof', T=0.01562, F=0.8795 /
&RAMP ID='u_prof', T=0.01756, F=0.9378 /
&RAMP ID='u_prof', T=0.0195, F=0.9663 /
&RAMP ID='u_prof', T=0.02144, F=0.9922 /
&RAMP ID='u_prof', T=0.02338, F=0.9987 /
&RAMP ID='u_prof', T=0.02532, F=1 /
&RAMP ID='u_prof', T=0.0588, F=1 /

Note that V indicates the velocity component normal to the surface. You can also specify RAMP_V_X
and RAMP_V_Y and add these to the SURF. Note that only profiles in the planar directions will affect a given
surface. That is, if the surface is oriented in the y − z plane, only RAMP_V_Y and RAMP_V_Z apply. In the RAMP
definition T is the independent variable and F is the dependent variable. In this example, T is the z coordinate
in meters and F is the factor multiplying VEL on the SURF line. Two ramps may be applied to a surface.
T does not need to be directly related to the FDS mesh. The velocity points will be interpolated linearly
by the ramp function. In fact, this functionality is convenient for taking experimental data directly as a
boundary condition to FDS. You basically just need to list T and F from the data (you can set VEL=-1 if you
want). The results for this particular case are included under the heading “Backward Facing Step” in the
FDS Validation Guide [5]. In this problem, the step height is h = 0.0098 m, and the specification of the inlet
profile is critical to correctly matching the reattachment point downstream of the step.

11.4 Scaling, Rotation and Translation

It is possible to scale, rotate and/or translate various objects within an FDS simulation using the namelist
group called MOVE. For example, the line

&MOVE ID='spin', ROTATION_ANGLE=45., X0=2., Y0=3., Z0=4., AXIS=1,0,0 /

causes an object to be rotated 45◦ about the direction vector (AXIS) (1,0,0) emanating from the point
(x0 , y0 , z0 ). You can scale the object in its original unrotated axes respect to (x0 , y0 , z0 ), by either defin-
ing the factor SCALE> 0. for scaling in every direction, or factors SCALEX, SCALEY, SCALEZ for different
scaling by direction. You may also translate the object in the three coordinate directions using the param-
eters DX, DY, DZ, each in meters. It is also possible to rotate, scale and translate an object using a 3 × 4
transformation matrix. The equation that describes the transformation for a point p with coordinates x, y, z

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is:
 x 
 
 x  i1 j1 k1 a1 
 ′  
y
  
y′ =  i2 j2 k2 a2 (11.3)
 z 

z i3 j3 k3 a3 
 ′ 
 
1


where the primes refer to the new location of point p. In that case the previous MOVE line is defined as:

&MOVE ID='My Move', T34 = i1,i2,i3, j1,j2,j3, k1,k2,k3, a1,a2,a3 /

where (i1 , i2 , i3 ), ( j1 , j2 , j3 ) and (k1 , k2 , k3 ) are the orthogonal basis vectors for the rotation and scaling
operations, and (a1 , a2 , a3 ) is the translation vector. Note that if T34 is defined, it takes precedence over all
other transformation parameters.
Currently, the move feature only applies to point and line devices, and in future shall be applied to
non-rectangular immersed objects.

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Chapter 12

Chemical Species

FDS was designed primarily to study fire phenomena, and much of the basic chemistry of combustion is
handled with a minimum of user inputs. However, there are many applications in which you might want to
simulate the movement of gases in the absence of fire, or additional chemical species might be added to a
simulation that involves fire. Gas species are defined with the input group SPEC. This input group is used to
define both primitive gas species and lumped species (mixtures of one or more primitive SPEC).
There are different roles that a gas species might play in a simulation. A gas species might be explicitly
tracked. In other words, a transport equation is solved for it. A gas species might be one component of
a mixture of gases that are transported together. For example, FDS exploits the idea that the products of
combustion from a fire mix and travel together; you only need to solve one transport equation for this
“lumped species.” Or, a gas species might do both such as H2 O which could be both part of a lumped
species for combustion products as well as an explicitly tracked species tracking H2 O from sprinkler droplet
evaporation.
The default combustion model in FDS assumes that the reaction is mixing-controlled, and transport
equations are solved for three species: the two lumped species of Products and Air (the default background)
and the species Fuel (as defined on REAC). There is no reason to solve individual (and costly) transport
equations for the major reactants and products of combustion—Fuel, O2 , CO2 , H2 O, N2 , CO and soot—
because they are all pre-tabulated functions of the three species. More detail on combustion is given in
Chapter 13. For the moment, just realize that you need not, and should not, explicitly list the reactants and
products of combustion using SPEC lines if all you want is to model a fire involving a hydrocarbon fuel.

12.1 Specifying Primitive Species

The SPEC namelist group is used to define a gas species in FDS. Once defined the species can be tracked
as a single species (i.e., a primitive species) and/or the species can be used as part of one or more lumped
species, also defined with SPEC. It is possible for a species to be both part of a lumped species and tracked
separately. Often an extra gas introduced into a calculation is the same as a product of combustion, like
water vapor from a sprinkler or carbon dioxide from an extinguisher. These gases are tracked separately.
Thus, water vapor generated by the combustion is tracked via the PRODUCTS lumped species variable and
water vapor generated by evaporating sprinkler droplets is tracked via its own transport equation.
If a species is only to be used as part of one or more lumped species, LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY=T must
be added to the SPEC line. This tells FDS not to allocate space for the species in the array of tracked gases.
If a species is to be used as the background species, the parameter BACKGROUND=T should be set on the SPEC
line. A species with LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY=T cannot be used as an individual species, and it cannot be
used as the background species. However, a primitive species with BACKGROUND=T can also be used as part

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of a lumped species definition. Note that the default background species is AIR which is defined as a lumped
species consisting of N2 , O2 , CO2 , and H2 O. If no background species is defined in the input file, then
FDS will create the background species of AIR by internally creating the input lines shown in Example 2 in
Sec. 12.2.
Note that while you can define as many species using SPEC as you wish in an input file, any namelist
input tied to a list of species, such as any SPEC_ID input or MASS_FRACTION input, is limited to using no
more than 20 species.

12.1.1 Basics
Each SPEC line should include at the very least the name of the species via a character string, ID. Once
the extra species has been declared, you introduce it at surfaces via the parameters MASS_FRACTION(:) or
MASS_FLUX(:) along with the character array SPEC_ID(:). A very simple example of how a gas can be
introduced into the simulation is given by the simple input file called gas_filling.fds. The relevant lines
are as follows:

&SPEC ID='HYDROGEN' /
&SURF ID='LEAK', SPEC_ID(1)='HYDROGEN', MASS_FLUX(1)=0.01667, RAMP_MF(1)='leak_ramp' /
&RAMP ID='leak_ramp', T= 0., F=0.0 /
&RAMP ID='leak_ramp', T= 1., F=1.0 /
&RAMP ID='leak_ramp', T=180., F=1.0 /
&RAMP ID='leak_ramp', T=181., F=0.0 /
&VENT XB=-0.6,0.4,-0.6,0.4,0.0,0.0, SURF_ID='LEAK', COLOR='RED' /
&DUMP MASS_FILE=T /

The hydrogen is injected through a 1 m by 1 m vent at a rate of 0.01667 kg/(m2 s) and shut off after
3 min. The total mass of hydrogen at that point ought to be 3 kg (see Fig. 12.1). Notice that no properties
were needed for the HYDROGEN because it is a species whose properties are included in Appendix A. The
background species in this case is assumed to be air. The mass flow rate of the hydrogen is controlled via
the ramping parameter RAMP_MF(1). The parameter MASS_FILE=T instructs FDS to produce an output file
that contains a time history of the hydrogen mass.
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
4
Hydrogen Mass (gas_filling)

3
Hydrogen Mass (kg)

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Time (s)

Figure 12.1: Hydrogen mass vs. time for gas_filling test case.

A species can be given an alternate ID using ALT_ID. When looking to see if species properties are
predefined, FDS will only use ID, but when looking for a species specified in the input file with SPEC_ID for
any input other than SPEC, FDS will use both ID and ALT_ID. One use of this is being able to use predefined

162
properties for species while also being able to use an abbreviated name or formula for complex chemistry
reaction inputs.

Initial Conditions
If the initial mass fraction of the gas is something other than zero, then the parameter MASS_FRACTION_0 is
used to specify it. For example, if you want the initial concentration in the domain to be 90% background
(air) diluted with 10% argon, use

&SPEC ID='ARGON', MASS_FRACTION_0=0.1 /

An alternative means of specifying the initial mass fraction is to use the BACK namelist with inputs of
SPEC_ID and MASS_FRACTION. One use of this would be to modify or add initial species to a pre-existing set
of detailed chemistry inputs referenced via CATF.

Specifying Humidity
If you are using the default background lumped species AIR, then you can specify HUMIDITY on MISC to set
the ambient mass fraction of water vapor. HUMIDITY is the relative humidity of water vapor in units of %. It
is 40 % by default.
If you are defining the primitive species of WATER VAPOR, then MASS_FRACTION_0 is independent of
HUMIDITY. That is setting MASS_FRACTION_0 for the species WATER VAPOR will not change the ambient
humidity, it will add additional water vapor.

12.1.2 Pre-Defined Gas and Liquid Properties

Gases and liquids whose properties are tabulated within FDS are listed in Appendix A. The physical prop-
erties of these species are known and do not need to be specified. When using one of these species you need
only specify the correct ID and provide, if needed, the initial mass fraction. FDS will then use pre-compiled
data to compute the various thermo-physical properties.

12.1.3 User-Defined Gas and Liquid Properties

If the gas species is not included in Appendix A, then you must specify its thermo-physical properties.
By using the inputs discussed below, you can also override the default properties for a pre-defined gas
species. For a gas species not included in Appendix A, its molecular weight, MW, should be specified on
the SPEC line in units of g/mol, otherwise the molecular weight of nitrogen will be used. The molecular
weight will be computed by FDS if a chemical formula is specified. If the species is participating in a
reaction, and it is not the fuel species, then a reference enthalpy also be specified, see Sec. 12.1.3. The
remaining thermo-physical properties of conductivity, diffusivity, enthalpy, viscosity, absorptivity (thermal
radiation), and liquid properties are discussed below. Most properties can be defined as a constant value
or as a temperature dependent look-up table using a RAMP. For the latter, if the temperature in a gas cell is
above or below the endpoints of the RAMP, the endpoint value will be used. FDS will not extrapolate beyond
the ends of the RAMP.
If conductivity, viscosity, or diffusivity are not specified they will be computed assuming the Lennard-
Jones parameters for nitrogen and the specified molecular weight of the species. See Sec. 12.1.3 for the
assumptions made if no specific heat or reference enthalpy are specified.

163
 Note that when using LES, the molecular values of conductivity, viscosity, or diffusivity are not used
in the transport calculation (see the FDS Technical Reference Guide [1] chapter titled Momentum Trans-
port and Pressure). They are, however, used in correlations related to calculating heat and mass transfer
coefficients.

Specifying a Chemical Formula

If you want FDS to compute the molecular weight of the gas species, you can input a FORMULA rather than
the molecular weight, MW. This will also be used as the label for the gas species by Smokeview. FORMULA is
a character string consisting of elements followed by their atom count. Subgroups bracketed by parentheses
can also be given. The element name is given by its standard, case-sensitive, IUPAC1 abbreviation (e.g., C
for carbon, He for helium). The following are all equivalent:

&SPEC ID='ETHYLENE GLYCOL', FORMULA='C2H6O2'/

&SPEC ID='ETHYLENE GLYCOL', FORMULA='OHC2H4OH'/
&SPEC ID='ETHYLENE GLYCOL', FORMULA='C2H4(OH)2'/

Fuels compatible with the simple chemistry approach to defining reactions can use the inputs C, H,
O, and N. Which specify the number of atoms of those elements in the fuel molecule. If these inputs are
used, then FORMULA should not be specified and vice versa. The following would be equivalent to the prior
examples:

&SPEC ID='ETHYLENE GLYCOL', C=2, H=6, O=2/

Conductivity
Gas phase thermal conductivity, k, can be specified in one of four ways. First, it can be defined as a constant,
CONDUCTIVITY (W/(m K)), on the SPEC line. Second, it can be defined as a function of temperature via the
ramp, RAMP_K, on the SPEC line. Third, it can be computed by FDS using the parameters MW and PR_GAS
given on the SPEC line (the default value PR_GAS is PR given on the MISC line). Fourth, it can be computed
using the Lennard-Jones potential parameters σ (SIGMALJ) and ε/k (EPSILONKLJ) given on the SPEC line. If
no inputs are specified, FDS will compute the conductivity using the MW and the Lennard-Jones parameters
for nitrogen.
These methods of specifying the thermal conductivity are less important in LES simulations where the
effective value is the sum of the molecular value, k, and a turbulent component, kt :
c p µt
kLES = k + kt ; kt = (12.1)
Prt
The turbulent viscosity, µt , is a function of the local flow field and grid size. The turbulent Prandtl number,
Prt , is a specified constant. The specific heat, c p , is a function of the gas temperature and composition for
SIMULATION_MODE='LES', and it is the constant value of the background gas species at ambient temperature
for 'VLES' and 'SVLES'.
The gas phase output quantity 'CONDUCTIVITY' denotes that which is actually used in the simulation,
kLES , while 'MOLECULAR CONDUCTIVITY' is the molecular value, k, only; that is, the actual thermal conduc-
tivity of the gas with no turbulent component added.
1 International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry

164
Diffusivity
Diffusivity is assumed to be the binary diffusion coefficient between the given species and the background
species. Diffusivity can be specified in one of three ways: it can be defined as a constant using DIFFUSIVITY
(m2 /s), it can be defined as a temperature vs. diffusivity ramp using RAMP_D, or it can be computed by FDS
using MW and the Lennard-Jones potential parameters σ (SIGMALJ) and ε/k (EPSILONKLJ). If no inputs are
specified, FDS will compute the diffusivity using the MW and the Lennard-Jones parameters for nitrogen.
Note that the turbulent diffusivity, Dt = µt /Sct , is controlled by the turbulent Schmidt number, Sct ,
which is 0.5 by default and presumed the same for all tracked species. In some special cases, usually when
the species is an aerosol such as soot, it may be valid to alter the turbulent Schmidt number independently
from other species. To accommodate this, you may set the turbulent Schmidt number on the SPEC line for
a primitive species (one with no subspecies). For example, the following lines set up tracking for primitive
species with ethylene as the primary fuel allowing differential turbulent transport of soot (note that soot
particles transport very slowly compared to gas species [14, 15]).

&SPEC ID='NITROGEN', MASS_FRACTION_0=0.762470, BACKGROUND=T/

&SPEC ID='OXYGEN', MASS_FRACTION_0=0.230997 /
&SPEC ID='CARBON DIOXIDE', MASS_FRACTION_0=0.000591 /
&SPEC ID='WATER VAPOR', MASS_FRACTION_0=0.005941 /
&SPEC ID='CARBON MONOXIDE', MASS_FRACTION_0=0.000000 /
&SPEC ID='SOOT', MASS_FRACTION_0=0.000000, TURBULENT_SCHMIDT_NUMBER=60. /
&SPEC ID='ETHYLENE', MASS_FRACTION_0=0.000000 /

Enthalpy
The enthalpy of the gas mixture is given by the following formula:
Z T
h(T ) = h(Tref ) + c p (T ′ ) dT ′ (12.2)
Tref

where c p is the SPECIFIC_HEAT (kJ/(kg K)) with optional temperature dependence using RAMP_CP. The
value of h(Tref ) can be specified in two ways. The first is to specify REFERENCE_TEMPERATURE, Tref (◦ C) and
the value of the enthalpy at that temperature using REFERENCE_ENTHALPY, h(Tref ) (kJ/kg). The second is to
specify the ENTHALPY_OF_FORMATION in kJ/mol. For this input Tref is taken as the
H_F_REFERENCE_TEMPERATURE on the MISC line. The default value of either reference temperature is 25 ◦ C.
If no input for h(Tref ) is provided, then FDS will assume that the enthalpy at 0 K is 0 kJ/kg, i.e. if a
constant SPECIFIC_HEAT is given, then REFERENCE_ENTHALPY will be set to h(Tref ) = c p Tref . For RAMP_CP,
the RAMP will be integrated from 0 K to Tref .
If no input for specific specific heat is provided, then the specific heat of the gas will be calculated from
its molecular weight using the relation:
γ R
c p,α = (12.3)
γ − 1 Wα
The ratio of specific heats, GAMMA, is 1.4 by default and can be changed on the MISC line. If you want all
the gas specific heats to follow this relation, set CONSTANT_SPECIFIC_HEAT_RATIO=T on the MISC line. For
high molecular weight species, use of the default gamma will result in very low values of the specific heat
which can cause issues with the default extinction model. In this case it is recommended that the specific
heat be defined. If the FDS is determining the specific heat using this relation, then it is recommended that
you check the [Link] and verify that reasonable specific heat values have been created.
Note that species used in chemical reactions must either be predefined or have an explicitly defined
h(Tref ). The exception is the species defined as FUEL on the REAC input as long as a HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION is

165
defined or the reaction is a simple chemistry reaction where EPUMO2 applies. Specifying either SPECIFIC_
HEAT or RAMP_CP is considered to have explicitly defined h(Tref ). If you still wish to use the default EPUMO2
or 13,100 kJ/kg, then you will need to explicitly define it on the REAC input.
The thermodynamic properties (specific heat, enthalpy, entropy, and other derived properties) of a
species can also be specified using NASA polynomials, as shown below. Two sets of POLYNOMIAL_COEFF
are specified: the first set is valid for the temperature range of 200 K to 1000 K, and the second set is valid
for the temperature range of 1000 K to 5000 K, as indicated by the POLYNOMIAL_TEMP parameter. In general,
detailed mechanisms (see Section 13.3.2) specify species properties using NASA polynomials.

&SPEC ID='OH',
PR_GAS= 0.763 ,
FORMULA='H1.0O1.0',
SIGMALJ= 2.75 ,
EPSILONKLJ= 80.0 ,
POLYNOMIAL='NASA7',
POLYNOMIAL_TEMP= 200.0,1000.0,5000.0,
POLYNOMIAL_COEFF(1:7,1)= 3.99,-0.002,4.61e-06,-3.88e-09,1.36e-12,3615.08,-0.104,
POLYNOMIAL_COEFF(1:7,2)= 3.09,0.0005,1.26e-07,-8.79e-11,1.17e-14,3858.65,4.47,
ENTHALPY_OF_FORMATION= 39.34692 /

&SPEC ID='NAOH',
PR_GAS= 0.79 ,
FORMULA='H1.0Na1.0O1.0',
SIGMALJ= 3.804 ,
EPSILONKLJ= 1962.0 ,
POLYNOMIAL='NASA9',
POLYNOMIAL_TEMP= 200.0,1000.0,5000.0,
POLYNOMIAL_COEFF(1:9,1)=
34420.36,-792.32,8.99,-0.004,3.06e-06,-5.11e-10,-1.54e-13,-20869.51,-25.10,
POLYNOMIAL_COEFF(1:9,2)=
875378.77,-2342.51,7.97,0.0001,-6.26e-08,1.02e-11,-5.71e-16,-9509.90,-22.02,
ENTHALPY_OF_FORMATION= -190.99912 /

For NASA7 polynomials, the molar specific heat (J/mol/K), molar specific enthalpy (J/mol), and molar
specific entropy (J/mol/K) are calculated as follows:

Cp,α (T )
= a1 + a2 T + a3 T 2 + a4 T 3 + a5 T 4
R
Hp,α (T ) a2 a3 a4 a5
= a1 T + T 2 + T 3 + T 4 + T 5 + a6 (12.4)
R 2 3 4 5
S p,α (T ) a3 2 a4 3 a5 4
= a1 ln(T ) + a2 T + T + T + T + a7
R 2 3 4
where a1 , a2 , a3 , a4 , a5 , a6 , a7 are the polynomial coefficients specified by POLYNOMIAL_COEFF.
For NASA9 polynomials, the same values are calculated as follows:

Cp,α (T )
= a1 T −2 + a2 T −1 + a3 + a4 T + a5 T 2 + a6 T 3 + a7 T 4
R
Hp,α (T ) a1 a4 a5 a6 a7
= − + a2 ln(T ) + a3 T + T 2 + T 3 + T 4 + T 5 + a8 (12.5)
R T 2 3 4 5
S p,α (T ) a1 a2 a5 2 a6 3 a7 4
= − 2 − + a3 ln(T ) + a4 T + T + T + T + a9
R 2T T 2 3 4
where a1 , a2 , a3 , a4 , a5 , a6 , a7 , a8 , and a9 are the polynomial coefficients specified by POLYNOMIAL_COEFF.

166
 Also note that if a predefined species name is used and any enthalpy related input in this section is
specified for that species, FDS will not use the predefined enthalpy of formation.

Viscosity
The dynamic viscosity of the gas species can be specified in one of three ways: it can be defined as a constant
using VISCOSITY, it can be defined as a temperature vs. viscosity ramp using RAMP_MU, or it can be computed
using the Lennard-Jones potential parameters σ (SIGMALJ) and ε/k (EPSILONKLJ). If no viscosity inputs are
provided, FDS will use the Lennard-Jones values for nitrogen.

Radiative Properties
Species that can absorb and emit thermal radiation are defined via the parameter RADCAL_ID on the SPEC
line. Some of the predefined species have this parameter already defined as shown in Appendix A. There
are, however, many other species which are absorbing. For absorbing species not listed in Appendix A,
RADCAL_ID can be used to identify a RadCal [6] species to serve as a surrogate. For example:

&SPEC ID='ETHANOL', RADCAL_ID='METHANOL' /

would use the RadCal absorptivities for METHANOL when computing the absorptivity of ETHANOL. For absorb-
ing species not present in RadCal, it is recommended to choose a RadCal surrogate with similar molecular
functional groups and molecular mass. The infrared spectrum is greatly affected by the species molecular
functional groups.
Species molecular mass also affects the spectrum: a heavier species of a given molecular functional
group tends to absorb and emit more infrared radiation than a lighter species of the same functional group.
For simple chemistry, if the fuel is not present in Appendix A and no FUEL_RADCAL_ID is provided on the
REAC line, then the absorption properties of methane will be used.

Gibbs Energy
If a reverse chemical reaction is specified using REVERSE=T on a REAC input, the equilibrium constant is
determined from the Gibbs free energy. The Gibbs free energy (kJ/mol) as a function of temperature for
a species can be specified with RAMP_G_F on the SPEC line. An example reverse reaction is provided in
Sec. 13.3 on finite rate kinetics.

Liquids
The only instance where detailed liquid properties are needed is when defining a liquid droplet for a species
not listed in Appendix A. The necessary properties are described in Sec. 15.3.1.

Prandtl Number
The Prandtl number for a gas species can be specified using PR_GAS on SPEC. If no value is given, the default
value of PR on MISC will be used. If PR_GAS is defined for a known species, it will override the existing value.

12.1.4 Air
There are two predefined species for air in FDS. The first predefined species is the default background
species of AIR. This is a lumped species consisting of oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor
whose mass fractions are controlled by the Y_CO2_INFTY, Y_O2_INFTY, and HUMIDITY inputs. This lumped

167
species is automatically defined by FDS if no other SPEC input is defined as the BACKGROUND. Note that
ID='AIR' cannot be used on a SPEC input unless that input or some other SPEC input is defined as the
BACKGROUND. The second predefined species is the primitive species of LJ AIR. This is an effective gas
species whose molecular weight and enthalpy are defined based on the Y_CO2_INFTY and Y_O2_INFTY inputs,
and whose other thermo-physical properties use the Lennard-Jones parameters for air. For simulations
without combustion, using LJ AIR as the BACKGROUND species will slightly reduce the computational cost.

12.1.5 Two Gas Species with the Same Properties

In general only one species for a given ID can be defined; however, you may wish to model multiple inlet
streams of a species and be able to identify how well the streams are mixing. This can be done by defining
a new species with a single component. For example, the lines:

&SPEC ID='CARBON DIOXIDE', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY=T/

&SPEC ID='CO2 1',SPEC_ID='CARBON DIOXIDE'/
&SPEC ID='CO2 2',SPEC_ID='CARBON DIOXIDE'/
&DEVC XYZ=..., QUANTITY='MASS FRACTION', SPEC_ID='CO2 1', ID='Device 1'/
&DEVC XYZ=..., QUANTITY='MASS FRACTION', SPEC_ID='CO2 2', ID='Device 2'/

define two duplicate species, both of which are CARBON DIOXIDE. Both will use the built in property data
for CO2 (note specifying one or more properties for a duplicate species will override the default properties).
The ID for each duplicate species can then be used in the remainder of the input file. In this example, the
LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY was given so that FDS only tracks CO2 1 and CO2 2 and not CARBON DIOXIDE.
Note that the ID you provide for a duplicate species cannot match the ID of any other primitive or lumped
SPEC input. Also note that this feature can only be used to duplicate a predefined species (i.e. a species listed
in Appendix A).
In the above example, the two DEVC lines refer to the IDs of the duplicate species. If instead the primitive
species ID was used, then the output would sum the mass fractions over all species containing that primitive
species. For example, if the output quantities in the example above are changed as shown below, then
Device 1 would just output the mass fraction of CO2 1 and Device 2 would output the sum of both.

&DEVC XYZ=..., QUANTITY='MASS FRACTION', SPEC_ID='CO2 1', ID='Device 1'/

&DEVC XYZ=..., QUANTITY='MASS FRACTION', SPEC_ID='CARBON DIOXIDE', ID='Device 2'/

Another application of this would be if you wanted to track the water that evaporated from sprinklers,
separately from the water that resulted from combustion. The following inputs would allow you to do that:

&REAC FUEL='PROPANE', ... /

&SPEC ID='WATER VAPOR SPK', SPEC_ID='WATER VAPOR' /
&PART ID='Sprinkler Droplets',SPEC_ID='WATER VAPOR SPK'/
&DEVC XYZ=..., QUANTITY='MASS FRACTION', SPEC_ID='WATER VAPOR SPK', ID='Spr H2O'/
&DEVC XYZ=..., QUANTITY='MASS FRACTION', SPEC_ID='WATER VAPOR', ID='All H2O'/

The gas species called WATER VAPOR SPK has the same properties as WATER VAPOR. The first device records
only water that results from droplet evaporation, and the second device records water that originates from
both sprinklers and combustion.
By default, duplicate species are considered to be a lumped species and not a primitive species. That
is, by default, a duplicate species cannot be used in a lumped species definition. Setting PRIMITIVE=T will
have FDS treat the duplicate species as a primitive species and allow it to be used in a lumped species
definition. Note that when this is done, one can no longer aggregate SPEC_ID based outputs over the original
and the duplicate species as the aggregation is done on the basis of the primitive species names. This is

168
demonstrated in the example below. The species O2 LUMPED and O2 DUPLICATE PRIMITIVE are duplicate
species of OXYGEN. O2 DUPLICATE PRIMITIVE is defined as a primitive species and O2 LUMPED is considered
only a lumped species. The initial DEVC outputs in order would be 0.3 (0.1 for OXYGEN plus 0.2 for O2
LUMPED), 0.2 (the O2 LUMPED initial value), and 0.3 (the O2 DUPLICATE PRIMITIVE initial value). Note the
OXYGEN output is not 0.6 since the O2 DUPLICATE PRIMITIVE is defined as a new primitive species.

&SPEC ID='NITROGEN',BACKGROUND=T/
&SPEC ID='OXYGEN',MASS_FRACTION_0=0.1/
&SPEC ID='O2 LUMPED',SPEC_ID='OXYGEN',MASS_FRACTION_0=0.2/
&SPEC ID='O2 DUPLICATE PRIMITIVE',SPEC_ID='OXYGEN',MASS_FRACTION_0=0.3,PRIMITIVE=T/

&DEVC XYZ=0.5,0.5,0.5,QUANTITY='MASS FRACTION',SPEC_ID='OXYGEN'/

&DEVC XYZ=0.5,0.5,0.5,QUANTITY='MASS FRACTION',SPEC_ID='O2 LUMPED'/
&DEVC XYZ=0.5,0.5,0.5,QUANTITY='MASS FRACTION',SPEC_ID='O2 DUPLICATE PRIMITIVE'/

12.1.6 Soot
The predefined species of SOOT' is defined with with FORMULA='C'. To specify soot that contains other
atoms, use FORMULA. If new thermo-physical properties are not specified, define the FORMULA to keep the
molecular weight near 12 g/mol, i.e FORMULA='C0.86H1.7' rather than FORMULA='C10H20'.

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12.2 Specifying Lumped Species (Mixtures of Primitive Species)
The SPEC namelist group also allows you to define species mixtures. The purpose of a species mixture is to
reduce the number of species transport equations that are explicitly solved. Air, for example, is composed
of nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor, and carbon dioxide. If we define the four component species of air, we
will have four total species. Alternatively, we can define a “lumped species” that represents the air mixture,
which saves on computational time because we need only solve one transport equation. A lumped species
is a group of species that transport and react together in the same proportion. This implies the molecular
diffusivities of each component of the mixture are the same, which is an approximation2 .
The following inputs define equivalent initial mixtures. But in the first example three species are ex-
plicitly tracked and in the second example only a background mixture is specified. Note that this example
represents the background species created by FDS when no background is explicitly defined in the input file.
It is also noted that any implicitly defined species (such as the nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor, and carbon
dioxide for the air background species or the species in the lumped product species for simple chemistry,
see 13.1.1), can be referenced by any of the outputs such as DEVC or SLCF.

Example 1: All primitive species

&SPEC ID='NITROGEN', BACKGROUND=T / Note: The background must be defined first.

&SPEC ID='OXYGEN', MASS_FRACTION_0=0.23054 /
&SPEC ID='WATER VAPOR', MASS_FRACTION_0=0.00626 /
&SPEC ID='CARBON DIOXIDE', MASS_FRACTION_0=0.00046 /

Example 2: Defining a background species

&SPEC ID='NITROGEN', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY=T /

&SPEC ID='OXYGEN', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY=T /
&SPEC ID='WATER VAPOR', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY=T /
&SPEC ID='CARBON DIOXIDE', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY=T /

&SPEC ID='AIR', BACKGROUND=T,

SPEC_ID(1)='NITROGEN', MASS_FRACTION(1)=0.76274,
SPEC_ID(2)='OXYGEN', MASS_FRACTION(2)=0.23054,
SPEC_ID(3)='WATER VAPOR', MASS_FRACTION(3)=0.00626,
SPEC_ID(4)='CARBON DIOXIDE', MASS_FRACTION(4)=0.00046 /

The logical parameter LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY indicates that the species is only present as part of a lumped
species. When T, FDS will not allocate space to track that species individually. The parameters to define a
lumped species are:

• BACKGROUND Denotes that this lumped species is to be used as the background species.

• ID Character string identifying the name of the species. You must provide this. This cannot be the same
as an ID of another SPEC input.

• SPEC_ID Character array containing the names of the primitive species that make up the lumped species.
2 Turbulent diffusion usually dominates by a couple orders of magnitude making equal diffusivities a good approximation.

170
 • MASS_FRACTION The mass fractions of the components of the lumped species in the order listed by
SPEC_ID. FDS will normalize the values to 1. Alternatively, VOLUME_FRACTION can be specified. Do not
use both on an SPEC line.

• MASS_FRACTION_0 The initial mass fractions of lumped species.

When defining a lumped species, either MASS_FRACTION or VOLUME_FRACTION must be used to define the
component species. The addition of lumped species to FDS has changed the meaning of SPEC_ID on some
FDS inputs. For INIT, MATL, PART, and SURF, SPEC_ID refers to either a tracked primitive species or a
lumped species. For outputs and devices, DEVC, that require a SPEC_ID, the SPEC_ID input can refer to either
a tracked primitive species, a lumped species, or a lumped species component that is not tracked. For REAC
see the discussion on specifying reactions in Chapter 13.
It is possible to create a separately tracked copy of a lumped species by using COPY_LUMPED. For exam-
ple, if in Example 2 above one added the line:

&SPEC ID='AIR2', COPY_LUMPED=T, SPEC_ID='AIR'/

then FDS would create a copy of the AIR lumped species called AIR2.

12.2.1 Combining Lumped and Primitive Species

There are cases where you may wish to have a single primitive species be both part of a lumped species and
also a separately tracked species. For example, when using simple chemistry, Sec. 13.1.1, FDS will include
water vapor in the product species and in the air background species. If you also wish to have sprinklers in
the simulation, then you will need to track water vapor from the sprinklers separately from that in the air or
products. This is simply done by adding the line:

&SPEC ID='WATER VAPOR'/

This will override the implicitly created water vapor species defined with LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY=T and
cause FDS to track water vapor as a separate species. Note that in this case if you requested an output for the
mass fraction of WATER VAPOR you would get the water vapor in the air and product lumped species as well
as that which evaporated from sprinkler droplets. If you wanted in this case (where water vapor is implicitly
defined), to be able to track the water vapor from sprinklers separately you could follow the example in
Sec. 12.1.5 and define:

&SPEC ID='SPRINKLER WATER VAPOR',SPEC_ID='WATER VAPOR'/

Using the species SPRINKLER WATER VAPOR for the sprinklers would allow you to track sprinkler generated
water vapor separately.

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Chapter 13

Combustion

Combustion can be modeled in two ways. By default, the reaction of fuel and oxygen is infinitely fast and
controlled only by mixing with zero ignition delay—you will often see this model described as “mixed is
burnt”. The alternative is that the reaction is finite-rate. The latter approach usually requires very fine grid
resolution that is not practical for large-scale fire applications. This chapter describes both methods, with an
emphasis on the more commonly used mixing-controlled model.
There are two groups of parameters that govern combustion. The first, called the COMB namelist group,
contains parameters that pertain to any and all reactions. Specific parameters about a particular reaction are
specified using the REAC namelist group. There can only be one COMB line, but multiple REAC lines if there
are multiple reactions. If you are modeling a fire, you must specify the fuel and basic stoichiometry using a
REAC line. You need not specify a COMB line unless you want to modify mainly numerical parameters.

13.1 Single-Step, Mixing-Controlled Combustion

This approach to combustion, referred to below as the “simple chemistry” combustion model, considers a
single fuel species that is composed primarily of C, H, O, and N that reacts with oxygen in one mixing-
controlled step to form H2 O, CO2 , soot, and CO. Information about the reaction is provided on the REAC
line. Starting with FDS 6, you must specify a REAC line to model a fire. You are responsible for defining the
basic fuel chemistry and the post-combustion yields of CO and soot (the default yields are 0). More than
one simple chemistry reaction can be defined; however, each simple chemistry reaction must have a unique
fuel.

13.1.1 Simple Chemistry Parameters

For the simple chemistry model, each reaction is assumed to be of the form:

Cx Hy Oz Nv + νO2 O2 → νCO2 CO2 + νH2 O H2 O + νCO CO + νS Soot + νHCN HCN + νN2 N2 (13.1)

You need only specify the chemical formula of the fuel along with the yields of CO and soot, and the
volume fraction of hydrogen in the soot, XH . FDS will use that information and calculate the stoichiometric
coefficients automatically as follows:
νCO νH2 O z
νO2 = νCO2 + + −
2 2 2
νCO2 = x − νCO − νHCN − (1 − XH ) νS
y XH νHCN
νH2 O = − νS −
2 2 2

173
 WF
νCO = yCO
WCO
WF
νs = yS
WS
WF
νHCN = yHCN
WHCN
v νHCN
νN2 = −
2 2
Ws = XH WH + (1 − XH )WC

The following parameters may be prescribed on the REAC line when using the simple chemistry model. Note
that the various YIELDs are for well-ventilated, post-flame conditions. There are options to predict various
species yields in under-ventilated fire scenarios, but these special models still require the post-flame yields
for CO, soot and any other species listed below.

• FUEL (Required) A character string that identifies fuel species for the reaction. The FUEL species must
be either a predefined species or defined on a SPEC input. Appendix A provides a listing of the avail-
able predefined species. If the FUEL is in the table, then FDS will use the predefined thermo-physical
properties and chemical formula for the fuel. See Sec. 12.1 for details on specifying a user-defined
species.

• ID A character string that identifies the reaction. Normally, this label is not used by FDS, but it is useful
to label the REAC line if more than one reactions are specified.

• CO_YIELD The fraction of fuel mass converted into carbon monoxide, yCO . Note that this parameter is
only appropriate when the simple chemistry model is applied. (Default 0.)

• SOOT_YIELD The fraction of fuel mass converted into smoke particulate, ys . Note that this parameter is
only appropriate when the simple chemistry model is applied. (Default 0.)

• HCN_YIELD The fraction of fuel mass converted into hydrogen cyanide, yHCN . Note that this parameter is
only appropriate when the simple chemistry model is applied and the fuel contains nitrogen. (Default
0.)

• FUEL_RADCAL_ID RadCal species to be used for the fuel. The default is the default RadCal species for
the fuel species or 'METHANE' if there is no species default. See Sec. 14.3.1 for details.

The ambient mass fractions for the constituents of air are specified on MISC using the inputs:

• Y_O2_INFTY Ambient mass fraction of oxygen (Default for dry air is 0.232378)

• Y_CO2_INFTY Ambient mass fraction of carbon dioxide (Default for dry air is 0.000595)

• HUMIDITY Relative humidity of the background air species, in units of %. (Default 40 %).

A few sample REAC lines are given here.

&REAC FUEL = 'METHANE' /

In this case, there is no need for a FORMULA or atom count because the FUEL is listed in Appendix A. It is
assumed that the soot and CO yields are zero. FDS will compute the yields of product species and the heat
of combustion based upon predefined values.

174
&REAC FUEL = 'PROPANE'
SOOT_YIELD = 0.01
CO_YIELD = 0.02
HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION = 46460. /

In this case, the fuel species is again predefined. However, here the heat of combustion is specified explicitly
rather than calculated. Additionally, minor species yields have been specified with the soot yield specified
as 0.01 and the CO yield specified as 0.02. See Sec. 13.1.2 for more details on the heat of combustion.

&SPEC ID = 'MY FUEL'

FORMULA = 'C3H8O3N4'/

&REAC FUEL = 'MY FUEL'

HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION = 46124. /

In this case, the fuel is not predefined. Therefore, either the FORMULA or the atom counts must be defined on
SPEC. This input defined the FORMULA. In this case, the heat of combustion is known and specified; however,
if it weren’t FDS would compute it using EPUMO2 and the fuel chemistry. Note that simple chemistry can
also be used for cases where the fuel is a lumped species so long as the defining primitive species contain
only C, H, N, and O atoms. An example can be found in Section 13.2.2.
When simple chemistry is being used, FDS will automatically create three lumped species: AIR, FUEL,
and PRODUCTS. The actual name of the fuel species will be the name given on the REAC line (for example
MY FUEL in the last sample above). FDS creates these lumped species in the same manner as you would in
an input file. FDS first defines the primitive species and then defines the lumped species. In essence FDS
internally creates input lines like those shown in Example 2 of Sec. 12.2. This means when doing simple
chemistry, that even though you did not explicitly define oxygen in the input file, you can request an output
for oxygen since it was implicitly defined by FDS.
Multiple simple chemistry reactions can be defined. Each new reaction will require that FDS track a
new fuel and product species mixture.

13.1.2 Heat of Combustion

In FDS, the energy release per unit volume (kJ/m3 ) from a gas phase chemical reaction (or system of reac-
tions) is found by taking the sum of the net change in density for each species in that volume in a given time
step multiplied by the respective species’ enthalpy of formation (kJ/kg). In this formulation, the enthalpy of
formation for all participating species needs to be specified. If a reaction (simple chemistry or user-defined)
contains only species defined in Appendix A, then all of the enthalpies of formation are known. These
values can be found in the FDS source code in data.f90. For reactions with species that are not included in
Appendix A, there are several options to ensure that all of the enthalpies of formation are specified.

Option 1: Specify Enthalpy of Formation

You can specify unknown enthalpies on the SPEC line in units of kJ/mol:

&SPEC ID = 'GLUCOSE', FORMULA = 'C62H12O6', ENTHALPY_OF_FORMATION=-1.297E3 /

Note FDS will also use REFERENCE_ENTHALPY, SPECIFIC_HEAT, or RAMP_CP to define the enthalpy of
formation as discussed in Section 12.1.3.

175
Option 2: Specify Heat of Combustion
For a given reaction, if the only species missing an enthalpy of formation is the fuel, the missing value can be
found if the HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION in kJ/kg is specified on REAC. Sec. 13.2.2 provides an example for which
the fuel, polyvinyl chloride, has an unspecified enthalpy of formation but a specified heat of combustion
on the REAC line. Specifying the HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION will result in FDS recomputing any fuel species
enthalpy of formation based on SPEC inputs. If this occurs for the same FUEL in multiple reactions a warning
message will be written.

Option 3: Specify Heat of Combustion Based on Oxygen Consumption (Simple Chemistry)

If the enthalpy of formation of the fuel and heat of combustion are not specified, for simple chemistry cases
only, the heat of combustion is assumed to be
νO2 WO2
∆h ≈ EPUMO2 kJ/kg (13.2)
νF WF
The quantity EPUMO2 (kJ/kg) is the amount of energy released per unit mass of oxygen consumed. Its default
is 13,100 kJ/kg. Typically, a chemical reaction is balanced by setting the stoichiometric coefficient of the fuel
νF to 1. In FDS, the stoichiometric coefficients of the chemical reaction are normalized by the stoichiometric
coefficient of the fuel, effectively setting νF to 1. Note that if both EPUMO2 and HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION are
specified that FDS will ignore the value for EPUMO2. Note that the assumed value of EPUMO2 will not be used
if Option 1 has been used. If you with to keep using the default value, add EPUMO2=13100 to the REAC line.
If heats of reaction have been specified on the MATL lines and the heats of combustion of the materials
differ from that specified by the governing gas phase reaction, then add a HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION (kJ/kg) to
the MATL line. In a realistic fire scenarios, there may be many fuel gases generated by the various burning
objects in the building. Specify the stoichiometry of the predominant reaction via the REAC namelist group.
If the stoichiometry of the burning material differs from the global reaction, the HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION is
used to ensure that an equivalent amount of fuel is injected into the flow domain from the burning object.
Values of the heat of combustion tabulated for pure fuels (e.g., one species) in handbooks are often
computed using the enthalpies of formation for the the fuel and products assuming complete combustion.
This ideal heat of combustion does not account for the SOOT_YIELD, CO_YIELD, or HCN_YIELD that occurs in
a real fire. Carbon and hydrogen that go to soot, CO, and HCN rather than CO2 and H2 O result in a lower
effective heat of combustion. Setting IDEAL=T will reduce the HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION based upon the inputs
for SOOT_YIELD, CO_YIELD, and HCN_YIELD.
Another approach to determining the heat of combustion is to burn a known mass of the material in a
calorimeter and divide the heat release rate by the mass loss rate (known as the effective heat of combustion).
In this approach, represented by IDEAL=F, the measured value of the heat release rate includes the effects of
any soot, CO, or HCN that is produced and no adjustment is needed. The default value is IDEAL=F. Note
that predefined fuel species have their heat of formation defined; therefore, the heat of combustion for those
species will be appropriately adjusted for soot and CO production.
If EPUMO2 is specified instead of HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION, then the EPUMO2 will not be changed, (i.e., FDS
will always treat EPUMO2 as IDEAL=F.
If the reaction is under defined, FDS will return an error at the start of the calculation.

13.1.3 Two-Step Simple Chemistry

The default simple chemistry single-step combustion model has a two-step option. This option is invoked
by setting N_SIMPLE_CHEMISTRY_REACTIONS to 2 on the REAC line for each simple chemistry reaction where
two-steps are desired. All of the other parameters that are appropriate for the default single-step model are

176
still applicable. The two-step scheme basically takes all of the carbon in the fuel molecule and converts it
to CO and Soot in the first step, and then oxidizes most of the CO and Soot to form CO2 in the second step.
The hydrogen in the fuel molecule can form either H2 or H2 O in the first step as well.

Cx Hy Oz Nv + νO2 ,1 O2 −→ νH2 ,1H2 + νH2 O,1H2 O + νCO,1CO + νS,1Soot + νHCN,1HCN + νN2 ,1N2 (13.3)
| {z }
Int. Products

Int. Products + νO2 ,2O2 −→ νCO2CO2 + νH2 O,2H2 O + νCO,2CO + νS,2 Soot + νHCN,2 HCN + νN2 ,2N2 (13.4)

By default, in the first step, two out of three carbon atoms in the fuel are converted to CO. There is not
yet a solid basis for this assumption, and the distribution of carbon to CO and Soot can be changed via the
parameter FUEL_C_TO_CO_FRACTION on the REAC line. It is 2/3, by default. Also by default one out of five
nitrogen atoms in the fuel are converted to HCN. This value is based on testing of nitrogen containing fuels
over a range of equivalence ratios [16] and can be changed via the parameter FUEL_N_TO_HCN_FRACTION.
In addition, a fraction of the hydrogen in the fuel molecule can form H2 in the first step. The controlling
parameter is called FUEL_H_TO_H2_FRACTION and it is zero by default because this chemistry is not well
understood and has been added to the two-step scheme as a placeholder for future research.
Note that the parameters CO_YIELD, SOOT_YIELD, and HCN_YIELD retain their meanings from the single-
step simple chemistry model; that is, they represent the post-flame yields of these species. Essentially, the
two-step model acknowledges the fact that CO and Soot are present at much higher concentrations within
the flame envelop than their post-flame yields would suggest.
The two-step simple chemistry option should only be invoked when you have an interest in near-flame
phenomena where the increased concentration of CO and Soot play an important role in the flame chemistry
and radiative emission. The resolution of the fire should be reasonably good, as well. What “reasonably
good” means depends on the particular circumstances, but suffice it to say that you ought to experiment by
running simple simulations with and without the two-step option to see if it leads to significantly different
results. The cost of the two-step scheme is an additional transport equation for the scalar variable referred
to as “Intermediate Products.”
A simple demonstration of two-step simple chemistry is given by the example cases in the Species
folder: propane_flame_2reac.fds and propane_flame_2reac_simple.fds. Both cases employ the same
two-step reaction scheme:

C3 H8 + 3 O2 −→ 2 CO + C + 4 H2 O (13.5)
2 CO + C + 4 H2 O + 2 O2 −→ 3 CO2 + 4 H2 O (13.6)

The simple version of the input file specifies the combustion parameters as follows:

&REAC FUEL='PROPANE', SOOT_YIELD=0., CO_YIELD=0., N_SIMPLE_CHEMISTRY_REACTIONS=2,

FUEL_C_TO_CO_FRACTION=0.6667 /

For simplicity in setting up the complex form of the input file, the post-flame Soot (C) and CO yields are set
to zero. Within the flame envelop, Soot and CO are to be generated following the specified
FUEL_C_TO_CO_FRACTION by which 2 of the 3 carbon atoms in the fuel molecule make up CO, and 1 car-
bon atom forms. To check that the two formulations are the same, Fig. 13.1 displays the heat release and
radiative heat release rates for the first few seconds of simulation.
A more complex demonstration of the two-step simple chemistry is given by the
multiple_reac_n_simple.fds case also located in the Species folder. This case contains three reac-
tions, two of which have two-step simple chemistry (with different values for FUEL_C_TO_CO_FRACTION and
FUEL_C_TO_CO_FRACTION), and the third which is simple chemistry only (with a CO_YIELD of 0.3). In the

177
 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
60
HRR Check (propane_flame_2reac)

40

Heat Release Rate (kW)

Complex (HRR)
Complex (Q_RADI)
20 Simple (HRR)
Simple (Q_RADI)

-20
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
Time (s)

Figure 13.1: Demonstration that the simplified form of the two-step simple chemistry input parameters are equivalent
to a more complex form.

case, three boxes are each initialized with a small amount of the fuel from one reaction and insufficient
oxygen to complete the first (or only) step. The results in Fig. 13.2 shows that FDS correctly performs each
reaction as one or two steps with the appropriate yields.
-3 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
10
6 0.025
CH4 Species Mass C3H8 Species Mass
5
0.02

4
Ideal CO 0.015 Ideal CO
Mass (kg)

Mass (kg)

Ideal H2 Ideal H2O

3 FDS CO FDS CO
FDS H2 0.01 FDS H2O
2

0.005
1

0 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Time (s) -4 Time (s) -4
10 10

FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
0.035
C2H6 Species Mass
0.03

0.025
Ideal CO
Mass (kg)

0.02
Ideal H2O
FDS CO
0.015 FDS H2

0.01

0.005

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Time (s) -4
10

Figure 13.2: Results of the multiple_reac_n_simple test case; demonstration that FDS correctly assigns one or
two step reactions with the correct yields. From top left cases are methane with two-step chemistry and FUEL_X_TO_
Y_FRACTIONs of 0.2, propane with single-step chemistry and a CO_YIELD of 0.3, and ethane with two-step chemistry
and fractions of 0.8.

178
13.1.4 Complete Heat of Combustion
As discussed in Sec. 9.2 and Sec. 15.3.1, mass loss of fuel from solids or droplets is adjusted in the gas phase
so that the correct total heat release rate is obtained. If a multiple-step reaction scheme, such as discussed
in the prior section, is being used, then the HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION for the REAC line of the first step does is
not the complete heat of combustion for that fuel. Using this value to adjust mass loss rates would result
in an incorrect heat release rate. If a multi-step reaction is being defined and the fuel is being produced by
pyrolysis or evaporation, the parameter HOC_COMPLETE should be set on the REAC line for the first step. This
value will be used for adjusting mass loss rate instead of the HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION. Note that if two-step
simple chemistry is being used, then FDS will automatically compute the value of HOC_COMPLETE.

13.1.5 Turbulent Combustion

Unless you are performing a Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS), the reaction rate of fuel and oxygen is
not based on the diffusion of fuel and oxygen at a well-resolved flame sheet. Instead, semi-empirical rules
are invoked by FDS to determine the rate of mixing of fuel and oxygen within a given mesh cell at a given
time step. Each computational cell can be thought of as a batch reactor where only the mixed composition
can react. The variable, ζ (t), denotes the unmixed fraction, ranging from zero to one and governed by the
equation:
dζ −ζ
= (13.7)
dt τmix
Here, τmix is the mixing time scale. The change in mass of a species is found from the combination of
mixing and the production/destruction rate found from the chemical reaction. If a cell is initially unmixed,
ζ0 = 1 by default, then combustion is considered non-premixed within the grid cell. In this case, the fuel and
air are considered completely separate at the start of the time step and must mix together before they burn.
This means if the mixing is slow enough, that unburned fuel may exist at the end of the time step even if
sufficient oxygen is present in the grid cell to burn all the fuel. If the cell is initially fully mixed, ζ0 = 0, then
the combustion is considered premixed (e.g., equivalent to infinitely fast mixing). You can set the amount
of mixing in each cell at the beginning of every time step using the parameter INITIAL_UNMIXED_FRACTION
on the COMB line.
The mixing time, τmix , is a function of the the level of turbulence in the neighborhood of the point of
interest. However, you may override the calculation of τmix by setting a FIXED_MIX_TIME (s) on the COMB
line. Alternatively, you can bound the computed value of τmix by setting a lower bound TAU_CHEM and/or an
upper bound TAU_FLAME on the COMB line.
The Technical Reference Guide [3] contains more detailed information about the turbulent combustion
model.

13.1.6 Flame Extinction

Modeling suppression of a fire due to the introduction of a suppression agent like CO2 or water mist, or
due to the exhaustion of oxygen within a closed compartment is challenging because the relevant physical
mechanisms typically occur at subgrid-scale. Flames are extinguished due to lowered temperatures and
dilution of the fuel or oxygen supply. There are two flame extinction models in FDS that determine whether
or not combustion is viable based on the cell temperature and the oxygen and fuel concentrations. In brief,
for combustion to occur there must be sufficient oxygen and fuel to raise the cell temperature from its current
value to a critical flame temperature (CFT). The CFT is based on the oxygen index (OI) concept discussed
in Beyler’s chapter in the SFPE Handbook [17]. The oxygen index is the volume fraction of oxygen in the

179
oxidizer stream when extinguishment occurs. The adiabatic flame temperature1 of a stoichiometric mixture
of fuel and oxygen at this limiting oxygen concentration, TOI , is taken as the CFT. Values for the CFT (TOI )
are listed in Table 13.1. Both extinction models make use of the CFT.
The EXTINCTION_MODEL is specified on the COMB line2 . 'EXTINCTION 1' is the default for Very Large
Eddy Simulation (VLES) and for Simple Very Large Eddy Simulation (SVLES) mode, whereas 'EXTINCTION
2' is used for DNS and LES. The difference between the two models is that for 'EXTINCTION 1', only the
cell temperature and oxygen concentration are considered because detailed thermo-physical gas species
properties are not invoked, as they are in the 'EXTINCTION 2' model. Generally speaking, 'EXTINCTION
2' requires a relatively fine grid because it uses the bulk cell temperature in its calculation of the critical
flame temperature.

Extinction Model 1
The 'EXTINCTION 1' model is summarized by the left hand plot of Fig. 13.3, which indicates the ranges
of cell temperature and oxygen concentration where combustion is viable. This model is meant to be used
for simulations where the grid cells are relatively large and flames cannot be resolved. In particular, this
means that above approximately 600 ◦ C, no flame extinction is assumed unless the oxygen concentration
drops to zero. There are a few parameters associated with this model. First, the LOWER_OXYGEN_LIMIT,
which is sometimes referred to as the lower oxygen index, is the oxygen volume fraction at the left end of
the solid line in Fig. 13.3. Values for various fuels are given in Table 13.1. Second, above the FREE_BURN_
TEMPERATURE, whose default value is 600 ◦ C, combustion is not suppressed. The default value is a typical
indicator of flashover. Finally, the CRITICAL_FLAME_TEMPERATURE establishes the point of intersection of
the sloped line and the x axis. Values for various fuels are listed in Table 13.1, but given the simplicity of
this model, the default value is recommended.

Extinction Model 2
The 'EXTINCTION 2' model is summarized by the right hand plot of Fig. 13.3. For this model, the CRITICAL_
FLAME_TEMPERATURE plays a larger role because there must be sufficient fuel and oxygen within a cell to
raise its temperature beyond the CFT. The calculations of species component enthalpies is more exact with
this model as well. For unlisted fuels, you can set the CFT on the REAC line or simply accept the default
value, 1427 ◦ C (1700 K). If you know the oxygen index XOI , for a particular fuel, the CFT be calculated
from the following equation:

∆Hc /r
TOI = T0 + XOI (13.8)
n cp
where

T0 Initial temperature of the fuel/air mixture (ambient conditions) (K)

XOI Limiting oxygen volume fraction
∆Hc /r Heat of combustion per mole of oxygen consumed (kJ/mol)
n Number of moles of products of combustion per mole of fuel/air mixture
cp Average heat capacity (kJ/(mol·K)) of products of combustion in the range T0 to TOI

1 If you want to know the actual adiabatic flame temperature for each of your specified reactions, add COMPUTE_ADIABATIC_

FLAME_TEMPERATURE=T to the COMB line. The result is written to the file called [Link].
2 To eliminate any gas phase suppression, set SUPPRESSION=F on the COMB line.

180
 Table 13.1: Default Critical Flame Temperatures for common fuels, from Table 17.3 of Ref. [17].

Fuel Formula XOI TOI (◦ C)

ACETONE C3 H6 O 0.129 1457
ACETYLENE C2 H2 0.085 1267
BENZENE C6 H6 0.133 1537
BUTANE C4 H10 0.134 1557
ETHANE C2 H6 0.118 1357
ETHANOL C2 H6 O 0.126 1397
ETHYLENE C2 H4 0.105 1337
HYDROGEN H2 0.054 807
ISOBUTANE C4 H10 0.134 1557
ISOOCTANE C8 H18 0.134 1507
ISOPROPANOL C3 H8 O 0.128 1427
METHANE CH4 0.139 1507
METHANOL CH3 OH 0.111 1257
DECANE C10 H22 0.135 1507
N-HEPTANE C7 H16 0.134 1497
N-HEXANE C6 H14 0.134 1497
N-OCTANE C8 H18 0.134 1507
N-PENTANE C5 H12 0.134 1487
PROPANE C3 H8 0.127 1447
PROPANOL C3 H8 O 0.128 1427
All other species 0.135 1427

Extinction Model Verification

In the verification cases called Extinction/extinction_x.fds, 100 small, sealed boxes are initialized with
temperatures from 300 K to 1875 K and oxygen mass fractions from 0.0115 to 0.2185, combined with the
stoichiometric amount of fuel, and the remainder nitrogen. A one-step, complete reaction of methane is
assumed:
CH4 + 2 O2 → CO2 + 2 H2 O (13.9)
Based on the oxygen and methane concentration and the temperature in each box, combustion can or cannot
occur according to the 'EXTINCTION 1' and 'EXTINCTION 2' models, as shown in Fig. 13.3. The FDS
predictions based on the 'EXTINCTION 2' model (right) confirm that conditions that sustain burning (red
crosses) or cause extinction (blue stars) fall closely on the expected results using thermo-physical properties
of the reactants and products. The simpler model, 'EXTINCTION 1' (left), merely conforms to the specified
Burn-No Burn criterion. More detailed information on the extinction models can be found in the Technical
Reference Guide [1].

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 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release

0.2 Simple Model 0.2 Simple Model

Expected Burning Expected Burning
0.18 FDS Burning 0.18 FDS Burning
Expected Extinction Expected Extinction
0.16 FDS Extinction 0.16 FDS Extinction

0.14 0.14
Oxygen Volume Fraction

Oxygen Volume Fraction

0.12 0.12

0.1 0.1

0.08 0.08

0.06 0.06

0.04 0.04

0.02 0.02

0 0
0 500 1000 1500 0 500 1000 1500
Temperature (°C) Temperature (°C)

Figure 13.3: Result of 'EXTINCTION 1' (left) and 'EXTINCTION 2' (right) for the given initial temperatures and
oxygen concentrations.

13.1.7 Piloted Ignition

By default, FDS employs either the 'EXTINCTION 1' or 'EXTINCTION 2' model to determine if combustion
is viable. If local extinction occurs, the unburned fuel gas can re-ignite if it mixes with sufficient oxygen
elsewhere in the domain, even if this re-ignition might not happen in reality because the temperature might
be too low to sustain combustion. To prevent spurious re-ignition from happening, you can set the AUTO_
IGNITION_TEMPERATURE on the REAC line, in °C, below which combustion will not occur. For most fuels of
interest, the AIT may be found in Beyler’s chapter of the SFPE Handbook [17]. The default AIT is −273 ◦ C,
meaning that fuel and oxygen will burn when mixed providing that either of the extinction models allows
combustion to occur.
The value of AIT may need to be lowered for cases where the grid size is greater than 10 cm. The
purpose of AIT is simply to prevent fuel and oxygen from spontaneously igniting, which is the default
behavior of FDS. If an AIT is specified, then you must also specify some form of heat/ignition source must
be present to start the fire; or you can specify the real sextuplet AIT_EXCLUSION_ZONE on the REAC line to
designate a volume in which ignition occurs spontaneously even when the AIT is enforced everywhere else.
Note that you can specify multiple exclusion zones as follows:

&REAC ..., AIT_EXCLUSION_ZONE(1:6,1)=..., AIT_EXCLUSION_ZONE(1:6,2)=... /

You can control the turning on and off of an exclusion zone using either AIT_EXCLUSION_ZONE_DEVC_ID(N)
or AIT_EXCLUSION_ZONE_CTRL_ID(N) where N refers to the index of the listed exclusion zones. If there is
only one exclusion zone, you need not add an index. If the status of the specified device or controller is true,
the exclusion zone is in effect.
An alternative to the ignition zone method is to specify a “pilot fuel” with a low AIT. In cells where
the pilot fuel is present and the local cell temperature is above the AIT specified for the specific pilot fuel
reaction, combustion is allowed to proceed. For example, you can initialize a series of particles with a
controlled mass flux of fuel:

182
&REAC FUEL='METHANE', ..., AUTO_IGNITION_TEMPERATURE=540. /
&REAC FUEL='ETHYLENE', ..., AUTO_IGNITION_TEMPERATURE=-273. /

With the appropriate chemistry defined, the above REAC lines will allow for ethylene to be used as a pilot
fuel, avoiding an ignition threshold temperature for any cell where ethylene and its oxidizer are present.
You can also simulate a spark ignition using the following lines of input:

&REAC FUEL='METHANE', AUTO_IGNITION_TEMPERATURE=540 /

&PROP ID='spark', SPARK=T /
&DEVC ID='spark-1', XYZ=..., QUANTITY='TIME', SETPOINT=10, PROP_ID='spark' /

In this case, methane and air will not combust unless the grid cell temperature exceeds 540 ◦ C. However,
within the grid cell containing the specified point XYZ, a “spark” is generated at 10 s which effectively causes
the AIT to go to 0 K and ignition of fuel and air is allowed, assuming a suitable amount of fuel and air is
present.

13.1.8 Local Quenching (AIT per ZONE)

There may be special circumstances where you would like to specify that a localized region of the domain
cannot support combustion. In this case, you may use the AIT_EXCLUSION_ZONE construct to specify a
locally high value of the ignition temperature threshold, which will prevent combustion in this region. For
example,

&REAC ..., AIT_EXCLUSION_ZONE(1:6,1)=..., AIT_EXCLUSION_ZONE_TEMPERATURE(1)=1000.

AIT_EXCLUSION_ZONE(1:6,2)=..., AIT_EXCLUSION_ZONE_TEMPERATURE(2)=3000./

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13.2 Complex Stoichiometry
The “simple chemistry” parameters described above can only be used when the fuel molecule contains only
C, O, H, and N. For any other situation, you must specify the reaction stoichiometry in greater detail. This
means that you must explicitly specify the gas species, or species mixtures, along with the stoichiometry of
the reaction.

13.2.1 Balancing the Atoms

Consider a single reaction involving methane. When you specify the REAC line to be:

&REAC FUEL='METHANE' /

FDS assumes the following reaction:

1 (CH4 ) + 9.6339 (0.20756 O2 + 0.78257 N2 + 0.00948 H2 O + 0.00039 CO2 ) −→

| {z } | {z }
Fuel Air
10.6339 (0.09440 CO2 + 0.19668 H2 O + 0.70891 N2 ) (13.10)
| {z }
Products

By default, there are trace amounts of carbon dioxide and water vapor in the air, which, like the nitrogen, is
carried along in the reaction. This is important, because the more complicated way to specify a single step
reaction of methane is as follows:

&SPEC ID='NITROGEN', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY=T /

&SPEC ID='OXYGEN', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY=T /
&SPEC ID='WATER VAPOR', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY=T /
&SPEC ID='CARBON DIOXIDE', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY=T /
&SPEC ID='METHANE' /

&SPEC ID='AIR', BACKGROUND=T,

SPEC_ID(1)='OXYGEN', VOLUME_FRACTION(1)=0.20756,
SPEC_ID(2)='NITROGEN', VOLUME_FRACTION(2)=0.78257,
SPEC_ID(3)='WATER VAPOR', VOLUME_FRACTION(3)=0.00948,
SPEC_ID(4)='CARBON DIOXIDE', VOLUME_FRACTION(4)=0.00039 /

&SPEC ID='PRODUCTS',
SPEC_ID(1)='CARBON DIOXIDE', VOLUME_FRACTION(1)=0.09438,
SPEC_ID(2)='WATER VAPOR', VOLUME_FRACTION(2)=0.19663,
SPEC_ID(3)='NITROGEN', VOLUME_FRACTION(3)=0.70899/

&REAC FUEL='METHANE', SPEC_ID_NU='METHANE','AIR','PRODUCTS',

NU=-1,-9.6357,10.6357, HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION=50000. /

The reaction stoichiometry is specified using the stoichiometric coefficients, NU(N), corresponding to the
tracked3 species, SPEC_ID_NU(N). If complex stoichiometry is being used, a FUEL input is not required. If
no FUEL input is given, FDS will assume it is the first species in SPEC_ID_NU with a net negative value for
NU (i.e., if a species appeared on both sides of the reaction as a collision species it would not be used as the
FUEL). There are several parameters on the REAC line that control the specification of the stoichiometry:
3A “tracked” species is one for which LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY is F

184
 • CHECK_ATOM_BALANCE If chemical formulas are provided for all species that participate in a reaction,
then FDS will check the stoichiometry to ensure that atoms are conserved. Setting this flag to F will
bypass this check. (Default T)

• REAC_ATOM_ERROR Error tolerance in units of atoms for the reaction stoichiometry check. (Default 1.E-
4)

• REAC_MASS_ERROR Relative error tolerance computed as (mass of products - mass of reactants)/(mass of

products) for the reaction stoichiometry mass balance check. (Default 1.E-4)

13.2.2 Complex Fuel Molecules

Fuels Compatible with Simple Chemistry For complex fuel molecules that contain only C, H, N, and
O the simple chemistry reaction parameters can still be applied. Consider natural gas, which is often a
mixture of several component gases. To build the fuel mixture, the primitive (component) species need be
defined. Each primitive species will get a LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY designation, which means that each of
these species will not be explicitly tracked as they are components to a mixture. Note that these lumped
components can only contain C, H, N, and O atoms. The lumped fuel, 'natural gas', can be created using
the defined primitive components and subsequently the reaction can be defined using simple chemistry
(Section 13.1.1):

&SPEC ID='METHANE', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY=T/

&SPEC ID='ETHYLENE', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY=T/
&SPEC ID='NITROGEN', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY=T/
&SPEC ID='CARBON DIOXIDE',LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY=T/

&SPEC ID='natural gas'

SPEC_ID(1)='METHANE', VOLUME_FRACTION(1)=92.2
SPEC_ID(2)='ETHYLENE', VOLUME_FRACTION(2)= 3.3
SPEC_ID(3)='NITROGEN', VOLUME_FRACTION(3)= 3.9
SPEC_ID(4)='CARBON DIOXIDE',VOLUME_FRACTION(4)= 0.6/

&REAC FUEL='natural gas'

SOOT_YIELD=0.01 /

Fuels Not Compatible with Simple Chemistry Fires, however, often involve fuels that do not just consist
of C, H, N, and O. For example, chlorine is commonly found in building and household materials, and
because of its propensity to form the acid gas HCl, you may want to account for it in the basic reaction
scheme. Suppose the predominant fuel in the fire is polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Regardless of its detailed
polymeric structure, it can be regarded as C2 H3 Cl for the purpose of modeling. Assuming that all of the Cl
in the fuel is converted into HCl, you can derive a single-step reaction mechanism using appropriate soot
and CO yields for the specified fuel. In this example, the SFPE Handbook [18] is used to find soot and CO
yields for PVC; 0.172 and 0.063, respectively. For a given species, α, its stoichiometric coefficient, να , can
be found from its yield, yα , and its molecular weight, Wα , according to the formula:
WF
να = yα (13.11)
Wα
Since it is assumed that all of the Cl is converted to HCL, the remainder of the stoichiometric coefficients
come from an atom balance. An equation can now be written to include the appropriate numerical values
for the stoichiometric coefficients.

185
 1 (C2 H3 Cl) +1 (1.53 O2 + 1.53 (3.76) N2 ) −→
| {z } | {z }
Fuel Air
1 (HCl + H2 O + 0.14 CO + 0.96 CO2 + 0.90 C + 1.53 (3.76) N2 ) (13.12)
| {z }
Products

The choice of fuel in this example, PVC, is not defined in Appendix A, therefore its properties must be
defined on a SPEC line. In this example, we use the species’ chemical formula. The example will also use
the lumped species formulation to minimize the number of scalar transport equations that need to be solved.
Therefore, each species that does not have an explicit transport equation is a LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY.

&SPEC ID = 'PVC', FORMULA = 'C2H3Cl' /

&SPEC ID = 'OXYGEN', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY = T /
&SPEC ID = 'NITROGEN', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY = T /
&SPEC ID = 'HYDROGEN CHLORIDE', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY = T /
&SPEC ID = 'WATER VAPOR', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY = T /
&SPEC ID = 'CARBON MONOXIDE', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY = T /
&SPEC ID = 'CARBON DIOXIDE', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY = T /
&SPEC ID = 'SOOT', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY = T /

For the oxidizer and products, which are both composed of multiple primitive species, SPEC lines are needed
to define the composition of the lumped species. You can define the SPEC using either the MASS_FRACTIONS
of the component gases or the VOLUME_FRACTIONS. If Eq. (13.12) is properly balanced, you can directly use
the stoichiometric coefficients of the primitive species to define the lumped species.

&SPEC ID='AIR', BACKGROUND=T

SPEC_ID(1)='OXYGEN', VOLUME_FRACTION(1)=1.53,
SPEC_ID(2)='NITROGEN', VOLUME_FRACTION(2)=5.76 /

&SPEC ID='PRODUCTS',
SPEC_ID(1)='HYDROGEN CHLORIDE', VOLUME_FRACTION(1)=1.0,
SPEC_ID(2)='WATER VAPOR', VOLUME_FRACTION(2)=1.0,
SPEC_ID(3)='CARBON MONOXIDE', VOLUME_FRACTION(3)=0.14,
SPEC_ID(4)='CARBON DIOXIDE', VOLUME_FRACTION(4)=0.96,
SPEC_ID(5)='SOOT', VOLUME_FRACTION(5)=0.90,
SPEC_ID(6)='NITROGEN', VOLUME_FRACTION(6)=5.76 /

To set the initial concentration of fuel, an INIT line is used:

&INIT MASS_FRACTION(1)=0.229, SPEC_ID(1)='PVC' /

Since this is not a simple chemistry problem, either the enthalpy of formation of PVC or the heat of com-
bustion of the reaction should be specified. In this case, the heat of combustion for PVC is taken from the
SFPE Handbook [18].

&REAC FUEL='PVC', HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION=16400, SPEC_ID_NU='PVC','AIR','PRODUCTS',

NU=-1,-1,1 /

Note that the sign of NU corresponds to whether that species is consumed (-) or produced (+). Figure 13.4
displays the mass fractions of the product species for the sample case PVC_Combustion. Also note that the
values for NU reflect the composition of the species as defined on the SPEC lines. If, for example, the PVC
SPEC was defined as CH1.5Cl0.5, then the REAC would require NU=-2,-1,1. A fixed turbulent mixing time
(FIXED_MIXED_TIME) of 0.1 s is used for this example only because the reactants are initially mixed within
a chamber with no imposed flow. Normally, this parameter is not necessary.

186
 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
0.3
Species Mass Fraction (PVC)
0.25
Expected CO2
Expected CO
0.2 Expected H2O

Mass Fraction
Expected Soot
Expected HCl
0.15 FDS CO2
FDS CO
0.1 FDS H2O
FDS Soot
FDS HCl
0.05

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
Time (s)

Figure 13.4: Product species mass fractions for model PVC example.

13.2.3 Multiple Fast Reactions

For large-scale fire simulations, the numerical grid is usually too coarse to resolve detailed, finite-rate flame
chemistry. However, you may still specify a combustion scheme that consists of multiple fast reactions. For
example, consider this three step scheme that describes the formation of CO and soot as intermediate species
in the combustion of propane:

C3 H8 + 3 O2 −→ 2 CO + 4 H2 O + C (13.13)
CO + 0.5 O2 −→ CO2 (13.14)
C + O2 −→ CO2 (13.15)

In the first step, the fuel is converted quickly to CO, H2 O and soot (C), and then the CO and soot are
converted to CO2 if there is available oxygen. All the reactions are “fast” relative to the mixing time of the
reactants within a grid cell, but the second and third reactions are assumed to occur more slowly than the
first. By default, FDS forces all fast reactions to occur instantaneously and simultaneously. However, if you
want to specify that the reactions occur serially, use the parameter PRIORITY as in the following set of input
lines:

&SPEC ID='NITROGEN', BACKGROUND=T /

&SPEC ID='PROPANE', MASS_FRACTION_0=0.0 /
&SPEC ID='OXYGEN', MASS_FRACTION_0=0.23 /
&SPEC ID='WATER VAPOR', MASS_FRACTION_0=0.0 /
&SPEC ID='CARBON MONOXIDE', MASS_FRACTION_0=0.0 /
&SPEC ID='CARBON DIOXIDE', MASS_FRACTION_0=0.0 /
&SPEC ID='SOOT', MASS_FRACTION_0=0.0 /

&REAC ID='R1'
FUEL='PROPANE'
SPEC_ID_NU='PROPANE','OXYGEN','CARBON MONOXIDE','WATER VAPOR','SOOT'
NU=-1,-3,2,4,1 /
&REAC ID='R2'
FUEL='CARBON MONOXIDE'
SPEC_ID_NU='CARBON MONOXIDE','OXYGEN','CARBON DIOXIDE'
NU=-1,-0.5,1
PRIORITY=2 /
&REAC ID='R3'
FUEL='SOOT'

187
 SPEC_ID_NU='SOOT','OXYGEN','CARBON DIOXIDE'
NU=-1,-1,1
PRIORITY=2 /

By specifying PRIORITY=2 for reactions R2 and R3, you are assuming that the first reaction, R1, occurs first,
followed by R2 and R3. This sequence allows for the build-up of soot and CO in compartments that are
oxygen starved.
Note that in this reaction scheme, the extinction model is applied to the first reaction but not the second
and third because the default extinction model is only applied to the first of multiple fast reactions. For more
information on extinction, see Sec. 13.1.6.

13.2.4 Multiple Fuels

There may be times when your design/model fire is best described by more than one fuel or by more than
a single-step chemical reaction. For this example consider two simultaneous, mixing-controlled reactions
of polyurethane and wood. Both of these fuels are complex molecules not included in Appendix A, so they
must be defined on the SPEC line. Polyurethane is defined by the chemical formula C25 H42 O6 N2 and wood
is defined by CH1.7 O0.74 N0.002 . Consider a combustion reaction for polyurethane with a soot yield of ys =
0.131 and a CO yield of yCO = 0.01 [18] is:

1 (C_25H_42O_6N_2) +27.32741 (O_2 + 3.76 N_2) −→

| {z } | {z }
Fuel Air
1 (19.74412 CO_2 + 0.16659 CO + 21 H_2O + 5.08930 C + 103.7511 N_2) (13.16)
| {z }
Products_1

and the reaction for wood with a soot yield of ys = 0.015 and a CO yield of yCO = 0.004 [18] is:

1 (CH_1.7O_0.74N_0.002) +1.02121 (O_2 + 3.76 N_2) −→

| {z } | {z }
Fuel Air
1 (0.96438 CO_2 + 0.003655 CO + 0.85 H_2O + 0.03196 C + 3.84076 N_2) (13.17)
| {z }
Products_2

Similar to example in Sec. 13.2.2, we will use the lumped species approach to minimize the number of
species that FDS needs to transport. Therefore, the species are defined in the following manner:

&SPEC ID = 'POLYURETHANE', FORMULA = 'C25H42O6N2' /

&SPEC ID = 'WOOD', FORMULA = 'CH1.7O0.74N0.002' /
&SPEC ID = 'OXYGEN', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY = T /
&SPEC ID = 'NITROGEN', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY = T /
&SPEC ID = 'WATER VAPOR', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY = T /
&SPEC ID = 'CARBON MONOXIDE', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY = T /
&SPEC ID = 'CARBON DIOXIDE', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY = T /
&SPEC ID = 'SOOT', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY = T /

Examination of Eq. (13.16) and Eq. (13.17) shows that, while Products_1 and Products_2 are composed of
the same species, the species do not exist in the same proportion. As a result, we must construct two separate
product lumped species.

&SPEC ID = 'AIR',
SPEC_ID(1) = 'OXYGEN', VOLUME_FRACTION(1)=1,
SPEC_ID(2) = 'NITROGEN', VOLUME_FRACTION(2)=3.76,

188
 BACKGROUND=T /

&SPEC ID = 'PRODUCTS_1',
SPEC_ID(1) = 'CARBON DIOXIDE', VOLUME_FRACTION(1) = 19.74412,
SPEC_ID(2) = 'CARBON MONOXIDE', VOLUME_FRACTION(2) = 0.16659,
SPEC_ID(3) = 'WATER VAPOR', VOLUME_FRACTION(3) = 21.,
SPEC_ID(4) = 'SOOT', VOLUME_FRACTION(4) = 5.08930,
SPEC_ID(5) = 'NITROGEN', VOLUME_FRACTION(5) = 103.7511 /

&SPEC ID = 'PRODUCTS_2',
SPEC_ID(1) = 'CARBON DIOXIDE', VOLUME_FRACTION(1) = 0.96438,
SPEC_ID(2) = 'CARBON MONOXIDE', VOLUME_FRACTION(2) = 0.00365,
SPEC_ID(3) = 'WATER VAPOR', VOLUME_FRACTION(3) = 0.85,
SPEC_ID(4) = 'SOOT', VOLUME_FRACTION(4) = 0.03196,
SPEC_ID(5) = 'NITROGEN', VOLUME_FRACTION(5) = 3.84076 /

Once we have constructed the lumped species, we can define the REAC lines.

&REAC ID = 'plastic',
FUEL = 'POLYURETHANE',
HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION=26200,
SPEC_ID_NU = 'POLYURETHANE','AIR','PRODUCTS_1'
NU=-1,-27.32741,1 /

&REAC ID = 'wood'
FUEL = 'WOOD',
HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION=16400,
SPEC_ID_NU = 'WOOD','AIR','PRODUCTS_2'
NU=-1,-1.02121,1 /

In both of these reactions, the ENTHALPY_OF_FORMATION of the chosen fuels is unknown to FDS, so the HEAT_
OF_COMBUSTION is specified for each reaction. Typically, the heat release per unit area (HRRPUA) parameter
is used to specify the fire size on the SURF line along with SPEC_ID if there are multiple REAC inputs and
MASS_FRACTION if the HRRPUA is a mixture of fuels. Multiple fuels can also be used by specifying the mass
flux of each fuel. In this example, we want both fuels to flow out of the same burner and ramp up to a
1200 kW fire after 60 s. First, we create a 1 m2 burner by defining a VENT line:

&VENT XB=4.0,5.0,4.0,5.0,0.0,0.0, SURF_ID='FIRE1', COLOR='RED'/

The VENT points to the SURF_ID='FIRE1' which we can define using both fuels. The mass flux values for
each fuel are determined by the desired heat release, the proportion of the total heat release rate each fuel
contributes, the burner area, and the heat of combustion of each fuel. In this case we want a 1200 kW fire
where each fuel contributes 50% to the total heat release rate (600 kW).
600 kW 1
ṁ′′poly = 2
= 0.022901 kg/(m2 s) (13.18)
1 m 26200 kJ/kg
600 kW 1
ṁ′′wood = 2
= 0.036585 kg/(m2 s) (13.19)
1 m 16400 kJ/kg

&SURF ID='FIRE1', SPEC_ID(1)='POLYURETHANE', MASS_FLUX(1)=0.022901, RAMP_MF(1)='poly'

SPEC_ID(2)='WOOD', MASS_FLUX(2)=0.036585, RAMP_MF(2)='wood'/

Note that the SPEC_ID, MASS_FLUX, and RAMP_MF correspond to one another for each fuel. It does not matter
which fuel is (1), just that the numbering is consistent. We also want each fuel to follow a ramp such that

189
fire starts at 0 kW at the initial time, reaches 1200 kW at 100 s, and remains at 1200 kW for the remainder
of a 600 s simulation.

&RAMP ID='poly', T = 0, F = 0.0 /

&RAMP ID='poly', T = 50 , F = 0.5 /
&RAMP ID='poly', T = 100, F = 1.0 /
&RAMP ID='poly', T = 600, F = 1.0 /

&RAMP ID='wood', T = 0 , F = 0.0 /

&RAMP ID='wood', T = 50 , F = 0.5 /
&RAMP ID='wood', T = 100, F = 1.0 /
&RAMP ID='wood', T = 600, F = 1.0 /

Here, T corresponds to the time and F is the fraction of the mass flux specified on the SURF line. Fig. 13.5
compares the resulting FDS heat release rate (HRR) to the expected HRR from the defined ramp. Note that
in this simulation, there is 10 s averaging on the FDS output HRR (&DUMP DT_HRR=10) and the expected
results account for this averaging.
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
1500
Energy Budget (two fuels)
Energy Rate (kW)

1000

500

Expected (HRR)
FDS (HRR)
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Time (s)

Figure 13.5: HRR for energy_budget_adiabatic_two_fuels test case.

Note that when using multiple chemical reactions, you must set SUPPRESSION=F on the COMB line.

13.2.5 Using the EQUATION input parameter

When specifying a reaction scheme using all primitive variables (i.e., no lumped species), a convenient
shortcut for specifying the reaction is via the input parameter EQUATION, which allows the specification of
the reaction in text form. The rules are:

• The species must be explicitly tracked.

• The species name is its chemical formula as defined on the SPEC line or by the species ID.

• The stoichiometry is given before each species and is separated by an asterisk. Real numbers are allowed
but exponential notation is not (i.e., 201.1 but not 2.011E2).

• The reactants and products are separated by an equals sign.

For example, if the reaction defines the complete combustion of methane using primitive species, then the
following would be equivalent:

190
&REAC FUEL='METHANE', EQUATION ='METHANE+2*OXYGEN=CARBON DIOXIDE+2*WATER VAPOR' /
&REAC FUEL='METHANE', EQUATION ='CH4+2*O2=CO2+2*H2O' /
&REAC FUEL='METHANE', EQUATION ='METHANE+2*O2=CO2+2*H2O' /

191
13.3 Finite Rate Combustion
By default, FDS uses a mixing-controlled combustion model, meaning that the reaction rate is infinite and
limited only by species concentrations. However, FDS can also employ finite-rate reactions using an Ar-
rhenius model. Since finite-rate reactions require a fully-resolved temperature field (i.e., a simulation on
a grid capable of resolving the flame temperature), it is recommended that finite-rate reactions be invoked
only when FDS is running in DNS mode (SIMULATION_MODE='DNS' on the MISC line). A specific finite-rate
reaction will only be computed if all species consumed or otherwise required (third-body or catalyst) in
the reaction are present with a mass fraction greater than ZZ_MIN_GLOBAL and the local cell temperature is
above FINITE_RATE_MIN_TEMP, both specified on COMB. The default value for ZZ_MIN_GLOBAL is 1 × 10−10 ,
which is generally adequate. An exception might be for detailed chemistry where equations involving free-
radicals are used. The user should consider setting FINITE_RATE_MIN_TEMP to be around 100 ◦ C to avoid
unnecessary and expensive time integration of the ODEs for detailed kinetics.

Single Step Reaction

Consider a single-step reaction mechanism for complete propane combustion:

C3 H8 + 5 O2 → 3 CO2 + 4 H2 O (13.20)

In this case, we explicitly define all primitive species:

&SPEC ID='NITROGEN', BACKGROUND=T/

&SPEC ID='PROPANE' /
&SPEC ID='OXYGEN' /
&SPEC ID='WATER VAPOR' /
&SPEC ID='CARBON DIOXIDE' /

The rate expression for the fuel, C3 H8 , is

dCC3 H8
= −k ∏ Cα NS,α (13.21)
dt
where Cα is the concentration of species α in units of mol/cm3 and the rate constant is defined as

k = A T NT e−Ea /RT (13.22)

• A is the pre-exponential factor [ ((mol/cm3 )1−n )/s ], where n = ∑ NS,α is the order of the reaction,

• Ea is the activation energy [ J/mol ],

• NS,α is an array containing the concentration exponents (default values are the stoichiometric coeffi-
cients),

• NT is the temperature exponent (default 0, meaning no temperature dependence),

• R is the universal gas constant, 8.314 J/(mol·K).

If we use Arrhenius parameters found from experiments or the literature (for this case Westbrook and
Dryer [19]), the rate expression for the single-step propane reaction defined by Eq. (13.20) becomes:
dCC3 H8
= −8.6 × 1011 T 0 e−125520/RT CC3 H8 0.1 CO2 1.65 (13.23)
dt
and the resulting REAC line is:

192
&REAC ID = 'R1'
FUEL = 'PROPANE'
A = 8.6e11
E = 125520
SPEC_ID_NU = 'PROPANE','OXYGEN','CARBON DIOXIDE','WATER VAPOR'
NU = -1,-5,3,4
SPEC_ID_N_S = 'PROPANE','OXYGEN'
N_S = 0.1,1.65 /

The array SPEC_ID_NU contains the list of tracked species participating in the reaction as a product or re-
actant. Note that a primitive species with LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY=T cannot be used in a reaction since it
is not tracked separately. The array SPEC_ID_N_S contains the list of species with the exponents, N_S, in
Eq. (13.21). This array must contain only primitive species, i.e., no species mixtures. The array of stoichio-
metric coefficients, NU, can be taken directly from Eq. (13.20). If any of SPEC_ID_NU is a lumped species
and a reactant (this would include product species when REVERSE=T), then SPEC_ID_N_S and N_S must be
defined to identify which specific species inside the lumped species are reactants.

13.3.1 Multiple Step Reaction

If we extend Eq. (13.20) to include reactions from Westbrook and Dryer [19] that account for carbon monox-
ide production, we obtain:

C3 H8 + 3.5 O2 → 3 CO + 4 H2 O (13.24)
CO + 0.5 O2 ⇋ CO2

In this case we will combine fast chemistry with finite-rate chemistry to create a mixed reaction mechanism.
As before, we use primitive species rather than mixtures. A REAC line is needed for each reaction including
the reverse reaction. The propane oxidation reaction is a fast chemistry while the reversible carbon monoxide
reaction is finite-rate. The Arrhenius parameters are modified from Andersen et al. [20]:

&REAC ID = 'R1'
FUEL = 'PROPANE'
SPEC_ID_NU = 'PROPANE','OXYGEN','CARBON MONOXIDE','WATER VAPOR'
NU = -1,-3.5,3,4 /

&REAC ID = 'R2'
FUEL = 'CARBON MONOXIDE'
A = 1.5e9
E = 41840
SPEC_ID_NU = 'CARBON MONOXIDE','OXYGEN','CARBON DIOXIDE'
NU = -1,-0.5,1
SPEC_ID_N_S = 'OXYGEN','CARBON MONOXIDE','WATER VAPOR'
N_S = 0.25,1,0.5 /

&REAC ID = 'R3'
FUEL = 'CARBON DIOXIDE'
A = 6.16e13
E = 328026
SPEC_ID_NU = 'CARBON DIOXIDE','OXYGEN','CARBON MONOXIDE'
NU = -1,0.5,1
SPEC_ID_N_S = 'OXYGEN','CARBON DIOXIDE','WATER VAPOR'
N_S = -0.25,1,0.5
N_T = -0.97 /

193
For the reaction R2, the reaction rate depends on the water vapor concentration, as indicated by its assign-
ment of a value of N_S. However, it does not explicitly participate in the reaction because it is not assigned
a stoichiometric coefficient, NU. Reactions of this sort are often written in textbooks as
H O
2
a X + b Y −→ Xa Yb (13.25)

However, for the purposes of inputting into FDS, since H2 O is neither a product nor a reactant it would not
be specified in the chemical reaction using either EQUATION or NU. It would instead be given a rate exponent
using N_S to indicate that its presence is required.
As discussed previously (Sec. 13.1.2), energy release is calculated using the net change of species in
a time step along with the enthalpy of formation of each species. This approach makes specifying an
endothermic reaction, such as the reversible CO2 reaction (R3), no different than typical FDS exothermic
combustion reactions.

13.3.2 Finite Rate Chemistry using a Detailed Chemical Mechanism

A detailed chemical mechanism file can be specified to solve finite rate chemistry problems. For example,
the GRI-3.0 [21] mechanism can be used to simulate methane combustion. Such a mechanism file contains
various species and the relevant reactions representing the chemical pathways of fuel combustion. Users
must ensure that the chosen mechanism is well-suited for their specific problem. In FDS, an FDS-formatted
mechanism file can be specified using the following line:

&CATF OTHER_FILES= '<path to the fds chemical mechanism file>' /

FDS-formatted chemical mechanism files can be generated from Chemkin [22, 23] or Cantera YAML for-
mat mechanism files following the instructions described below. For user convenience, a few example
mechanism files are already included in the Utilities/Input_Libraries/Chemical_Mechanisms/FDS/
directory of the GitHub repository firemodels/fds. The steps to generate the FDS chemical mechanism
file are as follows:

1. Ensure that the chemistry reactions file, thermodynamic properties file, and transport properties file are
available in Chemkin format.

2. Use the following Cantera [24] command to convert these three files to a YAML file

ck2yaml --input=<reactions file> --thermo=<thermodynamic properties file>

--transport=<transport properties file> --output=<[Link]>

3. Using the utility Python script Utilities/Python/scripts/cantera_yaml_2_fds.py from the firemodels/

fds GitHub repository, convert the [Link] file to an FDS-formatted chemical mechanism file. Refer
to the comments in the Python script for detailed usage.

python Utilities/Python/scripts/cantera_yaml_2_fds.py [Link] N2 > [Link]

If the YAML file of the mechanism is directly available, steps 1 and 2 can be skipped.
A detailed chemical mechanism is currently solved using the Sundials CVODE ODE solver [25]. For
details on configuring the FDS input for the CVODE solver, please refer to Section 13.3.7.

194
13.3.3 Reaction Rates from Equilibrium Constants
In some cases, only the forward rate parameters will be known for a reversible reaction, and the reverse rate
parameters must be obtained from equilibrium. This can be achieved by adding REVERSE=T on the REAC
line. FDS will create a reverse reaction where the NU values for the reverse reaction are set to -NU for the
forward reaction. The reverse rate constant will be determined using the change in Gibbs free energy of the
reaction. The ID for the reverse reaction will be the ID of the forward reaction with _R appended. Below
is an example (taken from [26]) for hydrogen combustion with oxygen and the corresponding reverse water
vapor dissociation reaction. In this case the reverse reaction ID would be R1_R.

H2 + 0.5 O2 ⇋ H2 O (13.26)

&REAC ID = 'R1'
REVERSE = T
FUEL = 'HYDROGEN'
A = 0.85e16
E = 167360.
RADIATIVE_FRACTION=0.0
SPEC_ID_NU='HYDROGEN','OXYGEN','WATER VAPOR'
SPEC_ID_N_S='HYDROGEN','OXYGEN'
NU= -1,-0.5,1
N_S = 0.25,1.5
N_T = -1 /

13.3.4 Third Body Reactions

Some reactions require collision with a third body (any other molecule) to activate the reaction. Reactions
of this type are often write in textbooks as

a X + b Y + M → Xa Yb + M (13.27)

This type of reaction is specified by adding THIRD_BODY=T to the REAC line for the reaction. The species
M should not otherwise be defined. In some third body reactions one or more gas species may be more or
less effective as a collision species. Any species with a non-unity collision efficiency can be listed using
THIRD_EFF_ID(N) and THIRD_EFF(N) to define the collision efficiencies of specific species.

13.3.5 Fall-off Reactions

Fall-off reactions are a type of reaction where rates depend on both pressure and temperature, as described
in the FDS Tech Guide [3]. These reactions are prevalent in detailed chemical mechanisms (see Section
13.3.2). Following are the example of Lindermann-fall-off and Troe-fall-off reaction entries from GRI-3
mechanism [21] in FDS format. SRI-fall-off reactions are not supported yet, and will be incorporated in
future.

&REAC ID='R12',
REACTYPE='FALLOFF-LINDEMANN',
REVERSE=T,
RADIATIVE_FRACTION=0,
A= 1.80000e+10 ,
THIRD_BODY=T,
THIRD_EFF_ID= 'AR','C2H6','CH4','CO','CO2','H2','H2O','O2' ,

195
 THIRD_EFF= 0.5,3.0,2.0,1.5,3.5,2.0,6.0,6.0 ,
E= 9978.84 ,
N_T= 0.0 ,
A_LOW_PR= 6.02000e+14 ,
E_LOW_PR= 12552.0 ,
N_T_LOW_PR= 0.0 ,
SPEC_ID_NU= 'CO','O' , 'CO2' ,
NU= -1.0,-1.0 , 1.0 /

&REAC ID='R50',
REACTYPE='FALLOFF-TROE',
REVERSE=T,
RADIATIVE_FRACTION=0,
A= 6.00000e+14 ,
THIRD_BODY=T,
THIRD_EFF_ID= 'AR','C2H6','CH4','CO','CO2','H2','H2O' ,
THIRD_EFF= 0.7,3.0,2.0,1.5,2.0,2.0,6.0 ,
E= 0.0 ,
N_T= 0.0 ,
A_LOW_PR= 1.04000e+26 ,
E_LOW_PR= 6694.4 ,
N_T_LOW_PR= -2.76 ,
A_TROE= 0.562 ,
T1_TROE= 5836.0 ,
T2_TROE= 8552.0 ,
T3_TROE= 91.0 ,
SPEC_ID_NU= 'CH2','H' , 'CH3' ,
NU= -1.0,-1.0 , 1.0 /

For all fall-off reactions, REACTYPE need to be specified as shown above. The low-pressure reaction rate
coefficient is specified using A_LOW_PR, N_T_LOW_PR, and E_LOW_PR, similar to Eq. (13.22). In the case of
Troe reactions, the fall-off blending factor is calculated using A_TROE, T1_TROE, T2_TROE, and T3_TROE. For
details, please refer to the FDS Tech Guide [3].

13.3.6 Catalysts
Some reactions require the presence of a specific molecule to stabilize the reaction rather than any species
as in a third body reaction. An example is given below:

a X + b Y + Z → Xa Yb + Z (13.28)

A catalyst can be specified by listing the catalyst species twice in SPEC_ID_NU and giving the NU values for
each side of the equation. The reaction will move forward in FDS using the net NU and the default value for
NU_S will be the left-hand side stoichiometric coefficient. For a reverse reaction, the value or NU_S for the
catalyst will be the right-hand side stoichiometric coefficient.

13.3.7 Chemical Time Integration

The set of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) for the combustion reactions are solved over the course of
a time step using one of a variety of solvers. The solver is specified via the character string ODE_SOLVER on
the COMB line. The chosen solver governs all reactions. If all reactions are fast, i.e. occur instantaneously
following the mixing process, then the default solver is 'EXPLICIT EULER'. If any of the reactions are finite-
rate, then the default solver is 'RK2 RICHARDSON', a fourth-order scheme generated from three second-order

196
Runge-Kutta steps with Richardson extrapolation (the third step provides a means of error control; details
are provided in the of the FDS Tech Guide [3]). Two other schemes are available—'RK2' and 'RK3', second
and third-order Runge-Kutta schemes without Richardson extrapolation.
An important consideration for the time integration of chemical reactions is the number of iterations
the ODE solver takes for a given FDS time step. For infinitely fast chemistry, the number of iterations
is 1. For finite rate chemical reactions, the number of iterations can vary between 1 and the lesser of
MAX_CHEMISTRY_SUBSTEPS (default 20) and that needed to satisfy the error tolerance of the ODE solver,
RICHARDSON_ERROR_TOLERANCE. If the maximum value is reached, you can increase the number of iterations
or decrease the error tolerance constraint of the integrator. You may also just fix the number of iterations
by setting N_FIXED_CHEMISTRY_SUBSTEPS. Its default value is -1, meaning that the number of time steps is
determined by the ODE solver. These various numerical parameters are all set on the COMB line, and they
pertain to all reactions.
If you have multiple reactions with widely ranging time-scales, you might want to specify
CHECK_REALIZABILITY to be T on the COMB line, which forces the program to issue a warning if the species
mass fractions do not remain between 0 and 1 during the integration scheme.
To solve chemistry using a detailed chemical mechanism (see Sec. 13.3.2), it is recommended to use
the CVODE ODE solver from Sundials [25]. The following input line configures FDS to use CVODE for
chemistry calculations:

&COMB ODE_SOLVER='CVODE'/

Internally, CVODE assigns default values to several key parameters, as listed below:

• FINITE_RATE_MIN_TEMP=300 ◦ C
• ODE_MIN_ATOL=1E-10
• ODE_REL_ERROR=1E-6
• ZZ_MIN_GLOBAL=1E-10
• EQUIV_RATIO_CHECK=F
• MIN_EQUIV_RATIO=0.0
• MAX_EQUIV_RATIO=20.0
• DO_CHEM_LOAD_BALANCE=T

The parameter FINITE_RATE_MIN_TEMP defines the minimum temperature (in ◦ C) above which chemistry
calculation will be performed. CVODE allows specification of relative and absolute tolerances at the species
level using the ODE_REL_ERROR and ODE_ABS_ERROR parameters in the SPEC input line. These tolerances can
also be set globally in the COMB input line, with species-level settings taking precedence. Currently, CVODE
does not allow relative tolerance at the species level. The minimum concentration of a species is determined
as the product of ODE_REL_ERROR and ZZ_MIN_GLOBAL. Concentrations below this threshold are treated as
zero.
Additional optional parameters include EQUIV_RATIO_CHECK, MIN_EQUIV_RATIO, and MAX_EQUIV_RATIO.
When EQUIV_RATIO_CHECK is enabled (set to true), the chemistry calculation is performed only for those
cells for which equivalence ratio is within the specified MIN_EQUIV_RATIO and MAX_EQUIV_RATIO limits,
reducing computational time. Enabling DO_CHEM_LOAD_BALANCE significantly accelerates chemistry calcu-
lations by distributing the computational load evenly across all MPI processes. User can modify the default
values of any or all of these parameters as needed using the following line in the FDS input file:

&COMB
ODE_SOLVER='CVODE'
FINITE_RATE_MIN_TEMP=300,

197
ZZ_MIN_GLOBAL=1E-15,
ODE_MIN_ATOL=1E-12,
ODE_REL_ERROR=1E-6,
EQUIV_RATIO_CHECK=T,
MIN_EQUIV_RATIO=0.0,
MAX_EQUIV_RATIO=20.0,
DO_CHEM_LOAD_BALANCE=T /

198
13.4 Aerosol Deposition
It is possible within FDS to model the deposition of smoke and aerosols onto solid surfaces. The aerosol
deposition model is invoked by defining a species with the parameter AEROSOL=T on the SPEC line along with
the parameters DENSITY_SOLID, CONDUCTIVITY_SOLID, and MEAN_DIAMETER. By default, with AEROSOL=T,
FDS will compute all of the aerosol deposition mechanisms discussed in the Technical Reference Guide [3].
For diagnostic purposes, each surface deposition mechanism can be selectively disabled by using the logi-
cal parameters GRAVITATIONAL_DEPOSITION, THERMOPHORETIC_DEPOSITION, and TURBULENT_DEPOSITION.
All surface deposition can be disabled by the logical parameter DEPOSITION. In the gas phase, aerosol
transport is affected by gravity and temperature gradients. These effects can be selectively disabled with
GRAVITATIONAL_SETTLING and THERMOPHORETIC_SETTLING. All the deposition parameters are on the MISC
line. The deposition velocity at the wall can be output using the solid phase output QUANTITY called
'DEPOSITION VELOCITY'.
The parameter THERMOPHORETIC_DIAMETER can be used to define a particle diameter to use in lieu of
the MEAN_DIAMETER when computing the thermophoretic force. This may be appropriate for flaky or string
like aerosol particles when the thermophoretic force can operate on each of the primary particles composing
the larger aerosol. The default value is 0.03 µm which represents a typical soot primary particle diameter.
If this value is set to a negative number, the MEAN_DIAMETER will be used (taken as the bin diameter if
agglomeration is being modeled) for thermophoresis.

13.4.1 Example Case: Soot Deposition from a Propane Flame

The propane_flame_deposition example shows how to define a reaction that invokes the aerosol deposi-
tion model in FDS. The fuel is propane with a specified soot yield of 0.05. Note that this is a fabricated soot
yield that is used only for demonstration and verification purposes. The reaction is given by:

C3 H8 + 4.81643 (O2 + 3.76 N2 ) −→ (18.10978 N2 + 2.81643 CO2 + 4 H2 O) + 0.18357 |{z}

C (13.29)
| {z } | {z } | {z }
Fuel Air Products Soot

Note that the stoichiometric coefficient for soot ensures that the mass of soot produced is 0.0544 times the
mass of fuel consumed. This example uses the lumped species formulation to minimize the number of
scalar transport equations that need to be solved. Note that for soot to deposit it must be explicitly tracked
by defining AEROSOL=T on the SPEC line.

&SPEC ID = 'PROPANE' /
&SPEC ID = 'OXYGEN', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY = T /
&SPEC ID = 'NITROGEN', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY = T /
&SPEC ID = 'WATER VAPOR', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY = T /
&SPEC ID = 'CARBON DIOXIDE', LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY = T /
&SPEC ID = 'SOOT', AEROSOL = T /

If Eq. (13.29) is properly balanced, you can directly use the stoichiometric coefficients of the primitive
species to define the lumped species:

&SPEC ID = 'AIR', SPEC_ID ='NITROGEN','OXYGEN',

VOLUME_FRACTION = 3.76,1., BACKGROUND = T /
&SPEC ID = 'PRODUCTS', SPEC_ID ='NITROGEN','CARBON DIOXIDE','WATER VAPOR',
VOLUME_FRACTION = 18.10978,2.81643,4.0 /

The heat of combustion for propane is found in the SFPE Handbook [18].

199
&REAC FUEL = 'PROPANE', HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION=44715.,
SPEC_ID_NU = 'PROPANE','AIR','PRODUCTS','SOOT',
NU=-1.,-4.81643,1.,0.18357/

Note: The sign of NU corresponds to whether that species is consumed (-) or produced (+). Figure 13.6
shows the soot surface deposition on the wall. This boundary quantity is given by the input below.

&BNDF QUANTITY='SURFACE DEPOSITION', SPEC_ID='SOOT' /

Figure 13.6: Wall soot deposition for the propane_flame_deposition test case.

13.4.2 Soot Surface Oxidation

If soot deposition is being computed, the soot present on surfaces can undergo oxidation if the local temper-
ature is high enough and oxygen is present. Soot oxidation is enabled with the logical flag SOOT_OXIDATION
on the MISC input. Oxidation is computed as a single step, Arrhenius reaction using the soot surface density
and the local oxygen mole fraction. The reaction uses a rate constant of 4.7 × 1012 and an activation energy
of 211 kJ/mol. These values are based upon work performed by Hartman, Beyler, Riahi, and Beyler [27].
Soot oxidation cannot be used with simple chemistry; you must use primitive species. See the sample
case soot_oxidation_wall in the Verification Guide.

13.5 Aerosol Agglomeration

Aerosol particles will, over time, collide with one another and stick together to form larger particles. This
process is called agglomeration. The agglomeration model in FDS is automatically invoked by defining an
aerosol species with size bins. The agglomeration model can be disabled the logical flag AGGLOMERATION
on the MISC input. Particle bins are defined by giving a minimum particle diameter, MIN_DIAMETER in m, a

200
maximum particle diameter, MAX_DIAMETER in m, and the desired number of size bins, N_BINS, on the SPEC
line for an aerosol species. Note that if multiple aerosol species are defined, the agglomeration model will
agglomerate each species independently, that is particles of different species do not agglomerate together
into a larger mixed-species particle. The following input defines a soot species as an aerosol with 10 bins
between 1 and 100 µm. Each bin will be created as its own lumped species with names SOOT_1 through
SOOT_10. A summary of the particle bins will be written to the [Link] file.

&SPEC ID='SOOT', AEROSOL=T,MIN_DIAMETER=1.E-6,MAX_DIAMETER=100.E-6,

N_BINS=10,LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY=T/

It may be desirable to combine aerosol agglomeration with chemical reaction. That is, one or more of
the aerosol species may participate in a chemical reaction, either as a reactant or product. Keep in mind
that tracked species for the aerosol distribution are appended with the bin number, as stated above. Within
FDS, it is these subspecies that are being tracked and you must explicitly specify the stoichiometry of the
subspecies within the reaction (see Sec. 13.2). Below is an example for combustion of n-heptane generating
soot as an aerosol with five size bins.

&SPEC ID='N-HEPTANE' /
&SPEC ID='NITROGEN',LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY=T/
&SPEC ID='OXYGEN',LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY=T/
&SPEC ID='CARBON DIOXIDE',LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY=T/
&SPEC ID='CARBON MONOXIDE',LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY=T/
&SPEC ID='WATER VAPOR',LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY=T/
&SPEC ID='SOOT',LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY=T,
AEROSOL=T,N_BINS=5,
MIN_DIAMETER=0.023,MAX_DIAMETER=11.5/

&SPEC ID='AIR',BACKGROUND=T,
SPEC_ID='NITROGEN','OXYGEN','CARBON DIOXIDE','WATER VAPOR',
VOLUME_FRACTION=40.94283132,10.85911,0.020216389,0.497368688/
&SPEC ID='PRODUCTS',
SPEC_ID='NITROGEN','CARBON DIOXIDE','WATER VAPOR','CARBON MONOXIDE',
VOLUME_FRACTION=40.94283132,6.868439402,8.490526567,0.028618803/

&REAC FUEL='N-HEPTANE',
SPEC_ID_NU='N-HEPTANE',
'AIR',
'PRODUCTS',
'SOOT_1',
'SOOT_2',
'SOOT_3',
'SOOT_4',
'SOOT_5',
NU=-1,-1,1,0.035837089,0.030715589,0.026822578,0.023205152,0.02026202,
RADIATIVE_FRACTION=0.44 /

13.6 Aerosol Scrubbing

Water sprays can remove aerosols from the air. For example, rain can lower the concentrations pollen and
other particulates in the air. This behavior can be modeled with FDS by setting AEROSOL_SCRUBBING=T on
MISC. Setting this turns on an aerosol scrubbing model that removes aerosols from the gas phase. Once
removed the mass is no longer tracked; i.e. the scrubbing model simply acts as a sink for aerosols.

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13.7 Vapor Condensation
If a species with liquid properties, e.g., WATER VAPOR, is defined with AEROSOL=T, then FDS will predict
condensation for that species. FDS creates a second species called ID_COND. For example if the species
is WATER VAPOR, then the second species will be called WATER VAPOR_COND. This second species will be
an aerosol species that tracks the condensed phase. The particle diameter for the condensed vapor is given
by MEAN_DIAMETER, the condensed species specific heat will use the SPECIFIC_HEAT_LIQUID liquid values,
and the particle density will use DENSITY_LIQUID rather than DENSITY_SOLID. The initial mass fraction
of condensed phase can be defined with MASS_FRACTION_COND_0. Radiative properties should be assigned
using REAL_REFRACTIVE_INDEX and COMPLEX_REFRACTIVE_INDEX unless the species is either WATER VAPOR
or a predefined fuel species (these are the organic fuels listed in Table 13.1 that have liquid properties
predefined, see Table A.1 or Table A.2). For example, the input below defines WATER VAPOR as a condensable
species with an initial vapor mass fraction of 0.1 and an initial condensate mass fraction of 0.05.
The condensation routine requires the presence of nucleation sites to start the condensation process. If
condensed gas is already present, the number of condensate particles is used. Otherwise, FDS assumes a
background concentration of fine aerosols (pollen, bacterial spores, etc.). The default values is 10,000,000
nucleation sites per cubic meter. This value can be changed by setting NUCLEATION_SITES on MISC.

&SPEC ID='WATER VAPOR', AEROSOL=T,MEAN_DIAMETER=1.E-6,

MASS_FRRACTION_0=0.1,MASS_FRACTION_COND=0.05/

Condensation can occur in both gas cells and on wall cells. The heat transfer to a wall due to condensation
can be output with the QUANTITY of CONDENSATION HEAT FLUX. The amount of vapor that condenses can be
output with the QUANTITY of SURFACE DEPOSITION using the condensed phase SPEC_ID.

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Chapter 14

Radiation

14.1 Basic Radiation Parameters: The RADI Namelist Group

RADI is the namelist group that contains parameters related to the radiation solver. There can be only one
RADI line in the input file.
An important quantity in fire science is the fraction of the fire’s heat release rate released in the form of
thermal radiation, commonly referred to as the radiative fraction, symbolically denoted χr . It is a function
of the fire size, flame temperature, and the chemical composition of the fuel and combustion products. The
flame temperature, as opposed to the average cell temperature, is not reliably calculated in a large scale
fire simulation because the flame sheet is not well-resolved on a relatively coarse numerical grid. Thus,
the source term in the radiation transport equation (RTE), because of its T 4 dependence, cannot be reliably
calculated. As a practical alternative, the parameter RADIATIVE_FRACTION on the REAC line allows you to set
a lower bound on the fraction of the total energy due to combustion that is released in the form of thermal
radiation, i.e. RADIATIVE_FRACTION only applies to gas cells with combustion and not to gas in a hot upper
layer where the cell temperature can reliably be used in the RTE. By default, the RADIATIVE_FRACTION is set
to a specific value that is based on the reaction’s FUEL for an LES calculation, and it is set to zero for DNS,
in which case the amount of energy radiated by the fire is predicted rather than prescribed. Table 14.1 lists
the default radiative fraction for some common pure fuels. Many of these values are based on measurements
performed on relatively small flames by Tewarson [18]. These values may change with increasing fire size;
thus, the measurements cited by Beyler [28] may be more appropriate for larger fires. If in doubt, select the
value that is appropriate for your fire. There is no single value of radiative fraction for a given fuel.

There are four ways of treating thermal radiation in FDS, as explained in the following sections.

14.1.1 Radiation Option 1. No Radiation Transport

It is possible to turn off the RTE solver (saving roughly 20 % in CPU time) by adding the statement
RADIATION=F to the RADI line. If burning is taking place and radiation is turned off, then the total heat
release rate is reduced by the RADIATIVE_FRACTION, which is an input on the REAC line. Default values for
various pure fuels are listed in Table 14.1. With RADIATION set to F, the radiated energy from a fire simply
disappears from the computational domain. For fire simulations or any scenario with temperature increases
of hundreds of degrees Celsius, it is not recommended that you turn off the radiation transport. This feature
is used mainly for diagnostic purposes or when the changes in temperature are relatively small.

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 Table 14.1: Default radiative fraction for some common fuels.

Species χr Reference
ACETONE 0.27 [18]
ACETYLENE 0.49 [18]
BENZENE 0.60 [18]
BUTANE 0.31 [18]
DODECANE 0.40 [28]
ETHANE 0.25 [18]
ETHANOL 0.25 [18]
ETHYLENE 0.34 [18]
HYDROGEN 0.20 [28]
ISOPROPANOL 0.29 [18]
METHANE 0.20 [28]
METHANOL 0.21 [29]
N-DECANE 0.40 [28]
N-HEPTANE 0.40 [28]
N-HEXANE 0.40 [28]
N-OCTANE 0.40 [28]
N-PENTANE 0.40 [28]
PROPANE 0.29 [18]
PROPYLENE 0.37 [18]
TOLUENE 0.40 [28]
All other species 0.35

14.1.2 Radiation Option 2. Optically-Thin Limit; Specified Radiative Fraction

There are some fire scenarios where you might want to set the absorption coefficient in the RTE, κ, to
zero by setting OPTICALLY_THIN to T on the RADI line, in which case re-absorption of thermal radiation
by all gases is neglected. Essentially, the fire radiates the user-specified RADIATIVE_FRACTION of energy,
and this energy is transported to the domain boundaries without being reabsorbed by colder gases. This is
not something you want to do for a compartment fire scenario, where absorption and emission of thermal
radiation by hot and cold smoke is an important consideration. Rather, you might want to choose this option
for scenarios where you have a fire outside of a compartment or in a relatively large open space and you
want to explicitly dictate the net radiation energy that is transported to targets and solid boundaries. For
example, the radiative fraction of very large hydrocarbon fuel fires can decrease with increasing diameter
because of the re-absorption of radiated energy by the smoke and combustion products. This is why a large
oil fire appears to be comprised mostly of smoke, and this smoke shields external objects from the thermal
radiation. Predicting this phenomenon is difficult and can be grid-dependent. In such cases, you may want
to just specify the RADIATIVE_FRACTION on the REAC line and then OPTICALLY_THIN=T on the RADI line,
in which case the fire will radiate the given fraction of energy and FDS will not attempt to calculate the
re-absorption of this energy by the combustion products or surrounding gases.

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14.1.3 Radiation Option 3. Optically-Thick; Specified Radiative Fraction (LES Default)
In its normal operation, the RTE transfers energy from hot, emitting gases, like flames, to colder, absorbing
gases like water vapor or soot particulate. The absorption coefficient, κ, computed using RadCal, governs
both the emission and absorption of thermal radiation. Because flame temperatures are not well-resolved
for typically large-scale fire simulations, the source term in the RTE is adjusted in grid cells for which the
radiative fraction, χr , times the local heat release rate per unit volume, q̇′′′ , is greater than 1 kW/m3

χr q̇′′′ > 1 kW/m3 (14.1)

The adjustment ensures that the net radiative emission from the combusting region (i.e. the fire) is the spec-
ified RADIATIVE_FRACTION multiplied by the total combustion energy generated in this region. Elsewhere,
hot and cold gases emit and absorb thermal radiation according to their bulk temperature and radiative
properties, in particular the absorption coefficient, κ.
The net radiative loss from the computational domain is reported as a function of time in the column
Q_RADI in the output file CHID_hrr.csv. The absolute value of Q_RADI divided by the total heat release
rate, HRR, is usually not exactly equal to the specified RADIATIVE_FRACTION. The reason for this is that
the specified radiative fraction of the fire’s energy can be reabsorbed by colder combustion products such
as smoke and water vapor, thereby decreasing the absolute value of Q_RADI. Or, hot layer smoke and
combustion products can heat up and emit thermal radiation, adding to the absolute value of Q_RADI.
The correction factor that is applied to the RTE source term in the region defined by Eq. (14.1) by
default is bound between C_MIN and C_MAX (default 0.1 and 100). You can change the default behavior
of the correction as follows. First, you can force the RTE source term to be modified in all grid cells by
changing the 1 in Eq. (14.1) to -1 via QR_CLIP on the RADI line, in which case the solver will apply the
radiative fraction to the entire domain, not just the cells where combustion occurs. This will essentially
force the net radiative loss from the entire domain to obey the RADIATIVE_FRACTION. Second, you can
specify that the RADIATIVE_FRACTION serves only as a minimum value by changing the lower limit of the
correction factor, C_MIN, from its default value of 0.1 to 1.0 on the RADI line. This change recognizes the
fact that a fire’s radiative fraction might change over the course of a simulation, where it initially exhibits
the specified RADIATIVE_FRACTION but this might changes as the fire grows larger and engulfs a significant
fraction of the compartment.
The time-varying correction factor can be output using a device with the QUANTITY called 'RTE SOURCE
CORRECTION FACTOR'. Since this is a global value, the position of the device does not matter.

14.1.4 Radiation Option 4. Optically-Thick; Unspecified Radiative Fraction (DNS Default)

If it can be assumed that the temperature field is well-resolved and the radiation absorption coefficient and
RTE source term can be calculated without correction, then RADIATIVE_FRACTION ought to be set to zero.
This is the default for a DNS (Direct Numerical Simulation), and you can set it for LES calculations that are
highly resolved, like where the grid cells are a few millimeters in size. Of course, do a grid resolution study
to determine if the resulting radiative fraction, i.e. -Q_RAD/HRR, is grid independent.

14.2 Spatial and Temporal Resolution of the Radiation Transport Solver

There are several ways to improve the spatial and temporal accuracy of the discrete radiation transport
equation (RTE), but each typically increases the computation time. The spatial accuracy can be improved
by increasing the number of angles from the default 100 with the integer parameter NUMBER_RADIATION_
ANGLES. A good way to determine if you need better spatial resolution is to add slice (SLCF) files of the
quantity 'INTEGRATED INTENSITY'. Typically, you see high values of this quantity near sources of heat,

205
and these values decrease farther away. Ideally, you should see a somewhat smooth and circular pattern far
from the heat source, but because of the finite number of solid angles along which the radiation intensity is
tracked, you will see in the far field a star-like pattern that is not physical. If there are no important “targets”
far from the heat source, this nonphysical pattern can be ignored, but if there are important targets, then
increase the number of angles until you see a relatively smooth pattern over the region of interest.
The requirements for accurate angular resolution have been studied by Kim and Trouvé [30]. They
suggest the number of solid angles needed for accurate resolution (NRAcritical ) to a target at a separation
distance, H, with emission source surface area, S, is given by

4πH 2
NRAcritical = NΩ × (14.2)
S
where NΩ should be between 5 and 10.
The frequency of calls to the radiation solver can be changed from every 3 time steps with an integer
called TIME_STEP_INCREMENT. The increment over which the angles are updated can be reduced from 5
with the integer called ANGLE_INCREMENT. If TIME_STEP_INCREMENT and ANGLE_INCREMENT are both set to
1, the radiation field is completely updated in a single time step, but the cost of the calculation increases
significantly. By default, the radiation transport equation is fully updated every 15 time steps. Given the
relatively small time steps dictated by the CFL constraint, 15 time steps is usually still a relatively short
interval of time. Increasing the temporal resolution of the radiation solver rarely adds to the overall accuracy
of the calculation. Spatial resolution is far more important.
If you are using multiple meshes, the radiation solver cannot transfer energy from mesh to mesh within
a single time step. If you notice an obvious delay in the propagation of radiative intensity from one mesh
to another, you can increase the number of times the radiative intensity is updated within a single time step
using RADIATION_ITERATIONS, which is 1 by default. You rarely need to do this, unless it is obvious from
the animation of various slice files.
The radiation solver is called before the start of the calculation to establish the radiation field in the
event that you specify something to have a non-ambient temperature initially. By default, the radiation and
wall boundary routines are iterated three times to establish thermal equilibrium. To change the number of
iterations, set INITIAL_RADIATION_ITERATIONS on the RADI line.

14.3 Absorption Coefficient of Gases and Soot

By default FDS employs a gray gas model for the radiation absorption coefficient. Other options are the
wide band model (often called Box Model in the radiation literature), and the Weighted Sum of Gray Gases
(WSGG) model. The models are discussed in detail in the FDS Technical Reference Guide [3]. The radiation
properties of most common gases involved in combustion processes (water vapor, carbon dioxide, carbon
monoxide, fuel) and soot particles are automatically taken into account if the simulation involves combus-
tion. In simulations with no combustion nor radiating species, it is possible to use a constant absorption
coefficient by specifying KAPPA0 on the RADI line.
You can output the gray absorption coefficient using QUANTITY='ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT'. The
Wide Band and WSGG models employ several values of the absorption coefficients for each location, and
the 'ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT' output quantity only shows one of them, making this output impractical
for multi-band models.
If aluminum oxide is being modeled, the optical properties of soot can be replaced by the optical prop-
erties of aluminum oxide by setting AEROSOL_AL2O3=T on MISC. Any species with RADCAL_ID='SOOT' will
be treated as aluminum oxide.

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14.3.1 Gray Gas Model (default)
The absorption coefficient is a function of gas composition and temperature. In the beginning of the sim-
ulation, FDS calls the RadCal narrow band model several times to build a look-up table of temperature
dependent, gray specific absorption coefficients of all gases present in the simulation plus soot. There are
several considerations with regard to RadCal:

Path Length
For a given gas temperature and species composition, RadCal computes a single effective absorption coef-
ficient that is independent of wavelength. To calculate this coefficient, a user-specified PATH_LENGTH (m)
is needed. Its default value is 0.1 m. The choice of PATH_LENGTH can be based on the physical size of
the fire, the compartment, or the overall computational domain, depending on the application. The default
value has been chosen to capture accurately radiation heat transfer in and around the fire itself. A useful
“rule of thumb” for this length scale is 4V /A, where V is the volume of the region of interest and A is the
encompassing surface area. This region might be the volume occupied by the fire itself or a flashed-over
compartment. Alternatively, if the application involves calculating the heat flux to distant targets, a more
appropriate PATH_LENGTH might be the distance from the fire to the target. A sensitivity analysis should be
done in any case to determine how the chosen PATH_LENGTH affects the predicted values.

Fuel Species
The original version of RadCal included only absorption data for methane, which was used as a surrogate
for any fuel. However, more fuel species have been added to RadCal. The current list of fuels includes:
METHANE, ETHYLENE, ETHANE, PROPANE, N-HEPTANE, METHANOL, TOLUENE, PROPYLENE, and MMA. These species
are in addition to the RadCal species of: CARBON DIOXIDE, CARBON MONOXIDE, WATER VAPOR, and SOOT.

14.3.2 Wide Band Model (Box Model)

To use the optional wide band (box) model, set WIDE_BAND_MODEL=T on the RADI line. It is recommended
that this option only be used when the fuel is relatively non-sooting because it adds significantly to the cost
of the calculation. Do not specify a RADIATIVE_FRACTION because it will not be used.
When using the wide band model, the electromagnetic spectrum is divided in a relatively small num-
ber of bands, and within each band, the absorption coefficient is assumed constant, thus the name ’box’.
These values are calculated with RadCal. The default operation with WIDE_BAND_MODEL=T assumes six
bands, and the sets of band limits have been pre-defined for the six bands of water, carbon dioxide, carbon
monoxide, and a handful of fuel species. These fuels are 'ETHANE', 'ETHYLENE', 'METHANE', 'METHANOL',
'N-HEPTANE, 'PROPANE', 'PROPYLENE', and 'TOLUENE'.
It is possible to set your own band limits by specifying BAND_LIMITS on the RADI line. The limits should
be given in ascending order, in units of microns (µm). The maximum number of bands is 9, in which case
you would specify 10 real numbers separated by commas.

14.3.3 Weighted Sum of Gray Gases (WSGG) Model (Experimental)

To activate the WSGG model, set WSGG_MODEL=T on the RADI line. The WSGG model calculates the
absorption coefficient as a weighted sum of four gray coefficients, each being a function of gas composition
(water vapor, carbon dioxide and soot) and temperature. Other gases are ignored. Do not set BAND_LIMITS.
Note that the WSGG model is an experimental feature. It has very limited verification and validation
that is focused mainly on simple fuels and geometric configurations.

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14.4 Radiative Absorption and Scattering by Particles
The absorption and scattering of thermal radiation by Lagrangian particles is included in the radiation
transport equation. The radiative properties can be given by specifying the components of the material
refractive index on the corresponding PART line, using keywords REAL_REFRACTIVE_INDEX and COMPLEX_
REFRACTIVE_INDEX. Alternatively, wavelength dependent values of these two quantities can be tabulated in
a TABLE and called using the RADIATIVE_PROPERTY_TABLE. More details can be found in Sec. 15.3.2.
The radiative properties of the water and fuel particles (droplets) are determined automatically. For fuel,
the properties of heptane are assumed. The heptane values can be overridden by specifying them on the
PART line.
Other parameters affecting the computations of particle-radiation interaction are listed here. RADTMP is
the assumed radiative source temperature. It is used in the spectral weighting during the computation of the
mean scattering and absorption cross sections. The default is 900 ◦ C. NMIEANG is the number of angles in the
numerical integration of the Mie-phase function. Increasing NMIEANG improves the accuracy of the radiative
properties of water droplets. The cost of the better accuracy is seen in the initialization phase, not during
the actual simulation. The default value for NMIEANG is 15. For each class of particles, the Mie coefficients
are calculated for a wide range of droplet diameters to ensure that the all possible runtime situations can
be covered. To speed up the initialization phase, the range of diameters can be limited by parameters
MIE_MINIMUM_DIAMETER and MIE_MAXIMUM_DIAMETER. Also, the size of the Mie coefficient tables can be
specified using MIE_NDG parameter.

14.5 Other Considerations

Multi-fuel radiative fraction If multiple fuels are present, e.g., one fuel for cardboard and one fuel for
polystyrene combustion, then the radiant fraction will be computed locally as a reaction-weighted value,
similar to the approach described by Gupta et al. [31]. For example, if the two fuels are 20% and 40%
radiative fraction with, respectively, 80% and 20% of the heat in a grid cell, χr would be 0.8 × 0.2 + 0.2 ×
0.4 = 0.24. Thus, χr will vary in space and time. The value of the multi-fuel radiative fraction can be output
using the output QUANTITY of CHI_R.

Time variation of radiative fraction Even for a single fuel species the global flame radiative fraction may
depend on other parameters of the problem like global equivalent ratio. If a time variation of the radiative
fraction is necessary, it may be added through a ramp function, RAMP_CHI_R, on the REAC line. The results
of running the ramp_chi_r test case containing the RAMP given below is shown in Fig. 14.1.

&REAC FUEL='METHANE', RADIATIVE_FRACTION=1.0, RAMP_CHI_R='CHI_R RAMP' /

&RAMP ID='CHI_R RAMP', T= 0.0, F=0.238 /
&RAMP ID='CHI_R RAMP', T= 2.0, F=0.238 /
&RAMP ID='CHI_R RAMP', T= 4.0, F=0.182 /
&RAMP ID='CHI_R RAMP', T= 6.0, F=0.158 /
&RAMP ID='CHI_R RAMP', T= 8.0, F=0.140 /
&RAMP ID='CHI_R RAMP', T= 10.0, F=0.140 /

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 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
0.3
Ramp Radiative Fraction (ramp_chi_r)

0.25

Radiative Fraction
Expected
0.2 FDS

0.15

0.1
0 2 4 6 8 10
Time (s)

Figure 14.1: Results of the ramp_chi_r test case.

209
Chapter 15

Particles and Droplets

Lagrangian particles can be used to represent a wide variety of objects that are too small to resolve on the
numerical grid. FDS considers three major classes of Lagrangian particles: massless tracers, liquid droplets,
and everything else. The parameters describing particles are found on the PART line.

15.1 Basics
Properties of different types of Lagrangian particles are designated via the PART namelist group. Once
a particular type of particle has been described using a PART line, then the name of that particle type is
invoked elsewhere in the input file via the parameter PART_ID. There are no reserved PART_IDs – all must be
defined. For example, an input file may have several PART lines that include the properties of different types
of Lagrangian particles:

&PART ID='my smoke',... /

&PART ID='my water',... /

Particles are introduced into the calculation in several different ways: they may be introduced via a sprinkler
or nozzle (liquid droplets are usually introduced this way), they may be introduced at a blowing vent or
burning surface (mass tracer particles or particles representing embers are usually introduced this way), and
they may be introduced randomly or at fixed points within a designated volume (solid particles that represent
subgrid-scale objects are usually introduced this way). Details are found below.
The way to describe particles depends on the type. If you simply want massless tracers, specify
MASSLESS=T on the PART line. If you specify a SPEC_ID, then FDS automatically assumes that you want
relatively small, thermally-thin evaporating liquid droplets. For any other type of particle, such as particles
that represent subgrid-scale objects, like office clutter or vegetation, you add a SURF_ID to the PART line. All
of these different types of particles are described below.

Computational versus Physical Particles

In order to conserve mass and energy while minimizing computational cost, FDS computational particles
usually represent a larger number of physical particles with the same geometric and thermo-physical proper-
ties. Within FDS, each particle is assigned a weighting factor representing the number of physical particles
per computational particle. You can output the 'PARTICLE WEIGHTING FACTOR' using a DEVC or visualize
the 'PARTICLE WEIGHTING FACTOR' in Smokeview.

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15.2 Massless Particles
The simplest use of Lagrangian particles is for visualization, in which case the particles are considered
massless tracers. In this case, the particles are defined via the line

&PART ID='tracers', MASSLESS=T, ... /

Note that if the particles are MASSLESS, it is not appropriate to color them according to any particular prop-
erty. Particles are not colored by gas phase quantities, but rather by properties of the particle itself. For
example, 'PARTICLE TEMPERATURE' for a non-massless particle refers to the temperature of the particle it-
self rather than the local gas temperature. Also note that if MASSLESS=T, the SAMPLING_FACTOR (Sec. 22.9)
is set to 1 unless you say otherwise, which would be pointless since MASSLESS particles are for visualization
only.

Turbulent Dispersion (Massless Tracers)

Massless tracer particles may also be useful in modeling dispersion of a tracer gas that does not affect the
mean flow field (passive scalar). The number density of the particles then may be translated into a local
mass concentration. See how to output number concentration in Sec. 22.10.16.
To account for subgrid-scale turbulent motions, add TURBULENT_DISPERSION=T to the PART line. The
particles will then undergo a random walk based on the subgrid diffusivity. As an example, see the random_
walk test cases in the WUI directory of the verification suite.

Turbulent Dispersion (Massive Particles)

TURBULENT_DISPERSION=T may also be used with massive particles. In this case, a random walk model is
not used; instead, the fluid velocity used in the drag calculation is augmented with a fluctuating component
that is taken from an estimate of the subgrid kinetic energy. Details of the formulation are discussed in the
FDS Technical Reference Guide [3].

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15.3 Liquid Droplets
Lagrangian particles that are not just massless tracers fall into two main categories – liquid droplets or solid
particles. This section describes the former; and the next, the latter.
To define an evaporating liquid droplet, you must specify the name of the gas species created by evapo-
ration via the SPEC_ID on the PART line. For example,

&PART ID='my droplets', SPEC_ID='WATER VAPOR', ... /

By specifying a SPEC_ID, you are implicitly invoking the droplet evaporation model. Alternatively, if you
specify a SURF_ID, you are designating a solid particle that behaves according to the given SURF line. Solid
particles are described in Sec. 15.4.
By default liquid droplet evaporation uses the Ranz-Marshall correlation [32] with a B-number. Addi-
tional correlations are available by setting EVAP_MODEL on PART. The available options are:

• 'RANZ-MARSHALL NO B-NUMBER' uses the Ranz-Marshall correlation with no B-number.

• 'RANZ-MARSHALL B-NUMBER' uses Ranz-Marshall correlation along with an evaporating species B-

number applied to both the Nusselt and Sherwood number correlations. This is the default value. This
is the M0 model from Sazhin [33].

• 'RANZ-MARSHALL LEWIS B-NUMBER' is the default correlation with the Sherwood number correlation
using a B-number based on the Lewis number computed at the film condition. This is the M1 model
from Sazhin [33].

• 'RANZ-MARSHALL FLUX-LIMITED LEWIS NO B-NUMBER' is the previous model plus a flux limiting fac-
tor applied to the B-number. This is the M2 model from Sazhin [33].

15.3.1 Thermal Properties

The properties you need to supply for a liquid droplet depend on whether or not the SPEC_ID is listed in
Appendix A, and if the column labeled “Liquid” is checked with a “Y”, meaning that its liquid properties
are known. The following sub-sections provide instructions on what to do in various instances. Note that
the INITIAL_TEMPERATURE (◦ C) of the liquid droplets is specified on the PART line. Its default value is the
overall ambient temperature of the simulation, TMPA, from the MISC line.
Heat transfer and evaporation from liquid droplets to the gas uses correlations for the heat and mass
transfer coefficients. These can instead be respectively specified using HEAT_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT_GAS
and MASS_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT on the PART line.

Known Liquid/Gas Species

If the SPEC_ID is listed in Appendix A, and if the column labeled “Liquid” is checked with a “Y”, you need
only list the following:

&SPEC ID='WATER VAPOR' /

&PART ID='water droplets', SPEC_ID='WATER VAPOR', ... /

There might be other optional parameters listed on the PART line, but these are the ones that are absolutely
necessary. In addition, if SPEC_ID='WATER VAPOR' the droplets are not only assigned the thermo-physical
properties of water, but also the radiation absorption properties are set to that of water, and the droplets are
colored blue in Smokeview.

213
Unknown Liquid/Gas Species
If the SPEC_ID is not listed in Appendix A with a “Y” in the “Liquid” column, you must provide all of the
following properties of the liquid on the SPEC line:

• DENSITY_LIQUID (kg/m3 ).

• SPECIFIC_HEAT_LIQUID (kJ/(kg K)). If the specific heat of the liquid is a function of temperature, use
RAMP_CP_L to provide the function c p (T ).

• VAPORIZATION_TEMPERATURE Boiling temperature of the liquid, Tboil (◦ C).

• MELTING_TEMPERATURE Melting (solidification) temperature of the liquid (◦ C).

• ENTHALPY_OF_FORMATION The heat of formation of the gas (kJ/mol).

• HEAT_OF_VAPORIZATION Latent heat of vaporization of the liquid, hv (kJ/kg).

• H_V_REFERENCE_TEMPERATURE The temperature corresponding to the HEAT_OF_VAPORIZATION (◦ C).

• VISCOSITY_LIQUID The viscosity of the liquid (kg/(m s)).

• CONDUCTIVITY_LIQUID The conductivity of the liquid (W/(m K)).

• BETA_LIQUID The coefficient of thermal expansion of the liquid (1/K).

Note that FDS will adjust the liquid enthalpy so that the following relationship holds:

hgas (Tboil ) = hliquid (Tboil ) + hv (15.1)

Custom Liquid/Gas Species

Note that only one gas species can be used in the droplet evaporation model because the model does not
consider a distillation curve for evaporation. However, custom properties can be assigned to a SPEC. In
addition to the liquid properties mentioned above, see Sec. 12.1.3 on user-defined gas properties.

Fuel Liquid/Gas Species

If the liquid droplets burn, the SPEC_ID on the PART line should designate the FUEL on the REAC line. De-
pending on the combustion model, you may not need to create a separate SPEC line. Fuel droplets will be
colored yellow by default in Smokeview and any resulting fuel vapor will burn according to the combustion
model specified on the REAC line. The droplets evaporate into an equivalent amount of fuel vapor such that
the resulting heat release rate (assuming complete combustion) is equal to the evaporation rate multiplied by
the HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION. The HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION can be specified on the PART line, or the REAC line, or
it will be calculated automatically by FDS. If it is specified on the PART line, the burning rate will be adjusted
to account for the difference between the heats of combustion of this particular droplet and the other fuels
in the model. If you let FDS calculate the heat of combustion automatically, run the model for a few time
steps and look for the “Heat of Combustion” listed in the [Link] file. Use this value to specify the flow
rate from the nozzle to achieve your desired heat release rate.
If a spray nozzle is used to generate the fuel droplets, its characteristics are specified in the same way as
those for a sprinkler. If the fuel species is listed in Appendix A and the column labeled “RadCal Surrogate”
is not blank, then the droplets will be assigned fuel radiation absorption properties corresponding to the
listed species.

214
 Note that to limit the computational cost of sprinkler simulations, liquid droplets disappear when they
hit the “floor” of the computational domain, regardless of whether it is solid or not. However, this may not
be desired when using liquid fuels. To stop FDS from removing liquid droplets from the floor of the domain,
add the phrase POROUS_FLOOR=F to the MISC line. An alternate solution is make sure the OBST the fuel is
landing on is at least one cell thick.
In the example file (Fires/spray_burner.fds), heptane from two nozzles is sprayed downward into
a steel pan. The flow rate is increased linearly so that the fire grows to 2 MW in 20 s, burns steadily for
another 20 s, and then ramps down linearly in 20 s. The key input parameters are given here:

&REAC FUEL='N-HEPTANE',SOOT_YIELD=0.01 /

&DEVC ID='nozzle_1', XYZ=4.0,-.3,0.5, PROP_ID='nozzle', QUANTITY='TIME', SETPOINT=0. /

&DEVC ID='nozzle_2', XYZ=4.0,0.3,0.5, PROP_ID='nozzle', QUANTITY='TIME', SETPOINT=0. /

&PART ID='heptane droplets', SPEC_ID='N-HEPTANE',

QUANTITIES(1:2)='PARTICLE DIAMETER','PARTICLE TEMPERATURE',
DIAMETER=1000., SAMPLING_FACTOR=1 /

&PROP ID='nozzle', PART_ID='heptane droplets', HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION=44500.,

FLOW_RATE=1.97, FLOW_RAMP='fuel', PARTICLE_VELOCITY=10.,
SPRAY_ANGLE=0.,30., SMOKEVIEW_ID='nozzle' /
&RAMP ID='fuel', T= 0.0, F=0.0 /
&RAMP ID='fuel', T=20.0, F=1.0 /
&RAMP ID='fuel', T=40.0, F=1.0 /
&RAMP ID='fuel', T=60.0, F=0.0 /

Many of these parameters are self-explanatory. Note that a 2 MW fire is achieved via 2 nozzles flowing
heptane at 1.96 L/min each:

L 1 min kg 1 m3 kJ
2 × 1.97 × × 684 3 × × 44500 = 2000 kW (15.2)
min 60 s m 1000 L kg
The parameter HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION over-rides that for the overall reaction scheme. Thus, if other droplets
or solid objects have different heats of combustion, the effective burning rates are adjusted so that the total
heat release rate is that which you expect. However, exercises like this ought to be conducted just to ensure
that this is the case. The HRR curve for this example is given in Fig. 15.1.
Note also that this feature is subject to mesh dependence. If the mesh cells are too coarse, the evaporating
fuel can be diluted to such a degree that it may not burn. Proper resolution depends on the type of fuel and
the amount of fuel being ejected from the nozzle. Always test your burner at the resolution of your overall
simulation.

15.3.2 Radiative Properties

The radiative properties of water and fuel droplets are determined automatically. For fuel, the properties
of heptane are assumed. For other types of particles, the radiative properties can be given by specifying
the components of the material refractive index on the corresponding PART line, using keywords REAL_
REFRACTIVE_INDEX and COMPLEX_REFRACTIVE_INDEX. Alternatively, wavelength dependent values of these
two quantities can be specified using a spectral property table (TABL) whose ID is indicated on the PART
line via RADIATIVE_PROPERTY_TABLE. Each row of a spectral property table contains three real numbers:
wavelength (µm), and the real and complex components of the refractive index. The real part of the re-
fractive index should be a positive number. If it is greater than 10, the particles are treated as perfectly
reflecting spheres. The complex part should be a non-negative number. Values less than 10−6 are treated

215
 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
2500
Heat Release Rate (spray_burner)
2000

Heat Release Rate (kW)

1500

1000

500
Specified (HRR)
FDS (HRR)
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time (s)

Figure 15.1: Heat Release Rate (HRR) of spray burner test.

as non-absorbing. Below is an example of the use of the spectral property table, listing the properties at
wavelengths 1, 5 and 10 µm.

&PART ID='my particles',..., RADIATIVE_PROPERTY_TABLE='radtab' /

&TABL ID='radtab', TABLE_DATA= 1.0,1.33,0.0001 /
&TABL ID='radtab', TABLE_DATA= 5.0,1.33,0.002 /
&TABL ID='radtab', TABLE_DATA=10.0,1.33,0.001 /

For calculating the absorption of thermal radiation by particles, FDS uses a running average of particle
temperature and density. The RUNNING_AVERAGE_FACTOR is set on the PART line, and its default value is
0.5 for liquid droplets and 0 for solid particles. The value of 0 indicates that no running average is used.
Similarly, the parameter RUNNING_AVERAGE_FACTOR_WALL, also set on the PART line, controls the running
average of droplet or particle mass on solid surfaces. Its defaults are the same as for RUNNING_AVERAGE_
FACTOR.

15.3.3 Size Distribution

The size distribution of liquid droplets is specified using a cumulative volume fraction (CVF)1 indicated by
the character string DISTRIBUTION on the PART line. The default is 'ROSIN-RAMMLER-LOGNORMAL':
 Z D
[ln(D′ /Dv,0.5 )]2
 
1 1

 2π
 √
σ D′ exp − 2σ 2
dD′ (D ≤ Dv,0.5 )
0
F(D) =   γ  (15.3)
 1 − exp −0.693 D

(D > D )

Dv,0.5 v,0.5

Alternatively, you can specify 'LOGNORMAL' or 'ROSIN-RAMMLER' alone rather than the combination of the
two. Figure 15.2 displays the possible size distributions. Notice that the 'LOGNORMAL' and
'ROSIN-RAMMLER' distributions have undesirable attributes at opposite tails, which is why the combina-
tion of the two is commonly used. Figure 15.2 also shows a comparison between the prescribed distribution
and the actual realized distribution of droplet sizes. The dashed lines show the measured droplet size dis-
tributions, while the solid lines show the prescribed sampling distributions. The sampled distributions are
measured with the HISTOGRAM function. A sample size of 10000 droplets was used.
1 The CVF indicates the fraction of total mass carried by droplets less than the given diameter.

216
 The median volumetric diameter, Dv,0.5 , is specified via the parameter DIAMETER (µm) on the PART
line. You must specify the DIAMETER in cases where the droplets evaporate (in which case you also need
to specify a SPEC_ID to indicate the gas species generated by the evaporating droplets). The width of the
log-normal distribution, σ , is specified with SIGMA_D on the PART line. The width of the Rosin-Rammler
distribution, γ, is specified
√ with GAMMA_D (default 2.4). Note that in the combined distribution, the parameter,
σ , is calculated σ = 2/( 2π (ln 2) γ) = 1.15/γ which ensures that the two functions are smoothly joined at
D = Dv,0.5 . You can also add a value for SIGMA_D to the PART line if you want to over-ride this feature. The
larger the value of γ, the narrower the droplet size is distributed about the median value.
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
1 1
Lognormal Distribution Rosin-Rammler-Lognormal Distribution
0.8 0.8

0.6 0.6

0.4 0.4

CNF (Prescribed) CNF (Prescribed)

0.2 CVF (Prescribed) 0.2 CVF (Prescribed)
CNF (Sampled) CNF (Sampled)
CVF (Sampled) CVF (Sampled)
0 0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 0 500 1000 1500 2000
Diameter (µm) Diameter (µm)

FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
1 1
Rosin-Rammler Distribution User Defined Distribution
0.8 0.8

0.6 0.6

0.4 0.4

CNF (Prescribed) CNF (Prescribed)

0.2 CVF (Prescribed) 0.2 CVF (Prescribed)
CNF (Sampled) CNF (Sampled)
CVF (Sampled) CVF (Sampled)
0 0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 0 500 1000 1500 2000
Diameter (µm) Diameter (µm)

Figure 15.2: Droplet size distributions. The first three plots are based on a specified CVF (red curves) from which the
CNF (black curves) is derived. The fourth plot (lower right) is an example of a specified CNF from which the CVF
is derived. The solid lines show the prescribed sampling distribution, while the dashed lines show the actual sampled
droplet size distribution, measured with the HISTOGRAM functionality.

You can specify your own cumulative number fraction (CNF)2 by specifying a CNF_RAMP_ID on the
PART line and including a RAMP that gives the CNF:

&PART ID='my droplets',..., CNF_RAMP_ID='my CNF' /

&RAMP ID='my CNF', T= 0.1, F=0.000000 /
&RAMP ID='my CNF', T= 200., F=0.000003 /
...
&RAMP ID='my CNF', T=2000., F=1.000000 /

2 The CNF indicates the fraction of total droplets whose diameters are less than the given diameter.

217
Note that the RAMP variable T indicates the diameter and is given in micrometers. The fourth plot in Fig. 15.2
is an example of where the CNF is specified and the CVF is calculated from it. It is essentially the reverse
of what is shown in the first plot, where the CVF is specified and the CNF is calculated from it.
As droplets are created in the simulation, their diameters are randomly chosen based on the given distri-
bution. To avoid very small particle weights, the built-in distributions are clipped at the cumulative fractions
of CNF_CUTOFF and (1 - CNF_CUTOFF). Note that CNF_CUTOFF is set on the MISC line. The default value
of CNF_CUTOFF is 0.005. You can prevent excessively large droplets from being chosen by specifying a
MAXIMUM_DIAMETER, which is assigned an extremely large value by default. The lower end of the size dis-
tribution is set using MINIMUM_DIAMETER whose default value is 0.005 times the value of DIAMETER. If a
CNF_RAMP_ID is given, then the default value of MINIMUM_DIAMETER is set as the diameter of the ramp corre-
sponding to CNF_CUTOFF. Note that an extremely small MINIMUM_DIAMETER might result in numerical issues
if the weighted droplet mass of the MINIMUM_DIAMETER approaches the numerical precision of the gas mass
in a cell. A warning will be written if there is a very low value (<0.01 µm) of MINIMUM_DIAMETER. Droplets
are removed when their diameter decreases below KILL_DIAMETER. For a MONODISPERSE distribution, KILL_
DIAMETER is set to 0.5 % of the mass of the droplet at its initial DIAMETER. Otherwise droplets are removed
when the droplet mass is 0.5 % of the mass of the MINIMUM_DIAMETER. The droplet diameter range is divided
into a series of bins3 .
To prevent FDS from generating a distribution of droplets altogether, set MONODISPERSE to T on the PART
line, in which case every droplet will be assigned the same DIAMETER.
If you set CHECK_DISTRIBUTION=T on the PART line, FDS will write out the cumulative distribution
function for that particular particle class in a file called CHID_PART_ID_cdf.csv. If you do this, you might
want to avoid spaces in the ID of the PART line.

15.3.4 Dense Clouds of Droplets

If the local liquid droplet density is relatively high, as at a sprinkler or hose nozzle, the drag on individual
droplets is reduced by wake effects. FDS includes a sub-model that accounts for drag reduction due to wake
effects. This model is invoked if the local liquid volume fraction is greater than a threshold value called
DENSE_VOLUME_FRACTION, a parameter that is set on the PART line. Setting this parameter to a relatively
large number (1 is sufficient) turns off the wake reduction model. Its default value is 1 × 10−5 .

15.3.5 Primary Breakup

Using DENSE_VOLUME_FRACTION for wake reduction may not provide enough drag reduction for a fire hose
stream. To accommodate this scenario, FDS introduces a “primary breakup” method. If PRIMARY_ BREAKUP_
LENGTH is set on the PART line, then until a particle travels that distance its drag coefficient is multiplied by
PRIMARY_BREAKUP_DRAG_REDUCTION_FACTOR, also set on PART, and typically a small value, even zero. In
this way, the particle stream behaves like a hose stream prior to instability. The parameters are empirical
and the model should be tuned for a specific hose nozzle, see [34], for example.

&PART ID='hose stream',..., PRIMARY_BREAKUP_LENGTH=10, PRIMARY_BREAKUP_DRAG_REDUCTION_

FACTOR=0 /

3 By default, the range of particle sizes is divided into six bins, and the sampled particles are divided among these bins. This

ensures that a reasonable number of particles are assigned to the entire spectrum of sizes. To change the default number of bins, set
N_STRATA on the PART line.

218
15.3.6 Secondary Breakup
If BREAKUP=T is set on the PART line, particles may undergo secondary breakup. In this case you should
also specify the SURFACE_TENSION (N/m) of the liquid and the resulting ratio of the median volumet-
ric diameter, Dv,0.5 , BREAKUP_RATIO. Its default is 3/7. Optionally, specify the distribution parameters
BREAKUP_GAMMA_D and BREAKUP_SIGMA_D. These parameters are defined the same as GAMMA_D and SIGMA_D
in sec. 15.3.3 but instead apply after breakup.

15.3.7 Warning Messages Related to Droplets

An important parameter for any simulation involving liquid droplets is PARTICLES_PER_SECOND on the PROP
line, which is specified by the DEVC line that includes the sprinkler or nozzle coordinates. The default value
is 5000 particles per second. In some cases, this value might be too low, and you may want to raise it. The
reason is that each liquid droplet that FDS explicitly tracks represents many, many more actual droplets,
and the effect on the simulation of this one “super drop” may be relatively large. For example, a single
droplet within a grid cell might decrease the gas temperature rapidly over the duration of just one time
step—something that would not happen if there were many more droplets within the cell. You might even
see within the output file named case_name.err warning messages like:

WARNING Delta TMP_G. Mesh: 5 Particle: 3245

This means that during the temperature update of a particular grid cell in Mesh 5, the droplet whose index is
3245 caused the cell gas temperature (TMP_G) to change too rapidly. If you only see a few of these messages,
it is not a problem given how many droplets and time steps there are. However, if you see these messages
persistently, you might want to increase the PARTICLES_PER_SECOND to reduce the likelihood that a single
droplet will make such a dramatic change in a single time step.

219
15.4 Solid Particles
Lagrangian particles can represent a wide variety of subgrid-scale objects, from office clutter to vegetation.
To create solid, non-liquid particles, you must add a SURF_ID to the PART line. The specified SURF line con-
tains the parameters that describe the thermo-physical properties and geometric parameters of the particle.
These properties are the same as those you would apply to an OBST or VENT. FDS uses the same solid phase
conduction and pyrolysis algorithm for particles as it does for solid walls.
If the SURF line that is associated with the particle class calls for it, the particles will heat up due to
convection from the surrounding gases and radiation from near and distant sources. The convective heat
transfer coefficient takes into account the particle geometry, and the radiative heat flux is based on the
integrated intensity. That is, the radiation heat flux is the average over all angles.

15.4.1 Basic Geometry and Boundary Conditions

To demonstrate the basic syntax for solid particles, the following input lines create a collection of hot
spheres:

&PART ID='spheres', SURF_ID='HOT', STATIC=T, PROP_ID='ball' /

&SURF ID='HOT', TMP_FRONT=500., RADIUS=0.005, GEOMETRY='SPHERICAL' /
&PROP ID='ball', SMOKEVIEW_ID='SPHERE', SMOKEVIEW_PARAMETERS(1)='D=0.01' /
&INIT PART_ID='spheres', XB=0.25,0.75,0.25,0.75,0.25,0.75, N_PARTICLES=10 /

The PART line establishes the class of particles. In this case, the presence of a SURF_ID indicates that the
particles are solids with the properties given by the SURF line 'HOT'. STATIC is a logical parameter whose
default is F that indicates if the particles are stationary. The PROP_ID references a PROP (property) line that
just tells Smokeview that the particles are to be drawn as spheres of diameter 0.01 m. See Sec. 18.7.3
for details and options. The INIT line randomly fills the given volume with 10 of these hot spheres. See
Sec. 15.5.3 for details.
If the SURF line includes a MATL_ID, the particle mass will be based upon the value(s) of DENSITY of the
referenced MATL line(s). If there is to be no heat conduction calculation in depth, do not specify a MATL_ID.
Instead, you can specify, for example, the surface temperature, TMP_FRONT (◦ C), heat release rate per unit
area, HRRPUA (kW/m2 ), or species MASS_FLUX (kg/(m2 s)).
The GEOMETRY options for solid particles are 'SPHERICAL', 'CYLINDRICAL', or 'CARTESIAN'. By de-
fault, the GEOMETRY is 'CARTESIAN', in which case you need to provide the LENGTH and WIDTH of the rect-
angular plate. It is assumed that the plate is symmetric front and back (note this means you should set
BACKING='INSULATED' on the SURF line). You need only specify the layers that make up the half-thickness.
The array THICKNESS(N) indicates the thickness(es) of each layer of the plate, not the total thickness of the
plate itself. If the plate is composed of only one material component, the specified THICKNESS is taken as
the half-thickness of the plate.
For 'CYLINDRICAL' or 'SPHERICAL' particles, specify the INNER_RADIUS and THICKNESS of the indi-
vidual layers. Alternatively, you can just specify the RADIUS if the cylinder or sphere is solid and has only
one material component. The default value of INNER_RADIUS is 0 m, which means that the radius of the
cylinder or sphere is the sum of the THICKNESS values. Remember that the layers are to be listed starting at
the surface, not the center. For 'CYLINDRICAL' particles, specify a LENGTH as well.

Thermally Thick Droplet Model

Note that if the GEOMETRY is set to 'SPHERICAL' and a BOILING_TEMPERATURE is specified, thus invoking
the liquid pyrolysis model, then the mass transfer relationships will follow those of an evaporating droplet.

220
The difference between this model and the default droplet model is that in this case the internal droplet
temperature will be solved for using the 1D conduction solver. Usually, the CELL_SIZE_FACTOR needs to be
decreased to get sufficient resolution inside the drop—you should double check the number of solid phase
nodes by examining the [Link] file.

15.4.2 Drag
The drag force exerted by moving or stationary particles is detailed in the FDS Technical Reference Guide,
chapter “Lagrangian Particles” [3]. For solid particles, the default drag law is that of a solitary sphere. To
invoke a different drag law, that of a solitary cylinder for example, set DRAG_LAW='CYLINDER' on the PART
line. A summary of the available drag laws is given in table 15.1. If none of these options is applicable,
you may specify a constant value of the drag coefficient for a particle class (a specific PART_ID) by setting a
DRAG_COEFFICIENT on the PART line. The DRAG_COEFFICIENT over-rides the DRAG_LAW.

Table 15.1: Drag laws available in FDS

DRAG_LAW Reference
'SPHERE' (default) FDS Tech Guide [3]
'CYLINDER' FDS Tech Guide [3]
'DISK' FDS Tech Guide [3]
'POROUS MEDIA' Sec. 15.4.8
'SCREEN' Sec. 15.4.9

If you are modeling a relatively dense collection of solid particles, like vegetation, you should set the
DRAG_COEFFICIENT explicitly and not rely on the correlations for spheres and cylinders which were devel-
oped for relatively independent bodies, not clusters.

Near Wall Particle Interpolation The momentum exchange between a particle and the fluid depends on
the local fluid velocity at the particle position. Normally, the velocity at the particle position is taken from a
tri-linear interpolation from the staggered velocity components nearest the particle. Thus, the particle lives
in a different staggered cell for each component of velocity. When the particle position is within half a
grid cell from the wall the default behavior is to use fluid velocity component tangential to the wall when
computing the drag force in that component direction. This approximation is justified based on the plug flow
profile seen in highly turbulent flows. However, as the flow becomes more resoled, this approximation may
not be appropriate. If you specify NEAR_WALL_PARTICLE_INTERPOLATION=T on MISC then the fluid velocity
will be linearly interpolated between the staggered component value and the no slip condition at the wall.

15.4.3 Radiation Absorption and Emission

Solid particles absorb and emit thermal radiation. The contribution from particles to the radiation absorption
coefficient in each grid cell, i jk, is given by:

∑ εp Ap
κp,i jk = (15.4)
4Vi jk

where the summation is made over each grid cell of volume, Vi jk . The emissivity of each individual particle
is given by εp and Ap is the particle surface area.

221
15.4.4 Size Distribution
By default, solid particles of a given class are mono-disperse; that is, have the same initial size which is
specified via the SURF line that is designated on the PART line. However, it is possible to specify a distribution
for the diameter of solid cylinders and spheres. Consider a case where you have a collection of cylindrical
wooden rods whose diameters are uniformly distributed between 4000 µm and 6000 µm:

&SURF ID='rod', MATL_ID='...', THICKNESS=0.0030, LENGTH=0.02, GEOMETRY='CYLINDRICAL' /

&PART ID='rods', SURF_ID='rod', ..., MONODISPERSE=F, CNF_RAMP_ID='dist', N_STRATA=1 /
&RAMP ID='dist', T=4000., F=0. /
&RAMP ID='dist', T=6000., F=1. /

The material properties of the rods are specified via the MATL line (not shown). The nominal radius of the
rods is given by the parameter THICKNESS (m) on the SURF line, but the distribution of the rod diameters is
specified by the parameter CNF_RAMP_ID (Cumulative Number Fraction) on the PART line. The RAMP lines
designate the cumulative distribution function of the rod diameters, where the pairs (T,F) denote a uniform
distribution between 4000 µm and 6000 µm. Note that the units of the distribution are µm, not m. The
parameter N_STRATA indicates the number of bins sub-dividing the diameter range, which is set to 1 here
because the range is relatively small compared to typical liquid droplet size distributions. Note that the
particle arrays for surface heat transfer are allocated based upon the THICKNESS on SURF. To avoid potential
array size issues, it is suggested that THICKNESS on SURF be defined as the maximum value on the RAMP.
Following is an example of how to apply a distribution of solid particles. In the example case called WUI/
hot_rods.fds, L = 0.02 m long wooden rods whose radii are uniformly distributed between r = 0.002 m
and r = 0.003 m ( f (r) = 1000, 0.002 < r < 0.003; f (r) = 0 elsewhere) are poured onto a hot (800 ◦ C) floor
and burned. The original density of the material is ρp = 440 kg/m3 . In total, 4000 rods are ejected from a
small vent over the course of 10 s. The total mass is
Z 0.003
m = 4000 × πr2 Lρp ≈ 0.7 kg ; r2 = r2 f (r) dr ≈ 6.333 × 10−6 (15.5)
0.002

Figure 15.3 displays the distribution of radii and the mass of rods as a function of time. Note that 8 % of the
mass remains as char.
-3 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
10
1 1
Diameter Distribution (hot_rods) Particle Mass (hot_rods)
0.8 0.8

0.6 0.6
Mass (kg)
PDF

Ideal
FDS (Mass 2)
0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2
Ideal
FDS
0 0
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Diameter (µm) Time (s)

Figure 15.3: (Left) Distribution of rod diameters. (Right) Total mass of rods as a function of time.

222
15.4.5 Solid Particle Movement on Solid Surfaces
By default, solid particles do not “stick” or adhere to solid surfaces like liquid droplets do. However, you can
make solid particles act like liquid droplets by setting ADHERE_TO_SOLID=1 on the PART line, in which case
the particles will stick and be reassigned a new speed and direction. If the surface is horizontal, the direction
is randomly chosen. If vertical, the direction is downward. The parameters HORIZONTAL_VELOCITY and
VERTICAL_VELOCITY on the PART line allow you to control the speed at which particles move horizontally or
vertically (downward). The defaults are 0.2 m/s and 0.5 m/s, respectively. If you want the particle to truly
stick and not move on a surface, set these values to 0.

15.4.6 Particle Orientation

If an ORIENTATION vector is assigned on a PART line, the radiative flux to the particle is calculated as if
there is a flat plate normal to the direction of the vector, like a conventional heat flux gauge. That is, the
heat flux is not an integrated average over the entire particle but rather the directional heat flux with the
given orientation. The reason for this exception to the general rule is that often single particles are used as
“targets” to record a heat flux at a given point in the domain with a given orientation. These particles can be
thought of as tiny heat flux gauges that do not disturb the flow.

15.4.7 Gas Generating Particles

Lagrangian particles can be used to generate gases at a specified rate. The syntax is similar to that used for
a solid wall. For example, the following input lines create three particles – one shaped like a rectangular
plate, one a cylinder, and one a sphere – that generate argon, sulfur dioxide, and helium, respectively. The
particles have no mass; they simply are used to generate the gases at a specified rate.

&SPEC ID='ARGON' /
&SPEC ID='SULFUR DIOXIDE' /
&SPEC ID='HELIUM' /

&INIT PART_ID='plate', XYZ=-1.,0.,1.5, N_PARTICLES=1 /

&INIT PART_ID='tube', XYZ= 0.,0.,1.5, N_PARTICLES=1 /
&INIT PART_ID='ball', XYZ= 1.,0.,1.5, N_PARTICLES=1 /

&PART ID='plate', SAMPLING_FACTOR=1, SURF_ID='plate bc', STATIC=T /

&PART ID='tube', SAMPLING_FACTOR=1, SURF_ID='tube bc', STATIC=T /
&PART ID='ball', SAMPLING_FACTOR=1, SURF_ID='ball bc', STATIC=T /

&SURF ID='plate bc', THICKNESS=0.001, LENGTH=0.05, WIDTH=0.05, SPEC_ID(1)='ARGON',

MASS_FLUX(1)=0.1, TAU_MF(1)=0.001 /
&SURF ID='tube bc', GEOMETRY='CYLINDRICAL', LENGTH=0.05, RADIUS=0.01,
SPEC_ID(1)='SULFUR DIOXIDE', MASS_FLUX(1)=0.1, TAU_MF(1)=0.001 /
&SURF ID='ball bc', GEOMETRY='SPHERICAL', RADIUS=0.01, SPEC_ID(1)='HELIUM',
MASS_FLUX(1)=0.1, TAU_MF(1)=0.001 /

In this case, there is no calculation of heat conduction in depth. Only the surface area is important. For the
plate, the surface area is twice the length times the width. For the cylinder, the area is twice the radius times
π times the length. For the sphere, the area is 4π times the radius squared. Figure 15.4 displays the output of
the test case called surf_mass_part_specified.fds, demonstrating that the production rate of the gases
is as expected.

223
 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
0.01
Mass Production (surf_mass_part_specified)
0.008

Expected (Ar mass)

0.006 Expected (SO2 mass)

Mass (kg)
Expected (He mass)
FDS (Ar mass)
0.004 FDS (SO2 mass)
FDS (He mass)

0.002

0
0 5 10 15 20
Time (s)

Figure 15.4: Gas production from three Lagrangian particles.

15.4.8 Porous Media

A 3-D array of particles can be used to represent the drag exerted by porous media, as in the following
example for a porous aluminum matrix:

&SURF ID='LIGAMENT', MATL_ID='ALUMINUM ALLOY', THICKNESS=7.3E-5,

GEOMETRY='CYLINDRICAL', HEAT_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT=10. /
&MATL ID='ALUMINUM ALLOY', DENSITY=2690., CONDUCTIVITY=218., SPECIFIC_HEAT=0.9 /
&PART ID='FOAM', DRAG_LAW='POROUS MEDIA', SURF_ID='LIGAMENT',
POROUS_VOLUME_FRACTION=0.12, STATIC=T,
DRAG_COEFFICIENT=0.1,0.1,0.1, PERMEABILITY=1.0E-7,1.E-7,1.E-7 /
&INIT XB=1.010,1.095,0.0,0.5,0.0,0.5, N_PARTICLES_PER_CELL=1, CELL_CENTERED=T,
PART_ID='FOAM' /

The basic geometry of the foam ligaments is defined with the SURF line. It is assumed that the ligaments
are made of an aluminum alloy whose properties are given on the MATL line. The radius of the assumed
cylindrical ligament is indicated by the THICKNESS. Note that the LENGTH of the cylinder which is normally
required on the SURF line is computed automatically so that the volume fraction of the grid cell occupied
by the foam, specified by POROUS_VOLUME_FRACTION on the PART line, is achieved. In a sense, the foam
is modeled by a long cylinder chopped up into small pieces and represented by a single particle in each
grid cell. The SURF inputs of POROUS_VOLUME_FRACTION and THICKNESS do not directly effect the drag
calculation. They are used to define the surface area for computing heat transfer between the gas and the
porous media.
The PART line provides information about the particles which includes the drag they impose on the flow.
The DRAG_LAW of POROUS MEDIA indicates a special drag model for porous media. This model states that the
pressure drop through the media is given by

µ Y 2
 
∆p = δ u+ρ √ u (15.6)
K K
where δ is the thickness of the foam block in the flow direction (the smaller of the cell size in the flow
direction or the XB dimension in the flow direction from the INIT input), µ is the viscosity of the gas, u is
the velocity component in the flow direction, ρ is the density of the gas, K is the PERMEABILITY in units of
m2 , and Y is a dimensionless inertial term that you specify using the parameter DRAG_COEFFICIENT. When
using the porous media model the PERMEABILITY and DRAG_COEFFICIENT must be specified for all three

224
directions.
The INIT line designates the volume occupied by the porous media using the sextuplet XB. A single par-
ticle is inserted into the center of each cell occupied by the foam by specifying the parameters N_PARTICLES_
PER_CELL=1 and CELL_CENTERED=T.
A sample calculation involving porous media is contained in the folder Sprinklers_and_Sprays. The
input file is called porous_media.fds.

15.4.9 Screens
A 2-D array of particles can be used to represent the drag exerted by a window screen, as in the following
example:

&INIT N_PARTICLES_PER_CELL=1, CELL_CENTERED=T, PART_ID='SCREEN',

XB=1.01,1.02,0.0,1.0,0.0,1.0/
&PART ID='SCREEN', DRAG_LAW='SCREEN', FREE_AREA_FRACTION=0.4, STATIC=T,
SURF_ID='SCREEN', ORIENTATION=1,0,0 /
&SURF ID='SCREEN', THICKNESS=0.00015, GEOMETRY='CYLINDRICAL',
MATL_ID='ALUMINUM' /
&MATL ID='ALUMINUM', DENSITY=2700., CONDUCTIVITY=200., SPECIFIC_HEAT=0.9 /

The INIT line designates the plane of the screen using the sextuplet XB. A single particle is inserted into
each cell by specifying the parameter N_PARTICLES_PER_CELL=1. The particles are be defined with a SURF_
ID containing the material properties of the screen. A special drag law for screens is specified via the
DRAG_LAW. ORIENTATION is the direction normal to the screen, and FREE_AREA_FRACTION is the fraction of
the screen’s surface area that is open. In the example, an aluminum screen with a 40 % free area and an
0.0003 m wire diameter is placed normal to the x-axis. Note that the LENGTH parameter on the SURF line will
be computed automatically so the fraction of the grid cell flow area occupied by the screen is equal to 1 -
FREE_AREA_FRACTION. The pressure drop across the screen is given by

µ Y 2
 
∆p = l u+ρ √ u (15.7)
K K
where l is the screen thickness (equal to the wire diameter), µ is the viscosity of the gas, u is the velocity
normal to the screen, ρ is the density of the gas, and Y and K are empirical constants given by [35]
1.6
K = 3.44 × 10−9 FREE_AREA_FRACTION m2 (15.8)
2.13
Y = 0.043 FREE_AREA_FRACTION (15.9)

This correlation was developed using screens with FREE_AREA_FRACTION ranging from 0.3 to 0.6.
The MISC input parameter PARTICLE_CFL_MAX controls the time step on the pressure drop across a screen
(or other porous media). If a screen or other porous media introduces numerical instabilities, reducing the
value of PARTICLE_CFL_MAX below 1 may resolve them.

15.4.10 Electrical Cables

Petra Andersson and Patrick Van Hees of the Swedish National Testing and Research Institute (SP) have
proposed that the thermally-induced electrical failure (THIEF) of a cable can be predicted via a simple one-
dimensional heat transfer calculation, under the assumption that the cable can be treated as a homogeneous
cylinder [36]. Their results for PVC cables were encouraging and suggested that the simplification of the
analysis is reasonable and that it should extend to other types of cables. The assumptions underlying the
THIEF model are as follows:

225
 1. The heat penetration into a cable of circular cross section is largely in the radial direction. This greatly
simplifies the analysis, and it is also conservative because it is assumed that the cable is completely
surrounded by the heat source.

2. The cable is homogeneous in composition. In reality, a cable is constructed of several different types of
polymeric materials, cellulosic fillers, and a conducting metal, most often copper.

3. The thermal properties – conductivity, specific heat, and density – of the assumed homogeneous cable
are independent of temperature. In reality, both the thermal conductivity and specific heat of polymers
are temperature-dependent, but this information is very difficult to obtain from manufacturers.

4. It is assumed that no decomposition reactions occur within the cable during its heating, and ignition
and burning are not considered in the model. In fact, thermoplastic cables melt, thermosets form a char
layer, and both off-gas volatiles up to and beyond the point of electrical failure.

5. Electrical failure occurs when the temperature just inside the cable jacket reaches an experimentally
determined value.

Obviously, there are considerable assumptions inherent in the Andersson and Van Hees THIEF model, but
their results for various polyvinyl chloride (PVC) cables suggested that it may be sufficient for engineering
analyses of a wider variety of cables. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission sponsored a study of cable
failure known as CAROLFIRE [37]. The primary project objective of CAROLFIRE was to characterize
the various modes of electrical failure (e.g., hot shorts, shorts to ground) within bundles of power, con-
trol and instrument cables. A secondary objective of the project was to develop a simple model to predict
thermally-induced electrical failure when a given interior region of the cable reaches an empirically deter-
mined threshold temperature. The measurements used for these purposes are described in Volume II of the
CAROLFIRE test report. Volume III describes the modeling.
The THIEF model can only predict the temperature profile within the cable as a function of time, given
a time-dependent exposing temperature or heat flux. The model does not predict at what temperature the
cable fails electrically. This information is gathered from experiment. The CAROLFIRE experimental
program included bench-scale, single cable experiments in which temperature measurements were made on
the surface of, and at various points within, cables subjected to a uniform heat flux. These experiments
provided the link between internal cable temperature and electrical failure. The model can only predict the
interior temperature and infer electrical failure when a given temperature is reached. It is presumed that the
temperature of the center-most point in the cable is not necessarily the indicator of electrical failure. This
analysis method uses the temperature just inside the cable jacket rather than the center-most temperature, as
that is where electrical shorts in a multi-conductor cable are most likely to occur first.
To use the THIEF model in FDS, add lines similar to the following to the input file:

&MATL ID='plastic', DENSITY=2535., CONDUCTIVITY=0.2, SPECIFIC_HEAT=1.5 /

&SURF ID='cylinder', THICKNESS=0.00815, LENGTH=0.1, MATL_ID='plastic',
GEOMETRY='CYLINDRICAL' /
&PART ID='Cable Segment', SURF_ID='cylinder', ORIENTATION=0,0,1,
STATIC=T /
&INIT ID='Cable', XB=0.01,0.01,0.,0.,0.,0., N_PARTICLES=1, PART_ID='Cable Segment' /
&DEVC ID='Cable Temp', INIT_ID='Cable',
QUANTITY='INSIDE WALL TEMPERATURE', DEPTH=0.0015 /

The THIEF model assumes that the cable plastic material has a thermal conductivity of 0.2 W/(m K) and
a specific heat of 1.5 kJ/(kg K). If you change these values, you are no longer using the THIEF model.
The density is the mass per unit length of the cable divided by its cross sectional area. The THICKNESS is

226
the radius of the cylindrical cable in units of m. The LENGTH, in m, is needed by FDS because it assumes
that the cable is a cylindrical segment of a certain length. It has no impact on the simulation, and its value
it typically the size of a grid cell. The ORIENTATION tells FDS the direction of the prevailing radiative
source. STATIC=T prevents the cable from moving. The INIT line is used to position the cable within the
computational domain. The DEVC line records the cables inner temperature, in this case 1.5 mm below the
surface. This is typically the jacket thickness.

15.4.11 Target Particles

To declare that a solid particle is only for recording the heat flux to a location away from a solid surface,
specify TARGET_ONLY=T on the PART line. When this flag is set and material properties are given, FDS will
compute the particle temperature using the local gas temperature and radiative conditions; however, the
particle will not exchange energy or momentum with the gas. When this flag is set, a CARTESIAN particle’s
SURF will no longer be treated as a half-thickness plate. This allows the use of backside boundary conditions
on SURF such as TMP_GAS_BACK and EMISSIVITY_BACK. If it is still desired to have the THICKNESS represent
half the thickness of a plate heated from both sides, then set BACKING='INSULATED' on the SURF line. Target
particles are treated as STATIC but can be positioned using PATH_RAMP and/or ORIENTATION_RAMP on INIT.

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15.5 Particle Insertion
There are three ways of introducing droplets or particles into a simulation:

1. Define a sprinkler or nozzle using a PROP line that includes a PART_ID that specifies the particle or
droplet parameters. The individual sprinklers or nozzles are specified via DEVC lines.

2. Add a PART_ID to a SURF line, in which case particles or droplets will be ejected from that surface with
an outward normal velocity given by a negative value of VEL.

3. Create an INIT line that defines a volume within the computational domain in which the particles/-
droplets are to be introduced initially and/or periodically in time.

It is not unusual to include hundreds of thousands of particles in a simulation. Visualizing all of the particles
in Smokeview can sometimes be impractical due to memory limitations. To limit the amount of particles,
you can make use of the following parameters on the PART line:

• SAMPLING_FACTOR can be used to reduce the size of the particle output file used to animate the simula-
tion. The default value is 1 for MASSLESS particles, meaning that every particle or droplet will be shown
in Smokeview. The default is 10 for all other types of particles. MASSLESS particles are discussed in
Sec. 15.2.

• AGE is the number of seconds the particle or droplet exists, after which time it is removed from the
calculation. This is a useful parameter to use when trying to reduce the number of droplets or particles
in a simulation.

Be careful when setting parameters related to particle/droplet insertion, as it is very easy to overwhelm the
simulation with millions of them. The parameter MAXIMUM_PARTICLES on the DUMP line sets the maximum
number of particles that can be included on any given mesh at any given time. Its default value is 1000000.
If this value is exceeded, FDS will automatically remove particles, starting with the oldest.
By default, FDS initially allocates space for 50 particles per mesh. If more particles are needed, the
arrays are expanded by NEW_PARTICLE_INCREMENT, an integer set on the PART line. Its default value is 1000.
In most cases, this should be enough. However, for cases with a very large number of particles, such as a
wildland fire simulation, you might want to increase this value to save on the reallocation time. This does
not affect how particles are inserted into the domain (as described above), only how much new storage is
reserved when the current allocation is exceeded. Be careful, as it is possible to massively over-allocate and
reserve large amounts of unused memory.

15.5.1 Particles Introduced at a Solid Surface

There are three ways of introducing particles at a solid surface. You can specify a particle mass flux and
inject particles regularly in time, you can restrict the production of particles to actively burning surfaces (as
a means of generating embers), or you can specify a particle surface density and introduce the particles at
the start of the simulation.

Particles specified using a mass flux

If the particles have mass and are introduced from a solid surface, specify PARTICLE_MASS_FLUX on the
SURF line. The number of particles inserted at each solid cell every DT_INSERT seconds is specified by NPPC
(Number of Particles Per Cell) on the SURF line defining the solid surface. The default value of DT_INSERT
is 0.01 s and NPPC is 1. As an example, the following set of input lines:

228
&PART ID='particles', ... /
&SURF ID='SLOT', PART_ID='particles', VEL=-5., PARTICLE_MASS_FLUX=0.1 /
&OBST XB=-0.2,0.2,-0.2,0.2,4.0,4.4, SURF_IDS='INERT','SLOT','INERT' /

creates an obstruction that ejects particles out of its sides at a rate of 0.1 kg/(m2 s) and a velocity of 5 m/s
(the minus sign indicates the particles are ejected from the surface). FDS will adjust the mass flux if the
obstruction or vent dimensions are changed to conform to the numerical grid. The IDs have no meaning
other than as identifiers. By default, the particle initial velocity is the surface normal velocity. This means
that the surface on which particles are specified must have a non-zero normal velocity directed into the
computational domain. This happens automatically if the surface is burning. If not then either specify a
non-zero and negative VEL, or if you do not wish to also inject gas you can specify VEL_PART. VEL_PART has
the same sign convention as VEL. If VEL_PART is specified, it will override the gas velocity for the surface and
inject the particle at VEL_PART. There is a simple input file called particle_flux.fds that demonstrates
how the above input lines can produce a stream of particles from a block. The total mass flux from the block
is the product of the PARTICLE_MASS_FLUX times the total area of the sides of the block, 0.4 m × 0.4 m × 4.
The expected accumulated mass of particles on the ground after 10 s is expected to be 0.64 kg, as shown in
Fig. 15.5.
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
0.8
Particle Mass (particle_flux)

0.6
Mass (kg)

0.4

0.2
Expected (mass)
FDS (mass)
0
0 5 10 15 20
Time (s)

Figure 15.5: Simple test case to demonstrate mass conservation of particles ejected from an obstruction.

Note also that you can independently control particles that emanate from a solid surface. For example,
a device might control the activation of a fan, but you can over-ride the device and control the particles
separately. To do this, specify either a device or controller via a DEVC_ID or CTRL_ID on the PART line that
defines the particles. For more information on devices and controls, see Sections 18.4 and 18.5.

Particles specified using an ember generation height

If you specify an EMBER_GENERATION_HEIGHT (m), particles are assumed to represent embers (or firebrands)
and are only generated at surfaces that are actively burning (non-zero fuel mass flux). The height parameter
dictates the vertical offset distance from the burning surface at which particles are produced. This is impor-
tant in cases where the vertical fuel structure may not be resolved, such as level set fire spread (Sec. 17.5),
but the height of ember production plays a role in the lofting potential. If a single number is provided for
the EMBER_GENERATION_HEIGHT, all particles are generated at that offset distance. If two numbers are pro-
vided, particles are randomly generated within the specified offset range, following a uniform distribution.
For example, if EMBER_GENERATION_HEIGHT=0.0,1.0 then particles will be produced anywhere up to 1.0 m
above the burning surface.

229
 The rate of ember production can then be set using the method described previously. A number flux
can be set using DT_INSERT and NPPC, and these particles can be weighted to match a specified PARTICLE_
MASS_FLUX. It is recommended to set VEL_PART=0.0 when modeling ember generation in this way, so that
particles start from rest and are naturally lofted by the surrounding flow.

Particles specified using a surface density

Instead of a mass flux, you can specify the PARTICLE_SURFACE_DENSITY (kg/m2 ) for particles introduced at
the start of a simulation. You can introduce NPPC particles per cell, although 1 is sufficient to represent the
specified surface density. This feature is useful for creating subgrid-scale dry vegetative fuels.

15.5.2 Particles or Droplets Introduced at a Sprinkler or Nozzle

A sprinkler or nozzle is added to the simulation using a PROP line to describe the features of the device and
a DEVC line to position and orient the device within the computational domain. PARTICLES_PER_SECOND is
the number of droplets inserted every second per active sprinkler or nozzle (Default 5000). It is listed on
the PROP line that includes other properties of the sprinkler or nozzle. Note that this parameter only affects
sprinklers and nozzles. Changing this parameter does not change the flow rate, but rather the number of
droplets used to represent the flow. In some simulations, it is a good idea to increase the PARTICLES_PER_
SECOND beyond its default so that the particle/droplet mass is distributed more uniformly inside the domain.
If this parameter is too small, it can lead to a non-physical evaporation pattern, sometimes even to the point
of causing a numerical instability. If you encounter a numerical instability shortly after the activation of a
sprinkler or nozzle, consider increasing PARTICLES_PER_SECOND to produce a smoother evaporation pattern
that is more realistic. Keep in mind that for a real sprinkler or nozzle, there are many more droplets created
per second than the number that can be simulated.
The PARTICLE_VELOCITY specified on the PROP line indicates the initial velocity of the droplets/particles.
If this value is relatively large, FDS computes the trajectory of the droplet/particle by taking sub-steps of the
gas phase time step to ensure that the droplet/particle does not traverse more than a single grid cell within
a sub-time step. A stricter limit on the time step is given by the parameter PARTICLE_CFL on the MISC line
which is set to F by default (see Section 19.3.3). If T the gas phase time step is limited by the particle CFL.
Normally, it is not necessary to restrict the gas phase time step to account for fast droplets/particles—the
sub-time stepping is usually adequate.

15.5.3 Particles or Droplets Introduced within a Volume

Sometimes it is convenient to introduce Lagrangian particles within a particular region of the domain. To do
this, use an INIT line which contains the PART_ID for the type of particle to be inserted. Particles specified
via an INIT line can represent a number of different kinds of subgrid-scale objects. The particles can be
massless tracers or they can be solid or liquid particles with mass. If not massless, specify MASS_PER_
VOLUME in units of kg/m3 . Do not confuse this parameter with DENSITY, explained in the next section. For
example, water has a DENSITY of 1000 kg/m3 , whereas a liter of water broken up into droplets and spread
over a cubic meter has a MASS_PER_VOLUME of 1 kg/m3 . The number of Lagrangian particles inserted is
controlled by the parameter N_PARTICLES.

Randomly Distributed Particles within a Specified Volume

The parameter N_PARTICLES on the INIT line indicates the number of particles to insert within a specified
region of the domain. This region can take on a number of shapes, depending on the parameter SHAPE:
'BLOCK' (default), 'CYLINDER', 'CONE', 'LINE', 'RING'. For 'BLOCK', 'CONE', and 'RING' the particle

230
positions are randomly distributed by default. For 'RING' you can position the particles uniformly by
setting UNIFORM=T on the INIT line. By default, the region is a rectangular 'BLOCK' designated with the real
sextuplet XB. The format for XB is the same as that used on the OBST line.

&INIT PART_ID='my particles', XB=..., N_PARTICLES=..., MASS_PER_VOLUME=... /

Note that the volume of the specified region is calculated according to the SHAPE dimensions, regardless of
whether there are solid obstructions within this region. Note also that in most applications, the number of
particles, N_PARTICLES, is somewhat arbitrary but should be chosen to provide at least a few particles per
grid cell. FDS will then automatically assign a weighting factor to each particle to ensure that the MASS_PER_
VOLUME is achieved. In some applications, on the other hand, it may be important to specify the number of
particles. For example, if using particles to model the burning of electrical cables, you may want to specify
how many cables are actually burning. The MASS_PER_VOLUME can be ramped up and down in time using
the ramp function RAMP_PART on the INIT line.
If the volume specified by the sextuplet XB crosses mesh boundaries, be aware that N_PARTICLES refers
to the entire volume, not just the volume within a particular mesh. FDS will automatically compute the
necessary number of particles to assign to each mesh. This is done by multiplying N_PARTICLES by the ratio
of the volume of XB in each mesh by the total volume of XB as specified in the input file (i.e, if the input
is larger than the domain, fewer than N_PARTICLES will be inserted) with the result rounded to the nearest
integer (with at least one particle inserted for every mesh that contains XB).
Alternatively, you can specify SHAPE='CONE', in which case the particles will be randomly distributed
within a vertical cone. This is primarily used for representing trees. The dimensions of the cone are specified
via the parameters RADIUS, HEIGHT, and base position XYZ. The latter is a triplet of real numbers designating
the point at the center of the base of the cone. Here is an example of how one might make a tree:

&PART ID='tree crown foliage',

DRAG_LAW='CYLINDER',
SURF_ID='needles',
QUANTITIES='PARTICLE TEMPERATURE','PARTICLE MASS','PARTICLE DIAMETER',
STATIC=T,
COLOR='FOREST GREEN' /
&INIT PART_ID='tree crown foliage',
XYZ=0.0,0.0,0.0,
RADIUS=1,
HEIGHT=2,
SHAPE='CONE',
N_PARTICLES_PER_CELL=1,
CELL_CENTERED=T,
MASS_PER_VOLUME=2.0 /

Note that in this example, exactly one particle is specified per grid cell, positioned exactly in the center of
the cell. The number of actual pine needles this single particle represents depends on the specified MASS_
PER_VOLUME and the mass of an individual cylindrical particle. That information would be provided by the
SURF line 'needles'.
Additionally, for 'CONE' and 'CYLINDER' shapes it is possible to specify an INNER_RADIUS. This will
remove a concentric volume with the specified inner radius, leaving a conical or cylindrical shell. This
can be useful if a tree crown has foliage concentrated toward the exterior of the volume. Note that the
MASS_PER_VOLUME will be applied only to the occupied volume of the shell, thus the total mass of the tree
crown will decrease when specifying an INNER_RADIUS for a fixed MASS_PER_VOLUME. Examples of different
crown geometries can be found in the tree_shapes.fds verification case in the fds/Verification/WUI/
directory.

231
Specifying a Fixed Number of Particles per Grid Cell
There are special applications where you might want to specify N_PARTICLES_PER_CELL to indicate the
number of particles within each grid cell of a specified region. When using N_PARTICLES_PER_CELL, the
particles will be randomly placed within each cell. If you set CELL_CENTERED=T, the particles will be placed
at the center of each cell.

Specifying a Weight Factor for Particles

Use PARTICLE_WEIGHT_FACTOR to specify how many actual particles each of the computational particles
represent. This can be used in conjunction with N_PARTICLES_PER_CELL to reduce the computational cost
when a large number of identical particles would be placed in the same grid cell.

Single Particle Insertion

If you introduce only a single particle, which is often a handy way of creating a target, you may use the
real triplet XYZ rather than XB to designate the particle’s position. You can give this single particle an initial
velocity using the real triplet UVW. You can also add DX, DY, and/or DZ to create a line of particles that are
offset from XYZ by these increments in units of meters. For example,

&INIT PART_ID='target', XYZ=1.2,3.4,5.6, N_PARTICLES=10, DX=0.1 /

creates a line of 10 particles starting at the point (1.2,3.4,5.6) separated by 0.1 m. This is handy for creating
arrays of devices, like heat flux gauges. See Sec. 22.10.12 for more details.
In special cases, you might want a single liquid droplet to be inserted at a particular point with a partic-
ular velocity every DT_INSERT s following the activation of a particular device, as follows:

&INIT N_PARTICLES=1, XYZ=..., UVW=..., DIAMETER=200., DT_INSERT=0.05,

PART_ID='drops', DEVC_ID='nozzle' /

Note that the DIAMETER (µm) on the INIT line is only valid for liquid droplets. It over-rides the DIAMETER
on the PART line labeled 'drops'. A simple test case that demonstrates this functionality is called bucket_
test_3, in which water droplets are launched in different directions from a common point. Their size,
velocity, insertion frequency, and mass flux are varied, and a check is made that water mass is conserved
(see Fig. 15.6).
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
0.01
Accumulated Mass (bucket_test_3)
0.008

0.006
Mass (kg)

0.004

0.002
Ideal
FDS
0
0 2 4 6 8 10
Time (s)

Figure 15.6: Accumulated water collected at the floor in the bucket_test_3 case.

232
Periodic Insertion of Particles within a Specified Volume
If you want to introduce particles within a given region periodically in time and not just initially, set DT_
INSERT on the INIT line to a positive value indicating the time increment (s) for insertion. The parameter
N_PARTICLES now indicates the number of droplets/particles inserted every DT_INSERT seconds. If the
droplets/particles have mass, use MASS_PER_TIME (kg/s) instead of MASS_PER_VOLUME to indicate how much
mass is to be introduced per second. This parameter can be ramped up and down in time using the ramp
function RAMP_PART on the INIT line.
If you want to delay the insertion of droplets, you can use either a DEVC_ID or a CTRL_ID on the INIT
line to name the controlling device. See Sec. 18.4 for more information on controlling devices.

Controlled Particle Movement

Particles can either be static, massless tracers (go with the flow), massive droplets or thermally thick solids
(experience drag), or have its position controlled by a PATH_RAMP. A scenario where this might be useful is
when you have a heat or mass source that changes position in time. Or, you might want a DEVC measurement
location to change with time; the DEVC can be linked to a particle through an INIT line with a PATH_RAMP, as
we will discuss next.
The INIT parameter PATH_RAMP(1:3) is a list of three character strings for the ramp IDs associated with
the x, y, and z positions of a particle. We use the volume insert method for the particle, with N_PARTICLES=1.
An example may be found in the verification case part_path_ramp_jog.fds in the fds/Verification/
Miscellaneous/ directory. The output of the example is shown in Fig. 15.7. The basics that are needed to
implement the path ramp are the following:

&RAMP ID='PART RAMP X', T=0, F=0/ start position at X=0 m at Time=0 s
&RAMP ID='PART RAMP X', T=10, F=5/ move linearly to X=5 m at Time=10 s
! define a particle class as a mass source
&PART ID='MASS SOURCE', SAMPLING_FACTOR=1, SURF_ID=..., PROP_ID=.../
! initialize the particle position and assign path ramp
&INIT ID='JOG', XB=..., PART_ID='MASS SOURCE',
PATH_RAMP(1)='PART RAMP X', N_PARTICLES=1 /
! monitor the position (or other quantities) using a device
&DEVC QUANTITY='PARTICLE X', INIT_ID='JOG', ID='X', TIME_AVERAGED=F /

FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
1
Particle Path Ramp (part_path_ramp_jog)
0.8

0.6
z (m)

0.4

0.2
Expected (X Z)
FDS (X Z)
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
x (m)

Figure 15.7: Particle path for part_path_ramp_jog case.

233
15.5.4 Controlled Particle Orientation
The ORIENTATION for a particle placed with an INIT line can be controlled by specifying ORIENTATION_
RAMP on the INIT line. ORIENTATION_RAMP specifies a RAMP for each of the three components for the particle
ORIENTATION. All three components must be defined. At each timestep, the outputs for the RAMPs will be
normalized to a vector magnitude of one. In the example below, the particle orientation is changed from -x
to +x over 10 s by rotating around the z-axis.

&PART ID='MY PART',SURF_ID='PART SURF',STATIC=T, ORIENTATION=1,1,1/

&INIT ID='ONE PART',PART_ID='MY PART',XYZ=0.975,1,1,
ORIENTATION_RAMP(1:3)='O1','O2','O3',N_PARTICLES=1/
&RAMP ID='O1',T=0, F=-1/
&RAMP ID='O1',T=10,F= 1/
&RAMP ID='O2',T=0, F= 0/
&RAMP ID='O2',T=5, F= 1/
&RAMP ID='O2',T=10,F= 0/
&RAMP ID='O3',T=0, F= 0/
&RAMP ID='O3',T=10,F= 0/

Note that the PART input must contain ORIENTATION as this signals to FDS to allocate array space for
the angular radiative fluxes for that class of particles. This block of input was used in test case consisting
of a 1 m3 box with the +x wall emitting a radiative flux of 10 kW/m2 , and the remaining walls emitting
1 kW/m2 . Results are shown in Fig. 15.8.
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
12
Part Orientation Ramp (part_orientation_ramp)
10
Radiative heat flux (kW/m²)

2 Exact
FDS
0
0 2 4 6 8 10
Time(s)

Figure 15.8: Particle radiative flux for part_orientation_ramp case.

234
15.6 Particle Removal
Lagrangian particles can be removed from a simulation in a number of ways:

1. Specify the AGE on the PART line so that particles are removed after this period of time after insertion.

2. Liquid droplets disappear when they hit the “floor” of the computational domain, regardless of whether
it is solid or not. This feature mimics the presence of floor drains. To stop FDS from removing liquid
droplets from the floor of the domain, add the phrase POROUS_FLOOR=F to the MISC line. Be aware, how-
ever, that droplets that land on the floor continue to move horizontally in randomly selected directions;
bouncing off obstructions, and consuming CPU time. Note also that solid particles do not disappear
from the floor of the domain like liquid droplets.

3. If droplets or particles are drawn toward an extracting vent, they will not be removed unless you specify a
minimum PARTICLE_EXTRACTION_VELOCITY (m/s). That is, if the vent’s extraction velocity exceeds this
value, the particles or droplets will be removed from the simulation. Otherwise, the droplets/particles
will be behave as if they have struck any other solid surface. By default, this parameter is a large positive
value, meaning that you must specify a positive value less than the normal vent extraction velocity for
this parameter to have an effect. If you want all particles/droplets to be extracted, set the value to a very
small positive number.

15.7 Suppression by Water

Modeling fire suppression by water has three principal components: transporting the water droplets through
the air, tracking the water along the solid surface, and predicting the reduction of the burning rate. This
section addresses the latter two.

15.7.1 Droplet Movement on Solid Surfaces

When a liquid4 droplet strikes a solid surface5 , it sticks and is reassigned a new speed and direction. If the
surface is horizontal, the direction is randomly chosen. If vertical, the direction is downward. The param-
eters HORIZONTAL_VELOCITY and VERTICAL_VELOCITY on the PART line allow you to control the speed at
which droplets move horizontally or vertically (downward). The defaults are 0.2 m/s and 0.5 m/s, respec-
tively.
When a liquid droplet hits a solid surface, it transfers heat over the area of the cross section of a hemi-
sphere of equal volume. When enough liquid pools on the surface to form a layer, the area governing heat
transfer is based on the film, not the individual droplet. The diameter of the droplet, once a film layer is
formed, is not important because it is assumed to mix with other droplets forming the film. However, when
the droplet leaves the solid surface in the form of a “drip,” it reforms into a droplet, and its new diameter
can be specified via SURFACE_DIAMETER on the PART line in units of µm.
The heat transfer between the solid surface and the liquid film layer makes use of an empirical turbulent
heat transfer correlation that is a function of the properties of the liquid and the user-specified HORIZONTAL_
VELOCITY or VERTICAL_VELOCITY. Details can be found in the FDS Technical Reference Guide chapter,
“Lagrangian Particles,” section “Heating and Evaporation of Liquid Droplets.” Alternatively, you may spec-
ify a constant value on the PART line, HEAT_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT_SOLID, in units of W/m2 /K.
4 Solid particles do not stick to solid surfaces by default like liquid droplets. However, you can make solid particles act like
liquid droplets by setting ADHERE_TO_SOLID=1 on the PART line.
5 If you do not want droplets to accumulate on solid surfaces, set ADHERE_TO_SOLID=-1 on the PART line. It is normally 1

for liquid droplets.

235
 There are some applications, like the suppression of racked storage commodity fires, where it is useful
to allow water droplets to move horizontally along the underside of a solid object. It is difficult to model this
phenomenon precisely because it involves surface tension, surface porosity and absorption, and complicated
geometry. However, a way to capture some of the effect is to set ALLOW_UNDERSIDE_PARTICLES=T on the
SURF line(s). It is normally false. Also, note that when droplets hit obstructions, the vertical direction is
assumed to coincide with the z axis, regardless of any change to the gravity vector, GVEC. To stop particles
or droplets from “sticking” to surfaces, set ALLOW_SURFACE_PARTICLES=F on the SURF line.
A useful sample case to demonstrate various features of droplet motion on solid obstructions is the test
case called Sprinklers_and_Sprays/[Link]. The image to the left in Fig. 15.9 shows 1 L of water
droplets cascading down the sides of an array of boxes. The plot to the right checks that the total water mass
is conserved. Note that some of the water evaporates into the compartment that initially has zero humidity.

FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
1.2
Accumulated Mass (cascade)
1

0.8
Ideal
Mass (kg)

FDS (total)
0.6 FDS (liquid)
FDS (vapor)
0.4

0.2

0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Time (s)

Figure 15.9: (Left) Smokeview rendering of the cascade test case, demonstrating that water droplets move randomly
at 0.2 m/s over horizontal surfaces, and descend uniformly at 0.5 m/s over vertical surfaces. The plot at the right
demonstrates that water mass is conserved in the simulation.

15.7.2 Reduction of the Burning Rate

Water reduces the fuel pyrolysis rate by cooling the fuel surface and also changing the chemical reactions
that liberate fuel gases from the solid. If the solid or liquid fuel has been given reaction parameters via the
MATL line, there is no need to set any additional suppression parameters. It is assumed that water impinging
on the fuel surface takes energy away from the pyrolysis process and thereby reduces the burning rate of the
fuel. If the surface has been assigned a HRRPUA (Heat Release Rate Per Unit Area), a parameter needs to be
specified that governs the suppression of the fire by water because this type of simulated fire essentially acts
like a gas burner whose flow rate is explicitly specified. An empirical way to account for fire suppression
by water is to characterize the reduction of the pyrolysis rate in terms of an exponential function. The local
mass loss rate of the fuel is expressed in the form
k(t) dt
R
ṁ′′f (t) = ṁ′′f,0 (t) e− (15.10)

236
Here ṁ′′f,0 (t) is the user-specified burning rate per unit area when no water is applied and k is a function of
the local water mass per unit area, m′′w , expressed in units of kg/m2 .

k(t) = E_COEFFICIENTm′′w (t) 1/s (15.11)

The parameter E_COEFFICIENT must be obtained experimentally, and it is expressed in units of m2 /(kg s).
Usually, this type of suppression algorithm is invoked when the fuel is complicated, like a cartoned com-
modity. The simple example case Sprinklers_and_Sprays/e_coefficient.fds demonstrates the use of
this parameter. A water nozzle is placed over a 0.6 m by 0.6 m gas burner defined with the SURF line shown
below. The nozzle discharges 0.1 L of water in 0.1 s, 10 s after ignition of the fire. The water’s mass per
unit area is 0.1/0.36 ≈ 0.278 kg/m2 . Figure 15.10 shows the heat release rate of the fire, decreasing from
36 kW to 0 kW in approximately 20 s. There are two cases considered—one where the burner and rim are
constructed of conventional OBSTs and one where the burner is formed using immersed boundary GEOMs.

&SURF ID='FUEL', HRRPUA=100., E_COEFFICIENT=1. /

The expected HRR curve is:

Q̇(t) = 36 e−0.278 (t−10.4) kW (15.12)

FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
60 60
Heat Release Rate (OBST) Heat Release Rate (GEOM)
50 50
Heat Release Rate (kW)

Heat Release Rate (kW)

40 40

Expected Expected
30 FDS
30 FDS

20 20

10 10

0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time (s) Time (s)

Figure 15.10: Output of the e_coefficient test case.

237
Chapter 16

Wind and Atmospheric Stratification

Most of the parameters that describe the atmosphere are entered on a single namelist line called WIND. There
are various ways to specify a wind in FDS:

1. If you simply want to specify a wind speed and direction and perhaps vary these quantities in time and
with height, see Sec. 16.1.

2. If the periphery of your computational domain is relatively flat and you have some knowledge of the
surface roughness and atmospheric conditions, see Sec. 16.2 on how to apply Monin-Obukhov similarity
theory.

3. If your domain spans kilometers and you would like to apply winds in terms of the pressure gradient
and Coriolis forces, or you want to apply a geostrophic wind, see Sec. 16.3.

4. If you want to model the wind as one would do for a wind tunnel; that is, to create essentially a “wall of
wind” where an entire side of the computational domain is turned into a giant fan blowing air laterally,
see Sec. 16.4.

The temperature stratification of the atmosphere is discussed in Sec. 16.5. This is relevant unless you
have chosen to apply wind and temperature profiles based on Monin-Obukhov theory. Finally, boundary
conditions for outdoor simulations are discussed in Sec. 16.6.

16.1 Wind Method 1: Specified Wind Speed and Direction

The simplest way to introduce a wind in FDS is to specify its SPEED and DIRECTION. For example, for a
southwesterly wind blowing 5 m/s, add the following line:

&WIND SPEED=5., DIRECTION=225. /

It is assumed here that the wind speed and direction do not change with height save for the effect of ground
friction. The wind DIRECTION follows the usual meteorological convention—a northerly wind has direction
of 0◦ and blows from north to south, or in the negative y direction in the FDS coordinate system. An easterly
wind has a direction of 90◦ and blows from east to west, or in the negative x direction.
The wind SPEED and DIRECTION can be made functions of time and/or height using RAMP functions.
With respect to time, consider the following lines of input:

&WIND SPEED=1., RAMP_SPEED_T='spd', RAMP_DIRECTION_T='dir' /

239
&RAMP ID='dir', T= 0, F=300 /
&RAMP ID='dir', T= 600, F=330 /
&RAMP ID='dir', T=1200, F=350 /
.
.
&RAMP ID='spd', T= 0, F=2.8 /
&RAMP ID='spd', T= 600, F=3.1 /
&RAMP ID='spd', T=1200, F=3.5 /
.
.

These lines direct FDS to vary the wind speed and direction over time, according to the RAMP functions 'spd'
and 'dir', respectively. The parameter T is the time in s. For the direction ramp function, F represents the
direction angle in degrees from the north (positive y direction). For the speed ramp function, F represents a
multiplier of the base SPEED, which in this case is 1 m/s.
You can also vary the wind velocity components with height using the ramp functions RAMP_SPEED_Z
and RAMP_DIRECTION_Z.

&WIND SPEED=1., RAMP_SPEED_Z='spd', RAMP_DIRECTION_Z='dir' /

&RAMP ID='dir', Z= 0, F=300 /

&RAMP ID='dir', Z= 200, F=330 /
&RAMP ID='dir', Z= 500, F=350 /
.
.
&RAMP ID='spd', Z= 0, F=1.0 /
&RAMP ID='spd', Z= 200, F=1.5 /
&RAMP ID='spd', Z= 500, F=1.8 /
.
.

The parameter Z represents the height (m). As with the time functions above, for the direction ramp function,
F represents the direction angle in degrees from the north (positive y direction). This value is added to any
time-varying value set by RAMP_DIRECTION_T. For the speed ramp function, F represents a multiplier of the
base SPEED. This value is multiplied by any time-varying value set by RAMP_SPEED_T.
Often for longer simulations lasting hours, you may not know exactly how the wind DIRECTION varies,
but you can provide an estimate based on the stability class of the atmosphere. Using the terminology of the
atmospheric dispersion community [38], the perturbation to the wind DIRECTION can be modeled as:
 p 
θ ′ (t + δt) = R2 θ ′ (t) + N 0, 1 − R2 σθ ; R = e−δt/τ ; θ ′ (0) = 0 (16.1)

where N(µ, σ ) denotes a normal random variable with mean µ and standard deviation σ , σθ (SIGMA_THETA
specified with units of degrees on the WIND line) depends on the stability class of the atmosphere and τ
(TAU_THETA) is a time scale with a default value of 300 s.

Example
The input files called wind_example_nn.fds in the samples folder called Atmospheric_Effects demon-
strate wind functionality. Each case considers a flat patch of terrain 1000 m by 1000 m by 100 m high. In the
examples called wind_example_5 and wind_example_10, a 5 m/s wind is turned 90◦ in 10 min. One case is
run at 5 m resolution and other at 10 m. Figure 16.1 shows the delay in the mean velocity components due
to the fact that the wind profile is imposed only at external boundaries.

240
 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
6 6
Velocity Components (wind_example_5) Velocity Components (wind_example_10)
Mean Wind Speed (m/s) 5 5

Mean Wind Speed (m/s)

4 4
u_specified u_specified
v_specified v_specified
3 FDS (u_mean)
3 FDS (u_mean)
FDS (v_mean) FDS (v_mean)
2 2

1 1

0 0
0 5 10 15 0 5 10 15
Time (min) Time (min)

Figure 16.1: Mean velocity components of a 5 m/s wind turning 90◦ in 10 m. The grid resolutions are 5 m (left) and
10 m (right).

16.2 Wind Method 2: Monin-Obukhov Similarity

Monin-Obukhov similarity theory provides vertical wind and temperature profiles based on surface and
atmospheric conditions. These profiles are applied at the exterior boundary of the computational domain;
thus, the terrain must be relatively flat at the periphery. You might have a hill or valley within the domain,
but the periphery should be flat to allow the wind field to develop naturally away from the boundary.

16.2.1 Basic Equations

It is assumed that the wind speed profile, u, and potential temperature1 , θ , vary with height, z, according to:

u∗ z  z 
  
u(z) = ln − Ψm (16.2)
κ z0 L

θ∗ z  z 
  
θ (z) = θ0 + ln − Ψh (16.3)
κ z0 L

where u∗ is the friction velocity, κ = 0.41 is the Von Kármán constant, z0 is the aerodynamic roughness
length, θ∗ is the scaling potential temperature, θ0 is the ground level potential temperature, L is the Obukhov
length, and the similarity functions are those proposed by Dyer [39, 40]:
 z
 −5 : L≥0
L

z 

Ψm = 2
(16.4)
L 1 ζ 1 ζ π
   
+ + −1
 2 ln + ln − 2 tan (ζ ) + : L<0


2 2 2


1 The potential temperature is given by

R/(Wair c p )
p0

θ =T
p
where p0 is typically 100 kPa and R/(Wair c p ) ≈ 0.286.

241
  z
−5 : L≥0
L


z 

Ψh = (16.5)
L 1+ζ2 16 z 1/4
   
 2 ln : L<0 ζ = 1−



2 L
The Obukhov length, L, characterizes the thermal stability of the atmosphere. When L is negative, the
atmosphere is unstably stratified; when positive, the atmosphere is stably stratified. The stabilizing or desta-
bilizing effects of stratification are strongest as L nears zero. Accordingly, a neutrally stratified atmosphere
would have an infinite Obukhov length. Generally, an unstable atmosphere exhibits a decreasing temperature
with height and relatively large fluctuations in wind direction/velocity. Unstable atmospheres are strongly
affected by the buoyancy-generated turbulence, resulting in enhanced mixing. Conversely, highly stable
atmospheric conditions suppress turbulent mixing.
In the event that these various parameters are not reported or known, they can be estimated from the
basic meteorological conditions. From just a single measured mean wind velocity, uref , taken at a height,
zref , the friction velocity can be calculated from:
κ uref
u∗ = (16.6)
ln(zref /z0 ) − Ψm (zref /L)
The Obukhov length, L, can be chosen from Table 16.1. Suggested values of the aerodynamic roughness
length2 , z0 , are given in Table 16.2.

Table 16.1: Suggested values of the Obukhov length, L (m).

Stability Value Range Suggested Value

Very Unstable −200 ≤ L < 0 −100
Unstable −500 ≤ L < −200 −350
Neutral |L| > 500 1000000
Stable 200 < L ≤ 500 350
Very Stable 0 < L ≤ 200 100

Table 16.2: Davenport-Wieringa roughness length classification [41].

z0 (m) Classification Landscape

0.0002 sea sea, paved areas, snow-covered flat plain, tidal flats, smooth desert
0.005 smooth beaches, pack ice, snow-covered fields
0.03 open grass prairie, farm fields, tundra, airports, heather
0.1 roughly open low crops and occasional obstacles (single bushes)
0.25 rough high crops, scattered obstacles such as trees or hedgerows, vineyards
0.5 very rough mixed farm fields and forest clumps, orchards, scattered buildings
1.0 closed suburbs, villages, forests
>2 chaotic large towns and cities, irregular forests

WARNING: It is not recommended to use MO theory in highly resolved LES where the grid resolution
near the surface is smaller than the sand grain roughness [42]. In this situation, FDS will fall back on using
a NO_SLIP boundary to compute the wall stress.
2 Note that aerodynamic roughness, z0 , is not the same as sand grain roughness, s, discussed in Sec. 10.1.7. For more informa-
tion, see Sec. 16.3.4.

242
 The scaling potential temperature, θ∗ , can be obtained from the relation:
u2∗ θ0 u2∗ 
 
θ∗ = ; θ0 = θref 1 + 2 ln(zref /z0 ) − Ψh (zref /z0 ) (16.7)

gκ L gκ L
Alternatively, the scaling potential temperature can be estimated from the expression for the sensible heat
flux:
q̇′′c = −ρ c p u∗ θ∗ (16.8)
Note that a positive value of the heat flux indicates that the ground is warmer than the air above.
Figure 16.2 displays a few sample wind profiles. Notice that the sign of L determines whether the
atmosphere is stable or unstable; that is, whether the temperature increases or decreases relative to the
ground temperature.

16.2.2 Applying Monin-Obukhov Profiles to FDS

The following input line specifies a southwesterly wind blowing 5 m/s over a relatively flat, rural landscape
on a bright, sunny day:

&WIND SPEED=5., Z_REF=3, DIRECTION=225., L=-100., Z_0=0.03 /

Setting a non-zero value of L indicates that you want to use Monin-Obukhov profiles. The parameter SPEED
specifies the wind speed at a distance Z_REF (m) above the ground. The default value of Z_REF is 10 m. You
can change the height of the ground by setting GROUND_LEVEL, which is at z = 0 m by default. It is assumed
that the temperature at Z_REF is the specified ambient, TMPA, unless you specify TMP_REF (◦ C). The wind
DIRECTION follows the usual meteorological convention—a northerly wind has direction of 0◦ and blows
from north to south, or in the negative y direction in the FDS coordinate system. An easterly wind has a
direction of 90◦ and blows from east to west, or in the negative x direction. You can vary the direction of the
wind in time only, not in space:

&WIND ..., RAMP_DIRECTION_T='dir' /

&RAMP ID='dir', T= 0, F=300 /

&RAMP ID='dir', T= 600, F=330 /
&RAMP ID='dir', T=1200, F=350 /

Here, T is time in seconds and F is the wind direction in degrees. You may not vary the speed in time or
space.
If you know the value of u∗ or θ∗ , you can input these on the WIND line as U_STAR (m/s) and THETA_STAR
(K). Otherwise, they will be computed from L and z0 . Do not input all four of these parameters together.
Also, do not specify parameters on the SURF line that defines the ground that might not be consistent
with the specified M-O parameters. A fixed temperature is usually sufficient given that the atmospheric
profile is being imposed at the boundaries.

Example
The input files called wind_example_nn.fds in the samples folder called Atmospheric_Effects demon-
strate wind functionality. Each case considers a flat patch of terrain 1000 m by 1000 m by 100 m high.
In the example called wind_example_32 there are various rectangular blocks scattered about the domain to
represent buildings and the wind is held steady. Figure 16.3 displays the specified wind speed and temper-
ature profiles in the vertical direction compared to the computed time average profiles. The profiles should
be similar, but not exactly the same.

243
 30 30

25 25

20 20
Height (m)

Height (m)
15 15

10 10

5 5

0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 15 20 25
Velocity (m/s) Temperature (°C)

30 30

25 25

20 20
Height (m)

Height (m)
15 15

10 10

5 5

0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 15 20 25
Velocity (m/s) Temperature (°C)

30 30

25 25

20 20
Height (m)

Height (m)

15 15

10 10

5 5

0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 15 20 25
Velocity (m/s) Temperature (°C)

Figure 16.2: Sample vertical wind and temperature profiles.

244
 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
100 100
Vertical Profile (wind_example_32) Vertical Profile (wind_example_32)
80 80

60 60
Height (m)

Height (m)
Specified Specified
FDS FDS
40 40

20 20

0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Wind Speed (m/s) Temperature (°C)

Figure 16.3: Simulated vs. specified vertical wind speed and temperature profiles.

16.3 Wind Method 3: Advanced Meteorological Concepts

If your computational domain spans kilometers, you might consider a more fundamental set of parameters to
describe the wind field. This is a challenge because it is difficult to infer far-field meteorological conditions
from a few near-field, near-surface wind or temperature readings that you might have from a few weather
stations. If you pursue this course, you will most likely need to use some trial and error to ensure that your
far-field conditions yield something close to the data obtained at the weather stations.

16.3.1 Pressure Gradient Force

Winds are driven by horizontal pressure gradients that push air masses from regions of high to low surface
pressure. This optional pressure gradient force, F, is an extra force term added to the momentum equation:

∂u
+ · · · = F/ρ (16.9)
∂t
The magnitude of the pressure gradient force can be related to the average wind speed, U, over the height of
the boundary layer, H, by [41]
U2
|F| ≈ ρ CD (16.10)
H
where CD is a dimensionless drag coefficient ranging between 2 × 10−3 for relatively smooth surfaces to
2 × 10−2 for rough or forested surfaces. This relation is appropriate for neutrally stable conditions, i.e.
windy and relatively low surface heating. For unstable conditions, i.e., light winds and strong surface
heating, the relation becomes r
∆θ U
|F| ≈ ρ bD gH (16.11)
θ H
where bD = 1.83 × 10−3 and ∆θ /θ is the relative change in potential temperature between the ground and
the mid-height of the boundary layer. Note that these relationships are approximate. You need to conduct
some numerical experiments if you want to match a particular wind measurement.
The PRESSURE_GRADIENT_FORCE is input on the WIND line in units of Pa/m, for example,

&WIND PRESSURE_GRADIENT_FORCE=0.01, DIRECTION=315 /

245
The wind DIRECTION follows the usual meteorological convention—a northerly wind has direction of 0◦ and
blows from north to south, or in the negative y direction in the FDS coordinate system. An easterly wind
has a direction of 90◦ and blows from east to west, or in the negative x direction. You can vary the direction
of the wind in time only, not in space:

&WIND ..., RAMP_DIRECTION_T='dir' /

&RAMP ID='dir', T= 0, F=300 /
&RAMP ID='dir', T= 600, F=330 /
&RAMP ID='dir', T=1200, F=350 /

Here, T is time in seconds and F is the wind direction in degrees. You may vary the PRESSURE_GRADIENT_
FORCE in time using RAMP_PGF_T.
There are some applications, like tunnels, where the pressure gradient force is a convenient way to
introduce an air flow due to some external force. In such cases, it is sometimes more convenient to use the
vector FORCE_VECTOR(1:3) along with the corresponding time ramps RAMP_FVX_T, RAMP_FVY_T, and RAMP_
FVZ_T to control each individual component. The PRESSURE_GRADIENT_FORCE is simply the magnitude of
the FORCE_VECTOR with the same units.

16.3.2 Coriolis Force

The Coriolis force accounts for a rotating reference frame [41]. The Coriolis acceleration augments the
right-hand side of the Navier-Stokes equations as follows:
Du
= ... − 2ΩΩ×u (16.12)
Dt
Where is Ω is the rotation vector (see Fig. 16.4). To apply the Coriolis force in FDS, you have two options:
either specify the components of Ω directly on the WIND lines via CORIOLIS_VECTOR(3), or you can take the
easy route and simply specify the LATITUDE (degrees) of the domain, provided you align the x direction with
east. In this latter case, FDS will compute the rotation vector for you as
0
 

Ω = ω  cos(φ π/180)  (16.13)

sin(φ π/180)
where ω is Earth’s rotation rate, about 1.16 × 10−5 2π/s.
The non-dimensional number that determines if the Coriolis force is significant is the Rossby number.
Let U be the relevant velocity scale and L the length scale of the problem. The Coriolis frequency is given
by fc = 2ω sin(φ π/180). The Rossby number is then given by
U
Ro = (16.14)
fc L
When the Rossby number is large, the Coriolis force is negligible. In building fires, this is typically the case,
as U and L are of order unity and fc = O(10−4 rad/s).

16.3.3 Geostrophic Wind

The geostrophic wind is a theoretical construct obtained from the lateral momentum equations when the
Coriolis force is in balance with the horizontal pressure gradient at steady state [41]. The horizontal wind
components can be written as
1 ∂ p̄
Ug = − (16.15)
ρ fc ∂ y

246
 North
Ω
ω

y (north)
x (east)
z (vertical)
φ (latitude)

Figure 16.4: The rotation vector Ω points from the Earth’s center to the North Pole. To apply the effect of rotation
on our model, we need to know the components of the rotation vector in the reference frame of the computational
domain. Typically, we align the computational domain so that x points east, y points north, and z represents elevation.
The angle φ [degrees] is the latitude, positive [0◦ , 90◦ ] in the northern hemisphere, negative [0◦ , −90◦ ] in the southern
hemisphere. The rotation rate ω is (obviously) 1 rotation per day or 2π/(24 × 3600) ≈ 1.16 × 10−5 2π/s.

1 ∂ p̄
Vg = + (16.16)
ρ fc ∂ x

If the geostrophic wind speed is known, it can be entered on the WIND line via GEOSTROPHIC_WIND(1:2) =
(Ug ,Vg ). Notice that specification of the wind in x implies a mean pressure gradient in y and vice versa.
When a geostrophic wind is specified, FDS converts this value to the implied FORCE_VECTOR according to
Eq. (16.15). To achieve the specified geostrophic wind aloft, you must also have the Coriolis force turned on
(see Sec. 16.3.2). Since the geostrophic wind is equivalent to applying FORCE_VECTOR, you may also apply
a time ramp (see Sec. 16.3.1).

16.3.4 Surface Roughness

The default wall model used in FDS, in the “fully rough” limit, is given by the following log law:

u(z) 1 z
= ln + 8.5 (16.17)
u∗ κ s
The sand grain roughness, s, is related to the aerodynamic roughness length, z0 , discussed in Sec. 16.2.
Substituting the velocity profile given by Monin-Obukhov similarity theory, Eq. (16.2), into Eq. (16.17),
and noting that ψm ≈ 0 near the ground, the effective translation of roughness factors is

s = z0 e8.5 κ ≈ 32.6 z0 (16.18)

The sand grain roughness, s, is specified on a SURF line via the parameter ROUGHNESS (m). This parameter has
a more intuitive meaning than its counterpart in M-O similarity theory, z0 , because it can be viewed as the
characteristic height of ground level obstructions. Table 16.2 presents suggested values of z0 , and Eq. 16.18
can be used to compute the ROUGHNESS length that is input on the SURF line that defines the ground.

247
16.3.5 Thermal Boundary Conditions at the Ground
The ground temperature relative to the air temperature is an important consideration in defining the stability
of the atmospheric boundary layer. Cold air blowing over warm ground leads to greater dispersion than
warm air blowing over cold ground. You can apply a variety of thermal boundary conditions on the SURF
line that defines the ground: (1) a fixed or time-varying temperature using WALL_TEMPERATURE (◦ C), (2) a
CONVECTIVE_HEAT_FLUX (kW/m2 ), or (3) parameters that define the ground as a thermally-thick solid. Set-
ting the CONVECTIVE_HEAT_FLUX is convenient if you want to make contact with Monin-Obukhov similarity
theory, where Eqs. (16.7) and (16.8) can be combined to provide an expression for the convective heat flux
at the surface:
u3 θ0 ρ c p
q̇′′c = − ∗ (16.19)
gκ L
Note that ρ (kg/m3 ) is the density and c p is the specific heat of the air near the ground.

16.3.6 Example
Figure 16.5 displays velocity and temperature profiles generated by FDS over a 1000 m square domain with
periodic boundaries and a height of 200 m. The wind fields are generated using pressure gradient forces,
F, of various values, and the ground is given several different values of CONVECTIVE_HEAT_FLUX (q̇′′c ) and
surface ROUGHNESS (s). Eqs. (16.18) and (16.19) are used to convert the specified q̇′′c and s to L and z0
that are then used to generate Monin-Obukhov velocity and temperature profiles with which to compare the
simulations. Note that these simulations do not invoke the Monin-Obukhov profiles directly. Rather, the
M-O profiles are used to test if the FDS simulations produce realistic vertical profiles using just a specified
pressure gradient force, F, surface roughness, s, and surface heat flux, q̇′′c .

248
 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
100 100

80 80

60 60
Height (m)

Height (m)
40 40

20 20
M-O Theory M-O Theory
FDS FDS
0 0
0 5 10 15 20 15 20 25
Velocity (m/s) Temperature (°C)

FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
100 100

80 80

60 60
Height (m)

Height (m)
40 40

20 20
M-O Theory M-O Theory
FDS FDS
0 0
0 5 10 15 20 15 20 25
Velocity (m/s) Temperature (°C)

FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
100 100

80 80

60 60
Height (m)

Height (m)

40 40

20 20
M-O Theory M-O Theory
FDS FDS
0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 15 20 25
Velocity (m/s) Temperature (°C)

FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
100 100

80 80

60 60
Height (m)

Height (m)

40 40

20 20
M-O Theory M-O Theory
FDS FDS
0 0
0 5 10 15 15 20 25
Velocity (m/s) Temperature (°C)

Figure 16.5: Comparison of FDS-predicted velocity and temperature profiles compared to those generated using
Monin-Obukhov similarity theory.
249
16.4 Wind Method 4: The “Wall of Wind”
An alternative to using Monin-Obukhov similarity theory in specifying a wind is to specify a power law wind
profile at an external boundary of the computational domain. This essentially creates a “wall of wind” and
for early versions of FDS it was the recommended method for specifying a wind. However, the techniques
described above are preferable because they handle the lateral boundaries of the computational domain in a
more natural way.
To specify a “wall of wind”, set PROFILE='ATMOSPHERIC' on the SURF line that is assigned to an exterior
lateral boundary of the computational domain. This generates a power law atmospheric wind profile of the
form u = u0 (z/z0 ) p where z is the height above the ground. If an atmospheric profile is prescribed, also
prescribe Z0 for z0 and PLE for p. VEL specifies the reference velocity u0 . Note that z0 is not the ground, but
rather the height above the ground where the wind speed is measured, like an elevated weather station. It is
assumed that the ground is located at 0 m; to change this assumption, set GROUND_LEVEL on the WIND line to
be the appropriate elevation. Be careful not to apply an atmospheric velocity profile (e.g. negative z) below
GROUND_LEVEL or FDS will stop with an error.
When using the “wall of wind” approach, be aware that the wind field requires time to develop. To
speed things along, you may want to initialize the flow to the chosen wind speed throughout the domain, but
you may not want this initial wind field to persist indefinitely. In such cases, add the line:

&WIND U0=..., V0=..., W0=... /

where U0, V0, and W0 are your desired initial wind field. Setting the velocity components directly will
initialize the simulation with a constant flow field, but the flow field will die off and the SURF line with the
atmospheric profile will govern the wind flow.

250
16.5 Temperature Stratification
Note: If you have chosen to apply Monin-Obukhov wind and temperature profiles, this section is not appli-
cable.
Typically, in the first few hundred meters of the atmosphere, the temperature decreases several degrees
Celsius per kilometer. This small temperature change is important when considering the rise of smoke
since the temperature of the smoke decreases rapidly as it rises. The LAPSE_RATE of the atmosphere can be
specified on the WIND line in units of ◦ C/m. A negative sign indicates that the temperature decreases with
height. This need only be set for outdoor calculations where the height of the domain is tens or hundreds of
meters. The default value of the LAPSE_RATE is 0 ◦ C/m.
Alternatively, you can specify RAMP_TMP0_Z on the WIND line if you want a non-linear change in tem-
perature with height. For example,

&WIND ..., RAMP_TMP0_Z='T profile', ... /

&RAMP ID='T profile', Z= 0.001 , F= 1.0258 /

&RAMP ID='T profile', Z= 0.500 , F= 1.0019 /
&RAMP ID='T profile', Z= 1.000 , F= 1.0000 /
&RAMP ID='T profile', Z= 1.900 , F= 0.9986 /
&RAMP ID='T profile', Z= 3.000 , F= 0.9977 /
&RAMP ID='T profile', Z= 4.000 , F= 0.9972 /

The value of Z is the height (m) above the ground. The value of F is the ratio of the temperature at the given
height in degrees K to the ambient temperature in degrees K, TMPA+273.
By default, FDS assumes that the density and pressure decrease with height, regardless of the application
or domain size. For most simulations, this effect is negligible, but it can be turned off completely by setting
STRATIFICATION=F on the WIND line.

16.5.1 Stack Effect

Tall buildings often experience buoyancy-induced air movement due to temperature differences between the
interior and exterior, known as stack effect [43]. These temperature differences create flows within vertical
shafts (stairwells, atria, elevator shafts, etc.) due to leaks or openings at different levels. To simulate this
phenomenon in FDS, you must include the entire building, or a substantial fraction of it, both inside and out,
in the computational domain. It is important to capture the pressure and density decrease in the atmosphere
based on the specified temperature profile that is entered on the WIND line.
For the case where the stack flow is through small leakage paths, divide the building into one or more
pressure ZONEs. The leakage paths can be defined in terms of HVAC components. Note that the leakage
model combines all leaky surfaces over the entire height of the building and as a result averages out the
pressure gradients. For doing stack effect calculations individual leakage paths should be defined. A simple
example is described next.

Example Case: Atmospheric_Effects/stack_effect

This test case is a two-dimensional simulation of a 100 m tall building whose interior air temperature is
slightly warmer than its exterior. The building has leakage paths at the top and ground floors only. Since the
inside air temperature is slightly warmer, the inside air pressure is slightly higher as well, and it drives air
out of the building and in turn draws air into the building at the ground level. The interior air temperature,
Tb , is initially 20 ◦ C (293 K), and the exterior air temperature, T∞ , is 10 ◦ C (283 K). The LAPSE_RATE is
set to 0 ◦ C/m; thus, T0 (z) = T∞ outside the building and T0 (z) = Tb inside the building. Two small leakage

251
 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
5 1.5
Leakage Velocity Density
4

Density (kg/m³)
Velocity (m/s)

3
Ideal Upper Exterior
Ideal Lower Exterior
2 Ideal Upper Interior
0.5 Ideal Lower Interior
Ideal Upper FDS Upper Exterior
1 Ideal Lower FDS Lower Exterior
FDS Upper FDS Upper Interior
FDS Lower FDS Lower Interior
0 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Time (s) Time (s)

Figure 16.6: (Left) Velocity at the upper and lower vents for the stack_effect case. (Right) Upper and lower
exterior and interior densities.

openings are defined 2.5 m above the ground floor and 2.5 m below the roof using the HVAC solver. Each
opening is given an area of 0.01 m2 and a loss coefficient of 2 (e.g., an entrance loss into the leak path of 1
and and exit loss out of the leak path of 1 both of which represent a sharp edge opening).
The initial density stratification inside and outside the building can be calculated using the relation:

ρ0 (z) gW
 
= exp − z (16.20)
ρ∞ RT0

where R is the universal gas constant, g is the acceleration of gravity, and W is the average molecular weight
of the air, z is the height above the GROUND_LEVEL, and T0 is the ambient temperature. Applying this formula
to the external and internal locations at the lower and upper vents results in densities of 1.2412, 1.1989,
1.2272, and 1.1858 kg/m3 , respectively.
Since the openings in the building are equally spaced over its height, the neutral plane should be close
to its midpoint. This can be computed from:
∆H Tb
= 1+ (16.21)
Hn T∞
where Hn is the neutral plane height above the bottom vent and ∆H = 95 m is the distance between the
leak points. This gives a neutral plane of 46.68 m above the lower vent or 49.18 m above the bottom of
the building. Note that this is close to the midpoint value of 50 m above the bottom of the building. The
pressure difference across the building’s wall is computed from

W p0 (z) g ∆z 1 1
 
∆p = − (16.22)
R T∞ Tb

where ∆z is the distance from the leak point to the neutral plane. Using the neutral plane location, the ∆z
values are -46.68 m for the lower vent and +48.32 m for the upper vent which respectively result in lower
and upper vent pressure differences of -19.4 Pa and +20.4 Pa. Using the loss of 2 and the pressure difference
in the HVAC momentum equation results in a steady-state inflow velocity at the bottom of 3.95 m/s and an
outflow velocity at the top of 4.15 m/s. Results for velocity and density are shown in Fig. 16.6.

252
16.6 External Boundary Conditions
For typical outdoor simulations, the lateral exterior and upper boundaries of the computational domain are
either open or periodic, and the lower boundary represents the earth. Do not change the gravity vector when
doing outdoor simulations, as there are many assumptions made that assume that the ground is down and
the sky is up.
FDS assumes the ground to be ambient temperature, TMPA, initially, and the temperature of the atmo-
sphere either increases or decreases with height according to the stability condition. You can set the ground
temperature to a different temperature using TMP_FRONT, or you provide material properties and allow the
ground to heat up or cool down naturally. You may also set a CONVECTIVE_HEAT_FLUX, where a positive
value means that the ground is warmer than the air above.
Usually, the top of the domain is set to be 'OPEN', meaning that even though the wind field is more or
less parallel to it, there might be, for example, a hot plume that can rise out of the computational domain.
The lateral boundaries of the domain can be set either to SURF_ID='OPEN', 'PERIODIC', or 'PERIODIC
FLOW ONLY'. SURF_ID='OPEN' is the usual inflow/outflow condition for any case where the computational
domain is open to an infinite ambient void. SURF_ID='PERIODIC' assumes that the domain repeats itself
endlessly in each direction. This is an important assumption because the turbulent atmospheric boundary
layer that is modeled using Monin-Obukhov similarity theory is assumed to develop over distances far
beyond the computational domain. SURF_ID='PERIODIC FLOW ONLY' is the same as 'PERIODIC' except
that only the velocity field is periodic, but scalar quantities are not. That is, you do not want a smoke plume
that exits the eastern boundary of the domain to reappear instantly at the western boundary, even though you
still might want the velocity field to be periodic.

253
Chapter 17

Wildland Fire Spread

There are three ways of simulating wildland fire spread in FDS:

1. Particle Model: The vegetation is represented by a collection of Lagrangian particles that are heated
via convection and radiation (Sec. 17.2).

2. Boundary Fuel Model: Ground vegetation is modeled like a porous solid with a thickness equal to the
height of the vegetation (Sec. 17.3).

3. Level Set Model: The fire front propagates using purely empirical rules (Sec. 17.5).

The Particle Model and Boundary Fuel Model use the same basic pyrolysis model (Sec. 17.1), and the fire
spread rate is predicted by the model. The Level Set Model relies on a set of experimentally-determined
spread rates for different types of vegetation and wind speeds.

17.1 Thermal Degradation Model for Vegetation

17.1.1 Solid Phase
The solid-phase thermal degradation process for generic vegetation are typically modeled with three reac-
tions (note that the stoichiometric coefficients are mass-based) [44, 45, 46]:

1. Endothermic moisture evaporation

M
Wet Vegetation → νmoist Moisture + (1 − νmoist ) Dry Vegetation ; νmoist = (17.1)
1+M
2. Endothermic pyrolysis of Dry Vegetation

Dry Vegetation → νchar Char + (1 − νchar ) Fuel Gas (17.2)

3. Exothermic char oxidation

Char + νO2 ,char O2 → (1 + νO2 ,char − νash ) CO2 + νash Ash (17.3)

M is the vegetation moisture content or moisture fraction determined on a dry weight basis, specified with
MOISTURE_FRACTION on the SURF line. νchar is the mass fraction of Dry Vegetation that is converted to char
during pyrolysis, specified with the parameter NU_MATL on the MATL line that describes the Dry Vegetation.
The character string MATL_ID on the same MATL line indicates the name of the char. νO2 ,char is the mass of

255
oxygen consumed per unit mass of char oxidized. νash is the mass fraction of char that is converted to ash
during char oxidation, specified by NU_MATL on the MATL line describing the char.
It is assumed that the Dry Vegetation in Eq. (17.2) is 47 % (by mass) carbon [47] with an effective
organic component C3.4 H6.2 O2.5 [48]. In general, it is assumed that char may be comprised of more than
pure carbon and is defined as Cx′ Oz′ A in Eq. 17.23. In the specific case where char is composed of pure
carbon which reacts completely with O2 to form CO2 then νO2 ,char = 2.67 and νash = 0. A full discussion of
the composition of the Char and Fuel Gas is given in Sec. 17.1.2.
The char reaction, Eq. (17.3), is usually modified in FDS when the default “simple chemistry” model
is used; that is, the one-step, mixing-controlled reaction for the lumped species Fuel, Air, and Products. In
this case, O2 and CO2 are not explicitly calculated, but rather are implicitly defined in terms of the lumped
species, AIR and PRODUCTS, which are defined based on the stoichiometry of the reaction. Equation (17.3)
cannot be written in terms of the lumped species, but a close approximation is as follows:
νO2 ,char νO2 ,char
 
Char + Air → 1 + − νash Products + νash Ash (17.4)
YO2 ,∞ YO2 ,∞
In the input file, this reaction is specified by the following parameters on the MATL line that defines the char:

&MATL ID = 'char'
...
MATL_ID = 'ash'
NU_MATL = 0.02
SPEC_ID = 'PRODUCTS','AIR'
NU_SPEC = 8.15,-7.17 /

What this means is that the decomposition of 1 g of char requires 7.17 g of Air and produces 8.15 g of
Products and 0.02 g of Ash. The Products in this case are the products of the single step gas phase reaction,
not just CO2 . The discrepancy is minor, and the alternative to using this approximation is to explicitly
track all gas species and apply Eq. (17.3) directly. If O2 is not explicitly tracked FDS will infer νO2 ,char
in Eq. 17.4 from the mass fraction of O2 in the reactant (e.g. Air). Assuming YO2 ,∞ = 0.23, this example
implies νO2 ,char = 1.65, which is a common value used for vegetative material [44]. An oxygen mass fraction
of 0.23 is usually a good approximation for Air when converting between the lumped species and oxygen
stoichiometric coefficients. The actual mass fractions of the components of a lumped species can always be
confirmed by checking the [Link] file.
In the referenced papers [44, 45, 46], the reaction rates are written in terms of “bulk” quantities. For
example, in the paper by Mell et al. [49], the mass of dry vegetation per unit volume is denoted ⟨m′′′ dry ⟩Vb ,
where the angled brackets denote the explicit LES filtering over the grid cell volume Vb . However, in FDS
the reaction rates are written in terms of the component densities of the composite solid:

ρs = ρs,dry + ρs,H2 O + ρs,char + ρs,ash (17.5)

The reaction rates for evaporation of H2 O and pyrolysis of the dry vegetation are:
EH2 O
 
− 21
rH2 O = ρs,H2 O AH2 O T exp − (17.6)
RT

Epyr
 
rpyr = ρs,dry Apyr exp − (17.7)
RT
where T is the temperature of the vegetation. Note that the exponent −1/2 in Eq. (17.6) is specified using
N_T=-0.5 on the MATL line for water, and the exponent 0 in Eq. (17.8) is specified using N_S=0 on the MATL
line for the char species. The default values of the kinetic constants are given in Table 17.1.

256
 In the case of char the surface oxidation rate is determined by [50]:

Echar
 
rchar = YO2 ,surf σ Achar exp − (17.8)
RT
This model is invoked by setting SURFACE_OXIDATION_MODEL to T on the MATL line. Use of this model
automatically assumes the reaction is zeroth order for the solid phase density (N_S=0) and first order for the
oxygen mass fraction (N_O2=1), and FDS will override any values provided by the user. Suggested kinetic
constants are given in Table 17.1. The reaction rate depends on the surface area to volume ratio of the solid,
σ . It also depends on the oxygen mass fraction at the material surface, YO2 ,surf . This is determined from
a mass conservation approach which assumes the oxygen consumed by the reaction must be supplied by
transport to the surface from the oxygen in the surrounding gas (YO2 ,∞ ). This produces the following balance
between transport and kinetics [51]:

Echar
 
hm ln(B + 1) = YO2 ,surf Achar exp − (17.9)
RT
YO2 ,∞ −YO2 ,surf
B = (17.10)
νO2 ,char +YO2 ,surf

The mass transfer coefficient is hm = h/c p , using the heat and mass transfer analogy (h is obtained from
Eq. (8.2)). A linear approximation of ln(B + 1) ≈ B is applied, allowing YO2 ,surf to be calculated from a
quadratic equation and substituted into Eq. (17.8). It is important to note that the transport equation assumes
a single reaction for char that produces CO2 , as in Eq. (17.4). This approach also assumes the oxidation
of char is a surface reaction where the details of temperature and oxygen gradients through the particle
depth can be neglected and is therefore most applicable for thermally thin solids. These assumptions are
not enforced by FDS in any way, however, so consideration should be given when using the SURFACE_
OXIDATION_MODEL. Also note that because this model depends on full-scale parameters σ and hm it is not
necessarily appropriate to compare directly with micro-scale TGA data via TGA_ANALYSIS.
The equation governing the temperature of the thermally-thick solid is

∂ Ts 1 ∂ I ∂ Ts
 
ρs cs = I r ks + q̇′′′
s (17.11)
∂t r ∂r ∂r
where I is 1 for cylindrical and 2 for spherical coordinates. The source term is given by

q̇′′′
s = − ∆hH2 O rH2 O + ∆hpyr rpyr + ∆hchar rchar (17.12)

and the boundary condition

∂ Ts
k = q̇′′c + q̇′′r (17.13)
∂r
The specific heat of the composite solid is given by
∑ ρs,α cα
cs = (17.14)
ρs
Suggested values [54] for the specific heats, in units of kJ/(kg· K), as functions of temperature (◦ C) are listed
here:
1.1 + 0.01 T T < 200 ◦ C

cdry , cchar = (17.15)
2 T ≥ 200◦ C
cash = 2 (17.16)

257
 Table 17.1: Default vegetation pyrolysis constants.

Parameter Value Reference

Dry Vegetation C3.4 H6.2 O2.5 A Ritchie et al. [48]
Fuel Gas C2.1 H6.2 O2.2 Sec. 17.1.2
Char C1.3 O0.3 A
√ Sec. 17.1.2
AH2 O 600,000 K/s Porterie et al. [44]
EH2 O 48,200 J/mol Porterie et al. [44]
Apyr 1040 s−1 Grishin [52]
Epyr 61,041 J/mol Grishin [52]
Achar 465 kg/m2 /s Boonmee and Quintiere [50]
Echar 68,000 J/mol Boonmee and Quintiere [50]
νO2 ,char 1.65 Kashiwagi and Nambu [53]
νchar 0.25 Assumption
νash 0.04 Assumption
∆hc 17,400 kJ/kg Sec. 17.1.2
∆hpyr 418 kJ/kg Porterie et al. [44]
∆hchar -25,000 kJ/kg Kashiwagi and Nambu [53]
∆hH2 O 2,259 kJ/kg Porterie et al. [44]

cH2 O = 4.19 (17.17)

The rate of change of the total mass is

∂ ρs
= −rH2 O − (1 − νchar ) rpyr − (1 − νash ) rchar (17.18)
∂t
The rate of change for the components of the vegetative mass during thermal degradation are:

∂ ρs,H2 O
= −rH2 O (17.19)
∂t
∂ ρs,dry
= −rpyr (17.20)
∂t
∂ ρs,char
= −νchar rpyr − rchar (17.21)
∂t
Gaseous products created during the thermal degradation process are water vapor (during evaporation), fuel
vapor (during pyrolysis), and CO2 (during char oxidation). The source terms (kg m−3 s−1 ) for these species
are, respectively, rH2 O , (1 − νchar ) rpyr , and (1 + νO2 ,char − νash ) rchar . In addition, the char oxidation process
consumes oxygen in the gas phase at a rate of −νO2 ,char rchar .
Figure 17.1 includes sample input lines demonstrating how the vegetation model can be applied to
particles that represent pine needles that are 1 mm in diameter and 5 cm long. Note that the special surface
oxidation model is invoked by setting SURFACE_OXIDATION_MODEL to T on the MATL line. All parameters
described above must be explicitly specified in the input file—there are no hard-wired default values.

258
&MATL ID = 'MOISTURE'
DENSITY = 1000.
CONDUCTIVITY = 0.6
SPECIFIC_HEAT = 4.190
A = 600000.
E = 48200.
N_T = -0.5
NU_SPEC = 1.
SPEC_ID = 'WATER VAPOR'
HEAT_OF_REACTION = 2259. /

&MATL ID = 'DRY VEGETATION'

DENSITY = 400.
CONDUCTIVITY = 0.1
SPECIFIC_HEAT_RAMP = '...'
A = 1040.
E = 61,041.
NU_MATL = 0.25
MATL_ID = 'CHAR'
NU_SPEC = 0.74
SPEC_ID = 'Fuel Gas'
HEAT_OF_REACTION = 418. /

&MATL ID = 'CHAR'
DENSITY = 300.
CONDUCTIVITY = 0.05
SPECIFIC_HEAT_RAMP = '...'
SURFACE_OXIDATION_MODEL = T
A = 465.
E = 68000.
MATL_ID = 'ASH'
NU_MATL = 0.10
SPEC_ID = 'PRODUCTS','AIR'
NU_SPEC = 8.07,-7.17
HEAT_OF_REACTION= -25000. /

&MATL ID = 'ASH'
DENSITY = 67.
CONDUCTIVITY = 0.1
SPECIFIC_HEAT_RAMP = '...' /

Figure 17.1: Input parameters describing vegetation.

259
17.1.2 Gas Phase
To estimate the heat of combustion of the gas phase reaction of fuel vapors generated by the pyrolysis of
vegetation, the decomposition reaction given in Eqs. (17.2) and (17.3) is written as an equivalent set of
reactions assuming that the Dry Vegetation is given by the effective formula Cx Hy Oz A, where A represents
the inorganic components that eventually form the Ash.

Cx Hy Oz A (s) → Cx′ Oz′ A (s) + Cx−x′ Hy Oz−z′ (g) (17.22)

| {z } | {z } | {z }
Dry Vegetation Char Fuel Gas
C ′ Oz′ A (s) + νO2 O2 (g) → νCO2 CO2 (g) + A (s) (17.23)
| x {z } | {z } | {z } | {z }
Char Oxygen Carbon Dioxide Ash

νO2 ,char νchar Wveg (1 + νO2 ,char − νash ) νchar Wveg 12x + y + 16z
νO2 = ; νCO2 = ; Wveg = (17.24)
WO2 WCO2 1 − νash νchar
x′ = νCO2 ; z′ = 2 (νCO2 − νO2 ) (17.25)
The ideal one step gas phase reaction of the Fuel Gas is as follows:

y 2(x − x′ ) + y/2 − (z − z′ )
Cx−x′ Hy Oz−z′ + νO′ 2 O2 → (x − x′ ) CO2 + H2 O : νO′ 2 = (17.26)
2 2
The heat of combustion of the gas phase reaction (heat release per unit mass fuel gas consumed) can be
estimated from the heat release per unit mass of oxygen consumed, E = 13.98 MJ/kg, measured by Tihay et
al. [55]:
WO2 νO′ 2
∆hc ≈ E (17.27)
12(x − x′ ) + y + 16(z − z′ )
The total heat release rate of burning vegetation is the sum of both the gas phase combustion of pyrolyzed
plant matter and the solid phase exothermic char oxidation reaction. The effective heat of combustion,
∆hc,eff , is a weighted average of the two reactions. The heat of combustion of the pyrolyzed plant matter,
∆hc , is approximately 17400 kJ/kg according to Eq. (17.27). The heat of reaction for the char oxidation,
∆hchar is approximately -25000 kJ/kg (the minus sign in this instance refers to an exothermic solid phase
reaction). The effective heat of combustion is found from:

(1 − νchar νash ) ∆hc,eff = (1 − νchar )∆hc + νchar (1 − νash )(−∆hchar ) (17.28)

17.1.3 Examples
Consider the sample case called WUI/char_oxidation_1.fds where m = 0.0531 kg of dry vegetation is
completely consumed by fire except for a small amount of ash. The char and ash yields are νchar = 0.25 and
νash = 0.04. The heat of combustion of the pyrolyzed fuel vapor is ∆hc = 17400 kJ/kg; thus the effective heat
of combustion for the mass of vegetation consumed is ∆hc,eff = 19146 kJ/kg according to Eq. (17.28). The
area under the heat release rate curve in the left hand plot of Fig. 17.2 should be m(1 − νchar νash )∆hc,eff ≈
1012 kJ and the mass of ash remaining should be νchar νash m ≈ 0.000531 kg, as shown in the right hand plot
of Fig. 17.2.
The sample case called Verification/WUI/char_oxidation_2.fds considers two pines needle both
with an initial temperature Ts,i = 293.15 K introduced into an adiabatic box with a volume V = 0.125 m3
and initial temperature Tg,i = 1073.15 K. The needles are a cylinder with length L = 0.1 m and radius
r = 0.0005 m. They are composed of plant matter, or ’pulp’, with a density of ρs = 500 kg/m3 , specific heat
cs = 1 kJ/(kg·K), and mass mp = πr2 Lρs with one needle dry and the other needle having 20 % moisture.

260
 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
600 0.08
HRR (char_oxidation_1) Particle Mass (char_oxidation_1)
500
0.06
400
HRR (kW)

Mass (kg)
N/A Ash Mass
300 FDS (HRR)
0.04 FDS (mass foliage)

200
0.02
100

0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 0 5 10 15 20 25
Time (s) Time (s)

Figure 17.2: Heat release rate (left) and total mass (right) as functions of time in the char_oxidation_1 test case.

The box is initially filled with nitrogen and oxygen, the latter with an initial mass fraction of 0.05. The
vegetation undergoes three reactions, one in which (1 − νchar ) mp is converted to fuel gas and νchar mp to
solid char, and the second in which the char oxidizes to form CO2 gas and solid ash, and the third is the
evaporation of moisture. The char yield νchar = 0.25 and the ash yield νash = 0.02. Note that the ash yield is
the faction of char that is converted to ash, not the fraction of the original pine needle.
To simplify calculation of the exact answer, all species and material c values, except for the moisture,
are set to 1 kJ/(kg·K). Energy is conserved if the enthalpy change of the particle is equal and opposite to the
internal energy change of the gas. Note that it is internal energy and not enthalpy since the box is sealed
and any pressure rise must be accounted for in the energy balance. For this case, since the gas species
have a specified specific heat, their heat of formation are all 298.15 kJ/kg. Since there are four materials
and three material reactions, following the discussion in Sec. 9.4, FDS will perform a least squares solution
to determine the material heats of formation (the enthalpy at 298.15 K). The result of this calculation is a
pulp heat of formation of 6145 kJ/kg, a char heat of formation of 25,290 kJ/kg, an ash heat of formation of
-231 kJ/kg, and a moisture heat of formation of -2202 kJ/kg.
At the start of the simulation the particle enthalpy is:

Hpart = 0.1 m × π × (0.0005 m)2 × 500 kg/m3 × (6145 − 5) kJ/kg = 0.2411 kJ (17.29)

At the end of the simulation only ash is left which is 2 % of the char mass which was 25 % of the initial
particle mass. The ash will end up at the gas temperature.

Hpart = 0.1 m × π × (0.0005 m)2 × 500 kg/m3 × 0.02 × 0.25 × (775 − 231) kJ/kg = 0.0001 kJ (17.30)

The particle will therefore lose 0.2410 kJ.

261
 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release 10 -5 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
5
1 FDS (Pulp)
Solid Mass (char_oxidation_2) Vapor Mass (char_oxidation_2)
FDS (Char) 4
FDS (Ash)
0.8 FDS (Total)
3
Mass Fraction

Mass (kg)
0.6 2
Exact (fuel)
Exact (CO2)
1
Exact (Solid)
0.4 Exact (O2)
0 FDS (fuel)
0.2 FDS (CO2)
-1 FDS (solid)
FDS (O2)
0 -2
0 5 10 15 20 25 0 5 10 15 20 25
Time (s) Time (s)

FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release

1500
0.2 Energy Balance (char_oxidation_2) Temperature (char_oxidation_2)

0.1

Temperature (°C)
1000
Energy (kJ)

Exact (Delta e_part)

Exact (Delta e_gas)
0 FDS (Delta e_part)
FDS (Delta e_gas)

-0.1 500

Dry Needle Surface Temperature

-0.2 Mean Gas Temperature
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 0 5 10 15 20 25
Time (s) Time (s)

Figure 17.3: (Top left) Mass of virgin foliage, char and ash. (Top right) Total mass of solid and fuel vapor, CO2 , and
O2 . (Lower left) Energy lost by the pine needle (black) and gained by the gas (red). (Lower right) Surface temperature
of the pine needle and mean gas temperature of the enclosure.

17.2 Lagrangian Particle Model

Lagrangian particles can be used to represent different types of vegetation, like leaves, grass, and so on. The
best way to explain how to use this feature is by way of example. The sample input file in the WUI (Wildland-
Urban Interface) folder called pine_needles.fds1 describes a collection of pine needles that occupy a unit
cube. The input parameters for this case are spread among a number of namelist groups.
First, the PART line defines a class of solid particles that represent pine needles:

&PART ID='pine needles', SAMPLING_FACTOR=1, SURF_ID='wet vegetation',

DRAG_COEFFICIENT=2.8, PROP_ID='needle image', STATIC=T /

STATIC=T specifies that the needles do not move, and SAMPLING_FACTOR=1 specifies that each needle is to
be shown in Smokeview. More importantly, this line specifies a drag coefficient for the needles based on
wind tunnel measurements made at NIST [56]. The force per unit volume exerted by the vegetation is given
by:
ρ
fb = Cd Cs β σ u |u| (17.31)
2
where ρ is the air density, Cd is the drag coefficient, Cs is the SHAPE_FACTOR (0.25 by default), β is the
1 The parameter values in this example have been chosen simply to demonstrate the technique. These values should not be used
for a real calculation.

262
packing ratio (mass per unit volume divided by the material density), σ is the surface area to volume ratio
(see below), and u is the air velocity.
The PART line also tells Smokeview to visualize each needle as a tube that is 0.1 m long and 0.5 mm in
diameter:

&PROP ID='needle image', SMOKEVIEW_ID='TUBE',

SMOKEVIEW_PARAMETERS='L=0.1','D=0.0005' /

The geometry and composition of the needle is described on the SURF line that is referenced by the PART
line:

&SURF ID = 'wet vegetation'

MATL_ID = 'dry pine'
MOISTURE_FRACTION = 0.25
SURFACE_VOLUME_RATIO = 8000.
LENGTH = 0.1
GEOMETRY = 'CYLINDRICAL' /

The needle is composed of two materials—'dry pine' and 'MOISTURE'. Following the convention used
in forestry, the moisture content is expressed via the MOISTURE_FRACTION, which is the mass of moisture
divided by the mass of dry vegetation. Do not confuse this with the mass fraction of moisture, Ym , which is
related to the moisture fraction, M, via
M
Ym = (17.32)
1+M
The length of each needle is specified directly, but its diameter is specified via the surface area to volume
ratio, σ = 2/r for a cylinder. For a sphere, σ = 3/r, where r is the radius of the cylinder or sphere. The
GEOMETRY can be 'CARTESIAN', i.e. a plate, 'CYLINDRICAL', or 'SPHERICAL'. For a plate, σ = 1/δ where
δ is the half-thickness of the plate. The MATL_ID specifies the thermo-physical properties of the pine needle.

&MATL ID = 'dry pine'

DENSITY = 500.
CONDUCTIVITY = 0.1
SPECIFIC_HEAT = 1.0
REFERENCE_TEMPERATURE = 300.
NU_MATL = 0.2
NU_SPEC = 0.8
SPEC_ID = 'CELLULOSE'
HEAT_OF_REACTION = 1000
MATL_ID = 'CHAR' /

&MATL ID = 'CHAR'
DENSITY = 200.
CONDUCTIVITY = 1.0
SPECIFIC_HEAT = 1.6 /

Note that if you specify a MOISTURE_FRACTION on the SURF line, FDS will automatically add a MATL line for
'MOISTURE' as it is written in Fig. 17.1. FDS will also alter the DENSITY of the dry vegetation, in this case
'dry pine', so that the size and wood content of the particle do not change when moisture is added. The
modified density of the “dry” vegetation, ρ̃d , is given by:
ρd
ρ̃d = (17.33)
1 − ρρmd M

where ρd is the user-specified density of the dry vegetation and ρm is the density of the moisture, typically

263
assumed to be 1000 kg/m3 . The rationale behind this adjustment is that dry vegetation contains small pores
that trap moisture. Thus, when moisture is added, the size and vegetation content of the particle do not
change.
Each MATL line must include the DENSITY, CONDUCTIVITY and SPECIFIC_HEAT of that component. If
the material component undergoes a reaction, there needs to be either a REACTION_TEMPERATURE or more
detailed kinetic parameters like the ones listed in Fig. 17.1. Material components that react need stoichio-
metric coefficients NU_SPEC and NU_MATL to designate how much of the material mass is converted to a gas
SPECies and how much to a solid MATeriaL. In this case, 'CELLULOSE' is the gas-phase fuel specified on the
REAC line. The gas species 'WATER VAPOR' is defined by a SPEC line. Even though water vapor is included
in the combustion products, you still need to explicitly specify 'WATER VAPOR' as the gasified form of the
moisture in the pine needles.
Finally, the pine needles are introduced into the simulation via the INIT line:

&INIT PART_ID='pine needles', XB=0.,1.,0.,1.,0.,1., N_PARTICLES=1000,

MASS_PER_VOLUME=0.8, DRY=T /

This line inserts 1000 Lagrangian particles representing pine needles randomly within a unit cube. The
MASS_PER_VOLUME is the mass (kg) of solid needles divided by the volume (m3 ) they occupy, sometimes
called the “bulk density.” The parameter DRY=T means that if you have specified a MOISTURE_FRACTION on
the SURF line that describes the vegetation, then the actual mass per volume of wet vegetation is

m′′′ ′′′
w = md (1 + M) (17.34)

In the example, 1 kg of wet pine needles occupy 1 m3 . The number of particles used to represent the pine
needles is somewhat arbitrary. FDS will automatically weight the specified number so that the total mass
per volume is 1 kg. The vegetation is heated until all of the water and fuel evaporate. The fuel is not allowed
to burn by setting the ambient oxygen concentration to 1 %. Figure 17.4 shows the evolution of the fuel,
water and char mass. Agreement with the expected values means that mass is conserved.
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
1.2
Mass Balance (pine_needles)
1

0.8 Expected (Fuel Gas)

Expected (Water Vapor)
Mass (kg)

Expected (Char)
0.6 FDS (fuel gas mass)
FDS (water vapor mass)
0.4 FDS (solid mass)

0.2

0
0 2 4 6 8 10
Time (s)

Figure 17.4: Evolution of vegetation mass in the pine_needles test case.

17.2.1 Trees
A coniferous tree (e.g. pine, spruce, fir) can be represented in FDS as a collection of Lagrangian particles
as follows:

264
&PART ID='needles', DRAG_COEFFICIENT=2.8, SURF_ID='needle surface', STATIC=T,
COLOR='FOREST GREEN' /
&INIT ID='needles', PART_ID='needles', XYZ=..., CROWN_BASE_WIDTH=3.2,
CROWN_BASE_HEIGHT=0.2, TREE_HEIGHT=2, SHAPE='CONE', N_PARTICLES_PER_CELL=1,
MASS_PER_VOLUME=10., DRY=T /

These lines create a collection of particles in the shape of a cone. The dimensions of the cone are specified
via the parameters CROWN_BASE_WIDTH, the diameter of the base of the cone (m), CROWN_BASE_HEIGHT,
the distance (m) from the ground to the base of the cone, TREE_HEIGHT, the height (m) of the tree from
ground to tip, and the position triplet, XYZ, of the trunk at the ground. Note that in this example, exactly one
particle is specified per grid cell, positioned randomly within the cell. The number of actual pine needles this
single particle represents depends on the specified (dry) MASS_PER_VOLUME. Additional details on specifying
different standard tree crown geometries can be found in Section 15.5.3.
A handy way to introduce many trees into a simulation is by way of a SURF line as follows:

&SURF ID='forest',..., INIT_IDS(1:2)='needles','branches', INIT_PER_AREA=0.1 /

This line indicates that solid boundaries with the surface properties given by 'forest' shall have 1 tree
per 10 m2 , as indicated by the parameter INIT_PER_AREA. The trees may consist of more than one type
of particle, as indicated by the array INIT_IDS. Note that this construct is designed for trees and is only
invoked on upward-facing horizontal boundaries. Also note that the coordinates XYZ on the INIT line should
be 0,0,0 so that it can be repositioned accordingly.

17.2.2 Bulk Density Input Files

In some cases, the user may have access to detailed 3-dimensional spatial information on the distribution
of vegetation bulk density, or MASS_PER_VOLUME, within a tree crown or a forest canopy. These data may
be available in a voxelized (gridded) format and are increasingly common with the advancement of both
remote sensing techniques (e.g. lidar) and tools for modeling forest canopy structure. It is possible to
directly import such bulk density data by specifying a BULK_DENSITY_FILE on the INIT line. Each file
should specify the bulk density values for the type of vegetation defined by the PART_ID and SURF_ID
associated with the particular INIT line. For example, one file may specify the spatial distribution of foliage,
another for branches, and so on:

&INIT ID='insert', PART_ID='foliage part', BULK_DENSITY_FILE='canopy_foliage.bdf'/

For a full example, see the bulk_density_file.fds test cases in the WUI directory of the verification suite.
Bulk density data are assumed to be provided on a dry-mass basis. DRY=T is set automatically and moisture
mass is added following the specification of the associated SURF (see Sec. 17.2 for detail).
The BULK_DENSITY_FILE must be a FORTRAN unformatted (binary) file and follows the following
convention:

WRITE(LU_VEG_IN) VXMIN,VXMAX,VYMIN,VYMAX,VZMIN,VZMAX
WRITE(LU_VEG_IN) VDX,VDY,VDZ
WRITE(LU_VEG_IN) NVOX
WRITE(LU_VEG_IN) VCX,VCY,VCZ
WRITE(LU_VEG_IN) MASS_PER_VOLUME
.
.
WRITE(LU_VEG_IN) VCX,VCY,VCZ
WRITE(LU_VEG_IN) MASS_PER_VOLUME

265
The sextuplet VXMIN,VXMAX,VYMIN,VYMAX,VZMIN,VZMAX gives the bounds (upper and lower voxel faces) of
the entire vegetation containing volume. This is used to determine whether a specific mesh contains any
of the vegetation. The triplet VDX,VDY,VDZ gives the spatial resolution of the input data and NVOX is the
total number of voxels which actually contain vegetation. The coordinates of each voxel center are given by
VCX,VCY,VCZ and the bulk density by MASS_PER_VOLUME. Third-party tools to create vegetation inputs are in
development. However, an example python script for creating a custom BULK_DENSITY_FILE can be found
in the cad GitHub repository, firemodels/cad.
FDS effectively creates a BLOCK shaped INIT line for each voxel. In this way, it is possible to change
the FDS resolution and meshing without needing to create a new BULK_DENSITY_FILE. By default, if a
BULK_DENSITY_FILE is specified FDS will input vegetation with N_PARTICLES_PER_CELL = 1 to minimize
memory usage. However, if an FDS grid cell intersects multiple vegetation voxels (for example, due to
misalignment between FDS and voxel resolution), more than one particle will be added to the cell. The
input mass will be conserved; this will simply increase memory usage, and it is generally recommended to
provide a BULK_DENSITY_FILE with the same resolution as your simulation if possible.
Additionally, the BULK_DENSITY_FILE can be scaled using a BULK_DENSITY_FACTOR. The value of this
input, also provided on the INIT line, will be multiplied by all values in the BULK_DENSITY_FILE when
they are read in. This allows quick adjustment of the overall canopy density without having to regenerate
new binary files. It can also be used to re-apply the same BULK_DENSITY_FILE for different classes of
particles, such as foliage and branches, which may have the same spatial distribution of material but different
proportions of bulk density.

17.2.3 Firebrands
Firebrands, or embers, are small pieces of burning wood and vegetation that can be lofted into the air and
blown by the wind ahead of a wildland fire front. Manzello et al. [57] have developed a variety of ex-
perimental apparatus designed to generate firebrands in a laboratory setting. The example input file called
dragon_5a in the WUI (Wildland-Urban Interface) folder is a very simple mock-up of one of these experi-
ments. The word “dragon” is based on the nickname of the apparatus; 5a is the figure number in Ref. [57]
on which this example case is loosely based. In the experiment, 700 g of small dowels (length 50 mm, di-
ameter 8 mm) made of Ponderosa Pine wood were poured into a small steel chamber equipped with several
propane burners. The dowels were left to burn for roughly a minute subject to a slow induced air flow after
which time the air flow was increased and firebrands were propelled horizontally out of a 15 cm duct 2.25 m
above the lab floor. It is reported that after several replicate experiments, the average mass of the firebrands
collected from pans on the floor was 57 g. The average diameter of the collected dowels was 5.6 mm, and
the average length was 13.5 mm.
It is not possible to simulate the experiment in FDS exactly as it was performed. The reason is that in
the experiment, all 700 g of the wooden dowels were poured into the heating chamber at once. FDS cannot
handle such a dense packing of Lagrangian particles. Instead, the simulated dowels are introduced at a rate
of 10 per second. FDS also does not have a mechanism to break-up the dowels, reducing their length from
50 mm to 13.5 mm. Thus, the initial cylindrical particles are 13.5 mm and remain that length throughout
the simulation. The diameter of the cylindrical particles is reduced, however, from 8 mm to 5.6 mm, which
takes the initial density of 440 kg/m3 down to 71 kg/m3 because the mass of the firebrands is assumed to be
8 % of the original. The plot in Fig. 17.5 shows the increasing mass of firebrands thrown to the floor in the
simulation after 100 s of particle insertion. The total mass of particles inserted into the apparatus is:

π (0.004 m)2 × (0.0135 m) × (440 kg/m3 ) × (10 part/s) × (100 s) ≈ 0.3 kg (17.35)

The amount expected on the floor is approximately 0.024 kg.

266
 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
0.04
Lofting Brands (dragon_5a)

0.03

Mass (kg)
0.02

0.01
Exact
FDS
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Time (s)

Figure 17.5: Mass generation of firebrands in the dragon_5a test case.

17.2.4 Ember Generation From Particles

Although in its early stages of development, a rudimentary ember generation algorithm is available for use
in FDS. Lagrangian particle classes may be tagged as “ember particles” and thus subject to lofting by a drag
force. Two parameters control the point at which a given particle becomes an ember. First is the density
threshold, controlled by the parameter EMBER_DENSITY_THRESHOLD on the PART line. As a vegetative particle
burns and converts to char its density decreases from that of a woody material with a density of 500-1000
kg/m3 to char with a density of 50-100 kg/m3 . As the wood turns to char its structural integrity diminishes
and the drag forces may rip the vegetative element apart. While the phenomenon of course depends on
the force exerted by the gas flow around the particle, we use a velocity threshold as a surrogate to the drag
force, since this is more intuitive. The threshold is controlled by EMBER_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD on PART. The
EMBER_PARTICLE tag should only be applied to particle classes that are initially STATIC. A typical example
is given below.

&PART ID='small branches', STATIC=T, EMBER_PARTICLE=T, EMBER_DENSITY_THRESHOLD=75.,

EMBER_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD=3.0

Ember Removal In some cases, tracking embers may be prohibitively expensive or irrelevant to the prob-
lem and it may be sufficient simply to remove the particles from the calculation once they reach the ember
thresholds. If this is desired, add TRACK_EMBERS=F to the PART line.

267
17.3 Boundary Fuel Model
In many simulations of wildland fire, the ground vegetation layer is too thin to be resolved explicitly, as is
done when using Lagrangian particles to represent the vegetation. In such cases, the ground vegetation can
be modeled as a porous boundary consisting of a layer of dry vegetation, moisture, and air, underneath of
which is hard ground [58]. The drag exerted by the vegetation is modeled using a special velocity boundary
condition, and convective heat transfer is modeled via a source term in the one-dimensional heat conduction
equation that is solved through the layer of vegetation and solid ground. Thermal radiation penetrates the
vegetation layer via a 1-D radiative transport equation that is used for semi-transparent solids.
To invoke this Boundary Fuel Model, create a SURF line similar to the following:

&SURF ID = 'Ground Vegetation'

MATL_ID(1,1) = 'Dry Vegetation'
MATL_ID(2,1) = 'Soil'
MOISTURE_FRACTION(1) = 0.218
SURFACE_VOLUME_RATIO(1) = 3092.
MASS_PER_VOLUME(1) = 5.
THICKNESS(1:2) = 0.076,0.1 /

The presence of the parameter MASS_PER_VOLUME automatically triggers the Boundary Fuel Model. Note that
its argument of 1 refers to the first layer; the second layer being Soil. If you specify MOISTURE_FRACTION,
FDS will automatically add a MATL line for 'MOISTURE'.
The drag exerted on the wind flowing through the vegetation is imposed as a force term in the gas phase
grid cell adjacent to the boundary:
ρ hb
fb = Cs σ β Cd u|u| (17.36)
2 δz
where ρ is the density of the gas, Cs is the SHAPE_FACTOR of the subgrid-scale vegetation (0.25 by default),
σ is the surface area to volume ratio (SURFACE_VOLUME_RATIO), β is the packing ratio (mass per volume
divided by the solid density), Cd is the DRAG_COEFFICIENT (2.8 by default), hb is the depth of the vegetation
(THICKNESS(1)), δ z is the height of the grid cell, and u is the gas velocity in the first grid cell.
Thermal radiation is absorbed in depth according to a 1-D radiative transport solver. The absorption
coefficient is given by:
κ = Cs σ β (17.37)
Thermal convection is not imposed at the interface between the gas phase and the vegetation layer, but rather
is imposed via a source term in the 1-D heat conduction solver:

c,b ⟩ = σ β q̇c
⟨q̇′′′ ′′
(17.38)

where q̇′′c is given in Eq. (8.1) under the assumption that the subgrid-scale vegetation is cylindrical and the
gas velocity and temperature are taken from the first gas phase grid cell adjacent to the boundary.

17.3.1 Burnout Time

For scenarios where the fire’s rate of spread (ROS) is relatively slow and the numerical grid is relatively
coarse, the spatial resolution may be inadequate. Consider the simple relationship between the ROS, the
width of the fire front, W , and the average burn duration of a particular patch of vegetation, ∆tb :

W = ROS × ∆tb (17.39)

The more grid cells spanning the front width, the better resolved the simulation. In badly resolved simula-
tions, the time required for the fire to spread the width of a grid cell may be comparable or longer than the

268
burnout time, ∆tb . In such cases, it is necessary to specify an effective “burnout time” that accounts for the
unresolved burning occurring at subgrid scales. This parameter, MINIMUM_BURNOUT_TIME (s), is specified on
the SURF line that provides parameters for the vegetation. By default, it has a very large value, meaning that
it is ignored unless specified.

269
17.4 Comparing the Particle and Boundary Fuel Models of Vegetation
For the purpose of comparing the two methods of representing ground vegetation, either as particles or a
porous boundary, consider the simple test cases in the sample folder named WUI (Wildland-Urban Interface)
under the heading ground_vegetation.

17.4.1 Combustible Load

In the first case, WUI/ground_vegetation_load.fds, two 3 m long channels contain A = 1 m2 of generic
3 3
ground vegetation with a dry mass per unit volume, m′′′ d = 4 kg/m , dry density, ρd = 400 kg/m , height,
hb = 0.075 m, char yield, ychar = 0.25, ash yield, yash = 0.02, moisture fraction, M = 0.1. The ceiling of the
channel is set to 700 ◦ C and the lateral walls are periodic, mimicking an infinitely wide fire front. No wind
is imposed in this example. The total amount of mass evaporated is

(1 + M) m′′′
d hb (1 − ychar yash ) A = 0.32835 kg (17.40)

Figure 17.6 displays the heat release rate (left) and cumulative mass consumption (right) of the two calcula-
tions.
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
1000 0.4
Heat Release Rate (ground_vegetation_load) Mass Consumed (ground_vegetation_load)
800
0.3
Heat Release Rate (kW)

600
Mass (kg)

Boundary Fuel Model

Particle Model
0.2
400

0.1
200 Expected
Boundary Fuel Model
Particle Model
0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 10 20 30 40 50
Time (s) Time (s)

Figure 17.6: (Left) Heat release rate of the two ground vegetation simulations. (Right) Cumulative mass consumption
of the two cases.

17.4.2 Vegetation Drag

In this next example, ground vegetation with the same properties as the previous example lines the floor of
two wind tunnels that are 8 m long, 1 m wide, and 0.5 m tall. The height of the vegetation is 2.5 cm, and the
grid size in the simulation is 5 cm. The tunnel walls and ceiling are free-slip. Particles model the vegetation
in one tunnel; the Boundary Fuel Model is applied in the other. A 2 m/s wind is imposed for 30 s, followed
by 4 m/s for another 30 s, and finally 6 m/s for another 30 s. The pressure upstream of the vegetation is
recorded. The tunnel is open downstream, where the pressure is ambient. The upstream pressure ought to
be similar, as shown in Fig. 17.7.

17.4.3 Vegetation Radiation Absorption

In this next example, ground vegetation lines the floors of two unit cubes with hot ceilings and cold floors.
The walls are MIRROR boundaries so that the ceiling and floor can be taken as infinitely wide parallel plates.

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 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
8
Pressure (ground_vegetation_drag)

Pressure (Pa)
4

2
Particle Model
Boundary Fuel Model
Level Set Fuel Model
0
0 20 40 60 80
Time (s)

Figure 17.7: Pressure upwind of a 6 m wide strip of ground vegetation.

The height of the vegetation is δ = 0.05 m, and the grid size in the simulation is 5 cm. Particles model
the vegetation in one cube; the Boundary Fuel Model is applied in the other. The surface area to volume
ratio of the vegetation, σv = 3092 m−1 , the packing ratio, β = 0.02, and the shape factor, Cs =0.25. The
ceiling temperature, Tc = 993 K; the floor temperature, Tf = 293 K. The emissivity of both surfaces is 1.
The radiation absorption coefficient is κ ≡ Cs σv β = 15.46 m−1 . Using the third-order exponential integral
function, E3 , the expected heat flux to the floor is [59]:

q̇′′ = 2 σ Tc4 E3 (κδ ) − σ Tf4 (1 − 2 E3 (κδ )) = 15.52 kW/m2 (17.41)

The results are shown in Fig. 17.8. The Lagrangian particles that represent the vegetation only occupy two
layers of grid cells; thus, the radiation absorption calculation has some error. In the case of the Boundary
Fuel Model the error originates from the use of the "two-flux" model for internal radiation in the fuel (see
the FDS Technical Reference Guide [3]).
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
25
Heat Flux (ground_vegetation_radi)
20
Heat Flux (kW/m²)

15

10

5 Expected
Boundary Fuel Model
Particles
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Time (s)

Figure 17.8: Heat flux penetrating a patch of ground vegetation.

17.4.4 Vegetation Convective Heating

In this next example, two small wind tunnels blowing hot air at U = 2 m/s and Tair = 300 ◦ C contain small
amounts of vegetation modeled using either Lagrangian particles or the Boundary Fuel Model. The tunnel
walls are ADIABATIC so that heat is not lost to the walls. Two cylindrical particles of different diameters

271
(σv,A = 3000 m−1 and σv,B = 1500 m−1 ) occupy adjacent grid cells that abut the solid floor. Each particle
represents all the vegetation within the grid cell. In the other tunnel, two adjacent patches on the floor rep-
resent the equivalent amount of vegetation via the Boundary Fuel Model. The initial vegetation temperature
is T0 = 20 ◦ C. Radiation heat transfer is turned off. The expected temperature increase with time is found
by solving:

dT kair ρairUD
ρs cs = σv h (Tair − T ) ; h= 0.683 Re0.466 Pr0.333 ; Re = ; Pr = 0.7 (17.42)
dt D µair

where the solid density ρs = 400 kg/m3 , specific heat cs = 1.5 kJ/(kg·K), ρair ≈ 0.60 kg/m3 , µair ≈ 3 ×
10−5 kg/(m·s), kair ≈ 4 × 10−5 kW/(m·K), D = 4/σv . The solution is:

h σv t ◦
 
T (t) = Tair − (Tair − T0 ) exp − C (17.43)
ρs cs

The resulting vegetation temperatures are shown in Fig. 17.9.

FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
400 400
=3000 1/m (ground_vegetation_conv) =1500 1/m (ground_vegetation_conv)
v v

300 300
Temperature (°C)

Temperature (°C)

200 200

100 100
Expected Expected
Boundary Fuel Model Boundary Fuel Model
Particle Model Particle Model
0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time (s) Time (s)

Figure 17.9: Temperature of convectively heated vegetation of two different sizes. (Left) σv = 3000 m−1 . (Right)
σv = 1500 m−1 .

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17.5 Level Set Model for Wildland Fire Spread
For simulations of wildland fires spanning large areas that cannot be gridded finely enough to predict fire
spread using a physics-based model, there is an empirical model built into FDS based on level sets [60].
The methodology reproduces in an Eulerian framework the approach used in the Lagrangian-based fire
front-tracking model FARSITE [61]. This approach makes use of the Rothermel-Albini [62, 63] surface fire
spread rate formulae and the assumption that a surface fire spreading from a point under certain wind, slope
and vegetation conditions does so with an ellipse-shaped2 fire front with, for a given wind speed, a fixed
length-to-breadth ratio [64].
To invoke the level set feature, you must set LEVEL_SET_MODE on the MISC line to be either 1, 2, 3 or 4:

• LEVEL_SET_MODE=1 Only the level set simulation is performed. The wind is not affected by the terrain,
and there is no fire.

• LEVEL_SET_MODE=2 The wind field is established over the terrain, but it is “frozen” when the fire ignites.

• LEVEL_SET_MODE=3 The wind field follows the terrain, but there is no actual fire in the simulation. It is
just front-tracking.

• LEVEL_SET_MODE=4 The wind and fire are fully-coupled. When the fire front arrives at a given surface
cell, it burns for a finite duration and with a heat release per unit area provided as part of the fuel model.

For Modes 2 through 4, the wind speed and direction that are used in the level set equation are taken from
the first grid cell above ground level.
Regardless of the mode, the front propagation is initiated by specifying a small area to be ignited at a
particular time:

&SURF ID='Ignited Area', VEG_LSET_IGNITE_TIME=0., COLOR='RED' /

&VENT XB=..., SURF_ID='Ignited Area' /

These lines indicate that a patch of terrain specified using XB on the VENT line ignites at the start of the
simulation. If the terrain is constructed using the immersed boundary framework (i.e. a GEOM line), add the
logical parameter GEOM=T to the VENT line to indicate that the terrain geometry is an immersed boundary and
does not conform exactly with the numerical grid. In such a case, the coordinates given by XB designate a
horizontal patch at the lowest level of the computational domain, and this plane is then projected upward
until it cuts through the terrain surface.
There are two options for specifying surface properties for the terrain:

Surface Option 1 The parameters for the 13 original Rothermel-Albini fuel models are listed in Ta-
ble 17.2. To use fuel model 5, for example, add the following lines:

&SURF ID='Wet Brush', VEG_LSET_FUEL_INDEX=5, VEG_LSET_M1=0.06 /

This set of inputs invokes fuel model 5, but it also provides you with a way to change the default moisture
content of the dead and live fuel components. M1, M10, and M100 set the moisture fraction of the 1 h, 10 h,
and 100 h dead fuels, and MLW and MLH set the moisture fraction of the live woody and herbaceous fuels. The
default values of these parameters are listed at the bottom of Table 17.2.
2 There are other formulations of the level set method besides an elliptical fire front. The parameter LEVEL_SET_ELLIPSE=T
on the MISC line is a placeholder until other methods are implemented.

273
 The 13 fuel models can be modified by specifying a different fuel layer height (VEG_LSET_HT), fuel load
(VEG_LSET_SURF_LOAD), and/or fuel packing ratio (VEG_LSET_BETA). The modified properties will replace
those in Table 17.2 in the calculation of spread rate following Rothermel-Albini [62, 63]. Note that setting
VEG_LSET_SURF_LOAD gives the total fuel load and the amount in different size or dead/live categories will
be adjusted to maintain the distribution in the original fuel model.

Surface Option 2 In this second option, you create your own custom fuel type as follows:

&SURF ID = 'My Fuel'

VEG_LSET_ROS_00 = 0.007
VEG_LSET_SIGMA = 3344.
VEG_LSET_BETA = 0.0041
VEG_LSET_HT = 0.91
VEG_LSET_SURF_LOAD = 0.5
VEG_LSET_CHAR_FRACTION = 0.25
VEG_LSET_FIREBASE_TIME = 20 /

VEG_LSET_ROS_00 is the no-wind, no-slope rate of spread for the given fuel model. VEG_LSET_SIGMA (m−1 )
and VEG_LSET_BETA are the average surface-to-volume ratio (σ ) and packing ratio (β ) of the underlying
vegetation. VEG_LSET_HT (m) is the height of the vegetation. When the fire front arrives at a given surface
cell, fuel vapors are generated at a rate given by

m′′f 75600
ṁ′′f = (1 − νchar ) kg/(m2 · s) ; δt = s (17.44)
δt σ
Here, m′′f is the dry fuel loading in units of kg/m2 (VEG_LSET_SURF_LOAD, default 1.0 kg/m2 ); νchar is the
char fraction (VEG_LSET_CHAR_FRACTION, default 0.2); and δt is the duration of the fire at a given location.
The expression for the burn duration is given by Albini [63], but you can enter your own burn duration using
VEG_LSET_FIREBASE_TIME (s).
It is possible to set a custom fuel for which the spread rate does not vary with slope or wind speed.
This is done by specifying VEG_LSET_ROS_FIXED=T on the SURF line. The spread rate is then fixed at the
no-wind, no-slope value. The main purpose of this feature is for reproduction of manual ignition patterns
(e.g. ignition with a drip torch at a fixed walking speed).

17.5.1 Level Set Vegetation Drag

When a surface is defined using level set fuel parameters, a drag force is applied in the gas phase grid cell ad-
jacent to the boundary following the same approach described for the Boundary Fuel Model in Section 17.3.
In this case, the fuel surface-area to volume ratio (VEG_LSET_SIGMA), packing ratio (VEG_LSET_BETA), and
depth (VEG_LSET_HT) are either obtained from the default fuel models or specified by the user for a custom
fuel. The shape factor (SHAPE_FACTOR) and drag coefficient (DRAG_COEFFICIENT) can also be modified from
their default values of 0.25 and 2.8, respectively. A comparison of the consistency of the level set drag with
the particle and boundary models is included in Figure 17.7.

17.5.2 Simple Test Cases

Examples of Uncoupled Level Set Calculations
Bova et al. [60] compare the level set calculation that has been implemented in FDS with the identical
algorithm in the U.S. Forest Service FARSITE model. The three contour plots in Fig. 17.10 match those
in Figs. 1(a), 1(b), and 4(a) in the paper. The FDS input files, WUI/Bova_1a.fds, WUI/Bova_1b.fds, and

274
 Table 17.2: Parameters corresponding to the 13 Rothermel-Albini fuel models [62, 63].

Dead Fuels Live Fuels No-Wind,

Fuel Fine Medium Large Woody Herbaceous Fuel Mx,dead No-Slope
Type σ m′′ σ m′′ σ m′′ σ m′′ σ m′′ Depth RoS
m−1 (kg/m2 ) m−1 (kg/m2 ) m−1 (kg/m2 ) m −1 2
(kg/m ) m −1 (kg/m2 ) (m) (m/s)
1 Short Grass 11500 0.17 — — — — — — — — 0.30 0.12 0.030
2 Timbergrass 9840 0.45 358 0.22 98 0.11 4920 0.70 4920 0.70 0.30 0.15 0.017
3 Tall Grass 4920 0.68 — — — — — — — — 0.76 0.25 0.034
4 Chaparral 6560 1.12 358 0.90 98 0.45 — — 4920 1.12 1.83 0.20 0.035
5 Brush 6560 0.22 358 0.11 — — 4920 0.45 — — 0.61 0.20 0.010
6 Dormant Brush 5740 0.34 358 0.56 98 0.45 — — — — 0.76 0.25 0.013

275
7 Southern Rough 5740 0.26 358 0.42 98 0.34 4920 0.08 — — 0.76 0.40 0.010
8 Closed Timber Litter 6560 0.34 358 0.22 98 0.56 — — — — 0.06 0.30 0.002
9 Hardwood Litter 8200 0.66 358 0.09 98 0.03 — — — — 0.06 0.25 0.006
10 Timber 6560 0.68 358 0.45 98 1.12 4920 0.45 — — 0.30 0.25 0.007
11 Light Slash 4920 0.34 358 1.01 98 1.24 — — — — 0.30 0.15 0.004
12 Medium Slash 4920 0.90 358 3.15 98 3.71 — — — — 0.70 0.20 0.010
13 Heavy Slash 4920 1.57 358 5.17 98 6.29 — — — — 0.91 0.25 0.014

For all models, the total mineral content St = 0.056, the effective mineral content Se = 0.01, the heat of combustion ∆H = 18600 kW/kg, density ρp = 510 kg/m3 ,
moisture content of fine, medium, and large dead vegetation, Md,1 = 0.03, Md,2 = 0.04, Md,3 = 0.05, moisture content of live woody and herbaceous vegetation
Ml,w = Ml,h = 0.70.
WUI/Bova_4a.fds all have the same SURF line that defines the vegetation. Note that in these examples, there
is no actual fire nor does the level set calculation depend on the local wind field (LEVEL_SET_MODE=1 on the
MISC line). The purpose of the exercise is simply to test the level set algorithm.

&MISC ..., LEVEL_SET_MODE = 1 /

&SURF ID = 'Custom Grass'
VEG_LSET_ROS_00 = 0.04
VEG_LSET_SIGMA = 11400.
VEG_LSET_BETA = 0.0012
VEG_LSET_HT = 0.51 /

276
Figure 17.10: Level set test cases from Bova et al. [60], Figs. 1(a), 1(b), and 4(a).

277
Examples of Coupled Level Set Calculations
In this example, WUI/level_set_fuel_model_1.fds, a fire is ignited directly in the center of a square patch
of flat terrain, L = 1000 m on a side, with no wind. VEG_LSET_FUEL_INDEX=1 (Short Grass) is selected as the
vegetation type. The simulation is performed on a uniform mesh with δ x = 25 m grid cells. For this type of
vegetation, the mass loss rate is calculated to be ṁ′′ = 0.00955 kg/m2 /s, the heat of combustion is assumed
to be ∆H = 18607 kJ/kg, and the local duration of burning is calculated to be ∆t = 6.584 s. These values
are all reported in the file level_set_fuel_model_1.out. After 10 h of simulation, the fire sweeps over
the entire domain, consuming ṁ′′ L2 ∆t ≈ 62877 kg of vegetation. The left hand side of Fig. 17.11 displays
the fire intensity (burning rate) after 5 h, and the right hand side displays the integrated mass loss. Note that
in this case the rate of spread is ROS ≈ 0.03 m/s, which means that the fire front crosses a single grid cell
in approximately δ x/ROS ≈ 830 s, a much greater time period than the vegetation burning time, ∆t. To
ensure a relatively smooth fire front and burning rate, the mass loss rate and burning duration are adjusted
by dividing and multiplying these values, respectively, by δ x/ROS.

10 4 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
10
Mass Loss (level_set_fuel_model_1)
8

6
Mass (kg)

2
Expected
FDS
0
0 2 4 6 8 10
Time (h)

Figure 17.11: Level set test case for Fuel Model 1.

17.5.3 Ember Generation From Surfaces

It is possible to make a burning surface create Lagrangian particles to represent embers by specifying an
EMBER_YIELD (kg/kg) on the SURF line. As this yield requires a burning surface it was developed to be
used with LEVEL_SET_MODE=4, however, it can also be applied to the Boundary Fuel Model. A PART_ID
also needs to be specified to provide the properties of the generated embers. Currently, the ember yield is
associated with the mass available to burn in the gas phase and does not account for char yield. For example,
a fuel load of 1 kg/m2 with a char yield of 0.2 and an ember yield of 0.05 would produce 0.2 kg/m2 of char,
0.04 kg/m2 of embers, and 0.76 kg/m2 of fuel vapor.
In many cases, it is not necessary or even practical to track every single ember and a single Lagrangian
particle can be used to represent the mass of many embers. This can be accomplished by setting EMBER_
TRACKING_RATIO on the SURF line. If not specified, the default value is 100. You can also specify an
EMBER_GENERATION_HEIGHT (m) to dictate the vertical offset distance from the burning surface at which
particles are produced. This is important in cases where the vertical fuel structure may not be resolved but
the height of ember production plays a role in the lofting potential. If a single number is provided for the
EMBER_GENERATION_HEIGHT, all particles are generated at that offset distance. If two numbers are provided,
particles are randomly generated within the specified offset range following a uniform distribution. For

278
example, if EMBER_GENERATION_HEIGHT=0.0,1.0 then particles will be produced anywhere up to 1.0 m
above the burning surface. Finally, it is recommended to set VEL_PART=0.0 on the SURF line when modeling
ember generation so that particles start from rest and are naturally lofted by the surrounding flow.

17.5.4 Ember Ignition

When running a Level Set case, if an airborne ember lands on the ground, there is a chance that it might
ignite a new fire. To model this behavior if you are using the level set approach for fire spread, specify
the parameter EMBER_IGNITION_POWER_MEAN on the SURF line describing the ground level vegetation. The
ember power, in units of kW, is the net radiative and convective energy generated by the ember. The EMBER_
IGNITION_POWER_MEAN is the mean value of a normal distribution of ignition propensity; that is, there is a
50 % likelihood that an ember with this power will ignite the surface vegetation. A typical value for the
mean is on the order of 0.01 kW (10 W), depending on the ground vegetation. You can also specify the
standard deviation of the distribution, EMBER_IGNITION_POWER_SIGMA, whose default value is 0.001 kW.
The best functional form for ignition probability, and ember ignition itself, is an ongoing topic of research.
Therefore, it may be useful to treat this as more of a binary threshold (i.e. a use a small standard deviation).
Further, a Lagrangian particle may represent more than one ember. Therefore, the particle weighting factor
is used to convert the probability of ignition from a single ember to the probability of at least one ignition
from the total number of embers represented. The occurrence of ignition will be tested for each time step
that a particle is lying on the ground. If ignition occurs, the particle will be removed from the simulation.

17.5.5 Wildfire Spread over Realistic Terrain using QGIS

Wildfire spread over realistic terrain can be modeled in FDS using a plugin to QGIS called qgis2fds:
[Link]
QGIS is an open source GIS (Geographic Information System) and qgis2fds is a Python script developed by
Emanuele Gissi and Ruggero Poletto that embeds topography and land use data in an FDS input file.
A set of sample input files created by qgis2fds reside within the GitHub repository
[Link]
in the folder called Wildland_Fire_Spread_Example. There are four cases that demonstrate the four level
set fire spread options over a 2 km by 2 km patch of mountainous terrain, as shown in Fig. 17.12. The first
image displays a satellite photograph of the area superimposed on the terrain. The second image displays
the same terrain covered by 30 m square tiles, each tile representing one of thirteen different land use
categories. This data is provided by LANDFIRE (Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning
Tools), a program managed by the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior that provides
land use and elevation data for the continental United States.
For each case, a hypothetical fire spreads from its point of origin in the lower portion of the chosen area
over a ridge in the course of 24 h. The results of the four variants of the level set fire spread method are
shown in Fig. 17.13.
A typical input file created with qgis2fds includes the latitude and longitude of the origin of the com-
putational domain via ORIGIN_LAT and ORIGIN_LON on the MISC line, in units of decimal degree. Another
useful parameter is NORTH_BEARING (default 0◦ ) which indicates the direction of true north.

&MISC ORIGIN_LAT=35.7207093
ORIGIN_LON=-83.5212387
NORTH_BEARING=0.
TERRAIN_IMAGE='[Link]'
LEVEL_SET_MODE=1 /

279
Figure 17.12: (Top) Satellite image of a 2 km by 2 km patch of terrain. (Bottom) 30 m by 30 m tiles indicating the
land use of this same area.

280
Figure 17.13: Sample wildland fire spread showing the extent of the fire front after 24 h. The plot in the upper left uses
the mode 1 of the level set approach, where the wind field does not conform to the terrain but does vary in time. The
plot in the upper right uses mode 2, where the terrain-conforming wind field is frozen at the time of ignition. The plot
in the lower left uses mode 3, where the wind varies spatially and temporally over the entire course of the fire. The
plot in the lower right uses mode 4, where the wind varies with the terrain, but also is influenced by the fire plume.

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Chapter 18

Devices and Control Logic

Sprinklers, smoke detectors, heat flux gauges, and thermocouples may seem to be completely unrelated,
but from the point of view of FDS, they are simply devices that operate in specific ways depending on the
properties assigned to them. They can be used to record some quantity of the simulated environment, like a
thermocouple, or they can represent a mathematical model of a complex sensor, like a smoke detector, and
in some cases they can trigger events to happen, like a timer.
All devices, in the broadest sense of the word, are designated via the namelist group DEVC. In addi-
tion, advanced functionality and properties are accommodated via additional namelist groups called CTRL
(Control) and PROP (Properties).

18.1 Device Location and Orientation

Regardless of the specific properties, each device needs to be sited either at a point within the computational
domain, or over a span of the domain, like a beam smoke detector. For example, a sprinkler is sited within
the domain with a line like:

&DEVC XYZ=3.0,5.6,2.3, PROP_ID='Acme Sprinkler 123', ID='Spk_39' /

The physical coordinates of the device are given by a triplet of real numbers, XYZ. FDS uses these coordinates
to determine in which gas or wall cell the device is located. Devices are evaluated using cell centered or face
centered values of the cell the device is located in; no interpolation is done. The properties of the device are
contained on the PROP line designated by PROP_ID, which will be explained below for each of the special
devices included in FDS. The character string ID is merely a descriptor to identify the device in the output
files, and if any action is tied to its activation.
Not all devices need to be associated with a particular set of properties via the PROP_ID. For example,
pointwise output quantities are specified with a single DEVC line, like

&DEVC ID='TC-23', XYZ=3.0,5.6,2.3, QUANTITY='TEMPERATURE' /

which tells FDS to record the temperature at the given point as a function of time. The ID is a label in
the output file whose name is CHID_devc.csv. Note that FDS outputs the data stored for that cell without
performing any interpolation with surrounding cells.
Some devices have a particular orientation. The parameter IOR (Index of Orientation) is required for
any device that is placed on the surface of a solid. The values ±1 or ±2 or ±3 indicate the direction that
the device “points.” For example, IOR=-1 means that the device is mounted on a wall that faces in the
negative x direction. ORIENTATION is used for devices that are not on a surface and require a directional

283
specification, like a sprinkler. ORIENTATION is specified with a triplet of real number values that indicate the
components of the direction vector. The default value of ORIENTATION is (0,0,-1). For example, a default
downward-directed sprinkler spray can be redirected in other direction. If you were to specify

&DEVC XYZ=3.0,5.6,2.3, PROP_ID='...', ID='...', ORIENTATION=0.707,0.707,0.0 /

the sprinkler would point in the direction halfway between the positive x and y directions. For other devices,
the ORIENTATION would only change the way the device is drawn by Smokeview.
The delivered density to the floor from a sprinkler depends upon where the sprinkler arms are located.
Rather than redefining the spray pattern for every possible direction that the sprinkler can be attached to
the pipe, the DEVC can be given the parameter ROTATION. The default ROTATION is 0 degrees, which for a
downwards pointing sprinkler is the positive x-axis. Positive ROTATION will rotate the 0 degree point towards
the positive y-axis.

18.2 Device Output

Each device has a QUANTITY associated with it. The time history of each DEVC quantity is output to a comma-
delimited ASCII file called CHID_devc.csv (see Sec. 27.3 for output file format). This file can be imported
into most spreadsheet software packages. Most spreadsheet programs limit the number of columns to some
number (for example the 2003 version Microsoft Excel had a 256 column limit). As a default, FDS places
no limit on the amount of columns in a comma-separated value (.csv) file. If your spreadsheet application
allows fewer columns than the number of DEVC or CTRL in your input file then set COLUMN_DUMP_LIMIT equal
to T on the DUMP line. Use DEVC_COLUMN_LIMIT and CTRL_COLUMN_LIMIT to indicate the limit of columns in
the device and control output files. Their default values are 254. If more devices or controls are present than
the limit, then multiple output files will be written. The file name will have a number appended to it. For
example, if two device file are required, they will be named CHID_1_devc.csv and CHID_2_devc.csv.
The DEVC output is written to a file every DT_DEVC seconds or at discrete times indicated by RAMP_DEVC,
both of which are specified on the DUMP line. By default, the output QUANTITY is time-averaged between
printouts. To prevent this, add TIME_AVERAGED=F to the DEVC line.
A useful option for the DEVC line is to add RELATIVE=T, which will indicate that only the change in the
initial value of the QUANTITY is to be output. This can be useful for verification and validation studies. You
can also output the absolute value of the device quantity by setting ABSOLUTE_VALUE to T on the DEVC line.
You can change the values of the output QUANTITY by multiplying by CONVERSION_FACTOR and/or
adding CONVERSION_ADDEND. For example, to change temperature output from the default ◦ C to ◦ F, the
CONVERSION_FACTOR should be set to 1.8 and the CONVERSION_ADDEND to 32. You can then change the units
that appear in the output files by setting UNITS='F' or whatever the case may be. If you do not convert the
output QUANTITY from its default value, you need not set the UNITS.
If you do not want the DEVC QUANTITY to be included in the output file, set OUTPUT=F on the DEVC line.
Sometimes, devices are just used as clocks or control devices. In these cases, you might want to prevent its
output from cluttering the output file. If the DEVC QUANTITY='TIME', then OUTPUT is set to F automatically.
All devices must have a specified QUANTITY. Some special devices (Sec. 18.3) have their QUANTITY
specified on a PROP line. A QUANTITY specified on a PROP line associated with a DEVC line will override a
QUANTITY specified on the DEVC line.

284
18.3 Special Device Properties
Many devices are fairly easy to describe, like a point measurement, with only a few parameters which can
be included on the DEVC line. However, for more complicated devices, it is inconvenient to list all of the
properties on each and every DEVC line. For example, a simulation might include hundreds of sprinklers,
but it is tedious to list the properties of the sprinkler each time the sprinkler is sited. For these devices, use
a separate namelist group called PROP to store the relevant parameters. Each PROP line is identified by a
unique ID, and invoked by a DEVC line by the string PROP_ID. The best way to describe the PROP group is to
list the various special devices and their properties.

18.3.1 Sprinklers
To specify one or more sprinklers, you need to specify several different groups of parameters that fall into a
variety of namelist groups. For example, here is a basic sprinkler description:

&SPEC ID='WATER VAPOR' /

&PART ID='my droplets', DIAMETER=1000., SPEC_ID='WATER VAPOR' /
&PROP ID='K-11', QUANTITY='SPRINKLER LINK TEMPERATURE', RTI=148., C_FACTOR=0.7,
ACTIVATION_TEMPERATURE=74., OFFSET=0.10, PART_ID='my droplets', FLOW_RATE=189.3,
PARTICLE_VELOCITY=10., SPRAY_ANGLE=30.,80., SMOKEVIEW_ID='sprinkler_upright' /
&DEVC ID='Spr-1', XYZ=22.8,19.7,7.4, PROP_ID='K-11' /
&DEVC ID='Spr-2', XYZ=22.8,22.7,7.4, PROP_ID='K-11' /

A sprinkler, known as 'Spr-1', is located at a point in space given by XYZ. It is a 'K-11' type sprinkler,
whose properties are given on the PROP line. Note that the various names (IDs) mean nothing to FDS, except
as a means of associating one thing with another, so try to use IDs that are meaningful. The parameter
QUANTITY='SPRINKLER LINK TEMPERATURE' does have a specific meaning to FDS, directing it to compute
the activation of the device using the standard RTI (Response Time Index [65]) algorithm. Properties asso-
ciated with sprinklers included in the PROP group are:
• RTI Response Time Index in units of (m·s)1/2 . (Default 100.)
• C_FACTOR Conduction Factor in units of (m/s)1/2 . (Default 0.)
• ACTIVATION_TEMPERATURE in units of ◦ C. (Default 74 ◦ C)
• INITIAL_TEMPERATURE of the link in units of ◦ C. (Default TMPA)
• FLOW_RATE in units of L/min. This parameter is only appropriate for liquid droplets. An alternative is to
1
provide the K_FACTOR in units of L/(min bar 2 ) and the OPERATING_PRESSURE, the gauge pressure at the
√
sprinkler, in units of bar. The flow rate is then given by K p. Note that 1 bar is equivalent to 14.5 psi,
1 1
1 gpm (gal/min) is equivalent to 3.785 L/min, 1 gpm/psi 2 is equivalent to 14.41 L/min/bar 2 .
• MASS_FLOW_RATE in units of kg/s. This parameter can be used instead of FLOW_RATE for liquid droplets,
but it must be used for solid particles. If MASS_FLOW_RATE is specified, the PARTICLE_VELOCITY must
also be specified.
• OFFSET Radius (m) of a sphere surrounding the sprinkler where the water droplets are initially placed
in the simulation (Default 0.05 m). It is assumed that beyond the OFFSET the droplets have completely
broken up and are transported independently of each other. Do not locate a sprinkler or nozzle within
OFFSET meters of a mesh boundary. If you do, the droplets introduced into the adjacent mesh will
be rejected. The entire spray pattern of the sprinkler need not lie within one mesh, but the volume
immediately surrounding the sprinkler itself must lie in one mesh.

285
• PARTICLE_VELOCITY Initial droplet velocity. (Default 0 m/s)

• ORIFICE_DIAMETER Diameter of the nozzle orifice in m (default 0 m). This input provides an alternative
way to set droplet velocity by giving values for FLOW_RATE and ORIFICE_DIAMETER, in which case the
droplet velocity is computed by dividing the flow rate by the orifice area. Use this method if you do not
have any information about droplet velocity. However, quite often you must fine-tune the PARTICLE_
VELOCITY in order to reproduce a particular spray profile. The ORIFICE_DIAMETER is not used if either
PARTICLE_VELOCITY or SPRAY_PATTERN_TABLE is specified.

• SPRAY_ANGLE A pair of angles (in degrees) through which the droplets are sprayed. The angles out-
line a conical spray pattern relative to the south pole of the sphere centered at the sprinkler with radius
OFFSET. For example, SPRAY_ANGLE=30.,80. directs the water spray through a band between 30◦
and 80◦ of the ORIENTATION vector, which is (0,0,-1) by default (see Figure 18.1). Elliptical spray
patterns can be specified via a pair of spray angles. For example, SPRAY_ANGLE(1:2,1)=0.,60. and
SPRAY_ANGLE(1:2,2)=0.,30., defines a spray pattern with 60 degree angle in the direction of the x
axis and a 30 degree angle in the direction of the y axis. From above, the spray pattern resembles an
ellipse. SPRAY_PATTERN_SHAPE determines how the droplets are distributed within the specified SPRAY_
ANGLE. Choices are 'UNIFORM' and 'GAUSSIAN'. The default distribution is 'GAUSSIAN'. The parameter
SPRAY_PATTERN_MU controls the latitude of the maximum density of droplets for the 'GAUSSIAN' distri-
bution. The width of the distribution is controlled by the parameter SPRAY_PATTERN_BETA.

• SPRAY_PATTERN_TABLE Name of a set of TABL lines containing the description of the spray pattern.

• PART_ID The name of the PART line containing properties of the droplets. See Chapter 15 for additional
details.

• PRESSURE_RAMP The name of the RAMP lines specifying the dependence of pipe pressure on the number
of active sprinklers and nozzles.

• SMOKEVIEW_ID The name of a drawing of a sprinkler to include in the Smokeview animation.

OFFSET

80
30

Figure 18.1: Sketch showing the role of OFFSET and SPRAY_ANGLE.

286
Specifying Complex Spray Patterns
As an example of the more advanced sprinkler options, a sprinkler with an elliptical spray pattern and
uniform mass flux distribution within the spray angle is given by:

&PROP ... SPRAY_ANGLE(1:2,1)=0.,60., SPRAY_ANGLE(1:2,2)=0.,30.,

SPRAY_PATTERN_SHAPE='UNIFORM' /

For full-cone sprays, the parameter SPRAY_PATTERN_MU is set to zero by default. For hollow-cone sprays
it is set to the average of SPRAY_ANGLE(1:2,1), the spray angle in the x direction. The following example
uses SPRAY_PATTERN_MU to define a spray that is somewhere between a full-cone and a hollow-cone spray:

&PROP ... SPRAY_ANGLE=0.,30., SPRAY_PATTERN_MU=15. /

Figure 18.2 gives a sense of how the parameters SPRAY_PATTERN_MU and SPRAY_PATTERN_BETA affect
the distribution. In each row of the figure, the maximum angle, SPRAY_ANGLE(2,1), is varied from 22.5 to
45 degrees. Each plot varies the spread parameter, SPRAY_PATTERN_BETA, from 0 (uniform) to 1000 (narrow
distribution). The peak angle of the distribution, SPRAY_PATTERN_MU, is varied from 0 to 10 to 20 as you go
from the top to the bottom row.
If a more complex spray pattern is desired than one characterized by a SPRAY_ANGLE, then a
SPRAY_PATTERN_TABLE can be specified using the TABL namelist group. Specify the total flow using FLOW_
RATE on the PROP line, the name of the spray pattern using SPRAY_PATTERN_TABLE and then one or more
TABL lines of the form:

&TABL ID='table_id', TABLE_DATA=LAT1,LAT2,LON1,LON2,VELO,FRAC /

where each TABL line for a given 'table_id' provides information about the spherical distribution of the
spray pattern for a specified solid angle. LAT1 and LAT2 are the bounds of the solid angle measured in
degrees from the south pole (0 is the south pole and 90 is the equator, 180 is the north pole). Note that this
is not the conventional way of specifying a latitude, but rather a convenient system based on the fact that
a typical sprinkler sprays water downward, which is why 0 degrees is assigned to the “south pole,” or the
−z direction. The parameters LON1 and LON2 are the bounds of the solid angle (also in degrees), where 0
(or 360) is aligned with the −x axis and 90 is aligned with the −y axis. VELO is the velocity (m/s) of the
droplets at their point of insertion. FRAC the fraction of the total flow rate of liquid that should emerge from
that particular solid angle.
In the test case called bucket_test_2, the spray consists of two jets, each with a velocity of 5 m/s and
a combined flow rate of 60 L/min. The sprinkler is set to operate for only 5 s. The first jet contains 0.2 of
the total flow, the second, 0.8 of the total. The jets are centered at points 60◦ below the “equator,” and are
separated by 180◦ .

&PROP ... FLOW_RATE=60., SPRAY_PATTERN_TABLE='TABLE1' /

&TABL ID='TABLE1', TABLE_DATA=30,31, 0, 1,5,0.2 /
&TABL ID='TABLE1', TABLE_DATA=30,31,179,180,5,0.8 /

Note that each set of TABL lines must have a unique ID. Also note that the TABL lines can be specified in any
order. Figure 18.3 verifies that the sprinkler releases 5 kg of water (1 kg/s for 5 s).

287
 0 0
=0, max =22.5 degrees =0, max =45 degrees
0.2 0.2

0.4 0.4
f( )

f( )
0.6 0.6

=0 =0
0.8 =5 0.8 =5
=10 =10
=100 =100
1 =1000 1 =1000

0 20 40 60 80 0 20 40 60 80
(degrees) (degrees)

0 0
=10, max =22.5 degrees =10, max =45 degrees
0.2 0.2

0.4 0.4
f( )

f( )
0.6 0.6

=0 =0
0.8 =5 0.8 =5
=10 =10
=100 =100
1 =1000 1 =1000

0 20 40 60 80 0 20 40 60 80
(degrees) (degrees)

0 0
=20, max =22.5 degrees =20, max =45 degrees
0.2 0.2

0.4 0.4
f( )

f( )

0.6 0.6

=0 =0
0.8 =5 0.8 =5
=10 =10
=100 =100
1 =1000 1 =1000

0 20 40 60 80 0 20 40 60 80
(degrees) (degrees)

Figure 18.2: Spray pattern parameters, peak and spread.

Varying Pipe Pressure

In real sprinkler systems, the pipe pressure is affected by the number of actuated sprinklers. Typically,
the pressure is higher than the design value when the first sprinkler activates, and decreases as more and
more sprinklers are activated. The pipe pressure has an effect on flow rate, droplet velocity and droplet size
distribution. In FDS, the varying pipe pressure can be specified on a PROP line using PRESSURE_RAMP. On
each RAMP line, the number of open sprinklers or nozzles is associated with certain pipe pressure (bar). For
example:

288
 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
6
Accumulated Mass (bucket_test_2)
5

Mass (kg)
3

1 Ideal
FDS
0
0 5 10 15
Time (s)

Figure 18.3: Accumulated water collected at the floor in the bucket_test_2 case.

&PROP ID='My nozzle'

OFFSET=0.1
PART_ID='water drops'
FLOW_RATE=0.9
OPERATING_PRESSURE = 10.0
PARTICLE_VELOCITY=15.0
SPRAY_ANGLE=0.0,80.0
PRESSURE_RAMP = 'PR1' /

&RAMP ID = 'PR1' T = 1, F = 16. /

&RAMP ID = 'PR1' T = 2, F = 10. /
&RAMP ID = 'PR1' T = 3, F = 8. /

These lines would indicate that the pressure is 16 bar when the first sprinkler activates, 10 bar when two
sprinklers are active, and 8 bar when three or more sprinklers are active. When counting the number of
active sprinklers, FDS accounts for all active sprinklers or nozzles with a given PART_ID.
When pressure ramps are used, both FLOW_RATE and PARTICLE_VELOCITY are dependent on the OPERATING_
PRESSURE. Specify either the FLOW_RATE, or the K_FACTOR and OPERATING_PRESSURE. In the latter case, the
√
flow rate is given by K p and the droplet velocity by using the liquid density and the ORIFICE_DIAMETER.
If spray pattern table is used, the droplet velocity is determined separately for each line of the table by
√
applying K p and the ORIFICE_DIAMETER. The median diameter of the particle size distribution is scaled
as dm (p) = dm (po )(po /p)1/3 , where po is the OPERATING_PRESSURE and dm (po ) is specified by parameter
DIAMETER on the corresponding PART line.
For some simulations there may be groups of independent sprinklers or nozzles. For example one might
have one set of nozzles for a fuel spray and a second set for water spray. In this case the flow of water would
not be impacted by how many fuel spray nozzles are open. To have the PRESSURE_RAMP only count a subset
of sprinklers or nozzles, the keyword PIPE_INDEX can be used on the DEVC line. For example:

&DEVC ID='Spr_1', XYZ=2.00,2.00,8.00, PROP_ID='My nozzle', PIPE_INDEX=1 /

&DEVC ID='Spr_2', XYZ=1.00,1.00,8.00, PROP_ID='My nozzle', PIPE_INDEX=1 /
&DEVC ID='Fuel_1', XYZ=2.00,2.00,1.00, PROP_ID='Fuel Spray', PIPE_INDEX=2 /
&DEVC ID='Fuel_2', XYZ=1.00,1.00,1.00, PROP_ID='Fuel Spray', PIPE_INDEX=2 /

These lines indicate that the fuel spray nozzles are a separate pipe network from the water sprinklers. With
these inputs, a PRESSURE_RAMP for the water sprinklers would not count any active fuel spray nozzles. See
the example case flow_rate_2 in the Verification Guide for further details on the use of PIPE_INDEX.

289
18.3.2 Nozzles
Nozzles are very much like sprinklers, only they do not activate based on the standard RTI (Response Time
Index) model. To simulate a nozzle that activates at a given time, specify a QUANTITY and SETPOINT directly
on the DEVC line. The following lines:

&DEVC XYZ=23.91,21.28,0.50, PROP_ID='nozzle', ORIENTATION=0,0,1, QUANTITY='TIME',

SETPOINT=0., ID='noz_1' /
&DEVC XYZ=26.91,21.28,0.50, PROP_ID='nozzle', ORIENTATION=0,0,1, QUANTITY='TIME',
SETPOINT=5., ID='noz_2' /
&PROP ID='nozzle', PART_ID='heptane drops', FLOW_RATE=2.132,
FLOW_TAU=-50., PARTICLE_VELOCITY=5., SPRAY_ANGLE=0.,45. /

designate two nozzles of the same type, one which activates at time zero, the other at 5 s. Note that nozzles
must have a designated PROP_ID, and the PROP line must have a designated PART_ID to describe the liquid
droplets.

Example Case: Setting the Flow Rate of a Nozzle

This example demonstrates the use of pressure ramps and control logic for opening and closing nozzles. It
also serves as a verification test for the water flow rate. There are four nozzles that open at designated times:
0 s, 15 s, 30 s and 45 s. At time 60 s, all the nozzles are closed. The number of open nozzles is measured
using a device with quantity 'OPEN NOZZLES'. A comparison of the FDS result and the exact, intended
values is shown in Fig. 18.4. Note that 'OPEN NOZZLES' counts only nozzles belonging to the specified
PIPE_INDEX. The pressure ramp has been designed to deliver a total flow rate of 10 L/min at all values of
open nozzles. Mathematically this means that
2
10 L/min

√
nK p = 10 L/min ⇒ p= (18.1)
nK

where n is the number of open nozzles. The corresponding nozzle and pressure ramp definitions are

&PROP ID='Head', OFFSET=0.10, PART_ID='water drops', K_FACTOR=2.5, OPERATING_

PRESSURE=1.,
PRESSURE_RAMP='PR', PARTICLE_VELOCITY=2., SPRAY_ANGLE= 0.,60. /

&RAMP ID='PR', T= 1., F=16. /

&RAMP ID='PR', T= 2., F=4. /
&RAMP ID='PR', T= 3., F=1.778 /
&RAMP ID='PR', T= 4., F=1. /

The water is tracked using a device measuring the accumulated mass per unit area, integrated over the total
floor area. The total mass of water should increase from zero to 10 kg in 60 s. A comparison of the FDS
prediction and this analytical result is shown in Fig. 18.4. The slight delay of the FDS result is caused by
the time it takes from the droplets to fall down on the floor.

18.3.3 Specified Entrainment (Velocity Patch)

The details of the sprinkler head geometry and spray atomization are practically impossible to resolve in a
fire calculation. As a result, the local gas phase entrainment by the sprinkler is difficult to predict. As an
alternative, it is possible to specify the local gas velocity in the vicinity of the sprinkler nozzle. The PROP
line may be used to specify a polynomial function for a specific velocity component and this function may

290
 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
5 12
Open Nozzles (flow_rate) Accumulated Water (flow_rate)
10
4

8
Open Nozzles

Mass (kg)
6
2
4

1
Analytical (Water)
2 Analytical (Water)
FDS (Nozzles) FDS (Water)
0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Time (s) Time (s)

Figure 18.4: Output of the flow_rate test case.

be “patched” into the flow field using a device. This device is given the quantity 'VELOCITY PATCH' and is
initially inactive. The velocity patch must be activated with a separate control device, as discussed in Section
18.4. You specify the local region for the velocity patch using XB for the device. The polynomial is defined
as a second-order Taylor expansion about the point XYZ (the default value of XYZ is the center of XB). FDS
then uses an immersed boundary method to force the local velocity component to satisfy the polynomial.
The polynomial is specified by the coefficients P0, PX(1:3), and PXX(1:3,1:3), which represent, respec-
tively, the value of the kth velocity component, the first derivatives, and the second derivatives at point XYZ.
Note that the first derivatives are represented by a three component array and the second derivatives are rep-
resented by a symmetric 3 × 3 array—only the upper triangular part needs to be specified. The polynomial
is given by (note that summation of repeated indices is implied):
 2 
∂ uk ri r j ∂ uk
 
uk (r) = (uk )0 + ri + (18.2)
| {z } ∂ xi 0 2 ∂ xi ∂ x j 0
P0 | {z } | {z }
PX(1:3) PXX(1:3,1:3)

The vector r is the position of the velocity storage location relative to the point XYZ. The specific velocity
component is specified on PROP by the integer VELOCITY_COMPONENT. Below we provide an example set of
PROP and DEVC lines to specify a parabolic profile for the vertical component of velocity.

&PROP ID='p1', VELOCITY_COMPONENT=3, P0=-1,PXX(1,1)=5,PXX(2,2)=5 /

&DEVC XB=-.1,.1,-.1,.1,.9,.95, QUANTITY='VELOCITY PATCH',PROP_ID='p1', DEVC_ID='t1'/
&DEVC ID='t1', XYZ=0,0,.9, QUANTITY='TIME', SETPOINT=10/

In this example, a velocity patch is activated at 10 s in the simulation. Any w components of velocity
with staggered storage locations within the box XB=-.1,.1,-.1,.1,.9,.95 will be driven toward the value
specified by the polynomial profile 'p1'. You must ensure that the device box encompasses the staggered
storage locations (see the theory manual [3] for a discussion on the face-centered velocity storage locations).

18.3.4 Heat Detectors

QUANTITY='LINK TEMPERATURE' defines a heat detector, which uses essentially the same activation algo-
rithm as a sprinkler, without the water spray.

&DEVC ID='HD_66', PROP_ID='Acme Heat', XYZ=2.3,4.6,3.4 /

291
&PROP ID='Acme Heat', QUANTITY='LINK TEMPERATURE', RTI=132., ACTIVATION_
TEMPERATURE=74. /
√
Like a sprinkler, RTI is the Response Time Index in units of m · s. ACTIVATION_TEMPERATURE is the link
activation temperature in degrees Celsius (Default 74 ◦ C). INITIAL_TEMPERATURE is the initial temperature
of the link in units of ◦ C (Default TMPA).

18.3.5 Smoke Detectors

A smoke detector is defined in the input file with an entry similar to:

&DEVC ID='SD_29', PROP_ID='Acme Smoke Detector', XYZ=2.3,4.6,3.4 /

&PROP ID='Acme Smoke Detector', QUANTITY='CHAMBER OBSCURATION', LENGTH=1.8,
ACTIVATION_OBSCURATION=3.24 /

for the single parameter Heskestad model. Note that a PROP line is mandatory for a smoke detector, in which
case the DEVC QUANTITY can be specified on the PROP line. For the four parameter Cleary model, use a PROP
line like:

&PROP ID='Acme Smoke Detector I2', QUANTITY='CHAMBER OBSCURATION',

ALPHA_E=1.8, BETA_E=-1.1, ALPHA_C=1.0, BETA_C=-0.8,
ACTIVATION_OBSCURATION=3.24 /

where the two characteristic filling or “lag” times are of the form:

δte = αe uβe ; δtc = αc uβc (18.3)

The default detector parameters are for the Heskestad model with a characteristic LENGTH of 1.8 m. For the
Cleary model, the ALPHAs and BETAs must all be listed explicitly. Suggested constants for unidentified ion-
ization and photoelectric detectors presented in Table 18.1. ACTIVATION_OBSCURATION is the threshold value
in units of %/m. The threshold can be set according to the setting commonly provided by the manufacturer.
The default setting1 is 3.24 %/m (1 %/ft).

Table 18.1: Suggested values for smoke detector model [66]. See Ref. [67] for others.

Detector αe βe αc , L βc
Cleary Ionization I1 2.5 -0.7 0.8 -0.9
Cleary Ionization I2 1.8 -1.1 1.0 -0.8
Cleary Photoelectric P1 1.8 -1.0 1.0 -0.8
Cleary Photoelectric P2 1.8 -0.8 0.8 -0.8
Heskestad Ionization — — 1.8 —

1 Note that the conversion of obscuration from units of %/ft to %/m is given by:

O[%/ft] 3.28
"   #
O[%/m] = 1 − 1 − × 100 (18.4)
100

292
Defining Smoke
By default, FDS assumes that the smoke from a fire is generated in direct proportion to the heat release
rate. A value of SOOT_YIELD=0.01 on the REAC line means that the smoke generation rate is 0.01 of the
fuel burning rate. The “smoke” in this case is not explicitly tracked by FDS, but rather is assumed to be a
function of the combustion products lumped species.
Suppose, however, that you want to define your own “smoke” and that you want to specify its production
rate independently of the HRR (or even in lieu of an actual fire, like a smoldering source). You might also
want to define a mass extinction coefficient for the smoke and an assumed molecular weight (as it will be
tracked like a gas species). Finally, you also want to visualize the smoke using the SMOKE3D feature in
Smokeview (Sec. 22.8). Use the following lines:

&SPEC ID='MY SMOKE', MW=29., MASS_EXTINCTION_COEFFICIENT=8700. /

&SURF ID='SMOLDER', TMP_FRONT=1000., MASS_FLUX(1)=0.0001, SPEC_ID='MY SMOKE',
COLOR='RED' /
&VENT XB=0.6,1.0,0.3,0.7,0.0,0.0, SURF_ID='SMOLDER' /

&PROP ID='Acme Smoke', QUANTITY='CHAMBER OBSCURATION', SPEC_ID='MY SMOKE' /

&DEVC XYZ=1.00,0.50,0.95, PROP_ID='Acme Smoke', ID='smoke_1' /

&SM3D QUANTITY='DENSITY', SPEC_ID='MY SMOKE' /

The same smoke detector model is used that was described above, but now, the species 'MY SMOKE' is
used in the algorithm, rather than that associated with the lumped species. Note that your species will not
participate in the radiation calculation. It will merely serve as a surrogate for smoke.

18.3.6 Beam Detection Systems

A beam detector can be defined by specifying the endpoints, (x1,y1,z1)and (x2,y2,z2), of the beam and
the total percent obscuration at which the detector activates. FDS determines which mesh cells lie along the
linear path defined by the two endpoints. The beam detector response is evaluated as
!!
N
Obscuration = 1 − exp −Km ∑ ρs,i ∆xi × 100 % (18.5)
i=1

where i is a mesh cell along the path of the beam, ρs,i is the soot density of the mesh cell, ∆xi is the distance
within the mesh cell that is traversed by the beam, and Km is the mass extinction coefficient. The line in the
input file has the form:

&DEVC XB=x1,x2,y1,y2,z1,z2, QUANTITY='PATH OBSCURATION', ID='beam1', SETPOINT=33.0 /

A similar QUANTITY is 'TRANSMISSION' which is given by the following expression:

!
L0 N
Transmission = exp −Km ∑ ρs,i ∆xi × 100 %/m (18.6)
L i=1
Note that the transmission is given in units of %/m rather than % like obscuration. L is the total path length
of the beam, and L0 is the reference dimension of 1 m.

Example Case: A Beam Detector

A 10 m by 10 m by 4 m compartment is filled with air at 20 ◦ C with a density of ρ = 1.195 kg/m3 . A uni-
formly distributed gas species with a mass fraction of Ys = 3 × 10−5 represents smoke. The “smoke” density

293
is ρs ≡ ρYs = 3.585 × 10−5 kg/m3 . Using the default mass extinction coefficient of Km = 8700 m2 /kg, the
optical depth is calculated to be K ≡ Km ρs = 0.3119 m−1 . Three beam detectors are located in the compart-
ment, all with a path length of L = 10 m but with different orientations. The expected path obscuration is
100(1 − exp(−KL)) = 95.58 %. Note that this case uses 8 meshes to span the computational domain, and
the beams are permitted to pass from one mesh to another.
This case also provides a check on the Smokeview rendering of the smoke-filled compartment. Nine
columns are located at increasing distance from the front wall in increments of 1 m. Equation (22.23)
predicts a visibility distance of S ≡ 3/K = 9.6 m. Referring to Fig. 18.5, you should just barely see the ninth
column at a distance of 8.9 m from the front wall. The plot at the bottom of Fig. 18.5 compares the pixel
values used by Smokeview to color the columns versus the expected values. The pixel values are integers
between 0 and 255, where 255 is white and 0 is black.

294
 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
250
Smoke Obscuration (beam_detector)
200
Pixel Value

150
Exact
Smokeview
100

50

0
0 2 4 6 8 10
Distance (m)

Figure 18.5: Smokeview rendering of a compartment filled with no smoke (top), smoke (center), and a comparison of
the Smokeview pixel values with the expected values.

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18.3.7 Aspiration Detection Systems
An aspiration detection system groups together a series of smoke measurement devices. An aspiration
system consists of a sampling pipe network that draws air from a series of locations to a central point where
an obscuration measurement is made. To define such a system in FDS, you must provide the sampling
locations, sampling flow rates, the transport time from each sampling location, and if an alarm output is
desired, the overall obscuration “setpoint.” One or more DEVC inputs are used to specify details of the
sampling locations, and one additional input is used to specify the central detector:

&DEVC XYZ=..., QUANTITY='DENSITY', SPEC_ID='SOOT', ID='soot1', DEVC_ID='asp1',

FLOWRATE=0.1, DELAY=20 /
&DEVC XYZ=..., QUANTITY='DENSITY', SPEC_ID='SOOT', ID='soot2', DEVC_ID='asp1',
FLOWRATE=0.2, DELAY=10 /
...
&DEVC XYZ=..., QUANTITY='DENSITY', SPEC_ID='SOOT', ID='sootN', DEVC_ID='asp1',
FLOWRATE=0.3, DELAY=30 /
&DEVC XYZ=..., QUANTITY='ASPIRATION', ID='asp1', BYPASS_FLOWRATE=0.4,
SETPOINT=0.02 /

where the DEVC_ID is used at each sampling point to reference the central detector, FLOWRATE is the gas
flow rate in kg/s, DELAY is the transport time (in seconds) from the sampling location to the central detector,
BYPASS_FLOWRATE is the flow rate in kg/s of any air drawn into the system from outside the computational
domain (accounts for portions of the sampling network lying outside the domain defined by the MESH inputs),
and SETPOINT is the alarm threshold obscuration in units of %/m. The output of the aspiration system is
computed as
∑Ni=1 ρs,i (t − td,i ) ṁi
  
Obscuration = 1 − exp −Km × 100 %/m (18.7)
∑Ni=1 ṁi
where ṁi is the mass FLOWRATE at sampling location i, ρs,i (t − td,i ) is the soot density at sampling location
i, td,i s prior (DELAY) to the current time t, and Km is the MASS_EXTINCTION_COEFFICIENT associated with
visible light.
Note that FDS doesn’t actually remove gas from the computational domain based upon the FLOWRATE;
the FLOWRATE is just a weighting factor.

Example Case: aspiration_detector

A cubical compartment, 2 m on a side has a three sampling location aspiration system. The three locations
have equal flow rates of 0.3 kg/s, and transport times of 50, 100, and 150 s, respectively. No bypass flow rate
is specified for the aspiration detector. Combustion products are forced into the bottom of the compartment
at a rate of 1 kg/s. The SOOT_YIELD=0.001. Mass is removed from the top of the compartment at a rate of
1 kg/s. The aspiration detector shows an increasing obscuration over time. There is a delay of slightly over
50 s in the initial increase which results from the 50 s transport time for the first sampling location plus a
short period of time to transport the combustion products to the sampling location. The detector response
has three plateaus that result from the delay times of the sampling locations. The sampling points are co-
located, so each plateau represents an additional one third of the soot being transported to the detector. The
soot density at the sampling point is 7.1 × 10−5 kg/m3 . Using this value the plateaus are computed as 18 %,
33.2 %, and 45.7 %, as seen in Fig. 18.6.

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 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
100
Obscuration (aspiration_detector)
80

Obscuration (%/m)
60

40

20
Ideal Value
FDS (asp1)
0
0 50 100 150 200
Time (s)

Figure 18.6: Output of aspiration_detector test case.

18.3.8 Fire Depth

In some cases it may be useful to output a characteristic depth of the fire along a certain path. For example,
this parameter is important in the case of simulating spreading fires such as wildland fires. There a number
of ways in which the depth of a fire might be defined, but a simple choice is to use logic similar to beam
detectors and to calculate the length of the beam which traverses regions with a volumetric heat release
greater than a threshold value. This quantity of 'FIRE DEPTH' can be written as:
N
0 q̇′′′
i ≤ q̇thresh
′′′

Fire Depth = ∑ Ci ∆xi ; Ci = (18.8)
i=1
1 q̇i > q̇′′′
′′′
thresh

As with the beam detectors, i is a mesh cell along the path of the beam and ∆xi is the distance within the
mesh cell that is traversed by the beam. The threshold value, q̇′′′ thresh , is applied by setting SETPOINT on the
DEVC line in units of kW/m3 . If this value is not provided, the default is the threshold for rendering HRRPUV
as described in Section 22.8.

18.4 Basic Control Logic

Devices can be used to control various actions, like creating and removing obstructions, or activating and
deactivating fans and vents. Every device has an associated QUANTITY, whether it is included directly on
the DEVC line or indirectly on the optional PROP line. Using the DEVC parameter SETPOINT, you can trigger
an action to occur when the QUANTITY value passes above, or below, the given SETPOINT. The following
parameters dictate how a device will control something:
• SETPOINT The value of the device at which its state changes. For a detection type of device (e.g., heat
or smoke) this value is taken from the device’s PROP inputs and need not be specified on the DEVC line.

• TRIP_DIRECTION A positive integer means the device will change from its INITIAL_STATE when the
value of the device is greater than the SETPOINT and be equal to the INITIAL_STATE when the value is
less than the SETPOINT. A negative integer has the opposite behavior. The device will change from its
INITIAL_STATE when the value of the device is less than the SETPOINT and be equal to the INITIAL_
STATE when the value is greater than the SETPOINT. The default value is +1.

• LATCH If this logical value is set to T the device will only change state once. The default value is T.

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 • INITIAL_STATE This logical value is the initial state of the device. The default value is F. For example,
if an obstruction associated with the device is to disappear, set INITIAL_STATE=T.
If you desire to control FDS using more complex logic than can be provided by the use of a single device
and its setpoint, control functions can be specified using the CTRL input. See Section 18.5 for more on CTRL
functions. The simplest example of a device is just a timer:

&DEVC XYZ=1.2,3.4,5.6, ID='my clock', QUANTITY='TIME', SETPOINT=30. /

Anything associated with the device via the parameter, DEVC_ID='my clock', will change its state at 30 s.
For example, if the text were added to an OBST line, that obstruction would change from its INITIAL_STATE
of F to T after 30 s. In other words, it would be created at 30 s instead of at the start of the simulation. This
is a simple way to open a door or window.
When using a DEVC output to control FDS, the instantaneous value of the DEVC is used. For some
QUANTITY types, such as TEMPERATURE, this output can be very noisy. To prevent a spurious spike from
causing a state change of the DEVC you can specify the parameter SMOOTHING_FACTOR. This is a parameter
that can vary between 0 and 1. It performs an exponential smoothing of the DEVC output as follows:

x̄n = x̄n−1 SMOOTHING_FACTOR+ xn (1 − SMOOTHING_FACTOR) (18.9)

where n is the time step, x is the instantaneous device output and x̄ is the smoothed output. The
SMOOTHING_FACTOR defaults to 0 which means no smoothing is performed. Note that SMOOTHING_FACTOR
only changes the value passed to control functions; it has no effect on the value of the DEVC written to the
CHID_devc.csv file.
An alternative to SMOOTHING_FACTOR is to instead use a SMOOTHING_TIME (units of seconds [s]), which
may provide a more intuitive time scale over which the function is to be smoothed. The two parameters are
mathematically related by,
δt
 
SMOOTHING_FACTOR= 1 − (18.10)
SMOOTHING_TIME

where δt is the local time step in the simulation. With a constant SMOOTHING_TIME used on the DEVC line,
the SMOOTHING_FACTOR dynamically adjusts with the local time step.
Note that each state change of a device is recorded to a log file, see Sec. 27.5.

18.4.1 Creating and Removing Obstructions

In many fire scenarios, the opening or closing of a door or window can lead to dramatic changes in the course
of the fire. Sometimes these actions are taken intentionally, sometimes as a result of the fire. Within the
framework of an FDS calculation, these actions are represented by the creation or removal of solid obstacles,
or the opening or closing of exterior vents.
Remove or create a solid obstruction by assigning the character string DEVC_ID to indicate the name of
a DEVC ID on the OBST line that is to be created or removed. This will direct FDS to remove or create the
obstruction when the device changes state to F or T, respectively. For example, the lines

&OBST XB=..., DEVC_ID='det2' /

&DEVC XYZ=..., ID='det2', INITIAL_STATE=T /

will cause the given obstruction to be removed when the specified DEVC changes state.
Creation or removal at a predetermined time can be performed using a DEVC that has TIME as its mea-
sured quantity. For example, the following instructions will cause the specified HOLEs and OBSTructions to

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appear/disappear at the various designated times. These lines are part of the simple test case called create_
[Link].

&OBST XB=0.3,0.4,0.1,0.9,0.1,0.9, COLOR='PURPLE' /

&HOLE XB=0.2,0.4,0.2,0.3,0.2,0.3, COLOR='RED', DEVC_ID='timer1' /
&HOLE XB=0.2,0.4,0.7,0.8,0.7,0.8, COLOR='GREEN', DEVC_ID='timer2' /
&OBST XB=0.7,0.8,0.2,0.3,0.2,0.3, COLOR='BLUE', DEVC_ID='timer3' /
&OBST XB=0.7,0.8,0.6,0.7,0.6,0.7, COLOR='PINK', DEVC_ID='timer4' /
&OBST XB=0.5,1.0,0.0,1.0,0.0,0.1, COLOR='YELLOW', DEVC_ID='timer5' /
&HOLE XB=0.7,0.8,0.7,0.8,0.0,0.1, COLOR='BLACK', DEVC_ID='timer6' /
&HOLE XB=0.7,0.8,0.2,0.3,0.0,0.1, COLOR='GRAY 50', DEVC_ID='timer7' /

&DEVC XYZ=..., ID='timer1', SETPOINT=1., QUANTITY='TIME', INITIAL_STATE=F /

&DEVC XYZ=..., ID='timer2', SETPOINT=2., QUANTITY='TIME', INITIAL_STATE=T /
&DEVC XYZ=..., ID='timer3', SETPOINT=3., QUANTITY='TIME', INITIAL_STATE=F /
&DEVC XYZ=..., ID='timer4', SETPOINT=4., QUANTITY='TIME', INITIAL_STATE=T /
&DEVC XYZ=..., ID='timer5', SETPOINT=5., QUANTITY='TIME', INITIAL_STATE=F /
&DEVC XYZ=..., ID='timer6', SETPOINT=6., QUANTITY='TIME', INITIAL_STATE=T /
&DEVC XYZ=..., ID='timer7', SETPOINT=6., QUANTITY='TIME', INITIAL_STATE=F /

At the start of the simulation, the purple obstruction is present with a red block embedded in it. This red
block is actually a HOLE whose initial state is F, i.e., the hole is filled. Also at the start of the simulation,
there is a pink obstruction that is visible. At 1 s the red block disappears. At 2 s the empty hole in the purple
obstruction is filled with a green block. This hole was initially true, i.e. empty. The blue obstruction appears
at 3 s because its initial state is false, meaning that it does not exist initially. The pink obstruction disappears
at 4 s because its initial state is true and this state changes at 4 s. At 5 s a yellow obstruction appears with
one empty hole and one embedded gray block. At 6 s the gray block disappears because it is a hole that was
initially false and therefore was filled with the gray block when its parent obstruction (yellow) was created.
Also at 6 s the hole originally present in the yellow obstruction is filled with a black block because it was
a hole that was initially empty and then filled when its DEVC changed state. You should always try a simple
example first before embarking on a complicated creation/removal scheme for obstructions and holes.
To create and remove obstructions multiple times, either set LATCH=F together with a cycling math
function (see Sec. 18.5.1), as shown below, or use the 'CUSTOM' control feature (see Sec. 18.5.5). The
following uses TIME as the input to a SIN math function . The sign of the DEVC value toggles the state of the
OBST.

&DEVC ID='t1', XYZ=..., QUANTITY='TIME', TIME_AVERAGED=F/

&CTRL ID='s1', FUNCTION_TYPE='SIN', INPUT_ID='t1'/
&DEVC ID='timer', XYZ=..., QUANTITY='CONTROL VALUE', CTRL_ID='s1', SETPOINT=0,
LATCH=F/
&OBST XB=..., DEVC_ID='timer'/

18.4.2 Activating and Deactivating Vents

When a device or control function is applied to a VENT, the purpose is to either activate or deactivate any
time ramp associated with the VENT via its DEVC_ID. For example, to control a fan, do the following:

&SURF ID='FAN', VOLUME_FLOW=5. /

&VENT XB=..., SURF_ID='FAN', DEVC_ID='det2' /
&DEVC ID='det2', XYZ=..., QUANTITY='TIME', SETPOINT=30., INITIAL_STATE=F /

Note that at 30 s, the “state” of the 'FAN' changes from F to T, or more simply, the 'FAN' turns on. Since

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there is no explicit time function associated with the 'FAN', the default 1 s ramp-up will begin at 30 s instead
of at 0 s. If INITIAL_STATE=T, then the fan should turn off at 30 s. Essentially, “activation” of a VENT causes
all associated time functions to be delayed until the device SETPOINT is reached. “Deactivation” of a VENT
turns off all time functions. Usually this means that the parameters on the SURF line are all nullified, so it is
a good idea to check the functionality with a simple example.
A 'MIRROR' or 'OPEN' VENT should not be activated or deactivated. You can, however, place an obstruc-
tion in front of an 'OPEN' VENT and then create it or remove it to model the closing or opening of a door or
window.
There are sometimes circumstances when you might want to create or remove obstructions that have
VENTs attached. If the obstructions overlap, there can be confusion as to which VENT goes with which OBST.
If you come across a situation like this, give the OBST an ID and assign this OBST_ID on the VENT line.

18.5 Advanced Control Functions: The CTRL Namelist Group

There are many systems whose functionality cannot be described by a simple device with a single “setpoint.”
Consider for example, a typical HVAC system used for heat. It is controlled by a thermostat that is given a
temperature setpoint. The system turns on when the temperature goes below the setpoint by some amount
and then turns off when the temperature rises above that same setpoint by some amount. This behavior can-
not be defined by merely specifying a single setpoint. You must also define the range or “deadband” around
the setpoint, and whether an increasing or decreasing temperature activates the system. For the HVAC exam-
ple, crossing the lower edge of the deadband activates heating; crossing the upper edge deactivates heating.
These more complicated behaviors can be modeled in FDS using CTRLs. The following parameters dictate
how a control function will behave:

• ID A name for the control function that is unique over all control functions.

• FUNCTION_TYPE The type of control function. The possible types are shown in Table 18.2.

• INPUT_ID A list of DEVC or CTRL IDs that are the inputs to the control function. Up to forty inputs can
be specified. If a DEVC or CTRL is being used as an INPUT_ID for a control function, then it must have
a unique ID over both devices and control functions. Additionally, a control function cannot be used as
an input for itself.

• SETPOINT The value of the control function at which its state changes. This is only appropriate for
functions that return numerical values.

• TRIP_DIRECTION A positive integer means the control function will change state when its value in-
creases past the setpoint and a negative integer means the control function will change state when its
value decreases past the setpoint. The default value is +1.

• LATCH If this logical value is set to T the control function will only change state once. The default is
LATCH=T.

• INITIAL_STATE The initial state of the control function. Default F. For example, if an obstruction
associated with the control function is to disappear, set INITIAL_STATE=T on the DEVC line.

For any object for which a DEVC_ID can be specified (such as OBST or VENT), a CTRL_ID can be specified
instead.
If you want to design a system of controls and devices that involves multiple changes of state, include
the attribute LATCH=F on the relevant DEVC or CTRL lines. By default, devices and controls may only change

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 Table 18.2: Control function types.

FUNCTION_TYPE Purpose
ANY Changes state if any INPUTs are T
ALL Changes state if all INPUTs are T
ONLY Changes state if and only if N INPUTs are T
AT_LEAST Changes state if at least N INPUTs are T
TIME_DELAY Changes state DELAY s after INPUT becomes T
CUSTOM Changes state based on evaluating a RAMP of the function’s input
DEADBAND Behaves like a thermostat
KILL Terminates code execution if INPUT is T
RESTART Dumps restart files if INPUT is T
SUM Sums the outputs of the INPUTs
SUBTRACT Subtracts the second INPUT from the first
MULTIPLY Multiplies the INPUTs
DIVIDE Divides the first INPUT by the second
POWER The first INPUT to the power of the second
EXP The exponential of the INPUT
LOG The natural logarithm of the INPUT
COS The cosine of the INPUT
SIN The sine of the INPUT
ACOS The arccosine of the INPUT
ASIN The arcsine of the INPUT
ATAN The arctangent of the INPUT
MAX Maximum value of the INPUTs
MIN Minimum value of the INPUTs
PID A Proportional-Integral-Derivative control for the INPUT
PERCENTILE Calculate the user-specified percentile for a function
EXTERNAL External file control, see Section 18.8

state once, like a sprinkler activating or smoke detector alarming. LATCH=T by default for both devices and
controls.
If you want a DEVC to operate based on the logical state of a CTRL, set QUANTITY='CONTROL' and set
the CTRL_ID to the ID of the control function. The numerical output in the CHID_devc.csv file will be zero
when the logical state is F and 1 when the logical state is T.
The output value of a numerical control function is defined by a DEVC line with QUANTITY='CONTROL
VALUE' and CTRL_ID set equal to the ID of the control function. You can then use SETPOINT to have the DEVC
operate a particular output value of the control function. This output cannot be used for a purely logical
control function whose only output is a logical state such as ANY or DEADBAND. For CUSTOM the output will
be the value of the RAMP function, and for TIME_DELAY the value will be the evaluated delay.
The outputs QUANTITY='CONTROL' and QUANTITY='CONTROL VALUE' have the default of TEMPORAL_
STATISTIC='INSTANT VALUE'.
The time dependent logical state of each control function is written to the CHID_ctrl.csv log file, see
Sec. 27.4. Each state change of a control function or device with a SETPOINT is recorded to the CHID_devc_

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ctrl_log.csv log file, see Sec. 27.5.

18.5.1 Control Functions: ANY, ALL, ONLY, and AT_LEAST

Suppose you want an obstruction to be removed (a door is opened, for example) after any of four smoke
detectors in a room has activated. Use input lines of the form:

&OBST XB=..., SURF_ID='...', CTRL_ID='SD' /

&DEVC XYZ=1,1,3, PROP_ID='Acme Smoker', ID='SD_1' /

&DEVC XYZ=1,4,3, PROP_ID='Acme Smoker', ID='SD_2' /
&DEVC XYZ=4,1,3, PROP_ID='Acme Smoker', ID='SD_3' /
&DEVC XYZ=4,4,3, PROP_ID='Acme Smoker', ID='SD_4' /
&CTRL ID='SD', FUNCTION_TYPE='ANY', INPUT_ID='SD_1','SD_2','SD_3','SD_4',
INITIAL_STATE=T /

The INITIAL_STATE of the control function SD is T, meaning that the obstruction exists initially. The “change
of state” means that the obstruction is removed when any smoke detector alarms. By default, the INITIAL_
STATE of the control function SD is F, meaning that the obstruction does not exist initially.
Suppose that now you want the obstruction to be created (a door is closed, for example) after all four
smoke detectors in a room have activated. Use a control line of the form:

&CTRL ID='SD', FUNCTION_TYPE='ALL', INPUT_ID='SD_1','SD_2','SD_3','SD_4' /

The control functions AT_LEAST and ONLY are generalizations of ANY and ALL. For example,

&CTRL ID='SD', FUNCTION_TYPE='AT_LEAST', N=3, INPUT_ID='SD_1','SD_2','SD_3','SD_4' /

changes the state from F to T when at least 3 detectors activate. Note that in this example, and the example
below, the parameter N is used to specify the number of activated devices required for the conditions of the
control function to be satisfied. The control function,

&CTRL ID='SD', FUNCTION_TYPE='ONLY', N=3, INPUT_ID='SD_1','SD_2','SD_3','SD_4' /

changes the state from F to T when 3, and only 3, detectors activate.

18.5.2 Control Function: TIME_DELAY

The TIME_DELAY control function starts a timer of length DELAY when its input changes state. When the
timer expires, the TIME_DELAY control function will change state. Note, that the timer starts at each change
in state of the input; therefore, if the input changes state a second time before the first timer ends, the timer
will get reset. This function enables FDS to model time delays between when a device activates and when
some other action occurs, like in a dry pipe sprinkler system.

&DEVC XYZ=2,2,3, PROP_ID='Acme Sprinkler_link', QUANTITY='LINK TEMPERATURE',

ID='Spk_29_link' /
&DEVC XYZ=2,2,3, PROP_ID='Acme Sprinkler', QUANTITY='CONTROL', ID='Spk_29',
CTRL_ID='dry pipe' /
&CTRL ID='dry pipe', FUNCTION_TYPE='TIME_DELAY', INPUT_ID='Spk_29_link', DELAY=30. /

This relationship between a sprinkler and its pipes means that the sprinkler spray is controlled (in this case
delayed) by the 'dry pipe', which adds 30 s to the activation time of Spk_29, measured by Spk_29_link,

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before water can flow out of the head.

18.5.3 Control Function: DEADBAND

This control function behaves like an HVAC thermostat. It can operate in one of two modes analogous to
heating or cooling. The function is provided with an INPUT_ID which is the DEVC whose value is used by
the function, an upper and lower SETPOINT, and the mode of operation by ON_BOUND. If ON_BOUND='LOWER',
the function changes state from its INITIAL_STATE when the value of the INPUT_ID drops below the lower
value in SETPOINT and reverts when it increases past the upper value, i.e., like a heating system. The reverse
will occur if ON_BOUND='UPPER', i.e., a cooling system.
For an HVAC system, the following lines of input would set up a simple thermostat:

&SURF ID='FAN', TMP_FRONT=40., VOLUME_FLOW=-1. /

&VENT XB=-0.3,0.3,-0.3,0.3,0.0,0.0, SURF_ID='FAN', CTRL_ID='thermostat' /
&DEVC ID='TC', XYZ=2.4,5.7,3.6, QUANTITY='TEMPERATURE' /
&CTRL ID='thermostat', FUNCTION_TYPE='DEADBAND', INPUT_ID='TC',
ON_BOUND='LOWER', SETPOINT=23.,27., LATCH=F/

Here, we want to control the VENT that simulates the FAN, which blows hot air into the room. A DEVC called
TC is positioned in the room to measure the TEMPERATURE. The thermostat uses a SETPOINT to turn on
the FAN when the temperature falls below 23 ◦ C (ON_BOUND='LOWER') and it turns off when the temperature
rises above 27 ◦ C.
Note that a deadband controller needs to have LATCH set to F

18.5.4 Control Function: RESTART and KILL

There are times when you might only want to run a simulation until some goal is reached, or you might
want to create some baseline condition and then run multiple permutations of that baseline. For example,
you might want to run a series of simulations where different mitigation strategies are tested once a detector
alarms. Using the RESTART control function, you can cause a restart file to be created once a desired condition
is met. The simulation can continue and the restart files can be copied to have the job identifying string,
CHID, of the various permutations (providing of course that the usual restrictions on the use of restart files
are followed). Using the KILL control function stops FDS once a desired condition is met. If you want to
both write restart files and stop FDS, then you would need to use both functions with the same INPUT_ID.
For example, the lines

&DEVC ID='temp', QUANTITY='TEMPERATURE', SETPOINT=1000., XYZ=4.5,6.7,3.6 /

&DEVC ID='velo', QUANTITY='VELOCITY', SETPOINT=10., XYZ=4.5,6.7,3.6 /

&CTRL ID='kill', FUNCTION_TYPE='KILL', INPUT_ID='temp' /

&CTRL ID='restart', FUNCTION_TYPE='RESTART', INPUT_ID='velo' /

will kill the job when the temperature at the given point rises above 1000 ◦ C; or just force restart files to be
output when the velocity at a given point exceeds 10 m/s. The lines

&DEVC ID='temp', QUANTITY='TEMPERATURE', SETPOINT=1000., XYZ=4.5,6.7,3.6 /

&CTRL ID='kill', FUNCTION_TYPE='KILL', INPUT_ID='temp' /

&CTRL ID='restart', FUNCTION_TYPE='RESTART', INPUT_ID='temp' /

will kill the job when the temperature at the given point rises above 1000 ◦ C and also write restart files.

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18.5.5 Control Function: CUSTOM
For most of the control function types, the logical (true/false) output of the devices and control functions
and the time they last changed state are taken as inputs. A CUSTOM function uses the numerical output of a
DEVC along with a RAMP to determine the output of the function. When the RAMP output for the DEVC value
is negative, the CTRL will have the value of its INITIAL_STATE. When the RAMP output for the DEVC value is
positive, the CTRL will have the opposite value of its INITIAL_STATE. In the case below, the CUSTOM control
function uses the numerical output of a timer device as its input. The function returns true (the default value
for INITIAL_STATE is F) when the F parameter in the ramp specified with RAMP_ID is a positive value and
false when the RAMP F value is negative. In this case, the control would start false and would switch to true
when the timer reaches 60 s. It would then stay in a true state until the timer reaches 120 s and would then
change back to false.
Note that when using control functions the IDs assigned to both the CTRL and the DEVC inputs must be
unique across both sets of inputs, i.e., you cannot use the same ID for both a control function and a device.
You can make a fan operate on a fixed cycle by using a CUSTOM control function based on time:

&SURF ID='FAN', TMP_FRONT=40., VOLUME_FLOW=-1. /

&VENT XB=-0.3,0.3,-0.3,0.3,0.0,0.0, SURF_ID='FAN', CTRL_ID='cycling timer' /
&DEVC ID='TIMER', XYZ=2.4,5.7,3.6, QUANTITY='TIME' /
&CTRL ID='cycling timer', FUNCTION_TYPE='CUSTOM', INPUT_ID='TIMER', RAMP_ID='cycle' /
&RAMP ID='cycle', T= 59, F=-1 /
&RAMP ID='cycle', T= 61, F= 1 /
&RAMP ID='cycle', T=119, F= 1 /
&RAMP ID='cycle', T=121, F=-1 /

In the above example the fan will be off initially, turn on at 60 s and then turn off at 120 s.
You can make an obstruction appear and disappear multiple times by using the following lines

&OBST XB=..., SURF_ID='whatever', CTRL_ID='cycling timer' /

&DEVC ID='TIMER', XYZ=..., QUANTITY='TIME' /
&CTRL ID='cycling timer', FUNCTION_TYPE='CUSTOM', INPUT_ID='TIMER', RAMP_ID='cycle' /
&RAMP ID='cycle', T= 0, F=-1 /
&RAMP ID='cycle', T= 59, F=-1 /
&RAMP ID='cycle', T= 61, F= 1 /
&RAMP ID='cycle', T=119, F= 1 /
&RAMP ID='cycle', T=121, F=-1 /

The above will have the obstacle initially removed, then added at 60 s, and removed again at 120 s.
Experiment with these combinations using a simple case before trying a case to make sure that FDS
indeed is doing what is intended.

18.5.6 Control Function: Math Operations

The control functions that perform simple math operations (SUM, SUBTRACT, MULTIPLY, DIVIDE, POWER, etc.)
can have a constant value specified as one of their inputs. This is done by specifying one of the INPUT_IDs
as 'CONSTANT' and providing the value using the input CONSTANT. For example, the inputs below represent
a control function whose state changes when the square of the velocity exceeds 10 (see Sec. 18.4 for an
explanation of TRIP_DIRECTION).

&DEVC ID='SPEED SENSOR', XYZ=..., QUANTITY='VELOCITY' /

&CTRL ID='multiplier', FUNCTION_TYPE='POWER',
INPUT_ID='SPEED SENSOR','CONSTANT', CONSTANT=2., SETPOINT=10.,

304
 TRIP_DIRECTION=1 /

18.5.7 Control Function: PID Control Function

A PID (Proportional Integral Derivative) control function is a commonly used feedback controller for con-
trolling electrical and mechanical systems. The function computes an error between a process variable and a
desired setpoint. The goal of the PID function is to minimize the error. A PID control function is computed
as Z t
de(t)
u(t) = Kp e(t) + Ki e(t) dt + Kd (18.11)
0 dt
where Kp , Ki , and Kd are respectively the PROPORTIONAL_GAIN, the INTEGRAL_GAIN, and the
DIFFERENTIAL_GAIN; e(t) is the error given by subtracting the TARGET_VALUE from the INPUT_ID; and
u(t) is the output.

Example Case: using PID for time integration of mass loss rate
The PID controller can be used to time integrate the mass loss from a pyrolyzing surface. First, use a DEVC
with SPATIAL_STATISTIC='SURFACE INTEGRAL' as input to the PID controller. Omit the TARGET_VALUE,
which then defaults to 0, and the input becomes the error function, e(t). Set the INTEGRAL_GAIN to 1 and the
other gains to 0. Then send the PID output to a DEVC for a 'CONTROL VALUE'. Here is example syntax:

&DEVC ID='MY MLR', XB=..., QUANTITY='BURNING RATE', SURF_ID='s1',

SPATIAL_STATISTIC='SURFACE INTEGRAL'/
&CTRL ID='MY PID', FUNCTION_TYPE='PID', INPUT_ID='MY MLR',
PROPORTIONAL_GAIN=0, DIFFERENTIAL_GAIN=0, INTEGRAL_GAIN=1/
&DEVC ID='PYROLYZATE', XYZ=..., QUANTITY='CONTROL VALUE', CTRL_ID='MY PID'/

Here, the 'PYROLYZATE' column of the _devc.csv file will have units of kg.

Special Case: using PID for controlling momentum

The PID controller can be used to adjust a mean momentum source term to achieve various output targets
related to momentum. One simple example would be to control the bulk flow rate in a channel. In the
following, we monitor the mean stream-wise velocity and set CONTROL_FORCE(1)=T to add a source term to
the x momentum equation (use 2 and 3 for y and z, respectively). The result is similar to manually adjusting
FORCE_VECTOR(1) to achieve the desired flow rate. In the case below, the PID controller will keep the mean
bulk flow near the TARGET_VALUE of 10 m/s.

&DEVC ID='Ub', XB=..., QUANTITY='U-VELOCITY', SPATIAL_STATISTIC='MEAN'/

&CTRL ID='MY PID', FUNCTION_TYPE='PID', TARGET_VALUE=10, INPUT_ID='Ub', PROPORTIONAL_
GAIN=0.1, CONTROL_FORCE(1)=T/
&DEVC ID='FORCE X', XYZ=..., QUANTITY='CONTROL VALUE', CTRL_ID='MY PID'/

18.5.8 Control Function: PERCENTILE

Consider the cumulative distribution function, F(x):
Z x Z ∞
′ ′
F(x) = f (x ) dx f (x′ ) dx′ (18.12)
−∞ −∞

305
The PERCENTILE control function returns the value of x for which F(x) = p, where p is a value between
0 and 1. In discretized form, the function f (x) is represented by the pairs (xi , fi ) for 1 ≤ i ≤ N. The pth
percentile is then given by
pFN − Fk−1
x(p) = x̄k−1 + (x̄k − x̄k−1 ) (18.13)
Fk − Fk−1
where
k
xi+1 + xi
Fk = ∑ fi δ x̄i ; x̄i = ; δ x̄i = x̄i − x̄i−1 ; k = min (Fn > p FN ) (18.14)
i=1 2 n

It is assumed that the values xi are mid-points of the discretized function; that is, fi is the average value of
the function over the interval (x̄i−1 , x̄i ).
The PERCENTILE function is useful for computing flame heights. Consider the following input lines:

&DEVC XB=0,0,0,0,0.05,4.95, QUANTITY='HRRPUV', SPATIAL_STATISTIC='VOLUME INTEGRAL'

DX=1., DY=1., DZ=0.05, POINTS=50, Z_ID='z', ID='qdot' /
&CTRL ID='pct', FUNCTION_TYPE='PERCENTILE', INPUT_ID='qdot', PERCENTILE=0.95 /
&DEVC ID='L_F', XYZ=0,0,0, QUANTITY='CONTROL VALUE', CTRL_ID='pct', UNITS='m' /

The first DEVC line represents a vertical profile of the heat release rate per unit volume integrated over hori-
zontal slices of dimension 2*DX, 2*DY, and 2*DZ. The CTRL function takes these 50 values at 50 uniformly
spaced heights between 0.05 m and 4.95 m and calculates the height at which 95 % of the fire’s energy has
been released. Note that for a 10 cm grid, the vertical array of points are located at cell centers, which is
why the discretized integration is done the way it is described above. The second DEVC line simply takes
the value calculated by the control function and prints it out in the file of time histories, CHID_devc.csv.
The 50 integrals of 'HRRPUV' are time-averaged and written to the file, CHID_line.csv. Note that the flame
heights written to CHID_devc.csv are time-averaged over the time interval between printouts. If you set
DT_DEVC to a very small value (i.e. less than the time step), you will obtain a time-history of instantaneous
flame heights.

18.5.9 Combining Control Functions: A Deluge System

For a deluge sprinkler system, the normally dry sprinkler pipes are flooded when a detection event occurs.
For this example, the detection event is when two of four smoke detectors alarm. It takes 30 s to flood the
piping network. The nozzle is a DEVC named 'NOZZLE 1' controlled by the CTRL named 'nozzle trigger'.
The nozzle activates when both detection and the time delay have occurred. Note that the DEVC is specified
with QUANTITY='CONTROL'.

&DEVC XYZ=1,1,3, PROP_ID='Acme Smoker', ID='SD_1' /

&DEVC XYZ=1,4,3, PROP_ID='Acme Smoker', ID='SD_2' /
&DEVC XYZ=4,1,3, PROP_ID='Acme Smoker', ID='SD_3' /
&DEVC XYZ=4,4,3, PROP_ID='Acme Smoker', ID='SD_4' /
&DEVC XYZ=2,2,3, PROP_ID='Acme Nozzle', QUANTITY='CONTROL',
ID='NOZZLE 1', CTRL_ID='nozzle trigger' /

&CTRL ID='nozzle trigger', FUNCTION_TYPE='ALL', INPUT_ID='smokey','delay' /

&CTRL ID='delay', FUNCTION_TYPE='TIME_DELAY', INPUT_ID='smokey', DELAY=30. /
&CTRL ID='smokey', FUNCTION_TYPE='AT_LEAST', N=2, INPUT_ID='SD_1','SD_2','SD_3','SD_
4' /

306
Example Case: control_test_2
The control_test_2 example demonstrates the use of the mathematical and PID control functions. Two
compartments are defined with the left hand compartment initialized to 20 ◦ C and the right hand compart-
ment to 10 ◦ C. Control functions are defined to:

• Add the temperatures in the two compartments

• Subtract the right hand compartment temperature from the left hand compartment temperature
• Multiply the left hand temperature by 0.5
• Divide the left hand temperature by the right hand temperature
• Take the square root of the right hand temperature
• Use the time as input to a PID function with a target value of 5 and Kp =-0.5, Ki =0.001, and Kd =1

&CTRL ID='Add',FUNCTION_TYPE='SUM',INPUT_ID='LHS Temp','RHS Temp'/

&CTRL ID='Subtract',FUNCTION_TYPE='SUBTRACT',INPUT_ID='RHS Temp','LHS Temp'/
&CTRL ID='Multiply',FUNCTION_TYPE='MULTIPLY',INPUT_ID='LHS
Temp','CONSTANT',CONSTANT=0.5/
&CTRL ID='Divide',FUNCTION_TYPE='DIVIDE',INPUT_ID='LHS Temp','RHS Temp'/
&CTRL ID='Power',FUNCTION_TYPE='POWER',INPUT_ID='RHS Temp','CONSTANT',CONSTANT=0.5/
&CTRL ID='PID',FUNCTION_TYPE='PID',INPUT_ID='Time',TARGET_VALUE=5.,
PROPORTIONAL_GAIN=-0.5,INTEGRAL_GAIN=0.001,DIFFERENTIAL_GAIN=1./

Results are shown in Fig. 18.7.

FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
40
Control Function Outputs (control_test_2)
Add
30 Multiply
Control Function Output

Subtract
Divide
20
Power
PID
10 FDS Add
FDS Multiply
FDS Subtract
0 FDS Divide
FDS Power
FDS PID
-10

0 2 4 6 8 10
Time (s)

Figure 18.7: Results of the control_test_2 case.

18.5.10 Combining Control Functions: A Dry Pipe Sprinkler System

For a dry-pipe sprinkler system, the normally dry sprinkler pipes are pressurized with gas. When a link
activates in a sprinkler head, the pressure drop allows water to flow into the pipe network. For this example
it takes 30 s to flood the piping network once a sprinkler link has activated. The sequence of events required
for operation is first ANY of the links must activate which starts the 30 s TIME_DELAY. Once the 30 s delay
has occurred, each nozzle with an active link, the ALL control functions, will then flow water.

307
&DEVC XYZ=2,2,3, PROP_ID='Acme Sprinkler Link', ID='LINK 1' /
&DEVC XYZ=2,3,3, PROP_ID='Acme Sprinkler Link', ID='LINK 2' /

&PROP ID='Acme Sprinkler Link', QUANTITY='LINK TEMPERATURE',

ACTIVATION_TEMPERATURE=74., RTI=30./

&DEVC XYZ=2,2,3, PROP_ID='Acme Nozzle', QUANTITY='CONTROL',

ID='NOZZLE 1', CTRL_ID='nozzle 1 trigger' /
&DEVC XYZ=2,3,3, PROP_ID='Acme Nozzle', QUANTITY='CONTROL',
ID='NOZZLE 2', CTRL_ID='nozzle 2 trigger' /

&CTRL ID='check links', FUNCTION_TYPE='ANY', INPUT_ID='LINK 1','LINK 2'/

&CTRL ID='delay', FUNCTION_TYPE='TIME_DELAY', INPUT_ID='check links', DELAY=30. /
&CTRL ID='nozzle 1 trigger', FUNCTION_TYPE='ALL', INPUT_ID='delay','LINK 1'/
&CTRL ID='nozzle 2 trigger', FUNCTION_TYPE='ALL', INPUT_ID='delay','LINK 2'/

18.5.11 Example Case: activate_vents

The simple test case called activate_vents demonstrates several of the control functions. Figure 18.8
shows seven differently colored vents that activate at different times, depending on the particular timing or
control function.

Figure 18.8: Output of the activate_vents test case at 5, 10, and 15 s.

18.6 Controlling a RAMP

18.6.1 Changing the Independent Variable
For any user-defined RAMP, the normal independent variable, for example time for RAMP_V, can be replaced
by the output of a DEVC. This is done by specifying the input DEVC_ID on one of the RAMP input lines. When
this is done, the current output of the DEVC is used as the independent variable for the RAMP. A CTRL_ID can
also be specified as long as the control function outputs a numerical value (i.e., is a mathematical function
(Sec. 18.5.6) or a PID function (Sec. 18.5.7). In the following example a blower is ramped from 0 % flow at
20 ◦ C, to 50 % flow when the temperature exceeds 100 ◦ C, and to 100 % flow when the temperature exceeds
200 ◦ C. This is similar functionality to the CUSTOM control function, but it allows for variable response rather
than just on or off.

&SURF ID='BLOWER', VEL=-2, RAMP_V='BLOWER RAMP' /

&DEVC XYZ=2,3,3, QUANTITY='TEMPERATURE', ID='TEMP DEVC' /
&RAMP ID='BLOWER RAMP', T= 20,F=0.0, DEVC_ID='TEMP DEVC' /
&RAMP ID='BLOWER RAMP', T=100,F=0.5 /

308
&RAMP ID='BLOWER RAMP', T=200,F=1.0 /

18.6.2 Changing the Dependent Variable

The output of any DEVC or math CTRL can be used in place of a RAMP if either DEVC_ID_DEP or CTRL_ID_DEP
is specified on the RAMP input. With either input, the numerical value of the DEVC or CTRL is used as the RAMP
output. For example, using the mathematical functions built into the control feature, you can specify the
sine function:
2π(t − 5)
 
f (t) = sin (18.15)
10
via the lines

&DEVC ID='t', QUANTITY='TIME', XYZ=0,0,0 /

&CTRL ID='t-t0', FUNCTION_TYPE='SUM', INPUT_ID='t','CONSTANT', CONSTANT=-5. /
&CTRL ID='2*pi*(t-t0)/10', FUNCTION_TYPE='MULTIPLY', INPUT_ID='CONSTANT','t-t0',
CONSTANT=0.62831853 /
&CTRL ID='sin(2*pi*(t-t0)/10)', FUNCTION_TYPE='SIN', INPUT_ID='2*pi*(t-t0)/10' /
&RAMP ID='ramp sin', CTRL_DEP_ID='sin(2*pi*(t-t0)/10)' /

The function is shown in Fig. 18.9.

FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
1.5

0.5

-0.5

-1

-1.5
0 20 40 60 80 100

Figure 18.9: Sample sine function time ramp.

18.6.3 Freezing the Output Value, Example Case: hrr_freeze

There are occasions where you may want the value of a RAMP to stop updating. For example, if you are
simulating a growing fire in a room with sprinklers, you may wish to stop the fire from growing when a
sprinkler over the fire activates. This type of action can be accomplished by changing the input of the RAMP
to a DEVC (see the previous section) and then giving that DEVC either a NO_UPDATE_DEVC_ID or a NO_UPDATE_
CTRL_ID. When the specified controller changes its state to T it will cause the DEVC to stop updating its value.
Since the DEVC is being used as the independent variable to a RAMP, the RAMP will have its output remain the
same. This is shown in the example below. A fire is given a linear RAMP from 0 to 1000 kW/m2 over 50 s.
Rather than using the simulation time, the RAMP uses a DEVC for the time. The timer is set to freeze when
another DEVC measuring time reaches 200 ◦ C. Figure 18.10 shows the result of these inputs in the test case

309
hrr_freeze where it can be seen that the pyrolysis rate stops increasing once the gas temperature reaches
200 ◦ C.

&SURF ID='FIRE', HRRPUA=1000., RAMP_Q='FRAMP', COLOR='ORANGE'/

&RAMP ID='FRAMP', T= 0, F=0, DEVC_ID='FREEZE TIME'/
&RAMP ID='FRAMP', T=50, F=1/
&DEVC XYZ=..., QUANTITY='TEMPERATURE', SETPOINT=200., INITIAL_STATE=F,
ID='TEMP'/
&DEVC XYZ=..., QUANTITY='TIME', NO_UPDATE_DEVC_ID='TEMP', ID='FREEZE TIME'/

FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release -3 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
10
300 1
Plume Temperature Burning Rate
250
0.8

Burning Rate (kg/s)

200
Temperature (°C)

0.6
150
0.4
100

0.2
50

0 0
0 5 10 15 20 0 5 10 15 20
Time (s) Time (s)

Figure 18.10: Temperature (left) and burning rate (right) outputs of the hrr_freeze test case.

It should be noted that devices are updated sequentially in the order that they are listed in the input file
and that devices in different meshes do not share values until the end of a time step. This means that if the
device being frozen is on a different mesh or is listed before the device that freezes it, it will not be frozen
until the next time step.

18.6.4 Example Case: Heat Release Rate of a Spreading Fire

In this example, a fire spreads radially from a single point as directed by the parameters SPREAD_RATE and
XYZ on a VENT line. Usually, the user specifies the heat release rate per unit area (HRRPUA) for each burning
surface cell on the corresponding SURF line, but in this case, a specific time RAMP for the total heat release
rate is specified. The following input lines show how the user-specified RAMP called 'HRR' controls the total
HRR of the growing fire. The key point is that the user-specified total HRR is divided by the area of burning
surface, and this heat release rate per unit area is imposed on all burning cells. Normally FDS will adjust
a mass flux input (MASS_FLUX, HRRPUA ,etc.) input to account for any differences in the area of the VENT as
specified with XB and the area is it is actually resolved on the grid. In this case we are using control functions
to determine the heat release rate. In this case the control logic is directly computing the required flux based
on the area as resolved so no additional correction is needed. When false, the AREA_ADJUST flag prevents
any additional adjustment. Regardless of the fact that the spreading fire reaches a barrier and is stopped
from spreading radially, the user-specified RAMP controls the HRR, as shown in Fig. 18.11.

&VENT SURF_ID='FIRE', XB=1.0,7.0,1.0,7.0,0.0,0.0, XYZ=3.0,3.0,0.0, SPREAD_RATE=0.1,

AREA_ADJUST=F /

&SURF ID='FIRE', HRRPUA=1., RAMP_Q='HRRPUA RAMP' /

&RAMP ID='HRRPUA RAMP', T=0, F=0, CTRL_ID_DEP='HRRPUA CTRL' /
&DEVC ID='TIMER', XYZ=1,1,1, QUANTITY='TIME' /

310
&CTRL ID='HRR', FUNCTION_TYPE='CUSTOM', INPUT_ID='TIMER', RAMP_ID='HRR' /
&CTRL ID='HRR+EPS', FUNCTION_TYPE='SUM', INPUT_ID='HRR', 'CONSTANT',
CONSTANT=1E-10 / Prevents divide-by-zero
&DEVC ID='Fire Area', QUANTITY='HRRPUA', QUANTITY_RANGE(1)=1E-10,
XB=0,8,0,8,0,1, SURF_ID='FIRE', SPATIAL_STATISTIC='SURFACE AREA' /
&CTRL ID='HRRPUA CTRL', FUNCTION_TYPE='DIVIDE', INPUT_ID='HRR+EPS','Fire Area' /

&RAMP ID='HRR', T= 0., F= 0.0 /

&RAMP ID='HRR', T= 10., F= 100.0 /
&RAMP ID='HRR', T= 20., F= 400.0 /
...

FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
14000
Heat Release Rate (spreading_fire)
12000
Heat Release Rate (kW)

10000

8000

6000

4000

2000 Specified (HRR)

FDS (HRR)
0
0 50 100 150 200
Time (s)

Figure 18.11: Specified (circles) and simulated (line) HRR curve for a spreading fire.

311
18.7 Visualizing FDS Devices in Smokeview
This section provides an overview of various objects that can be drawn by Smokeview and how to customize
their appearance. Further technical details may be found in the Smokeview User’s Guide [2].

18.7.1 Devices that Indicate Activation

Devices like sprinklers and smoke detectors can be drawn in one of two ways so as to indicate activation.
When FDS determines that a device has activated it places a message in the .smv file indicating the ob-
ject number, the activation time and the state (0 for inactive or 1 for active). Smokeview then draws the
corresponding object. See Tables 18.3 and 18.4 for images.
The character string, SMOKEVIEW_ID, on the PROP line associates an FDS device with a Smokeview
object. For example, the following lines instruct Smokeview to draw the device in the shape of a 'target':

&PROP ID='my target', SMOKEVIEW_ID='target' /

&DEVC XYZ=0.5,0.8,0.6, QUANTITY='TEMPERATURE', PROP_ID='my target' /

Table 18.3: Single frame static objects

SMOKEVIEW_ID Image

sensor

target

312
 Table 18.4: Dual frame static objects

Image
SMOKEVIEW_ID
inactive active

heat_detector

nozzle

smoke_detector

sprinkler_upright

313
 Table 18.4: Dual frame static objects (continued)

Image
SMOKEVIEW_ID
inactive active

sprinkler_pendent

18.7.2 Devices with Variable Properties

The appearance of Smokeview objects may be modified using data specified with the array of character
strings called SMOKEVIEW_PARAMETERS on the PROP line. For example, the input lines

&PROP ID='ballprops', SMOKEVIEW_ID='ball',

SMOKEVIEW_PARAMETERS(1:6)='R=255','G=0','B=0','DX=0.5','DY=0.25','DZ=0.1' /
&DEVC XYZ=0.5,0.8,1.5, QUANTITY='TEMPERATURE', PROP_ID='ballprops' /

create an ellipsoid colored red with x, y, and z axis diameters of 0.5 m and 0.25 m and 0.1 m, respectively.
Note that these parameters are enclosed within single quotes because they are character strings passed to
Smokeview.
Table 18.5 lists objects with variable properties. Note that the tsphere object uses a texture map or
image to alter its appearance. The texture map is specified by placing the characters t% before the texture
file name, for example, t%[Link].

Table 18.5: Dynamic Smokeview objects

SMOKEVIEW_ID SMOKEVIEW_PARAMETERS Image

SMOKEVIEW_PARAMETERS(1:6)=
'R=128','G=192','B=255',
'DX=0.5','DY=.75','DZ=1.0'
ball
R, G, B - color components (0 to 255)
DX, DY, DZ - amount ball is stretched along x, y,
z axis (m)

SMOKEVIEW_PARAMETERS(1:5)=
'R=128','G=255','B=192',
'D=0.4','H=0.6'
cone
R, G, B - color components (0 to 255)
D, H - diameter and height (m)

314
 Table 18.5: Dynamic Smokeview objects (continued)

SMOKEVIEW_ID SMOKEVIEW_PARAMETERS Image

SMOKEVIEW_PARAMETERS(1:11)=
'HUB_R=0','HUB_G=0','HUB_B=0',
'HUB_D=0.1','HUB_L=0.12',
'BLADE_R=128','BLADE_G=64',
'BLADE_B=32','BLADE_ANGLE=60.0',
'BLADE_D=0.5','BLADE_H=0.09'

fan HUB_R, HUB_G, HUB_B - color components

of fan hub (0 to 255)
HUB_D, HUB_L - diameter and length of fan hub
(m)
BLADE_R, BLADE_G, BLADE_B - color compo-
nents of fan blades (0 to 255)
BLADE_ANGLE, BLADE_D, BLADE_H - angle,
diameter and height of a fan blade

SMOKEVIEW_PARAMETERS(1:9)=
'R=255','G=255','B=255',
'AX0=0.0','ELEV0=90.0',
'ROT0=0.0','ROTATION_RATE=10.0',
'D=1.0',
'tfile="t%sphere_cover_04.png"'

tsphere R, G, B - color components (0 to 255)

AX0, ELEV0, ROT0 - initial azimuth, elevation
and rotation angle (deg)
ROTATION_RATE - rotation rate about z axis
(deg/s)
D - diameter (m)
tfile - name of texture map file

315
 Table 18.5: Dynamic Smokeview objects (continued)

SMOKEVIEW_ID SMOKEVIEW_PARAMETERS Image

SMOKEVIEW_PARAMETERS(1:6)=
'R=192','G=192','B=128',
'W=0.5','H=1.0', 'ROT=90.0' inactive vent
vent
R, G, B - color components (0 to 255)
W, H - width and height (m)
ROT - rotation angle (deg)

active vent

18.7.3 Objects that Represent Lagrangian Particles

Lagrangian particles, like water droplets or small solid particles, are represented in Smokeview as tiny
points. However, it is possible to draw Lagrangian particles in other ways, such as those depicted in Ta-
ble 18.6. For example, the following lines define particles that represent segments of electrical cables that
are 10 cm long with a diameter of 1.24 cm:

&PART ID='cables', QUANTITIES(1)='PARTICLE TEMPERATURE', ..., PROP_ID='cable image' /

&PROP ID='cable image', SMOKEVIEW_ID='tube', SMOKEVIEW_PARAMETERS='L=0.1','D=0.0124' /

By default, the cables are colored black, but you can specify your own default color using the parameters
R, G, and B. In addition, you can color the particles according to the listed QUANTITIES on the PART line.
Menus in Smokeview allow you to toggle between the various color options.
You can control the orientation of the 'tube' objects using a parameter such as 'RANDXY=1' that causes
the cylinders to be drawn randomly in the x − y plane. Objects with the parameters U-VEL, V-VEL, and W-VEL
stretch according to the respective velocity components associated with the moving particles.

Table 18.6: Dynamic Smokeview objects for Lagrangian particles

SMOKEVIEW_ID SMOKEVIEW_PARAMETERS Image

SMOKEVIEW_PARAMETERS(1:6)=
'R=192','G=255','B=128',
'DX=0.25','DY=.5','DZ=0.125'
box
R, G, B - color components (0 to 255)
DX, DY, DZ - amount box is stretched along axes

316
 Table 18.6: Dynamic Smokeview objects for Lagrangian particles (continued)

SMOKEVIEW_ID SMOKEVIEW_PARAMETERS Image

SMOKEVIEW_PARAMETERS(1:6)=
'R=255','G=0','B=0',
'D=0.2','L=0.6','RANDXY=1'

R, G, B - color components (0 to 255)

tube D, L - diameter and length (m)
RANDXY - randomly orient in x-y plane
RANDXZ - randomly orient in x-z plane
RANDYZ - randomly orient in y-z plane
RANDXYZ - random orientation
DIRX, DIRY, DIRZ - orient along axis

SMOKEVIEW_PARAMETERS(1:9)=
'R=192', 'G=64', 'B=32'
'U-VEL=1.', 'V-VEL=1.', 'W-VEL=1.'
'VELMIN=0.01', 'VELMAX=0.2', 'D=1.0'

velegg R, G, B - color components (0 to 255)

U-VEL, V-VEL, W-VEL - velocity components
(m/s)
VELMIN, VELMAX - minimum and maximum
velocity
D - diameter of egg at maximum velocity (m)

SMOKEVIEW_PARAMETERS(1:9)=
'R=0', 'G=0', 'B=0'
'U-VEL=1.', 'V-VEL=1.', 'W-VEL=1.'
'VELMIN=0.01', 'VELMAX=0.2', 'D=0.1'

veltube R, G, B - color components (0 to 255)

U-VEL, V-VEL, W-VEL - velocity components
(m/s)
VELMIN, VELMAX - minimum and maximum
velocity
D - diameter of tube at VELMAX (m)

317
18.8 External Control of FDS (Beta)
It is possible to externally control some aspects of an FDS simulation while the simulation is running. Any
FDS input that has either a RAMP_ID (except for the output time ramps on DUMP such as RAMP_BNDF) or a
CTRL_ID as one of its inputs can be externally controlled. A RAMP can be externally controlled by setting
EXTERNAL_FILE on RAMP. A CTRL can be externally controlled by setting FUNCTION_TYPE='EXTERNAL'.
When external control is selected, FDS will set the value of the RAMP or the logical state of the CTRL
based on values contained in a csv file whose name is given by EXTERNAL_FILENAME on MISC. This file will
be checked for new values every DT_EXTERNAL on TIME seconds. Only those inputs whose values are being
changed need to specified. For inputs not specified or if the file does not exist or cannot be opened (e.g.,
locked by the operating system during a file write), the current values will be kept. The initial values are
defined with either INITIAL_VALUE on RAMP or INITIAL_STATE on CTRL. FDS can be forced to wait if no file
is present or use an alternate EXTERNAL_FILENAME by specifying DT_EXTERNAL_HEARTBEAT and EXTERNAL_
HEARTBEAT_FILENAME on TIME. With this approach FDS looks for EXTERNAL_HEARTBEAT_FILENAME. If the
file is not found FDS will wait up to DT_EXTERNAL_HEARTBEAT seconds. If EXTERNAL_HEARTBEAT_FILENAME
is still not present, FDS will stop trying to update the external controls. If HEARTBEAT_FAIL on TIME is true,
FDS will stop the simulation. If EXTERNAL_HEARTBEAT_FILENAME is present, FDS will read EXTERNAL_
FILENAME from it.
The csv file format is:

Type(1), ID(1), Value(1)

Type(2), ID(2), Value(2)
.
.

where Type is either RAMP or CTRL, ID is the corresponding ID in the FDS input files, and Value is the new
output value for a RAMP or the new logical state for a CTRL where positive values mean the CTRL evaluates as
TRUE and negative values mean the function evaluates as FALSE.
An example set of inputs is below:

&MISC EXTERNAL_FILENAME='external_test_input.csv'/
&TIME T_END=10,DT_EXTERNAL=5/

&OBST XB=0.0,0.1,0,1,0,1/
&VENT XB=0.1,0.1,0,1,0,1,SURF_ID='FLOW',CTRL_ID='VENT CTRL'/
&SURF ID='FLOW',VEL=-1,COLOR='BLUE',TAU_V=0/
&CTRL ID='VENT CTRL',FUNCTION_TYPE='EXTERNAL',INITIAL_STATE=T/

&VENT XB=2,2,0,1,0,1,SURF_ID='HOT'/
&SURF ID='HOT',TMP_FRONT=1000,RAMP_T='T RAMP',COLOR='RED'/
&RAMP ID='T RAMP',EXTERNAL_FILE=T,INITIAL_VALUE=0.081633/

In these inputs a vent with a fixed velocity is externally controlled by a CTRL that is initially TRUE, and a
vent with a fixed temperature is externally controlled with a RAMP with an initial ramp value that results in a
temperature of 100 ◦ C. These vents are applied to two faces of a 1 m3 box. At 5 s, the csv file is read with
contents of:

RAMP,"T RAMP" , 1
CTRL,"VENT CTRL",-1

This turns off the velocity vent (a negative CTRL value means set the state to .FALSE.) and sets the fixed
temperature vent to 1000 ◦ C (a RAMP value of 1 means apply the full value of TMP_FRONT). Note that the

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ID strings are enclosed in quotes. This is only required if the string has a space or comma in it. Results of
running the case are shown in Fig. 18.12
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
1200 1
Surface Temperature (enthalpy) Wall Velocity
1000 0.5

800 0
Temperature (°C)

Velocity (m/s)
600 -0.5

400 -1

200 Expected
-1.5 Expected
FDS FDS
0 -2
0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10
Time (s) Time (s)

Figure 18.12: (Left) Surface temperature. (Right) Wall velocity.

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Chapter 19

Numerical Considerations

This chapter describes various numerical parameters; that is, parameters that control how the governing
equations are solved. Most of these parameters are specified on the MISC line and for most large-scale fire
simulations, their default values are recommended. MISC is the namelist group of input parameters that do
not fall into any one category (Table 23.18).
It is good practice to use only one MISC line in the data file. Using multiple MISC lines is possible, but
be careful about not over writing a parameter. The last parameter read will take precedence.

19.1 Simulation Mode

There are four basic modes of operation in FDS: 'DNS' (Direct Numerical Simulation), 'LES' (Large Eddy
Simulation), 'VLES' (Very Large Eddy Simulation), and 'SVLES' (Simple Very Large Eddy Simulation—
VLES with simplified physics). These modes govern a number of physical and numerical parameters
that determine the level of physics and the accuracy of the numerical model. They are specified using
SIMULATION_MODE on the MISC line. For example

&MISC ..., SIMULATION_MODE='DNS' /

indicates a direct numerical simulation. The default value is 'VLES'.

Table 19.1 indicates the value of various parameters for each of the four simulation modes and the
sections where these parameters are explained in detail.

Table 19.1: Parameters effected by SIMULATION_MODE.

Key Parameter Section 'DNS' 'LES' 'VLES' 'SVLES'

CFL_VELOCITY_NORM 19.3.1 1 1 2 3
CHECK_VN 19.3.2 T T T F
FLUX_LIMITER 19.4 'CHARM' 'CHARM' 'SUPERBEE' 'SUPERBEE'
CONSTANT_SPECIFIC_HEAT_RATIO12.1.3 F F F T
EXTINCTION_MODEL 13.1.6 2 2 1 1

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19.2 Large Eddy Simulation Parameters
By default FDS uses the Deardorff [68, 69] turbulent viscosity,

(µLES /ρ) = Cν ∆ ksgs (19.1)

p

where Cν = 0.1 and the subgrid scale (sgs) kinetic energy is taken from an algebraic relationship based on
scale similarity (see the FDS Technical Reference Guide [3]). The LES filter width is taken as the geometric
mean1 of the local mesh spacing in each direction, ∆ = (δ x δ y δ z)1/3 . You may also choose a constant filter
width by setting FIXED_LES_FILTER_WIDTH on the MISC line, in meters. This is not a recommended thing to
do in practice, but may be useful for convergence studies and other diagnostic tests.
Options for the TURBULENCE_MODEL on the MISC line are listed in Table 19.2. Note that the model used
in FDS versions 1-5 is 'CONSTANT SMAGORINSKY'. The thermal conductivity and material diffusivity are
related to the turbulent viscosity by:
µLES c p µLES
kLES = ; (ρD)LES = (19.2)
Prt Sct
The turbulent Prandtl number Prt and the turbulent Schmidt number Sct are assumed to be constant for
a given scenario. Although it is not recommended for most calculations, you can modify Prt = 0.5, and
Sct = 0.5 via the parameters PR, and SC on the MISC line. A more detailed discussion of these parameters is
given in the FDS Technical Reference Guide [3].

Table 19.2: Turbulence model options.

TURBULENCE_MODEL Description Coefficient(s)

'CONSTANT SMAGORINSKY' Constant-coefficient Smagorinsky [70] C_SMAGORINSKY
'DYNAMIC SMAGORINSKY' Dynamic Smagorinsky [71, 72] None
'DEARDORFF' Deardorff [68, 69] C_DEARDORFF
'VREMAN' Vreman’s eddy viscosity [73] C_VREMAN
'WALE' Wall-Adapting Local Eddy-viscosity [74] C_WALE

Near-Wall Turbulence Model

By default, FDS uses the WALE model of Nicoud and Ducros [74] for the eddy viscosity in the first off-wall
grid cell because the test filtering operation for the Deardorff model is ill-defined near a wall. The WALE
model has the advantage that the eddy viscosity tends to zero at the correct rate as you approach the wall
where the no slip condition applies.
As an alternative, you may choose to use the constant coefficient Smagorinsky [70] model with Van
Driest damping (see [75]). To invoke this model, set NEAR_WALL_TURBULENCE_MODEL='VAN DRIEST' on the
SURF line.
For diagnostic purposes, or in cases where neither of the other wall models above is appropriate, it is
possible to set a constant value of the near wall kinematic eddy viscosity for a given SURF using NEAR_WALL_
EDDY_VISCOSITY.
Note that the near-wall turbulence model sets the eddy viscosity, µt , near the wall, not the wall stress,
τw . The wall stress depends on the choice of wall function, as discussed in Sec. 10.1.7.
1 An alternative to the geometric mean filter width type is to use the maximum cell dimension, ∆ = max(δ x, δ y, δ z).
This should
be used sparingly but may be necessary when the cell aspect ratios are high. Using LES_FILTER_TYPE='MAX' on MISC will
lead to a larger value of turbulent viscosity and hence a more dissipative numerical solution.

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19.3 Numerical Stability Parameters
FDS uses an explicit time advancement scheme; thus, the time step plays an important role in maintaining
numerical stability and accuracy. Below we examine the constraints on the time step necessary for stability
in the presence of advection, diffusion, and expansion of the velocity and scalar fields. In addition, there are
additional constraints that ensure accuracy of various algorithms.

19.3.1 The Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy (CFL) Constraint

The well-known CFL constraint given by

∥u∥
CFL = δt <1 (19.3)
∆
places a restriction on the time step due to the advection velocity. The limits for the CFL are set by CFL_MIN
(default 0.8) and CFL_MAX (default 1) on MISC. Physically, the constraint says that a fluid element should
not traverse more than one cell width, ∆, within one time step, δt. For LES, this constraint has the added
advantage of keeping the implicit temporal and spatial filters consistent with each other. In other words, in
order to resolve an eddy of size ∆, the time step needs to obey the CFL constraint. If one were to employ
an implicit scheme for the purpose of taking time steps ten times larger than the CFL limit, the smallest
resolvable turbulent motions would then be roughly ten times the grid spacing, which would severely limit
the benefit of using LES. In most cases, if you want the simulation to run faster, a better strategy is to coarsen
the grid resolution while keeping the CFL close to 1.
The exact CFL needed to maintain stability depends on the order (as well as other properties) of the
time integration scheme and the choice of velocity norm. Four choices for velocity norm are available in
FDS (set on MISC):

CFL_VELOCITY_NORM=0 (corresponds to L∞ norm of velocity vector, despite the numerical code this is less
restrictive than 1 or 2)  
∥u∥ |u| |v| |w|
= max , , + |∇ · u| (19.4)
∆ δx δy δz
CFL_VELOCITY_NORM=1 (DNS and LES defaults, most restrictive, corresponds to L1 norm of velocity vector)

∥u∥ |u| |v| |w|

= + + + |∇ · u| (19.5)
∆ δx δy δz
CFL_VELOCITY_NORM=2 (VLES default, L2 norm of velocity vector)
s
∥u∥  u 2  v 2  w 2
= + + + |∇ · u| (19.6)
∆ δx δy δz

CFL_VELOCITY_NORM=3 (SVLES default, least restrictive, corresponds to L∞ norm of velocity vector without
the velocity divergence)  
∥u∥ |u| |v| |w|
= max , , (19.7)
∆ δx δy δz
The last listed form of the constraint is the least restrictive, but also the most dangerous in the sense that a
numerical instability is more likely to occur when the CFL constraint is least restrictive. This option is akin
to a high optimization level of a computer program compiler—there is a trade-off between added speed and
added risk of failure.

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 Notice that the CFL norms 0-2 include the divergence of the velocity field. This is an added safeguard
because often numerical instabilities arise when there is a sudden release of energy and a corresponding
increase in the divergence within a single grid cell. In an explicit Euler update of the continuity equation, if
the time increment is too large the grid cell may be totally drained of mass, which, of course, is not physical.
The constraint ρ n+1 > 0 therefore leads to the following restriction on the time step:
ρn
δt < n (19.8)
u · ∇ρ n + ρ n ∇ · un
We can argue that the case we are most concerned with is when ρ n is near zero. A reasonable approximation
to (19.8) then becomes
−1
ρ ui

δt <  = +∇·u (19.9)
u ρ−0 + ρ∇ · u δ xi

i δ xi

Equation (19.9) adds the effect of thermal expansion to the CFL constraint. Further, note that the dot product
implies summation over the subscripts i, which provides incentive for using the L1 norm of the velocity
vector as in CFL_VELOCITY_NORM=1.

Handling cells with large aspect ratios In LES, it is usually better to use cubic cells to accurately capture
turbulence. However, there are situations where elongated or pancake shaped cells become necessary for
computational efficiency, usually in either tunnel or atmospheric flow applications. As the cell aspect ratio
increases, the choice of velocity norm for the time step restriction becomes more important. Numerical
experiments have shown that beyond an aspect ratio of about 4:1, using CFL_VELOCITY_NORM=1 is required
to avoid unphysical oscillations in the ambient temperature. Thus, if not explicitly stated in the FDS input
file, beyond a maximum cell aspect ratio of 4:1 FDS will automatically switch the stability check to use
CFL_VELOCITY_NORM=1. The velocity norm used by FDS is reported in the output file ([Link]).

Time step restrictions to avoid clipping If the CFL constraint is not sufficient to maintain realizable mass
fractions (0 ≤ Zα ≤ 1) then FDS will attempt to redistribute mass to the neighboring cells, as discussed in
the FDS Tech Guide [3]. If this fails, then a 10% time step restriction will be applied and the mass transport
equations will be reiterated. Controlling the number of time step restrictions is discussed in Sec. 19.5.

19.3.2 The Von Neumann Constraint

The Von Neumann constraint is given by
µ 1 1 1
  
VN ≡ 2 δt max , Dα + 2+ 2 <1 (19.10)
ρ δx 2 δy δz
The limits for VN may be adjusted using VN_MIN (default 0.8 for all forms of LES, 0.4 for DNS) and VN_MAX
(default 1.0 for all forms of LES, 0.5 for DNS) on MISC. We can understand this constraint in a couple
of different ways. First, we could consider the model for the diffusion velocity of species α in direction
i, Vα,iYα = −Dα ∂Yα /∂ xi , and we would then see that VN is simply a CFL constraint due to diffusive
transport.
We can also think of VN in terms of a total variation diminishing (TVD) constraint. That is, if we have
variation (curvature) in the scalar field, we do not want to create spurious oscillations that can lead to an
instability by overshooting the smoothing step. Consider the following explicit update of the heat equation
for u in 1-D. Here subscripts indicate grid indices and ν is the diffusivity.
δt ν n
un+1 = uni + (u − 2uni + uni+1 ) (19.11)
i
δ x2 i−1

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Very simply, notice that if δt ν/δ x2 = 1/2 then un+1i = (uni−1 + uni+1 )/2. If the time step is any larger we
overshoot the straight line connecting neighboring cell values. Of course, this restriction is only guaranteed
to be TVD if the u field is “smooth”; otherwise, the neighboring cell values may be shifted in the opposite
direction. Unfortunately, in LES there is no such guarantee and so the VN constraint can be particularly
devilish in generating instabilities. For this reason, some practitioners like to employ implicit methods for
the diffusive terms. The VN constraint is checked by default in all simulation modes. It may be turned off
by setting CHECK_VN=F on MISC.

19.3.3 Stability of particle transport

The movement of Lagrangian particles over the course of a time step is calculated using an analytical solu-
tion and remains stable regardless of the time step used by the flow solver. However, if the particle moves
over the width of several grid cells in a single time step, the momentum transferred between the particle and
the gas cannot be allocated properly to all of the affected cells. To overcome this problem, FDS subdivides
the gas phase time step based on each particle’s velocity. For example, if the particle travels across two cells
in a single gas phase time step, then its trajectory is calculated by subdividing the time step into two.
In some cases with extremely fast particles, however, the stability of the overall flow behavior may
require setting an additional parameter that limits the time step of the flow solver according to the speed of
the fastest particle in the simulation. The actual value of of the constraint is set using PARTICLE_CFL_MAX
on the MISC line. A value of 1 (default) means that the fastest moving particle can move a distance of one
grid cell during the time step. Because very fast nozzle velocities can cause extremely small time steps and
hence very long run times, the PARTICLE_CFL constraint is set to F by default. Setting PARTICLE_CFL to T
on the MISC line activates this constraint.

19.3.4 Heat Transfer Constraint

Note that the heat flux has units of W/m2 . Thus, a velocity scale may be formed from (q̇′′w /ρw )1/3 , where
ρw is the gas phase density at the wall and q̇′′w is the total heat flux (convective plus net radiative) at the wall.
Anytime we have a velocity scale to resolve, we have a CFL-type stability restriction. Therefore, the heat
transfer stability check loops over all wall cells to ensure δt < (δ x/2)/(q̇′′w /ρw )1/3 . This check is invoked
by setting CHECK_HT=T on the MISC line. It is F by default.

19.4 Flux Limiters

FDS employs total variation diminishing (TVD) schemes for scalar transport. The default for VLES (FDS
default SIMULATION_MODE) is Superbee [76], so chosen because this scheme does the best job preserving
the scalar variance in highly turbulent flows with coarse grid resolution. The default scheme for DNS and
LES is CHARM [77] because the gradient steepening used in Superbee forces a stair step pattern at high
resolution, while CHARM is convergent. A few other schemes (including Godunov and central differencing)
are included for completeness; more details can be found in the Tech Guide [1]. Table 19.3 below shows the
character strings which may be used to invoke the various limiter schemes.

&MISC FLUX_LIMITER='GODUNOV' / ! invoke Godunov (first-order upwind scheme)

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 Table 19.3: Flux limiter options.

Scheme FLUX_LIMITER
Central differencing 'CENTRAL'
Godunov 'GODUNOV'
Superbee (VLES, SVLES default) 'SUPERBEE'
MINMOD 'MINMOD'
CHARM (DNS, LES default) 'CHARM'
MP5 'MP5'

19.5 Limiting the Bounds of Key Variables

The algorithms in FDS are designed to work within a certain range of values for density, temperature and
mass fraction. To prevent unphysical results, there are bounds placed on these variables to prevent a sin-
gle spurious value from causing a numerical instability. It also prevents out of range errors from calls to
temperature-dependent look-up tables. By default, FDS determines the lowest and highest values of the
variables based on your input, but it is not possible in all cases to anticipate just how low or high a given
value might be. Thus, on rare occasions you might need to set upper or lower bounds on the density or tem-
perature. Temperature and density bounds are input under the namelist group called CLIP. The parameters
are listed in Table 23.4. You only need to set these values if you notice that one of them appears to be “cut
off” when examining the results in Smokeview. For typical fire scenarios, you need not set these values, but
if you anticipate relatively low or high values in an unusual case, take a look at the calculation results to
determine if a change in the bounds is needed.

19.5.1 Temperature
The gas temperature is not solved for directly. Rather, the gas density and species mass fractions determine
the gas temperature via the equation of state. Nevertheless, the calculation of the temperature of liquid
droplets and solid obstructions do make use of temperature bounds. The default bounds are
◦
min (T∞ , Tm ) − 10 < T < 2727 C (19.12)
where T∞ is the user-specified ambient temperature and Tm is the melting temperature of water. These
bounds are widened by user-specified temperatures, like an initial solid or droplet temperature. To set your
own bounds, use MINIMUM_TEMPERATURE and/or MAXIMUM_TEMPERATURE on the CLIP line.
One other consideration related to high temperatures is that FDS uses tabulated gas and solid property
data up to a temperature of 5000 K. If for some reason you expect higher temperatures, set the integer
parameter I_MAX_TEMP on the MISC line. This sets the upper dimension of many property arrays. Even
though this parameter is an integer, it can be thought of as a maximum temperature in units of K. Note
that temperature-dependent properties like specific heat at temperatures above 5000 K remain fixed, but
integrated quantities like enthalpy take into account the higher temperature.

19.5.2 Density
The density of the gas has a natural lower bound of zero, but if the density in a cell decreases to nearly
zero, the temperature would then increase to an extremely high value due to the equation of state. Thus, by
default, the density is kept within the following range:
2 p∞ Wmin 2 p∞ Wmax
 
min 0.1 ρ∞ , <ρ < (19.13)
R Tmax R Tmin

326
where Wmin and Wmax are the minimum and maximum values of the molecular weight of the tracked gas
species in units of g/mol, and R is the universal gas constant, 8314.5 J/(kmol·K). Tmin and Tmax are described
above. To override the limits of density, specify MINIMUM_DENSITY and/or MAXIMUM_DENSITY on the CLIP
line in units of kg/m3 .
Clipping of density and mass fractions violates mass conservation, so it is preferable to avoid clipping
if possible. As discussed in Sec. 19.3, the time step is set to adhere to the CFL constraints of the flow field.
The proper DT combined with flux limiters generally avoids the need for clipping. Beyond this, FDS then
employs a mass redistribution scheme, as discussed in FDS Technical Guide [3]. If this fails, there is yet one
more attempt to avoid clipping—the time step is decreased by 10 % (δtnew = 0.9 δt) and the scalar transport
equations are reiterated. This process is carried out a maximum of CLIP_DT_RESTRICTIONS_MAX times; the
default is 5. In some very extreme circumstances, this loop can drive the time step into numerical instability
range (δt/δtinit < LIMITING_DT_RATIO ). You can control the max number of time step restrictions by setting
the parameter CLIP_DT_RESTRICTIONS_MAX on the CLIP line (set to 0 to bypass the algorithm altogether).
The number of restrictions (if any) is noted in the [Link] file for a given time step.

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Chapter 20

Changing the Initial Conditions

Typically, an FDS simulation begins at time t = 0 with ambient conditions. The air temperature is assumed
constant with height, and the density and pressure decrease with height (the z direction). This decrease is
not noticed in most building scale calculations, but it is important in large outdoor simulations.
There are some scenarios for which it is convenient to change the ambient conditions within rectangular
regions of the domain using the namelist keyword INIT (Table 23.14). There can be multiple INIT lines.
If two rectangular regions defined by INIT overlap, it is the second of the overlapping regions that takes
precedence.

20.1 Gas Species

Species concentrations can be initialized as follows:

&INIT XB=0.0,0.1,0.0,0.025,0.0,0.1,
SPEC_ID(1)='OXYGEN', MASS_FRACTION(1)=0.23,
SPEC_ID(2)='PROPANE', MASS_FRACTION(2)=0.06 /

where XB indicates a rectangular volume within the domain where the initial mass fractions of oxygen and
propane will be initialized to 0.23 and 0.06, respectively. Note the following rules:
• The indices of SPEC_ID and MASS_FRACTION are not necessarily indicative of the order in which the
species are listed in the input file, but rather should come in consecutive order starting from 1.
• VOLUME_FRACTION(N) can be used instead of MASS_FRACTION(N) as long as they are not used together
on the same input line.
• Instead of specifying a MASS_FRACTION(N) or VOLUME_FRACTION(N), you can specify a RAMP_MF_Z(N)
or RAMP_VF_Z(N) to indicate a vertical profile. The corresponding RAMP lines should use the parameter
Z for the height z (m) and F for the value of the mass or volume fraction. A single INIT line can have
both fixed and ramped values, but they must refer to either mass or volume fraction.
• Specify all species components on the same INIT line.
• The initial concentration of the background gas species cannot be specified this way. The mass or
volume fraction of the background species will be set to account for the unspecified fraction.
• All gas species must be specified using the SPEC or REAC namelist groups. In other words, any species
listed must be individually tracked and not just a component of a lumped species. See Chapter 12 for
details.

329
 • You may use the shortcut DB='WHOLE DOMAIN' in place of XB=..., which is equivalent to specifying the
entire domain as the region of initialization.

20.2 Temperature and Pressure

You can set the ambient temperature and pressure using the following parameters on the MISC line:

• P_INF Background pressure (at the ground) in Pa. The default is 101325 Pa.

• TMPA Ambient temperature, the temperature of everything at the start of the simulation. The default is
20 ◦ C.

To modify the local initial temperature in certain regions of the domain, add lines of the form,

&INIT XB=0.0,0.1,0.0,0.025,0.0,0.1, TEMPERATURE=60. /

This indicates that the temperature shall be 60 ◦ C instead of the ambient within the bounds given by XB. The
INIT construct may be useful in examining the influence of stack effect in a building, where the temperature
is different inside and outside. To initialize both temperature and species concentration in the same volume,
use the same INIT line,

&INIT XB=0.0,0.1,0.0,0.025,0.0,0.1,
MASS_FRACTION(1)=0.23, SPEC_ID(1)='OXYGEN',
MASS_FRACTION(2)=0.06, SPEC_ID(2)='PROPANE',
TEMPERATURE=60. /

You can also specify a RAMP_TMP_Z vertical profile. The corresponding RAMP lines should use the pa-
rameter Z for the height z (m) and F for the value of the temperature (◦ C).

20.3 Heat Release Rate Per Unit Volume

The INIT line may also be used to specify a volumetric heat source term. For example,

&INIT XB=0.0,0.1,0.0,0.025,0.0,0.1, HRRPUV=1000., RADIATIVE_FRACTION=0.25 /

indicates that the region bounded by XB shall generate 1000 kW/m3 , 25 % of which is radiative. The default
value of RADIATIVE_FRACTION in this context is 0. This feature is mainly useful for diagnostics, or to model
a fire in a very simple way. You may specify a time ramp for volumetric heat source via RAMP_Q. For
example,

&RAMP ID='q1', T=0, F=0/

&RAMP ID='q1', T=60, F=1/
&INIT XB=0.0,0.1,0.0,0.025,0.0,0.1, HRRPUV=1000., RAMP_Q='q1' /

ramps the heat source up from 0 to 1000 kW/m3 linearly over 60 seconds.

330
20.4 Velocity Field
20.4.1 Default Initial Velocity Field
FDS initializes the flow field with a very small amount of “noise” to prevent the development of a perfectly
symmetric flow when the boundary and initial conditions are perfectly symmetric. This is done by adding a
random vortex to each cell. To turn this off, set NOISE=F. To control the amount of noise (i.e., the maximum
strength of the vortex), set NOISE_VELOCITY. Its default value is 0.005 m/s.
FDS uses a predefined random seed for the random number generator which ensures that each mesh is
seeded with a different number. A predefined seed means that all simulations will use the same sequence of
random numbers for a given mesh. You can change the random seed by specifying RND_SEED on the MISC
line. This defines a constant value that is added to the predefined random seed on each mesh.

20.4.2 Turning off the Flow Field

For certain types of diagnostic tests, it is useful to turn off the velocity field and exercise some other aspect
of the model, like radiation or particle transport. To do this, set FREEZE_VELOCITY=T on the MISC line.

20.4.3 One-Dimensional Velocity Component Fields

For diagnostic or verification purposes it may be useful to initialize velocity components with 1D fields.
This can be used in combination with FREEZE_VELOCITY=T, for example, to control precisely the amount of
drag a particle sees, and so on. The linear fields are specified with the RAMP functionality and the ramp is
identified using RAMP_UX, for example, on MISC to specify variation of the u component of velocity in the x
direction. Other velocity components and directions are specified similarly (see Table 23.18).

&MISC FREEZE_VELOCITY=T, RAMP_UX='u1'/

&RAMP ID='u1', X= 0, F=0 /
&RAMP ID='u1', X= 2, F=4 /
&RAMP ID='u1', X= 4, F=16/

20.5 Nonuniform Initial Fields: Velocity, Temperature, Species

It may be useful to start a calculation from an established flow field. Usually this can be accomplished with
the normal restart functionality, but you may want to specify your own flow field throughout the domain.
This section discusses how this may be done for velocity, temperature, and tracked species.
The fields are stored in a comma-separated value (.csv) files. You have the option of creating these files
using FDS or on your own. To generate the file(s) with FDS, specify the time interval between outputs using
DT_UVW, DT_TMP, and DT_SPEC, for velocity, temperature, and species, respectively, on the DUMP line; you
may also use RAMP_*** (see Sec. 22.1). For example, if you want to write the velocity, temperature, species
fields every 10 minutes, add the following:

&DUMP DT_UVW=600, DT_TMP=600, DT_SPEC=600 /

FDS will then write CHID_uvw_tN_mM.csv, etc., for each time, N, and mesh, M.

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Velocity format
The format of the files is very simple. They are ASCII formatted files, comma-separated, with integer header
and double-precision real data. The top row just indicates the structured mesh extents (relative to a specific
mesh). For velocity, note that the raw data values are face centered with index 1 denoting the + side of the
face. Hence, IMIN will usually be 0, representing the left mesh boundary. (It is perhaps easiest to understand
the format by just opening a file that FDS has written for you.)

WRITE(LU_UVW) IMIN,IMAX,JMIN,JMAX,KMIN,KMAX
DO K=KMIN,KMAX
DO J=JMIN,JMAX
DO I=IMIN,IMAX
WRITE(LU_UVW,*) U(I,J,K),',',V(I,J,K),',',W(I,J,K) ! units are m/s
ENDDO
ENDDO
ENDDO

Temperature format
Similarly, for temperature, except temperature is a scalar stored at the cell center. Hence IMIN will usually
be 1. Note that units are in K.

WRITE(LU_UVW) IMIN,IMAX,JMIN,JMAX,KMIN,KMAX
DO K=KMIN,KMAX
DO J=JMIN,JMAX
DO I=IMIN,IMAX
WRITE(LU_TMP,*) TMP(I,J,K) ! units are K
ENDDO
ENDDO
ENDDO

Species format
Tracked species are written out as a comma-separated list with each cell as a row in the file. Similar to
temperature, species mass fractions are scalars that live at the cell centers.

WRITE(LU_UVW) IMIN,IMAX,JMIN,JMAX,KMIN,KMAX
DO K=KMIN,KMAX
DO J=JMIN,JMAX
DO I=IMIN,IMAX
! FMT is comma-separated
! units are mass fraction
WRITE(LU_SPEC,FMT) ( ZZ(I,J,K,N), N=1,N_TRACKED_SPECIES )
ENDDO
ENDDO
ENDDO

Reading the Fields

You may read in the 3-D fields using a CSVF line. Only one CSVF line is allowed. For example:

&CSVF UVWFILE ='my_velocity_field.csv',

332
 TMPFILE ='my_temperature_field.csv'
SPECFILE='my_species_field.csv' /

If multiple meshes are involved, enter the name of the first .csv file only. The file must end in “[Link]”.
FDS will increment the mesh number to the total number of meshes. For example, if you had 16 meshes
you can use

&CSVF UVWFILE ='CHID_uvw_t1_m1.csv',

TMPFILE ='CHID_tmp_t1_m1.csv',
SPECFILE='CHID_spec_t1_m1.csv' /

and FDS will read, for example, CHID_uvw_t1_m1.csv through CHID_uvw_t1_m16.csv in the order of the
MESH lines (note that a MULT line for the meshes may also be used).

20.6 Unfreezing the Initial Flow Field

It may be useful to allow the solid phase to respond to an established flow field at the start of a simulation.
This could be accomplished with the normal restart functionality; however, this limits the number of changes
that can be made to the model before a restart is made. The UNFREEZE_TIME parameter on the MISC line can
be used for this purpose. When set, the initial flow field is frozen with the options FREEZE_VELOCITY and
SOLID_PHASE_ONLY set until the simulation time exceeds UNFREEZE_TIME.

20.7 Gravity
By default, gravity points in the negative z direction, or more simply, downward. However, to change the
direction of gravity to model a sloping roof or tunnel, for example, specify the gravity vector on the MISC
line with a triplet of numbers of the form GVEC=0.,0.,-9.81, with units of m/s2 . This is the default, but it
can be changed to be any direction.
There are a few special applications where you might want to vary the gravity vector as a function of
time or as a function of the first spatial coordinate, x. For example, on board space craft, small motions can
cause temporal changes in the normally zero level of gravity, an effect known as “g-jitter.” More commonly,
in tunnel fire simulations, it is sometimes convenient to change the direction of gravity to mimic the change
in slope. The slope of the tunnel might change as you travel through it; thus, you can tell FDS where to
redirect gravity. For either a spatially or temporally varying direction and/or magnitude of gravity, do the
following. First, on the MISC line, set the three components of gravity, GVEC, to some “base” state like
GVEC=1.,1.,1., which gives you the flexibility to vary all three components. Next, designate “ramps” for
the individual components, RAMP_GX, RAMP_GY, and RAMP_GZ, all of which are specified on the MISC line.
There is more discussion of RAMPs in Sec. 11, but for now you can use the following as a simple template to
follow:

&MISC GVEC=1.,0.,1., RAMP_GX='x-ramp', RAMP_GZ='z-ramp' /

&RAMP ID='x-ramp', X= 0., F=0.0 /

&RAMP ID='x-ramp', X= 50., F=0.0 /
&RAMP ID='x-ramp', X= 51., F=-0.49 /
&RAMP ID='x-ramp', X=100., F=-0.49 /

&RAMP ID='z-ramp', X= 0., F=-9.81 /

&RAMP ID='z-ramp', X= 50., F=-9.81 /
&RAMP ID='z-ramp', X= 51., F=-9.80 /

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&RAMP ID='z-ramp', X=100., F=-9.80 /

Note that both the x and z components of gravity are functions of x. FDS has been programmed to only allow
variation in the x coordinate. Note also that F is just a multiplier of the “base” gravity vector components,
given by GVEC. This is why using the number 1 is convenient – it allows you to specify the gravity compo-
nents on the RAMP lines directly. The effect of these lines is to model the first 50 m of a tunnel without a
slope, but the second 50 m with a 5 % slope upwards. Note that the angle from vertical of the gravity vector
due to a 5 % slope is tan−1 0.05 = 2.86◦ and that 0.49 and 9.80 are equal to the magnitude of the gravity
vector, 9.81 m/s2 , multiplied by the sine and cosine of 2.86◦ , respectively. To check your math, the square
root of the sum of the squares of the gravity components ought to equal 9.81. Notice in this case that the y
direction has been left out because there is no y variation in the gravity vector. To vary the direction and/or
magnitude of gravity in time, follow the same procedure but replace the X in the RAMP lines with a T.
Note that in a case with sprinklers, changing GVEC will change how droplets move in the gas but not how
droplets move on solid surfaces. On solid surfaces droplet movement will always consider down to be the
negative-z direction.

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Chapter 21

Pressure

Normally, you need not set any parameters related to the solution of the Poisson equation for pressure.
However, there are circumstances when you might need to change default numerical values. This is done
through the PRES namelist group (Table 23.23).
A unique feature of FDS, which distinguishes it from other CFD models, is that it employs a low Mach
number approximation of the Navier-Stokes equations. For low speed flow simulations, it can be assumed
that sound waves and pressure disturbances travel infinitely fast, rather than at the speed of sound, which is
approximately 340 m/s at ambient temperature and pressure. Typical compartment fires induce flows of a
few tens of meters per second, much less than the sound speed. However, for a simulation of a fire within
a 1000 m tunnel, say, the propagation time of disturbances is a few seconds. If the tunnel has forced flow
at one end and an opening at the other, it would take a few seconds for the pressure pulse from the fan to
reach the opposite end. However, in the low Mach number formulation, the pulse reaches the other end
instantaneously.
In FDS, the pressure, p(x,t), a function of space and time, is decomposed into a “background” compo-
nent, p(z,t), and a perturbation, p̃(x,t). The background pressure is a function only of time and the vertical
spatial coordinate, z, which accounts for the ambient stratification of the atmosphere. For a typical com-
partment fire simulation that is open to the atmosphere, p is essentially constant. The perturbation pressure
drives the fire-induced flow field.
The equation for p̃ is an elliptic partial differential equation (PDE) that is formed by taking the diver-
gence of the momentum equation, which contains the forcing term ∇ p̃/ρ. Ideally, this PDE would be of the
form:
1
 
∇· ∇ p̃ = · · · (21.1)
ρ
The discretized form of this PDE, that is, its approximation on a numerical grid, is a linear system of
equations, Ap̃ = b, where A is a sparse (i.e. mostly zeros) matrix, p̃ is a vector whose number of elements
equals the number of grid cells in the computational domain, and b is a vector representing the various
discretized terms of the momentum equation. The CPU and memory requirements necessary to solve this
huge system of equations could easily dwarf all other parts of the simulation. There are two remedies
to this problem. First, the pressure field is solved within each individual mesh of the domain, and the
individual pressure fields are “stitched” together using multiple iterations of the solver. Second, the matrix
A, representing the operator ∇ · (1/ρ)∇ is simplified by replacing the variable density ρ(x,t) by its ambient
value so that the matrix A need not be recomputed at each time step, and a very fast and efficient solver
using fast Fourier transforms (FFT) can be used.
In the next two sections, these simplifications of the Poisson equation will be discussed, along with
parameters that you might need to set to increase the accuracy of the solution for certain applications.

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21.1 Accuracy of the Pressure Solver
For a single mesh, the solution of the simplified (i.e. separable) form of the Poisson equation for the pres-
sure can be solved relatively quickly and accurately (i.e. to machine precision) using an FFT-based solver.
However, for multiple meshes of varying grid resolution and configuration, it is not possible to use the fast
solver for the global solution of the Poisson equation. Instead, the fast solver is employed mesh by mesh
in parallel, and the pressure field on each mesh is forced to match at the mesh boundaries through repeated
solves on the individual meshes. It is prohibitively time-consuming to iterate the global pressure solution
to the same level of accuracy as the local pressure solutions. The inaccuracy of the global pressure solution
is manifested in a slight mismatch in the normal component of velocity at the mesh boundaries. An error
tolerance is specified for this mismatch in velocity. These small errors in the normal component of velocity
also appear within an individual mesh at solid, internal boundaries. The fast, FFT-based solver can only
enforce exact no-flux conditions at exterior boundaries of the mesh.
If either the error in the normal component of the velocity at a mesh interface or at a solid boundary is
large, you can reduce it by making more than the default number of calls to the pressure solver at each time
step. To do so, specify VELOCITY_TOLERANCE on the PRES line to be the maximum allowable normal velocity
component on the solid boundary or the largest error at a mesh interface. It is in units of m/s. If you set this,
experiment with different values, and monitor the number of pressure iterations required at each time step to
achieve your desired tolerance. The default value is δ x/2, where δ x is the characteristic grid cell size. The
number of iterations are written out to the file [Link]. If you use a value that is too small, the CPU time
required might be prohibitive. The maximum number of iterations for each half of the time step is given by
MAX_PRESSURE_ITERATIONS, also on the PRES line. Its default value is 10.
To verify the accuracy of the pressure solution on each mesh, set CHECK_POISSON to T on the PRES line,
instructing FDS to check that the left-hand and right-hand sides of the Poisson equation are equivalent (see
the FDS Tech Guide [3]). The error is printed to the [Link] file. Note that this verifies the accuracy of the
local, not the global, pressure solution. To check the accuracy of the global pressure solution, see Sec. 21.3.
It is possible for the pressure iteration scheme to seem “stuck”—the solution convergence rate may slow
dramatically and further iterations are only consuming cpu resources without improving the solution. You
can tell FDS to break out of these situations prior to hitting the maximum number of iterations by setting
SUSPEND_PRESSURE_ITERATIONS=T on the PRES line. FDS will then suspend the pressure iterations if the
error does not drop below ITERATION_SUSPEND_FACTOR (0.95, by default) of its previous value.

21.1.1 Optional Pressure Solvers

The default Poisson solver in FDS (SOLVER='FFT' on the PRES line) is based on the package of linear algebra
routines called CrayFishpak. However, in certain circumstances you may need to use one of several alter-
natives that is based on the Intel® MKL Sparse Cluster Solver or the HYPRE solver library from Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratories (LLNL) [78].

• SOLVER='ULMAT' This solver is useful when the computational domain has relatively small, sealed cav-
ities enclosed with thin (i.e. zero cell thick) walls. The small error in the normal component of velocity
that you incur with the FFT solver can lead to unphysical changes in temperature, density and pressure
that may eventually cause the calculation to become numerically unstable. For example, suppose you
have hollow steel columns or hollow aluminum ducts with thin walls and you want to simulate the heat
penetration within these spaces.
With the ULMAT solver, the unknown values of the pressure live only in gas-phase cells, allowing for
the normal components of velocity at a solid surface to be computed exactly with no penetration er-
ror. Strictly speaking, in this mode, FDS is no longer using an “immersed boundary method” for flow

336
 obstructions—the pressure solution is now “unstructured,” hence the U in its name. This solver does not
guarantee that the normal component of velocity matches perfectly at mesh boundaries, and the iterative
procedure used by the default 'FFT' solver is still used to drive the mesh interface velocity normals
closer together. This solver option does allow for refinement at mesh boundaries and for internal sealed
regions within the domain for which additional matrices must be computed.
The ULMAT solver uses a substantial amount of memory per mesh. Its use should be limited to meshes of
at most 150,000 cells. This number depends on the amount of random access memory (RAM) that you
can devote to each MPI process, and you might want to experiment with larger meshes if you have, say,
tens of gigabytes of RAM per MPI process.

• SOLVER='ULMAT HYPRE' This solver uses the same strategy as ULMAT but the solver is implemented
via LLNL’s HYPRE library [78]. ULMAT HYPRE uses the algebraic multi-grid (AMG) preconditioned
conjugate gradient (PCG) solver. This solver does not require LU decomposition and storage of a dense
matrix, so the memory requirements are much less than the MKL solver. Hence, ULMAT HYPRE may
be considered as an option for large mesh blocks (larger than 150,000 cells). Note, however, that for
small mesh blocks HYPRE is somewhat slower than MKL.

• SOLVER='GLMAT' This solver is for non-overlapping, non-stretched meshes at the same refinement level
covering a single connected domain, i.e., a large rectangular box. With this solver, the pressure in both
solid and gas cells is computed using an immersed boundary method for flow obstructions, the same as
the default 'FFT' solver. This mode produces the exact same pressure solution as the 'FFT' solver would
if the domain were one single mesh. That is, velocity errors at any mesh boundaries are eliminated. Note
that currently a single discretization matrix is built for all gas cells defined on the model, therefore the
solver is not meant to be used in cases where there are internal sealed regions within the domain.
The GLMAT solver is used mainly for testing and diagnostics. Because it solves the pressure over the
entire computational domain, it is limited to about 1 million cells total unless your computer has an
extraordinary amount of RAM.

• SOLVER='UGLMAT' This solver is for non-overlapping, non-stretched meshes at the same refinement
level. Like the solver 'ULMAT', the unknown values of the pressure live only in gas-phase cells, allowing
for the normal components of velocity at a solid surface to be computed exactly (no velocity penetration
error). In addition, this solver ensures that the normal component of velocity matches perfectly at
mesh boundaries. It is limited to about 1 million grid cells, and (3) it is the most CPU-intensive of the
alternative solvers.

• SOLVER='UGLMAT HYPRE' Performs the same global solution as 'UGLMAT' calling the HYPRE algebraic
multi-grid (AMG) preconditioned conjugate gradient (PCG) solver. It is also CPU-intensive, but does
not have the global mesh size limitation of the previous method.

Because the 'ULMAT','GLMAT','UGLMAT' alternative methods are based on the Intel® MKL parallel LU
decomposition solver, they require computation and storage of global factorization matrices. Depending on
the size of the problem, these operations can be expensive in terms of both CPU time and memory. It has
been found suitable for problems with up to a million cells on a multi-core workstation with 64 GB of RAM.

337
 Table 21.1: Summary of available pressure solvers.

Allows Handling Errors

Solver Refinement1 Stretching Add/Remove2 Zones Velocity @ Mesh3 Velocity @ Solid4 Inseparability5
FFT (default) ✓ 2 directions ✓ ✓ iterative iterative iterative
ULMAT ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ iterative exact iterative
ULMAT HYPRE6 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ iterative exact iterative
GLMAT × × ✓ ✓ exact iterative iterative
UGLMAT × × ✓ ✓ exact exact iterative
UGLMAT HYPRE7 × × ✓ ✓ exact exact iterative
Notes:
1 “Refinement” refers to allowing a change in mesh resolution for neighboring meshes.
2 “Add/Remove” refers to the ability of the solver to handle changes in geometry during the course of the simulation, either by adding or removing
OBST or GEOM via CTRL functions.
3 “Velocity @ Mesh” refers to errors in the normal component of velocity at mesh boundaries, so-called “interpolated” boundaries in FDS. For
inexact solvers, this error may be controlled using the parameter VELOCITY_TOLERANCE. Mass conservation errors are proportional to the

338
velocity tolerance. Solvers listed as “exact” are global solvers. “Global” refers to a global matrix solution, one matrix for the whole domain, as
opposed to one matrix per mesh. Thus, there are no mesh boundary errors for this type of solver.
4 “Velocity @ Solid” refers to errors in the normal component of velocity at solid boundaries, so-called “penetration” errors that are present in
immersed boundary methods and lead to mass conservation errors. These errors are particularly important to control for tightly sealed pressure
zones. For inexact solvers, this error may be controlled using the parameter VELOCITY_TOLERANCE. Mass conservation errors are proportional
to the velocity tolerance. Solvers listed as “exact” are unstructured solvers. “Unstructured” means the solid boundaries (e.g., OBST boundaries)
are treated as domain boundaries for the pressure Poisson equation. Unstructured solvers are the opposite of immersed boundary methods.
5 “Inseparability” refers to handling the error compared to the solution of the inseparable Poisson equation incurred by lagging the pressure in the
baroclinic term. This error may be controlled using the parameter PRESSURE_TOLERANCE.
6 ULMAT HYPRE uses the HYPRE library developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories (LLNL). Use this variant of ULMAT if the
Intel MKL library is not available or if MKL runs out of memory or is too slow due to memory issues with large mesh blocks. Our implementation
of HYPRE uses an algebraic multi-grid (AMG) preconditioned conjugate gradient (PCG) method, which does not require excessive amounts of
memory.
7 Use this variant of UGLMAT for cases where the total number of cells is greater than 1 million.
21.1.2 Example Case: Pressure_Solver/duct_flow

To demonstrate how to improve the accuracy of the pressure solver, consider the flow of air through a square
duct that crosses several meshes. In the sample input file, duct_flow.fds, air is pushed through a 1 m2
duct at 1 m/s. With no thermal expansion, the volume flow into the duct ought to equal the volume flow
out of the duct. Figure 21.1 displays the computed inflow and outflow as a function of time and the number
of pressure iterations required. The default pressure solution strategy uses block-wise direct FFT solves
combined with a direct forcing immersed boundary method to model flow obstructions. Hence, there are
two sources of pressure error: one at a mesh interface and one at a solid boundary. The default pressure
iteration scheme tries to drive both sources of error to the specified (or default) velocity tolerance. In the
duct_flow case, the VELOCITY_TOLERANCE has been set to 0.001 m/s with MAX_PRESSURE_ITERATIONS set
to 1000 and the grid cell size is 0.2 m. For the default scheme (FFT + IBM), the outflow does not match the
inflow exactly because of inaccuracies at the solid and mesh boundaries. We have also included the results
using the 'UGLMAT','UGLMAT HYPRE' solvers with an unstructured pressure matrix, which allows the flow
solver to enforce the impermeability condition (zero normal component of velocity) at a solid boundary.

&PRES SOLVER='UGLMAT' /

As seen in Fig. 21.1, the volume flow matches perfectly and the number of required pressure iterations is
one. Whether this pressure solver strategy is most efficient depends on the problem and the required error
tolerance. In this particular case, the 'UGLMAT' case runs about 25 % faster than the default FFT case, and
it is more accurate. The reason is that a tight tolerance has been specified and the FFT solver is forced to
iterate tens or hundreds of times per time step. When run with default error tolerances, the 'FFT' solver is
faster, but less accurate, than the alternative solvers.
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
1.5 100
Volume Flow (duct_flow) Pressure Iterations (duct_flow)
80
Volume Flow (m³/s)

1
60 Ideal (Iterations)
Iterations

FFT IBM (iter)

Ideal (Flow) UGLMAT (iter)
FFT IBM (flow_in) 40 UGLMAT HYPRE (iter)
0.5 FFT IBM (flow_out)
UGLMAT (flow_in)
UGLMAT (flow_out) 20
UGLMAT HYPRE (flow_in)
UGLMAT HYPRE (flow_out)
0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time (s) Time (s)

Figure 21.1: (Left) Volume flow into and out of a square duct. (Right) The number of pressure iterations as a function
of time.

21.1.3 Example Case: Pressure_Solver/dancing_eddies

In this example, air is pushed through a 30 cm long, two-dimensional channel at 0.5 m/s. A plate obstruction
normal to the flow creates a Karman vortex street. The computational domain is divided into 4 meshes. Six
simulations are performed: one in which the VELOCITY_TOLERANCE is set to the default value, one in which
it is set to a relatively small value, two using 'ULMAT' and 'ULMAT HYPRE', and two where 'UGLMAT' and
'UGLMAT HYPRE' are used. Figure 21.2 shows the downstream pressure histories for these cases compared
to a simulation that uses only one mesh. The case with the tighter tolerance produces a better match to the

339
single mesh solution, but at a higher computational cost—about a factor of 2.5 . The SOLVER='UGLMAT'
case takes just a little longer than the default—by a factor of 1.25—but the error is machine precision.
These cases used MPI for domain decomposition, but only a single OpenMP thread. Note, however, that the
'UGLMAT' solver is threaded, whereas currently the 'FFT' solver (FDS default) is not.

FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
0.2 0.2
Pressure (dancing_eddies_default) Pressure (dancing_eddies_tight)
0.1 0.1
Pressure (Pa)

Pressure (Pa)
0 0

-0.1 -0.1

-0.2 -0.2
FDS, 1 mesh FDS, 1 mesh
FDS, 4 mesh, tol=5E-4 m/s FDS, 4 mesh, tol=1E-5 m/s
-0.3 -0.3
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
Time (s) Time (s)

FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
0.2
Pressure (dancing_eddies_uglmat)
0.1
Pressure (Pa)

-0.1
FDS, 1 mesh
FDS, 4 mesh, uglmat
-0.2 FDS, 4 mesh, ulmat
FDS, 4 mesh, uglmat hypre
FDS, 4 mesh, ulmat hypre
-0.3
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
Time (s)

Figure 21.2: (Top) Comparison of pressure traces in the channel for three different settings of VELOCITY_TOLERANCE,
the default value (upper-left), a tighter tolerance (upper-right), machine precision from the 'UGLMAT' solver with a
single iteration (middle). (Bottom) A contour plot of the pressure after 2 s with the default tolerance.

The case called dancing_eddies_tight is rerun without the special pressure pre-conditioner. Fig-
ure 21.3 shows the reduction in the number of pressure iterations (left) and the CPU time (right).

340
 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
100 400
Pressure Iterations (dancing_eddies) CPU Time (dancing_eddies)
80
300
Pressure Iterations

Preconditioner Preconditioner

CPU Time (s)

60 No Preconditioner No Preconditioner
UGLMAT UGLMAT
ULMAT
200 ULMAT
40 UGLMAT HYPRE UGLMAT HYPRE
ULMAT HYPRE ULMAT HYPRE
100
20

0 0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
Time (s) Simulated Time (s)

Figure 21.3: The number of pressure iterations (left) and the total CPU time (right) for preconditioned and non-
preconditioned pressure solvers.

21.1.4 Example Case: Random Obstructions

In this example, many different types of obstructions are randomly positioned within a domain split into 16
meshes. Some of the obstructions are created or removed at certain times. Sources of heat are added to move
the gases about. The grid cell size is 0.025 m and the default normal velocity error tolerance is half that, or
0.0125 m. Figure 21.4 displays the maximum error and the number of iterations of the pressure solver. The
spikes in the number of iterations correspond to the creation or removal of obstructions. More iterations are
necessary to drive down the error when a sudden change occurs in the flow field.
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
0.02 120
Pressure Solver Error (random_obstructions_fft) Pressure Solver Error (random_obstructions_fft)
100
0.015
Velocity Error (m/s)

80
Pressure Iterations

Max Iterations
0.01 60 FDS (iterations)

40
0.005
Error Tolerance
20
FDS (vel-max)
0 0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
Time (s) Time (s)

Figure 21.4: The number of pressure iterations (left) and maximum velocity error (right).

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21.2 Baroclinic Vorticity
The second challenge in solving the Poisson equation for pressure is that the matrix of the linear system of
equations that is formed when discretizing it does not have constant coefficients because the density, ρ(x,t),
changes with each new time step. To get around this problem, the pressure term in the momentum equation
is decomposed as follows:
1 p̃ 1
   
∇ p̃ = ∇ − p̃ ∇ (21.2)
ρ ρ ρ
which leads to a Poisson equation that can be solved efficiently:
 n,k 
p̃ 1
 
∇2 = ∇ · p̃ n,k−1
∇ + ··· (21.3)
ρn ρn

The superscript n represents the time step. The superscript k indicates that this equation is solved multiple
times per time step, and k indicates the iteration number. With each iteration, the old and new values of p̃
are driven closer together. The iterations continue1 until the maximum value of the error term
 n,k 
1 2 p̃ 1
   
k n,k n,k−1
ε = max ∇ · ∇ p̃ − ∇ + ∇ · p̃ ∇ (21.4)
i jk ρn ρn ρn

drops below the value of PRESSURE_TOLERANCE which is specified on the PRES line. Its default value is
20/δ x2 s−2 , where δ x is the characteristic grid cell size.
The lagged pressure term on the right hand side of Eq. (21.3) is sometimes referred to as the baroclinic
torque, and it is responsible for generating vorticity due to the non-alignment of pressure and density gradi-
ents. In versions of FDS prior to 6, the inclusion of the baroclinic torque term was found to sometimes cause
numerical instabilities. If it is suspected that the term is responsible for numerical problems, it can be re-
moved by setting BAROCLINIC=F on the MISC line. For example, in the simple helium plume test case below,
neglecting the baroclinic torque changes the puffing behavior noticeably. In other applications, however, its
effect is less significant. For further discussion of its effect, see Ref. [79].

Example Case: Flowfields/helium_2d_isothermal

This case demonstrates the use of baroclinic correction for an axially-symmetric helium plume. Note that the
governing equations solved in FDS are written in terms of a three dimensional Cartesian coordinate system.
However, a two dimensional Cartesian or two dimensional cylindrical (axially-symmetric) calculation can
be performed by setting the number of cells in the y direction to 1. An example of an axially-symmetric
helium plume is shown in Fig. 21.5.

1 Keep in mind that the pressure equation iterations continue until three criteria are satisfied. The first deals with the decomposi-
tion of the pressure term, the second deals with the normal component of velocity at internal solid surfaces, and the third deals with
the mismatch of normal velocity components at mesh interfaces.

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 &HEAD CHID='helium_2d_isothermal',TITLE='Axisymmetric Helium Plume' /
&MESH IJK=72,1,144 XB=0.00,0.08,-0.001,0.001,0.00,0.16, CYLINDRICAL=T /
&TIME T_END=5.0 /
&MISC SIMULATION_MODE='DNS' /
&RADI RADIATION=F /
&SPEC ID='HELIUM' /
&SURF ID='HELIUM', VEL=-0.673, SPEC_ID(1)='HELIUM',MASS_FRACTION(1)=1.0, TAU_
MF(1)=0.3 /
&VENT MB='XMAX' ,SURF_ID='OPEN' /
&VENT MB='ZMAX' ,SURF_ID='OPEN' /
&OBST XB= 0.0,0.036,-0.001,0.001,0.00,0.02, SURF_IDS='HELIUM','INERT','INERT' /
&DUMP PLOT3D_QUANTITY(1)='PRESSURE',
PLOT3D_QUANTITY(5)='MASS FRACTION',PLOT3D_SPEC_ID(5)='HELIUM' /
&SLCF PBY=0.000,QUANTITY='DENSITY', VECTOR=T /
&SLCF PBY=0.000,QUANTITY='VOLUME FRACTION', SPEC_ID='HELIUM' /
&TAIL /

Figure 21.5: Simulation of a helium plume.

21.3 Pressure Considerations in Long Tunnels

A common application of FDS is tunnel fires, but simulations of fires in long, relatively tight tunnels that are
made up of multiple meshes can exhibit spurious fluctuations in the pressure field that can lead to numerical
instabilities. If a numerical instability occurs in a simulation involving a tunnel, you might try the following
remedies, which are listed here in order of effectiveness:

1. If (1) the tunnel is made up of multiple meshes that abut end to end along the x-direction, (2) there
are no other meshes outside of the tunnel, (3) there are no OPEN boundaries on the top, bottom or sides
of the tunnel, and (4) the number of MPI processes is equal to the number of meshes; set TUNNEL_
PRECONDITIONER=T on the PRES line. This option instructs FDS to solve a 1-D pressure equation that
spans the entire tunnel. This 1-D solution can be thought of as an average pressure field which is added
to the 3-D pressure fields that are solved for using the default FFT-based solver on each mesh. The 1-D
global solution accelerates the convergence of the overall 3-D pressure field on the entire domain.

2. You can increase the value of MAX_PRESSURE_ITERATIONS which has a default value of 10 in most cases;
20 when the TUNNEL_PRECONDITIONER is invoked. If you experience a numerical instability in a tunnel
scenario, try setting the MAX_PRESSURE_ITERATIONS to 50 as a starting point, and monitor the number
of pressure iterations per time step in the [Link] file.

3. If you are using multiple meshes, reduce the value of VELOCITY_TOLERANCE on the PRES line to force
a tighter match of velocities at the mesh boundaries. The default value of VELOCITY_TOLERANCE (with
units of m/s) is δ x/2. If you set TUNNEL_PRECONDITIONER=T, there is less of a need to decrease the
VELOCITY_TOLERANCE from its default value, but it still may be necessary to increase the MAX_PRESSURE_
ITERATIONS to account for occasional excursions of pressure.

4. Create OPEN vents at various points along the length of the tunnel, near or at the floor. This models
natural leakage in the tunnel, and alleviates, to some extent, wild oscillations in pressure. Note that even
if the pressure equation is solved perfectly over the entire domain, the low Mach number assumption
will still lead to fictitiously large fluctuations in pressure. The OPEN boundaries can help relieve these
pressure oscillations. If you do choose to create OPEN boundaries along the length of the tunnel, you
should not set TUNNEL_PRECONDITIONER to T

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 5. Reduce the value of PRESSURE_TOLERANCE on the PRES line to alleviate the mismatch between old and
new pressure fields. The default value is 20/δ x2 s−2 . A good value to try would be 1/5 to 1/10 of the
default value.

6. Set SOLVER='GLMAT' on the PRES line to strictly enforce the matching of normal velocity and pressure
at mesh boundaries or 'UGLMAT' to do what 'GLMAT' does plus enforce zero normal velocities at solid
obstructions. If you use these solvers, you need not set the various tolerances described above or use the
TUNNEL_PRECONDITIONER. However, these solvers are very expensive, so it is best to try a simple case
first to determine how much CPU time the pressure solver consumes.

Two simple test cases, Pressure_Solver/tunnel_demo.fds and tunnel_demo_glmat.fds, demonstrate

some of the issues discussed in this section. The first case uses the default FFT-based pressure solver with
the TUNNEL_PRECONDITIONER set to T; the second uses the 'GLMAT' solver. An 8 MW fire is situated in a
4 m by 4 m by 128 m long tunnel that is sloped 10◦ , closed at the lower end and open at the upper end.
The tunnel is divided into 8 meshes, all the same size, with a uniform grid of 20 cm. The cases run for a
relatively short amount of time, and diagnostic files2 containing information about the velocity and pressure
errors are printed out. These files are generated by setting VELOCITY_ERROR_FILE=T on the DUMP line. The
names of the files are tunnel_demo_pressit.csv and tunnel_demo_glmat_pressit.csv. A description
of each column is as follows:

• Time: Simulation time (s)

• Time Step: The index of the time step

• Iteration: The index of the pressure iteration within the time step. Note that for a single time step, there
are two series of pressure iterations, one for the predictor phase, and one for the corrector.

• Total: The cumulative index of pressure iterations for the entire simulation

• Mesh: The mesh where the maximum velocity error occurs

• I,J,K: Cell indices where the maximum velocity error occurs

• Velocity Error: The maximum absolute value of the difference between normal velocity components at
mesh interfaces or at solid internal boundaries

• Mesh,I,J,K: The mesh and cell indices where the maximum pressure error occurs

• Pressure Error: The quantity shown in Eq. (21.4) in units of s−2

Figure 21.6 shows the velocity and pressure errors for the two cases over a short span of the simulation. For
each quantity, there is a default error tolerance which may or may not be reached depending on whether or
not the MAX_PRESSURE_ITERATIONS (default 10) has been reached, or whether or not the error is reduced by
at least 25 % over the previous iteration. In some situations, the error decreases slowly, and these criteria
have been added to avoid excessive iterations that lead to little improvement in accuracy. The errors shown
in Fig. 21.6 are relatively large because fires in long, closed enclosures like tunnels can generate large
fluctuations in pressure that challenge both the multiple mesh capability and the pressure solving algorithm
discussed above. Note that the simulation using the 'GLMAT' solver has no velocity error in this case because
it solves the Poisson equation directly over the entire domain, not mesh by mesh. However, this simulation
still requires iterations of the pressure solver to drive the solution closer to the true solution of the inseparable
Poisson equation.
2 Caution: the velocity error file can be quite large. Use it only for relatively short simulations only.

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 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
1 5000
Velocity Error (tunnel_demo) Pressure Error (tunnel_demo)
0.8 4000

0.6 3000
Error (m/s)

Error (1/s²)
Velocity Error Tolerance Pressure Error Tolerance
FDS (Velocity Error) FDS (Pressure Error)
0.4 2000

0.2 1000

0 0
3000 3010 3020 3030 3040 3050 3000 3010 3020 3030 3040 3050
Iteration Iteration

FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
1 5000
Velocity Error (tunnel_demo_glmat) Pressure Error (tunnel_demo_glmat)
0.8 4000

0.6 3000
Error (m/s)

Error (1/s²)
Velocity Error Tolerance Pressure Error Tolerance
FDS (Velocity Error) FDS (Pressure Error)
0.4 2000

0.2 1000

0 0
3000 3010 3020 3030 3040 3050 3000 3010 3020 3030 3040 3050
Iteration Iteration

Figure 21.6: Reduction in velocity and pressure error due to iteration of the pressure solver. The top two plots are the
result of the FFT-based solver; the lower two 'GLMAT'.

Special Case: Pressure Drop in Long Tunnels

This section describes a set of cases to extract the implied friction factor from an FDS simulation of flow
down a long tunnel (Validation/Moody_Chart/FDS_Input_Files/tunnel_pressure_drop series). Note
that a more complete mapping of the Moody Chart is provided in the FDS Verification Guide [4], but that
series uses a mean pressure gradient to force the flow, which is not a typical user case. Here the flow is
forced from a VENT and the axial pressure profile is formed from planar averages DEVCs. The tunnel is
1.6 km (approximately 1 mi) long with a square cross-section 10 m by 10 m for Cases A, B, C, and D.
The cross section for Case E is 12.8 m in width by 5 m in height, giving a hydraulic diameter of 7.2 m.
Air is forced from the entrance at 2, 4, or 10 m/s for sand-grain roughness heights of 0.0001, 0.01, or
0.1 m. Two grid resolutions are used, with 10 or 20 uniform cells spanning the tunnel height. Stream-wise
grid resolution is twice the wall-normal resolution. The case matrix and friction factor results are given in
Table 21.2. The target friction factor is taken from the Colebrook equation [80]. FDS results for the 10 and
20 vertical cell cases are also shown along with the maximum relative error as compared to the Colebrook
value. The pressure profiles are shown in Fig. 21.7.
While reasonable grid resolution is important, the wall models in FDS are capable of giving the correct
mean wall stress even at rather coarse resolution. For example, the y+ for Case C with 10 cells is, in fact,
5000 (this is the location of the middle of the first grid cell divided by the roughness height). Also, note that
a roughness of 0.1 mm is used here only for completeness in testing the code. While this is indeed the value
one finds in the literature for the roughness of concrete, a real-world tunnel may have geometric features
along the walls that are unresolved by the grid and may act as roughness elements. These elements should

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 Table 21.2: Friction factors for tunnel_pressure_drop cases.
Case Velocity (m/s) Roughness (m) Hydraulic Dia. (m) f Colebrook f FDS 10 f FDS 20 Max Rel. Error (%)
A 2 0.0001 10 0.0114 0.0125 0.0118 10
B 2 0.1 10 0.0379 0.0358 0.0348 8.3
C 10 0.0001 10 0.00932 0.00914 0.00908 2.6
D 10 0.1 10 0.0379 0.0354 0.035 7.7
E 4 0.01 7.2 0.0214 0.0196 0.0204 8.8

FDS-6.9.1-1840-g419b137-master FDS-6.9.1-1840-g419b137-master
6
DEVC Pressure 10 DEVC Pressure 10
Case A Least squares fit 10
Case B Least squares fit 10
5 15
U = 2 m/s, s = 0.0001 m DEVC Pressure 20 U = 2 m/s, s = 0.1 m DEVC Pressure 20
Least squares fit 20 Least squares fit 20
4
Gauge Pressure (Pa)

Gauge Pressure (Pa)

Exact pressure drop Exact pressure drop

3 10
2

1 5

-1 0
0 400 800 1200 1600 0 400 800 1200 1600
Distance (m) Distance (m)

FDS-6.9.1-1840-g419b137-master FDS-6.9.1-1840-g419b137-master
120
DEVC Pressure 10 DEVC Pressure 10
Case C Least squares fit 10
Case D Least squares fit 10
100 400
U = 10 m/s, s = 0.0001 m DEVC Pressure 20 U = 10 m/s, s = 0.1 m DEVC Pressure 20
Least squares fit 20 Least squares fit 20
80
Gauge Pressure (Pa)

Gauge Pressure (Pa)

Exact pressure drop Exact pressure drop

300
60

40 200
20
100
0

-20 0
0 400 800 1200 1600 0 400 800 1200 1600
Distance (m) Distance (m)

FDS-6.9.1-1840-g419b137-master FDS-6.9.1-1840-g419b137-master
60 40
DEVC Pressure 10 1m
Case E Least squares fit 10 1600 m Tunnel, 50 MW Fire
50 0.5 m
U = 4 m/s, s = 0.01 m DEVC Pressure 20 0.25 m
Least squares fit 20 30
40
Gauge Pressure (Pa)

Exact pressure drop

Gauge Pressure (Pa)

30
20
20

10
10
0

-10
0 400 800 1200 1600 0
Distance (m) 0 400 800 1200 1600
Distance (m)

Figure 21.7: Tunnel pressure drop for cases listed in Table 21.2.

be considered when specifying the roughness in FDS.

The lower right plot in Fig. 21.7 displays the pressure drop in Tunnel B (2 m/s flow speed, 0.1 m wall
roughness) which now contains a hypothetical 50 MW fire at its midpoint. The grid resolution in the vertical
direction is listed in the legend of the plots. For this case, the pressure is evaluated at mid-height along the

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tunnel centerline. The relatively rapid drop in pressure at the open end of the tunnel (x = 1600 m) is due to
the fact that the pressure is assumed to be ambient at an open boundary.

21.4 Pressure Considerations in Stairwells

Another common fire protection application is smoke movement and pressurization within stairwells. A
stairwell can be thought of as a vertical tunnel, with similar issues related to the pressure solver. Unlike
tunnels, there is no special algorithm to increase the accuracy and stability of simulations within a stairwell,
but there are some steps you can take to improve the simulation:

1. As with any tall building, the pressure stratification of the atmosphere can have an impact on the flow
field and ventilation. A useful output quantity to include in any building simulation is 'ABSOLUTE
PRESSURE'. This displays the background pressure field along with the relatively small perturbation
induced by changes in ventilation or a fire. You typically do not see this background pressure field when
you invoke the output quantity PRESSURE, which displays only the perturbation to the background.

2. It may be necessary to tighten the tolerance of the pressure solver when simulating a stairwell scenario.
If you are using multiple meshes, reduce the value of VELOCITY_TOLERANCE on the PRES line to force
a tighter match of velocities at the mesh boundaries. The default value of VELOCITY_TOLERANCE (with
units of m/s) is δ x/2. Increase the MAX_PRESSURE_ITERATIONS beyond the default value of 10. Exper-
iment with the optional SOLVER='GLMAT' on the PRES line to strictly enforce the matching of normal
velocity and pressure at mesh boundaries or 'UGLMAT' to do what 'GLMAT' does plus enforce zero nor-
mal velocities at solid obstructions. If you use these solvers, you need not set the various tolerances
described above, but keep in mind that these solvers can be expensive. Try a simple case first to deter-
mine how much CPU time the pressure solver consumes.

A sample input file called Pressure_Solver/[Link] demonstrates some of the important issues
discussed in this chapter. The case consists of an eighteen story stairwell that opens to a lobby area. Doors
are situated at various locations and are programmed to open when the pressure differential exceeds 20 Pa.
A 1 m by 1 m hatch at the top of the stairwell draws air out at a rate of 0.5 m3 /s, triggering doors to open
one after the other until a path is opened up between an open door in the lobby and the extract vent. The
plot in Fig. 21.8 demonstrates that once the path is opened, the flow equilibrates to 0.5 m3 /s.
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
1
stairwell
0.8
Volume Flow (m³/s)

0.6

0.4

0.2
Ideal (Vdot)
FDS (Vdot)
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time (s)

Figure 21.8: Results of the stairwell test case showing the volume flow of air through a tall stairwell.

347
Figure 21.9: Smokeview rendering of a stairwell. The contour plot indicates the ABSOLUTE PRESSURE, which in this
case ranges from approximately 101 600 Pa at the bottom to 101 000 Pa at the top. Ground level is approximately
halfway up.

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Chapter 22

Output

FDS has various types of output files that store computed data. Some of the files are in binary format and
intended to be read and rendered by Smokeview. Some of the files are just comma-delimited text files. In
most cases, you must explicitly declare the data to output. A considerable amount of the input file is usually
devoted to output declarations.

• To control the frequency of data outputs, see Sec. 22.1.

• To record data at a given point or within a given volume, see Sec. 22.2.

• To record data inside solid boundaries, see Sec. 22.3.

• To visualize planar contours of scalar or vector quantities, see Sec. 22.4.

• To visualize solid surface quantities, see Sec. 22.5.

• To visualize 3-D contours of gas phase quantities, see Sec. 22.6.

• To visualize various scalar quantities over the entire domain, see Sec. 22.7.

• To visualize realistic smoke and fire, see Sec. 22.8.

• To visualize particles and droplets, see Sec. 22.9.

• For more information about particular output features, see Sec. 22.10.

• A tool for extracting data from contour and boundary output files is described in Sec. 22.11.

• A list of gas phase output quantities is given in Sec. 22.12.

• A list of solid phase output quantities is given in Sec. 22.13.

• A list of device-related output quantities is given in Sec. 22.14.

• A list of particle and droplet output quantities is given in Sec. 22.15.

• A list of HVAC output quantities is given in Sec. 22.16.

The namelist group DUMP contains parameters (Table 23.9) that control the rate at which output files are
written, and various other global parameters associated with output files. There can only be one DUMP line
in the input file. By default, FDS outputs all result files to the current working directory. A separate output
directory for binary files can be specified by the user by setting RESULTS_DIR on the DUMP line. A single text

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file [Link] is always written with high level information about the case [2]. By default, the information is
gathered in MPI rank 0 which writes the file. For computations involving parallel file systems and many MPI
processes, the file can also be written in parallel using MPI I/O routines setting SMV_PARALLEL_WRITE=T in
the DUMP line.

22.1 Controlling the Frequency of Output

Point device data, slice (contour) data, particle data, isosurface data, 3D smoke data, boundary data, solid
phase profile data, and control function data are written to file every (T_END-T_BEGIN)/NFRAMES seconds
unless otherwise specified using the parameters listed in Table 22.1. These parameters are written on the
DUMP line. You can also set NFRAMES to a value other than 1000, its default. The parameters named DT_XXXX
specify the uniform time interval between data dumps. The parameters RAMP_XXXX allow you to specify
exactly which times to write out. For example, if you want to write boundary files at 10, 20, and 60 s, add
the following:

&DUMP ..., RAMP_BNDF='b-ramp' /

&RAMP ID='b-ramp', T=10 /
&RAMP ID='b-ramp', T=20 /
&RAMP ID='b-ramp', T=60 /

A few things to note:

• SMOKE3D If the simulation involves combustion, FDS automatically writes out Smoke3D files of soot
density, heat release rate per unit volume, and temperature. These quantities are rendered in Smokeview
as realistic looking smoke and fire. To turn off this feature, set SMOKE3D=F on the DUMP line.

• DT_PL3D The time between Plot3D file output. Note that versions of FDS before 6 output Plot3D files by
default. Now, you must specify the interval of output using this parameter. Its default value is 1000000 s,
meaning that there is no Plot3D output unless specified.

• FLUSH_FILE_BUFFERS FDS purges the output file buffers periodically and forces the data to be written
out into the respective output files. It does this to make it easier to view the case in Smokeview while it
is running. It has been noticed on Windows machines that occasionally a runtime error occurs because
of file access problems related to the buffer flushing. If this happens, set this parameter to F, but be
aware that it may not be possible to look at output in Smokeview until after the calculation is finished.
You may also set DT_FLUSH to control the frequency of the file flushing. Its default value is the duration
of the simulation divided by NFRAMES.

• STATUS_FILES If T, produces an output file [Link] which is deleted, if the simulation is com-
pleted successfully. This file can be used as an error indicator. It is F by default.

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 Table 22.1: Parameters that control the frequency of output.

Uniform Output Non-Uniform Output Purpose

DT_BNDF RAMP_BNDF Boundary files
DT_CPU RAMP_CPU CPU timings
DT_CTRL RAMP_CTRL Control output
DT_DEVC RAMP_DEVC Device output
DT_FLUSH RAMP_FLUSH File flushing times
DT_HRR RAMP_HRR HRR output
DT_HVAC RAMP_HVAC HVAC output
DT_ISOF RAMP_ISOF Isosurface output
DT_MASS RAMP_MASS Species mass output
DT_PART RAMP_PART Particle output
DT_PL3D RAMP_PL3D Plot3D output
DT_PROF RAMP_PROF In-depth profile output
DT_RADF RAMP_RADF Radiation output
DT_RESTART RAMP_RESTART Restart times
DT_SLCF RAMP_SLCF Slice files
DT_SL3D RAMP_SL3D Slice 3D files
DT_SMOKE3D RAMP_SMOKE3D Smoke 3D files
DT_SPEC RAMP_SPEC Species field output
DT_TMP RAMP_TMP Temperature field output
DT_UVW RAMP_UVW Velocity field output

22.2 Device Output: The DEVC Namelist Group

Every device (DEVC) records a particular QUANTITY. Usually this QUANTITY is written out to a comma-
delimited spreadsheet file with the suffix _devc.csv. The quantities are listed in Tables 22.4 through 22.8.
There are two types of DEVC output. The first is a time history of the given QUANTITY over the course of
the simulation. The second is a time-averaged profile consisting of a linear array of point devices. Each is
explained below.

22.2.1 Gas Phase Quantity at a Single Point

If you just want to record the time history of, say, the temperature at a particular point in the gas, add a line
like:

&DEVC XYZ=6.7,2.9,2.1, QUANTITY='TEMPERATURE', ID='T-1' /

and a column will be added to the output file CHID_devc.csv under the label 'T-1'. FDS reports the value
of the QUANTITY in the cell containing the point XYZ. Most scalar quantities, like TEMPERATURE, are defined
at cell centers and represent the average of that value over the entire cell. If you specify coordinates XYZ
that place the device on a cell boundary, halfway between two cell centers, FDS chooses the one that has
the greater coordinate value. FDS does not take a weighted average among the nearest 8 cell centers. The
reason is that some of these cell centers might be on the other side of a thin obstruction.
In cases where the QUANTITY is defined on a cell face, like 'U-VELOCITY', FDS chooses the nearest cell

351
face and reports the corresponding value.

22.2.2 Solid Phase Quantity at a Single Point

When prescribing a solid phase quantity, be sure to position the device at a solid surface. It is not always
obvious where the solid surface is since the mesh does not always align with the input obstruction locations.
To help locate the appropriate surface, the parameter IOR must be included when designating a solid phase
quantity, except when using one of the spatial statistics options that are described in Sec. 22.2.3 in which
case the output quantity is not associated with just a single point on the surface. If the orientation of the
solid surface is in the positive x direction, set IOR=1. If it is in the negative x direction, set IOR=-1, and so
for the y and z directions. For example, the line

&DEVC XYZ=0.7,0.9,2.1, QUANTITY='WALL TEMPERATURE', IOR=-2, ID='...' /

designates the surface temperature of a wall facing the negative y direction. There are still instances where
FDS cannot determine which solid surface is being designated, in which case an error message appears in
the diagnostic output file. Re-position the device and try again. It is best to position the device, via the real
triplet XYZ, such that the device location is either at or within a cell width outside of the solid surface. The
search algorithm in FDS will look for the nearest solid surface in the direction opposite to that indicated by
IOR.

Solid Phase Quantity In-Depth

To record the temperature inside the surface, you can use a device as follows:

&DEVC XYZ=..., QUANTITY='INSIDE WALL TEMPERATURE', DEPTH=0.005, ID='Temp_1', IOR=3 /

The parameter DEPTH (m) indicates a location inside the solid. A positive value indicates the distance from
the front surface; a negative value indicates the distance (in absolute value) from the back surface. Note that
if the wall thickness is decreasing over time due to the solid phase reactions, and the distance is measured
from the current front surface, the measurement point moves toward the back side of the solid. Eventually,
the point may emerge from the solid, in which case it returns the ambient temperature. Measuring the
distance from the back surface may be more appropriate in this case.
In general, the discrete points within a solid are stretched starting at the surface. If the solid cell center
position is needed, it may be output using

&DEVC XYZ=..., QUANTITY='INSIDE WALL DEPTH', DEPTH=0.005, ID='XC_1', IOR=3 /

The output value should lie within half a solid cell distance from the specified DEPTH.
To record the material component’s density with time, use the output quantity 'SOLID DENSITY' in the
following way:

&DEVC ID='...', XYZ=..., IOR=3, QUANTITY='SOLID DENSITY', MATL_ID='wood', DEPTH=0.001

/

This produces a time history of the density of the material referred to as 'wood'. The density is recorded
1 mm beneath the surface which is oriented in the positive z direction. Note that if 'wood' is part of a
mixture, the density represents the mass of 'wood' per unit volume of the mixture. Without a MATL_ID, the
total density will be given.

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 To record the mass fraction of a material in a solid use QUANTITY='SOLID MASS FRACTION'. This
quantity requires a MATL_ID.
To record the solid conductivity (W/(m K)), use QUANTITY='SOLID CONDUCTIVITY'. To record the
solid specific heat (kJ/(kg K)), use QUANTITY='SOLID SPECIFIC HEAT'. To record the solid enthalpy
(kJ/m3 ), use QUANTITY='SOLID ENTHALPY'. These quantities do not take the optional MATL_ID keyword.
Note that these inner solid quantities are allowed only for devices (DEVC) or profiles (PROF), not con-
toured boundaries (BNDF).

Back Surface Temperature

If you just want to know the temperature of the back surface of the “wall,” then use

&DEVC XYZ=..., QUANTITY='BACK WALL TEMPERATURE', ID='Temp_b', IOR=3 /

Note that this quantity is only meaningful if the front or exposed surface of the “wall” has the attribute
BACKING='EXPOSED' on the SURF line that defines it. The coordinates, XYZ, and orientation, IOR, refer to
the front surface. To check that the heat conduction calculation is being done properly, you can add the
additional line

&DEVC XYZ=..., QUANTITY='WALL TEMPERATURE', ID='Temp_f', IOR=-3 /

where now XYZ and IOR refer to the coordinates and orientation of the back side of the wall. These two wall
temperatures ought to be the same. Remember that the “wall” in this case can only be at most one mesh cell
thick, and its THICKNESS need not be the same as the mesh cell width. Rather, the THICKNESS ought to be
the actual thickness of the “wall” through which FDS performs a 1-D heat conduction calculation.

22.2.3 Spatially-Integrated Outputs

A useful feature of a device (DEVC) is to specify an output quantity along with a desired statistic. For
example,

&DEVC XB=..., QUANTITY='TEMPERATURE', ID='maxT', SPATIAL_STATISTIC='MAX' /

causes FDS to write out the maximum gas phase temperature over the volume bounded by XB. Other
SPATIAL_STATISTIC’s are discussed below. Some are appropriate for gas phase output quantities, some
for solid phase, and some for both. Note that if XB is used for a point device without a SPATIAL_STATISTIC,
then FDS will define XYZ to be the center of the volume defined by XB. A SPATIAL_STATISTIC can only be
used for a gas phase QUANTITY in Table 22.12 with both D and S in the file type column or for a solid phase
QUANTITY in Table 22.13 with both D and B in the file type column.
For solid phase output quantities, like heat fluxes and surface temperatures, the specification of a SURF_
ID along with the appropriate statistic limits the calculation to only those surfaces. You can further limit
the search by using the sextuplet of coordinates XB to force FDS to only compute statistics for surface cells
within the given volume. Be careful to account for the fact that the solid surface might shift to conform to the
underlying numerical grid. Note that you do not (and should not) specify an orientation via the parameter
IOR when using a spatial statistic. IOR is only needed to find a specific point on the solid surface.
Note that a shortcut for specifying the six XB values on the DEVC line is to instead use DB='WHOLE
DOMAIN' (DB stands for “Domain Boundary”).

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Linearly Interpolated Value
By default, FDS reports a given gas-phase QUANTITY at a given point XYZ to be the value computed at the
center of the cell containing the point. However, in some instances, you might want to report a linearly-
interpolated value over the nearest eight grid cells:

&DEVC XYZ=..., QUANTITY='TEMPERATURE', ID='T', SPATIAL_STATISTIC='INTERPOLATION' /

Be careful when using this option near a thin obstruction or a collection of stair-stepped obstructions because
the average value might include data from the opposite side of the obstructions. A notable example would
be a sprinkler “device” located under a stair-stepped ceiling.

Minimum or Maximum Value

For a scalar quantity defined at the center of gas or solid phase cells, φi jk , set SPATIAL_STATISTIC to 'MIN'
or 'MAX' to compute the minimum or maximum value, respectively, over the cells that are included in the
specified volume bounded by XB:
min φi jk ; max φi jk (22.1)
i jk i jk

Note also that you must specify a volume to sum over via the coordinate parameters, XB, which can extend
into multiple meshes.
If you want to know where the specified QUANTITY achieves its minimum or maximum value over the
specified volume XB, set SPATIAL_STATISTIC to 'MINLOC X' or 'MAXLOC X' for the x coordinate. Substitute
Y or Z if you desire the y or z coordinate, in m.

Average Value
For a gas phase scalar quantity defined at the center of each grid cell, φi jk , the SPATIAL_STATISTIC 'MEAN'
computes the average value,
1
φi jk (22.2)
N ∑ i jk

over the cells that are included in the specified volume bounded by XB. Note that this statistic is only
appropriate for gas phase quantities. Note also that you must specify a volume to sum over via the coordinate
parameters, XB, which can extend into multiple meshes.
If you are interested in the average value over a plane, give the XB volume a small thickness to either
side of the plane location encompassing the storage locations of the values of interest. For example, scalars
like temperatures live at the cell center, so locate the plane at the cell center and add a small delta to either
side of that plane for the XB.

Volume-Weighted Mean
For a gas phase scalar quantity, φ (x, y, z), SPATIAL_STATISTIC='VOLUME MEAN' produces the discrete analog
of
1
ZZZ
φ (x, y, z) dx dy dz (22.3)
V
which is very similar to 'MEAN', but it weights the values according to the relative size of the mesh cell.
Note that this statistic is only appropriate for gas phase quantities. Note also that you must specify a volume
to sum over via the coordinate parameters, XB, which can extend into multiple meshes.

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Mass-Weighted Mean
For a gas phase scalar quantity, φ (x, y, z), SPATIAL_STATISTIC='MASS MEAN' produces the discrete analog
of
ρ(x, y, z) φ (x, y, z) dx dy dz
RRR
(22.4)
ρ dx dy dz
RRR

which is similar to 'VOLUME MEAN', but it weights the values according to the relative mass of the mesh cell.
Note that this statistic is only appropriate for gas phase quantities. Note also that you must specify a volume
to sum over via the coordinate parameters, XB, which can extend into multiple meshes.

Centroids
For a gas phase scalar quantity, φ (x, y, z), SPATIAL_STATISTIC='CENTROID X' produces the discrete analog
of
x φ (x, y, z) dx dy dz
RRR
(22.5)
φ (x, y, z) dx dy dz
RRR

Similar calculations are performed for 'CENTROID Y' and 'CENTROID Z'. Note that this statistic is only ap-
propriate for gas phase quantities, and you must specify a volume to sum over via the coordinate parameters,
XB.

Volume Integral
For a gas phase scalar quantity, φ (x, y, z), SPATIAL_STATISTIC='VOLUME INTEGRAL' produces the discrete
analog of ZZZ
φ (x, y, z) dx dy dz (22.6)

This statistic is only appropriate for gas phase quantities, in particular those whose units involve m−3 . For
example, heat release rate per unit volume is an appropriate output quantity. This statistic can also be used
on a DEVC line with an output quantity of DENSITY to output the total mass within the volume bound by XB.
In all cases, you must specify a volume to sum over via the coordinate parameters, XB, which can extend
into multiple meshes.

Mass Integral
For a given gas phase output quantity, φ (x, y, z), SPATIAL_STATISTIC='MASS INTEGRAL' produces the dis-
crete analog of ZZZ
ρ(x, y, z) φ (x, y, z) dx dy dz (22.7)

Note that this statistic is only appropriate for gas phase quantities. Note also that you must specify a volume
to sum over via the coordinate parameters, XB, which can extend into multiple meshes.

Area Integral
For a gas phase scalar quantity, φ (x, y, z), SPATIAL_STATISTIC='AREA INTEGRAL' produces the discrete
analog of Z
φ (x, y, z) dA (22.8)

where dA depends on the coordinates you specify for XB. Note that this statistic is only appropriate for gas
phase quantities, in particular those whose units involve m−2 . For example, the quantity 'MASS FLUX X'

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along with SPEC_ID='my gas' is an appropriate output quantity if you want to know the mass flux of the
gas species that you have named 'my gas' through an area normal to the x direction. Note also that you
must specify an area to sum over via the coordinate parameters, XB, which can extend into multiple meshes.

Area
This feature is usually used in conjunction with SPATIAL_STATISTIC='AREA INTEGRAL' above (use two
separate DEVC lines, each with the same QUANTITY). When performing precise mass and energy balances, it
is useful to know exactly the area of VENT or SURF of interest. Note that this may differ slightly from what
is specified in the input file due to grid snapping for Cartesian geometries or due to the approximations used
to represent curvilinear geometries. Using SPATIAL_STATISTIC='AREA' produces the discrete analog of
Z
dA (22.9)

where dA depends on the coordinates you specify for XB. To compute the surface area of a solid, use
'SURFACE AREA', see below.

Surface Integral
For a solid phase scalar quantity, φ , SPATIAL_STATISTIC='SURFACE INTEGRAL' produces the discrete ana-
log of Z
φ dA (22.10)
Note that this statistic is only appropriate for solid phase quantities, in particular those whose units involve
m−2 . For example, the various heat and mass fluxes are appropriate output quantities.

Surface Area
The solid surface analog of 'AREA' is 'SURFACE AREA'. Knowing this value is useful for reconstructing
the average flux on a surface, for example. On the DEVC line supply an XB that encompasses the surface of
interest, use an arbitrary QUANTITY, and assign a SURF_ID.

&DEVC XB=..., QUANTITY=..., SURF_ID='my surf', SPATIAL_STATISTIC='SURFACE AREA',

ID='surf area'/

Limiting the Integration

The input parameter QUANTITY_RANGE can be used to limit the region of integration for 'AREA INTEGRAL',
'VOLUME INTEGRAL', 'MASS INTEGRAL', and 'SURFACE INTEGRAL'. If QUANTITY_RANGE is set, the integra-
tion will only be performed if the value of the QUANTITY lies within the QUANTITY_RANGE where QUANTITY_
RANGE(1) is the lower bound and QUANTITY_RANGE(2) is the upper bound. For example:

&DEVC XB=..., QUANTITY='MASS FRACTION', SPEC_ID='METHANE', SPATIAL_STATISTIC='MASS

INTEGRAL', QUANTITY_RANGE=0.03,0.15/

would output the total mass of methane in the volume XB where the mass fraction was between 0.03 and
0.15.
A set of additional SPATIAL_STATISTIC’s are available for use with QUANTITY_RANGE: 'MASS', 'VOLUME',
and 'SURFACE AREA'. These output the mass, volume, or surface area (for a solid phase quantity) where the
QUANTITY lies within the QUANTITY_RANGE. For example:

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&DEVC XB=..., QUANTITY='TOTAL HEAT FLUX', SPATIAL_STATISTIC='SURFACE AREA', QUANTITY_
RANGE(1)=10./

would output the total surface area in the volume XB where the total heat flux exceeds 10 kW/m2 .

22.2.4 Temporally-Integrated Outputs

In addition to the spatial statistics, temporal statistics can be applied to DEVC output via the parameter
TEMPORAL_STATISTIC. Both SPATIAL_STATISTIC and TEMPORAL_STATISTIC can be specified simultane-
ously on the DEVC line, assuming the combination makes sense. The SPATIAL_STATISTIC is applied first,
say an integration of the QUANTITY over a given volume XB, followed by the TEMPORAL_STATISTIC, like a
time integral.

Time Average
The TEMPORAL_STATISTIC='TIME AVERAGE' is typically applied by default, unless it is inappropriate for the
chosen QUANTITY. With this statistic, FDS outputs the average value of the QUANTITY over the time period
of DT_DEVC s just prior to the time of output. The parameter DT_DEVC is specified on the DUMP line.

Running Average
The TEMPORAL_STATISTIC='RUNNING AVERAGE' outputs the running average value of the QUANTITY over
the time period starting at STATISTICS_START and ending at STATISTICS_END. This is the default behavior
of “line” devices discussed in Sec. 22.2.5.

Favre Average
The TEMPORAL_STATISTIC='FAVRE AVERAGE' outputs the Favre (density weighted) running average value
of the QUANTITY over the time period starting at STATISTICS_START and ending at STATISTICS_END. If the
scalar quantity of interest is φ and the density if ρ and the running average is defined by an overbar (that
is, φ is the running average of the scalar), then the Favre average is denoted with a tilde and computed as
φ̃ = ρφ /ρ. This output is not compatible with INITIAL_VALUE.

Instantaneous Value
For various reasons you might want to output the value of the QUANTITY that has not been time-averaged
or processed in any way. Sometimes this is important for device and control functions. To output the
instantaneous value, set TEMPORAL_STATISTIC to 'INSTANT VALUE'.

Smoothed Value
Control functions that use devices as inputs use the value of the devices determined by the SMOOTHING_
FACTOR for each device. To output this smoothed value of the device, set TEMPORAL_STATISTIC to 'SMOOTHED'.
This statistic outputs the instantaneous smoothed value, and it does not time-average the smoothed value
over the output interval.

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Time Integral
TEMPORAL_STATISTIC='TIME INTEGRAL' produces a discrete analog of the time integral:
Z t
φ (τ) dτ (22.11)
t0

Minimum and Maximum Values over Time

Set TEMPORAL_STATISTIC to 'MIN' or 'MAX' to determine the minimum or maximum value of the QUANTITY
over a time interval:
min φ (t) ; max φ (t) (22.12)
t0 <=t<=t1 t0 <=t<=t1

where t0 is STATISTICS_START and t1 is STATISTICS_END.

For some applications you might need to predict a minimum or maximum value of the QUANTITY over
a time interval that is longer than the simulation time. For example, in wind engineering the so-called
50 year maximum wind speed can be estimated using maximum yearly values collected over, say, 10 years.
The idea is that extreme values conform to certain statistical distributions from which one can extrapolate
extreme values over long time periods. In FDS, you can do something similar. If you add the parameter
TIME_PERIOD to the DEVC line where you have also set the TEMPORAL_STATISTIC to 'MIN' or 'MAX', the time
interval bounded by t0 and t1 is subdivided into N =N_INTERVALS (default 10), and a minimum or maximum
value is stored for each interval. At the end of the simulation, the set of maximum values (minimum values
are handled similarly) are ranked in ascending order, m = 1, N. Next, the cumulative statistical distribution
is introduced [81]:
F(φ ) = 1 − exp[− exp(φ )] ; φ = ln[− ln(1 − F)] (22.13)
which represents the probability1 of the value φ not being exceeded in the given time interval, (t1 − t0 )/N.
The probabilities for each of the N ascending maximum values are assumed to be m/(N + 1). Plotting
φ versus the expression on the right yields an approximate straight line from which we can estimate the
value of φ appropriate for the longer TIME_PERIOD; that is, the value for which the probability of not being
exceeded in the relatively short time interval (t1 − t0 )/N is very close to 1. Returning to the example from
wind engineering, the probability of not exceeding the 50 year wind speed in a given year is 1−1/50 = 0.98.

Time to Reach Minimum and Maximum Value

The time at which the given QUANTITY achieves its maximum or minimum value is specified by the TEMPORAL_
STATISTIC 'MAX TIME' or 'MIN TIME', respectively.

Root Mean Square (RMS)

TEMPORAL_STATISTIC='RMS' produces the unbiased estimate of the root mean square of the QUANTITY φ :
s
∑ni=1 (φi − φ )2
φrms = (22.14)
n−1

The computation starts at STATISTICS_START and ends at STATISTICS_END.

1 Note that the parameterless form of the distribution is intended for extrapolation only.

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Favre Root Mean Square
TEMPORAL_STATISTIC='FAVRE RMS' produces the unbiased estimate of the density-weighted root mean
square of the QUANTITY φ : s
∑ni=1 (φi − φ̃ )2
φ̃rms = ; φ̃ = ρφ /ρ (22.15)
n−1
The computation starts at STATISTICS_START and ends at STATISTICS_END. This output is not compatible
with INITIAL_VALUE.

Covariance
If u = U −U and v = V −V are the deviations for two random variables, U and V , then an unbiased estimate
of the covariance is given by
∑n (Ui −U)(Vi −V )
u v = i=1 (22.16)
n−1
To output this statistic you must add a QUANTITY2 to the DEVC line and set TEMPORAL_STATISTIC='COV'.
The following lines would create a line of devices and a single point device equivalent to the first point in
the line:

&DEVC XB=X1,X2,Y1,Y2,Z1,Z2, QUANTITY='CELL W', QUANTITY2='TEMPERATURE',

TEMPORAL_STATISTIC='COV', ID='wT-cov_line', POINTS=20 /
&DEVC XYZ=X1,Y1,Z1, QUANTITY='CELL W', QUANTITY2='TEMPERATURE',
TEMPORAL_STATISTIC='COV', ID='wT-cov_point', STATISTICS_START=20. /

Correlation Coefficient
Setting TEMPORAL_STATISTIC='CORRCOEF' outputs the correlation coefficient given by
uv
ρuv = (22.17)
urms vrms
Here again you must add a QUANTITY2 to the device line.

22.2.5 Linear Array of Point Devices

You can use a single DEVC line to specify a linear array of devices. By adding the parameter POINTS and
using the sextuple coordinate array XBP2 , you can direct FDS to create a line of devices from (x1 , y1 , z1 ) to
(x2 , y2 , z2 ). There are two options.

Steady-State Profile
Sometimes it is convenient to calculate a steady-state profile. For example, the vertical velocity profile along
the centerline of a doorway can be recorded with the following line of input:

&DEVC XBP=X1,X2,Y1,Y2,Z1,Z2, QUANTITY='U-VELOCITY', ID='vel', POINTS=20,

STATISTICS_START=20., STATISTICS_END=40. /

2 Earlier versions of FDS made use of the array XB to specify the extents of a linear array of point devices. However, XB might

be needed to specify a particular type of SPATIAL_STATISTIC associated with each device.

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In a file called CHID_line.csv, there will be between 1 and 4 columns of data associated with this single
DEVC line. If X1 is different than X2, there will be a column of x coordinates associated with the linear array
of points. The same holds for the y and z coordinates. The last column contains the 20 temperature points
time-averaged over the interval between STATISTICS_START and STATISTICS_END. The default value of
the latter is T_END and the former is half the total simulation time. This is a convenient way to output a
time-averaged linear profile of a quantity, like an array of thermocouples. Note that the statistics output to
the _line.csv file start being averaged at T=STATISTICS_START. Prior to this time, the values are zero. This
prevents initial transient from biasing the final average value or other temporal statistics.
By default, the points are uniformly spaced between (x1 , y1 , z1 ) and (x2 , y2 , z2 ). To change this, you can
add arrays of coordinate values POINTS_ARRAY_X, POINTS_ARRAY_Y, and/or POINTS_ARRAY_Z. For example,
the line

&DEVC XBP=0,0,0,0,0,1, QUANTITY='TEMPERATURE', ID='T', POINTS=4,

POINTS_ARRAY_Z=0.1,0.2,0.3,0.7 /

creates an array of four points in the vertical direction that are not uniformly spaced. The original values of
0 and 1 in the array XBP are ignored. Using all three POINTS_ARRAYs, you can create a curved line of points.
The upper dimension of these arrays is 100.
A single “line” file can hold more than a single line of data. By default, the coordinate columns are
labeled using the ID of the DEVC appended with either -x, -y, or -z. To change these labels, use X_ID, Y_ID,
and/or Z_ID. To suppress the coordinate columns altogether, add HIDE_COORDINATES=T to the DEVC line.
This is convenient if you have multiple arrays of data that p use the same coordinates. If you want the data
plotted as a function of the distance from the origin, r = x2 + y2 + z2 , provide the label R_ID. If you want
the data plotted as a function of the distance from the first point on the line, (X1,Y1,Z1), provide the label
D_ID.
You can convert the spatial coordinate of a steady-state profile by setting COORD_FACTOR on the DEVC
line. For example, to convert from the default unit of meters to centimeters, set COORD_FACTOR to 100. Also
set XYZ_UNITS to the appropriate character string, in this case XYZ_UNITS='cm'.

Time-Varying Profile
If you do not want a steady-state profile, but rather you just want to specify an array of evenly spaced
devices, you can use a similar input line, except with the additional attribute TIME_HISTORY.

&DEVC XBP=X1,X2,Y1,Y2,Z1,Z2, QUANTITY='U-VELOCITY', ID='vel', POINTS=20,

TIME_HISTORY=T /

This directs FDS to just add 20 devices to the on-going list, saving you from having to write 20 DEVC lines.
The ID for each device will be 'vel-01', 'vel-02', etc.

Other Statistics for a Linear Array of Devices

By default, when you specify multiple POINTS on a DEVC line and you do not specify TIME_HISTORY=T,
a running average of the specified QUANTITY is saved at each point location and written to the file with
suffix _line.csv with the accumulated values at the time STATISTICS_END. However, you can apply any
other TEMPORAL_STATISTIC and compute, for example, the root-mean-square ('RMS'), minimum ('MIN'),
or maximum ('MAX') value over the specified time interval.
You may also specify a SPATIAL_STATISTIC for each device in the line as follows:

360
&DEVC XBP=1,10,5,5,8,8, QUANTITY='TEMPERATURE', ID='Tmean', POINTS=20,
STATISTICS_START=20., STATISTICS_END=40.
SPATIAL_STATISTIC='MEAN', DX=0.1, DY=5.0, DZ=3.0 /

This input line specifies a linear array of 20 points starting at x = (1, 5, 8) and ending at x = (10, 5, 8). For
each point in the array, (xi , yi , zi ), FDS calculates the average temperature over the volume xi − δ x ≤ x ≤
xi + δ x; yi − δ y ≤ y ≤ yi + δ y; zi − δ z ≤ z ≤ zi + δ z. These average temperatures are then time-averaged
over the time interval between 20 s and 40 s. In general, the spatial averaging is done first; that is, FDS
reports the time-average of the spatially-averaged temperatures for each point in the linear array, not the
spatial-average of the temporally-averaged temperatures.

Moving a Linear Array of Devices

It is possible to translate and/or rotate a linear array of devices using parameters on a MOVE line (see
Sec. 11.4). To specify these parameters, use the character string MOVE_ID on the DEVC line. Note that if
a SPATIAL_STATISTIC is specified, the spatial bounds, DX, DY, and/or DZ, are not transformed.

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22.3 In-Depth Profiles within Solids: The PROF Namelist Group
FDS uses a fine one-dimensional grid at each boundary cell to calculate the heat conduction and reactions
within a solid. The solid can be a wall cell or a Lagrangian particle. In either case, use the PROF output
to record the properties of the solid in depth at discrete intervals of time. A PROF can use any solid phase
output QUANTITY that takes a DEPTH. These are identified with the file type “Pr” in Table 22.13.
The parameters for a PROF line are listed in Table 23.24. For a wall cell, the parameters are similar to
those used to specify a surface quantity in the DEVC group. XYZ designates the triplet of coordinates, IOR the
orientation, and ID an identifying character string. Here is an example of how you would use this feature to
get a time history of temperature profiles within a wall cell:

&PROF ID='T-1', XYZ=..., QUANTITY='INSIDE WALL TEMPERATURE', IOR=3 /

For a particle, there are two options. The first is to reference the INIT line used to place the particle within
the domain:

&INIT ID='my particle', XYZ=..., N_PARTICLES=1, PART_ID='...' /

&PROF ID='T-2', INIT_ID='my particle', QUANTITY='INSIDE WALL TEMPERATURE' /

The second option is to specify the particle using its unique identifying tag3 . Once you have determined the
tag, add the following line to the input file:

&PROF LP_TAG=..., PART_ID='...', QUANTITY='INSIDE WALL TEMPERATURE' /

Note that you must specify the PART_ID so that the appropriate inner noding structure can be determined.
With either option for designating a particle, do not specify XYZ or IOR on the PROF line.
The QUANTITY is the physical quantity to record. Each PROF line creates a separate file. The first number
in each row is the time at which the profile is extracted. The second number is the number of “nodes,” n,
which is the number of solid phase cells plus 1. The next n values are the node coordinates, running from
0 at the surface to the full THICKNESS at the end. The next n numbers are the values of the QUANTITY at
the node points. The first of these values is located at the surface. If you specify CELL_CENTERED=T, the
QUANTITY values will be recorded at n interior cell centers rather than cell boundaries. The ID is an optional
input which, if provided, is used in the file header.
There is a second optional format. If you specify FORMAT_INDEX=2 on the PROF line, the resulting file
will contain columns containing only the final set of node coordinates and quantity values. This is handy for
displaying a steady-state temperature profile.

3 Each droplet or particle has a unique integer identifier. To find it, open the case in Smokeview, load the particles, right click,
“Files/Data/Coloring,” “Particles,” “Settings,” and click the box labeled “Show selected particle tag.” Then click on the desired
particle.

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22.4 Animated Planar Slices: The SLCF Namelist Group
The SLCF (“slice file”) namelist group parameters (Table 23.30) allows you to record various gas phase
quantities at more than a single point. A “slice” refers to a subset of the whole domain. It can be a line,
plane, or volume, depending on the values of XB. The sextuplet XB indicates the boundaries of the “slice”
plane. XB is prescribed as in the OBST or VENT groups, with the possibility that 0, 2, or 4 out of the 6 values be
the same to indicate a volume, plane or line, respectively. A handy trick is to specify, for example, PBY=5.3
instead of XB if it is desired that the entire plane y = 5.3 slicing through the domain be saved. PBX and PBZ
control planes perpendicular to the x and z axes, respectively. An alternative way to specify a slice plane
through the middle of the domain is using DB with values of 'XMID', 'YMID', or 'ZMID'.
By default, 1-D and 2-D slice files are saved NFRAMES times per simulation. You can control the fre-
quency of output with DT_SLCF on the DUMP line. If the “slice” is a 3-D volume, then its output frequency is
controlled by the parameter DT_SL3D. You may specify a value of DT_SL3D on DUMP or provide a series of
discrete times. Note that 3-D slice files can become extremely large if DT_SL3D is small.
Animated vectors can be created in Smokeview if a given SLCF line has the attribute VECTOR=T If two
SLCF entries are in the same plane, then only one of the lines needs to have VECTOR=T Otherwise, a redundant
set of velocity component slices will be created.
Normally, FDS averages slice file data at cell corners. For example, gas temperatures are computed at
cell centers, but they are linearly interpolated to cell corners and output to a file that is read by Smokeview.
To prevent this from happening, set CELL_CENTERED=T This forces FDS to output the actual cell-centered
data with no averaging. Note that this feature is mainly useful for diagnostics because it enables you to
visualize the values that FDS actually computes. If CELL_CENTERED=T is combined with VECTOR=T then the
staggered velocity components will be displayed. For example,

&SLCF PBY=0, QUANTITY='VELOCITY', VECTOR=T, CELL_CENTERED=T /

will show the staggered velocity components as cell face normal vectors in Smokeview.
Slice file information is recorded in files (See Sec. 27.9) labeled CHID_$n$.sf, where n is the index of
the slice file. A short Fortran program fds2ascii.f90 produces a text file from a line, plane or volume of
data. See Sec. 22.11 for more details.
By default, Smokeview will blank slice file data inside obstructions. However, this is expensive to load
at startup in Smokeview for large cases. If you wish Smokeview not to store this blanking array, set IBLANK_
SMV=F on MISC. Another option is to run Smokeview from the command line and to add -noblank as an
option.
You may add a name via ID on the SLCF as an identifier sent to Smokeview. It is only optional.

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22.5 Animated Boundary Quantities: The BNDF Namelist Group
The BNDF (“boundary file”) namelist group parameters allows you to record surface quantities at all solid
obstructions. As with the SLCF group, each quantity is prescribed with a separate BNDF line, and the output
files are of the form CHID_$n$.bf. No physical coordinates need be specified, however, just QUANTITY. See
Table 22.5. For certain output quantities, additional parameters need to be specified via the PROP namelist
group. In such cases, add the character string, PROP_ID, to the BNDF line to tell FDS where to find the
necessary extra information.
BNDF files (Sec. 27.11) can become very large, so be careful in prescribing the time interval, DT_BNDF,
or discrete times, RAMP_BNDF, on the DUMP line. One way to reduce the size of the output file is to turn off
the drawing of boundary information on desired obstructions. On any given OBST line, if the string BNDF_
OBST=F is included, the obstruction is not colored. To turn off all boundary drawing, set BNDF_DEFAULT=F
on the MISC line. Then individual obstructions can be turned back on with BNDF_OBST=T on the appropriate
OBST line. Individual faces of a given obstruction can be controlled via BNDF_FACE(IOR), where IOR is the
index of orientation (+1 for the positive x direction, -1 for negative, and so on). Another way is to disable
BNDF output for specific meshes by setting BNDF_MESH=F on the MESH lines where no BNDF output is desired.
Disabling output for a MESH includes all wall cells at the exterior boundary of that MESH.
Normally, FDS averages boundary file data at cell corners. For example, surface temperatures are
computed at the center of each surface cell, but they are linearly interpolated to cell corners and output to
a file that is read by Smokeview. To prevent this from happening, set CELL_CENTERED=T on the BNDF line.
This forces FDS to output the actual cell-centered data with no averaging. Note that this feature is mainly
useful for diagnostics.
Applying boundary files to complex geometries can be controlled with the BNDF_GEOM logical on the
GEOM line. Note that BNDF output for GEOM uses face centered values only (node centered is not available; the
user need not set CELL_CENTERED=T).
Sometimes it is useful to render the QUANTITY integrated over time. For example, a heat flux in units of
kW/m2 can be integrated in time producing the total energy absorbed by the surface in units of kJ/m2 . To
do this, set TEMPORAL_STATISTIC equal to 'TIME INTEGRAL' on the BNDF line. Note that there are no other
options for TEMPORAL_STATISTIC on a BNDF line.

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22.6 Animated Isosurfaces: The ISOF Namelist Group
The ISOF (“ISOsurface File”) namelist group creates three-dimensional animated contours of gas phase
scalar quantities. For example, a 300 ◦ C temperature isosurface is a 3-D surface on which the gas tempera-
ture is 300 ◦ C. Three different values of the temperature can be saved via the line:

&ISOF QUANTITY='TEMPERATURE', VALUE(1)=50., VALUE(2)=200., VALUE(3)=500. /

where the values are in ◦ C. Note that the isosurface output files CHID_$n$.iso can become very large,
so experiment with different sampling rates, (DT_ISOF, or discrete times, RAMP_ISOF, either of which is
specified on the DUMP line). The parameter QUANTITY2 can be used to color the isosurface. For example, the
line:

&ISOF QUANTITY='MIXTURE FRACTION' , VALUE(1)=0.05, QUANTITY2='TEMPERATURE' /

draws a surface where the mixture fraction has a value of 0.05 kg/kg and colors the surface this using
temperature. The parameter SKIP=n (default: 1) can also be used to reduce data by skipping n-1 values in
each direction. The parameter DELTA=val can also be used to reduce data by forcing each triangle to have
all sides larger than val.
Any gas phase quantity can be animated via iso-surfaces, but use caution. To render an iso-surface,
the desired quantity must be computed in every mesh cell at every output time step. For quantities like
'TEMPERATURE', this is not a problem, as FDS computes it and saves it anyway. However, species volume
fractions demand substantial amounts of time to compute at each mesh cell. Remember to include the
SPEC_ID corresponding to the given QUANTITY if necessary.

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22.7 Plot3D Static Data Dumps
Data stored in Plot3D [82] files use a format developed by NASA that is used by many CFD programs
for representing simulation results. See Sec. 27.10 for a description of the file structure. Plot3D data is
visualized in three ways: as 2-D contours, vector plots and iso-surfaces. Vector plots may be viewed if one
or more of the u, v and w velocity components are stored in the Plot3D file. The vector length and direction
show the direction and relative speed of the fluid flow. The vector colors show a scalar fluid quantity such
as temperature. Five quantities are written out to a file at one instant in time. The default specification is:

&DUMP ..., PLOT3D_QUANTITY(1:5)='TEMPERATURE',

'U-VELOCITY','V-VELOCITY','W-VELOCITY','HRRPUV' /

It’s best to leave the velocity components as is, because Smokeview uses them to draw velocity vectors. If
any of the specified quantities require the additional specification of a particular species, use PLOT3D_SPEC_
ID(n) to provide the SPEC_ID for PLOT3D_QUANTITY(n).
Plot3D data are stored in files with extension .q . There is an optional file that can be output with
coordinate information if another visualization package is being used to render the files. If you write WRITE_
XYZ=T on the DUMP line, a file with suffix .xyz is written out. Smokeview does not require this file because
the coordinate information can be obtained elsewhere.
Past versions of FDS (1-5) output Plot3D files by default. Now, you must specify the time interval
between dumps using DT_PL3D on the DUMP line.

22.8 SMOKE3D: Realistic Smoke and Fire

For any simulation involving combustion, FDS automatically creates three output files that are rendered
by Smokeview as realistic looking smoke, fire, and/or hot gas. By default, the output quantities are the
'DENSITY' of 'SOOT', the 'HRRPUV' (Heat Release Rate Per Unit Volume), and the TEMPERATURE of the
gases. These quantities are rendered as semi-transparent slices that give you the illusion of looking through
smoke or fire. The greater the value of the quantity, the darker the slices will appear en masse. For HRRPUV,
the lowest value rendered is:
q̇′′min = min(200, 20/δ x) kW/m3 (22.18)
where δ x is the grid cell size.
You have the option of rendering the DENSITY of any other species besides 'SOOT', so long as the MASS_
EXTINCTION_COEFFICIENT on the SPEC line is appropriate in describing the attenuation of visible light by the
specified gas species. Here is an example of how to change the smoke species. Normally, you do not need
to do this as the “smoke” is an assumed part of the default combustion model when a non-zero SOOT_YIELD
is defined on the REAC line.

&SPEC ID='MY SMOKE', MW=29., MASS_EXTINCTION_COEFFICIENT=8700. /

&SM3D QUANTITY='DENSITY', SPEC_ID='MY SMOKE' /

The MASS_EXTINCTION_COEFFICIENT is passed to Smokeview to be used for visualization.

FDS outputs 3D smoke quantities as 8 bit integers compressed using run length encoding. Soot density,
HRRPUV or temperatures are first scaled to 8 bit integers (soot density is converted to an opacity first).
Repeated integers are replaced by nI where n is the number of repeats and I is the value repeated.
You can change the scale of HRRPUV via the parameter HRRPUV_MAX_SMV (default 1200 kW/m3 ) on the
DUMP line. You can change the TEMPERATURE bounds via TEMP_MIN_SMV and TEMP_MAX_SMV (default 20 ◦ C
and 2000 ◦ C).

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22.9 Particle Output Quantities
This section discusses output options for Lagrangian particles.

22.9.1 Liquid Droplets that are Attached to Solid Surfaces

Liquid droplets (as opposed to solid particles) “stick” to solid surfaces unless directed otherwise. There are
various quantities that describe these populations. For example, 'MPUA' is the Mass Per Unit Area of the
droplets4 defined by PART_ID. Likewise, 'AMPUA' is the Accumulated Mass Per Unit Area. Both of these are
given in units of kg/m2 . Think of these outputs as measures of the instantaneous mass density per unit area,
and the accumulated total, respectively. These quantities are not identical measures. The quantity 'AMPUA'
is analogous to a “bucket test,” where the droplets are collected in buckets and the total mass determined at
the end of a given time period. In this case each grid cell on the floor is considered its own bucket. Each
droplet is counted only once when it reaches the floor5 . MPUA counts a droplet whenever it is on any solid
surface, including the walls. If the droplet moves from one solid wall cell to another, it will be counted
again. The cooling of a solid surface by droplets of a given type is given by 'CPUA', the Cooling Per Unit
Area in units of kW/m2 . Since a typical sprinkler simulation only tracks a small fraction of the droplets
emitted from a sprinkler, both MPUA and CPUA also perform an exponential smoothing. This avoids having
spotted distributions on surfaces due to the infrequent arrival of droplets that likely have a high weighting
factor.
Each of the output quantities mentioned above has a variant in which the quantity is summed by species
rather than particle type. For example, the quantity 'AMPUA_Z' along with a specified SPEC_ID rather than a
PART_ID will sum the given output quantity over all particle classes with the given SPEC_ID.
As an example of how to use these kinds of output quantities, the test case bucket_test_1 describes a
single sprinkler mounted 10 cm below a 5 m ceiling. Water flows for 30 s at a constant rate of 180 L/min
(ramped up and down in 1 s). The simulation continues for another 10 s to allow water drops time to reach
the floor. The total mass of water discharged is
L kg 1 min
180×1 × × 30 s = 90 kg (22.19)
min L 60 s
In the simulation, the quantity 'AMPUA' with SPATIAL_STATISTIC='SURFACE INTEGRAL' is specified on the
DEVC line. This results in FDS summing 'AMPUA' over each grid cell in the volume defined by XB, in this
case the entire floor, analogous to if there were an single bucket present that was the same size as the area
specified with XB. Summing the values of 'AMPUA' over the entire floor yields a total of 90 kg (Fig. 22.1).
Note that there really is no need to time-average the results. The quantity is inherently accumulating.

22.9.2 Solid Particles on Solid Surfaces

If you want to monitor the accumulation of solid particles that have fallen on a solid surface, use a device as
follows:

&DEVC ID=..., XB=..., QUANTITY='MPUV', PART_ID='rods', SPATIAL_STATISTIC='VOLUME

INTEGRAL' /

The volume over which to integrate, XB, should be at least one grid cell thick above the surface.
4 The output quantity 'MPUA' can be used for both liquid and solid particles. However, 'AMPUA' is appropriate only for liquid

droplets.
5 Be aware of the fact that the default behavior for liquid droplets hitting the “floor,” that is, the plane z = ZMIN, is to disappear

(POROUS_FLOOR=T on the MISC line). In this case, 'MPUA' will be zero, but 'AMPUA' will not. FDS stores the droplet mass
just before removing the droplet from the simulation for the purpose of saving CPU time.

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 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release

100 Accumulated Mass (bucket_test_1)

80

Mass (kg)
60

40

20
Ideal
FDS
0
0 10 20 30 40
Time (s)

Figure 22.1: Accumulated water collected at the floor in the bucket_test_1 case.

22.9.3 Droplet and Particle Densities and Fluxes in the Gas Phase
Away from solid surfaces, 'MPUV' is the Mass Per Unit Volume of particles or droplets of type (PART_ID) in
units of kg/m3 . The average volume fraction of droplets in the cell is 'DROPLET VOLUME FRACTION', which
is equal to the MPUV divided by the liquid density of the droplets. 'MPUV_Z' provides the same information
integrated over all droplets of a single species, (SPEC_ID).
The quantities 'PARTICLE FLUX X', 'PARTICLE FLUX Y', and 'PARTICLE FLUX Z' produce slice and
Plot3D colored contours of the mass flux of particles in the x, y, and z directions, respectively, in units of
kg/m2 /s. You can also apply these quantities to a device. For example, in the case called bucket_test_
[Link], the input line

&DEVC XB=..., ID='flux', QUANTITY='PARTICLE FLUX Z', SPATIAL_STATISTIC='AREA

INTEGRAL' /

records the integrated mass flux of all particles passing through the given horizontal plane. Figure 22.2
presents the results of this simple test case in which water spraying at a rate of 0.0005 kg/s for 55 s passes
through a measurement plane and onto the floor. The total water accumulated is 0.0275 kg.
-4 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
10
2 0.03
Particle Mass Flux (bucket_test_4) Accumulated Mass (bucket_test_4)
0.025
0

0.02
Mass Flux (kg/s)

-2
Mass (kg)

0.015
-4
0.01

-6
Ideal
0.005 Ideal
FDS FDS
-8 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time (s) Time (s)

Figure 22.2: Mass flux and accumulated water collected at the floor in the bucket_test_4 case.

The quantity 'PARTICLE RADIATION LOSS' reports the net energy emitted and absorbed from a given
grid cell by all particles within it, in units of kW/m3 . A positive value indicates that emission is greater than
absorption.n

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22.9.4 Coloring Particles and Droplets in Smokeview
The parameter QUANTITIES on the PART line is an array of character strings indicating which scalar quanti-
ties should be used to color particles and droplets in Smokeview. The choices are

'PARTICLE AGE' (s)

'PARTICLE DIAMETER' (µm)
'PARTICLE TEMPERATURE' (◦ C)
'PARTICLE MASS' (kg)
'PARTICLE PHASE'
'PARTICLE VELOCITY' (m/s)
'PARTICLE WEIGHTING FACTOR'
'PARTICLE U', 'PARTICLE V', 'PARTICLE W' (m/s)
'PARTICLE X', 'PARTICLE Y', 'PARTICLE Z' (m)
'PARTICLE ACCEL X', 'PARTICLE ACCEL Y', 'PARTICLE ACCEL Z' (m/s2 )
'PARTICLE DRAG FORCE X', 'PARTICLE DRAG FORCE Y', 'PARTICLE DRAG FORCE Z' (N)
'PARTICLE DRAG COEFFICIENT'
'PARTICLE BULK DENSITY' (kg/m3 )
'PARTICLE HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENT'(W/m2 /K)
'PARTICLE RADIATIVE HEAT FLUX' (kW/m2 )
'PARTICLE CONVECTIVE HEAT FLUX' (kW/m2 )
'PARTICLE TOTAL HEAT FLUX' (kW/m2 )

If no QUANTITIES are specified and none are selected in Smokeview, then Smokeview will display particles
with a single color determined by the color of the SURF_ID assigned to the PART class, with the exception
of water droplets and liquid fuel droplets, which are colored blue and yellow, respectively. If no color is
specified on SURF then the default solid particle color will revert to black. You may override the SURF color
by specifying either RGB or COLOR on the PART line.
The 'PARTICLE TEMPERATURE' is the surface temperature. For thermally thin particles, like droplets,
this temperature represents the whole particle, but for thermally thick particles it is just the surface temper-
ature. For in-depth temperature of thermally thick particles you need to use a profile PROF, as discussed in
Sec. 22.3. In practice, you should designate only a small subset of particles (use a separate PART line) for
monitoring internal temperatures, as the amount of data can become large, and there is no way to visualize
this in Smokeview.
The PARTICLE WEIGHTING FACTOR describes how many actual particles each of the computational par-
ticles represent. The PARTICLE BULK DENSITY gives the weighted (total) mass per grid cell volume, which
is an important parameter when using particles to represent porous media such as vegetation.
For solid particles with a specified SURF_ID, you may specify any of the solid phase output quantities
listed in Table 22.7. If the specified quantity is associated with a species, use the parameter
QUANTITIES_SPEC_ID(N) to specify the species. Here N refers to the order of the specified output quan-
tities on the PART line.

22.9.5 Detailed Properties of Solid Particles

You may output properties of a single solid particle using a DEVC (device) line. For example, the lines:

&INIT ID='my particle', PART_ID='...', XB=..., N_PARTICLES=1 /

&DEVC ID='...', INIT_ID='my particle', QUANTITY='WALL TEMPERATURE' /

369
adds a column to the CHID_devc.csv file for the surface temperature of a single particle that has been
introduced into the simulation via an INIT line.
If the INIT line has a MULT_ID; that is, an array of particles is introduced via this single INIT line, then
the INIT_ID for each takes the form '[ID]-00308', where ID is that of the INIT line, and 308 refers to the
308-th INIT line generated by the multiplicative sequence. The INIT lines are generated by looping over the
x indices, then y, then z. For example, the following input lines

&INIT ID='P', PART_ID='CRIB1', XYZ=0.005,0.005,0.005 ,

N_PARTICLES=1, CELL_CENTERED=T, MULT_ID='array' /
&MULT ID='array', DX=0.01, DY=0.01, DZ=0.01, I_LOWER=0, I_UPPER=9,
J_LOWER=0, J_UPPER=9, K_LOWER=0, K_UPPER=3 /
&DEVC ID='T307', INIT_ID='P-00307', QUANTITY='WALL TEMPERATURE' /

specify an array of 10 by 10 by 4 particles. We want to record the surface temperature of the 307-th particle.
See Sec. 7.6 for details of how the MULT line is interpreted.
If you know the unique identifying tag6 of a particular particle, you can output a solid phase quantity
via the following line:

&DEVC ID='...', LP_TAG=..., QUANTITY='WALL TEMPERATURE' /

The QUANTITY in the case of a solid (i.e. non-liquid) particle would be taken from Table 22.5. Note that
some of the listed quantities are not appropriate for particles.
Solid particles can be used as surrogate targets. For example, the following lines of input create a
massless particle that can be used to record the heat flux at a given location away from a solid wall. In this
case, the mock heat flux gauge is pointing in the −x direction:

&DEVC ID='flux', INIT_ID='f1', QUANTITY='RADIATIVE HEAT FLUX' /

&INIT ID='f1', XYZ=..., N_PARTICLES=1, PART_ID='rad gauge' /
&PART ID='rad gauge', STATIC=T, ORIENTATION=-1,0,0, SURF_ID='target' /
&SURF ID='target', RADIUS=0.001, GEOMETRY='SPHERICAL', EMISSIVITY=1. /

Note that the DEVC line does not contain device coordinates, but rather a reference to the INIT line that
positions the single surrogate particle at the point XYZ. The INIT line references the PART line, which
provides information about the particle, in particular the orientation of the heat flux gauge. The reference to
the SURF line is mainly for consistency—FDS needs to know something about the particle’s geometry even
though it is really just a “target.” Its volume is meaningless. The functionality of surrogate particles can be
extended to model an array of devices. Instead of one heat flux gauge, we can create a line of them:

&DEVC ID='flux', INIT_ID='f1', POINTS=34, QUANTITY='RADIATIVE HEAT FLUX', X_ID='x' /

&INIT ID='f1', XYZ=..., N_PARTICLES=34, DX=0.05, PART_ID='rad gauge' /

Note that the parameter DX on the INIT line creates a line of particles starting at the point XYZ and repeating
every 0.05 m. For more information about specifying arrays of devices via the parameter POINTS, see
Sec. 22.2.5.

6 Each droplet or particle has a unique integer identifier. To find it, open the case in Smokeview, load the particles, right click,
“Files/Data/Coloring,” “Particles,” “Settings,” and click the box labeled “Show selected particle tag.” Then click on the desired
particle.

370
22.10 Special Output Features
This section lists a variety of output quantities that are useful for studying thermally-driven flows, com-
bustion, pyrolysis, and so forth. Note that some of the output quantities can be produced in a variety of
ways.

22.10.1 Heat Release Rate and Energy Conservation

Quantities associated with the overall energy budget are reported in the comma delimited file CHID_hrr.csv.
This file is automatically generated; the only input parameters associated with it are DT_HRR and RAMP_HRR
on the DUMP line. The columns in this file record the time history of the integrals of the terms in the enthalpy
transport equation. The columns are defined as follows:

∂
Z Z  Z  Z
ρhs dV = q̇ dV + q̇p,r − ∇ · q̇r dV + ∑ ṁp,α hs,α − ρuhs · dS
′′′ ′′

|∂t {z } | {z } | {z } |α {z }
Q_ENTH HRR Q_RADI Q_CONV

dp
 Z  Z Z
+ q̇p,w − q̇′′c dA + ∑ hs,α ρDα ∇Yα · dS + dV (22.20)
α dt
| {z } | {z } | {z }
Q_COND Q_DIFF Q_PRES

+ −q̇p,r − q̇p,c − q̇p,w

| {z }
Q_PART

• Q_ENTH The change in the sensible enthalpy of the gas. ρ is the density of the gas (kg/m3 ). hs is the
sensible enthalpy of the gas (kJ/kg). The volume integral is over the entire domain.

• HRR The heat release rate of the fire (kW) resulting from gas phase combustion.

• HRR_OX The heat release rate (kW) of any solid phase oxidation reactions. This should be summed
with the HRR column when comparing results to heat release measurements obtained from oxygen con-
sumption calorimetry, as the additional oxygen sink from solid phase reactions will be lumped into the
calorimetry measurement. This term does not appear in Eq. (22.20) because the effect of solid phase
reactions on the gas phase occurs implicitly via sensible enthalpy transport (Q_CONV) and heat transfer
(Q_COND, Q_RADI) at the solid surfaces.

• Q_RADI The thermal radiation into the domain from the exterior boundary or particles. q̇′′r is the radiation
heat flux vector (kW/m2 ). Its divergence represents the net radiative emission from a volume of gas.
Typically, Q_RADI has a negative value, meaning that a fire or hot gases radiate energy out of the domain.
q̇p,r is the radiation absorbed by a droplet or particle (kW). This term is added to Q_RADI and subtracted
from Q_PART because it is implicitly included in ∇ · q̇′′r and needs to be separated off for the purpose of
explicitly accounting for it in the energy budget.

• Q_CONV The flow of sensible enthalpy into the computational domain. ṁp,α is the production rate of gas
species α from a solid particle or liquid droplet (kg/s). hs,α is the sensible enthalpy of gas species α
(kJ/kg). ρ is the gas density (kg/m3 ), u is the velocity vector (m/s). hs is the sensible enthalpy of the
gas. If the gas is flowing out of the domain, u · dS is positive.

• Q_COND The convective heat flux into the computational domain. q̇′′c is the heat convected from the
gas to a surface. If the gas is relatively hot and the surfaces/particles/droplets relatively cool, Q_COND

371
 is negative. At OPEN boundaries, Q_COND is k∇T · dS, where k (kW/(m·K)) is the turbulent thermal
R

conductivity of the gas and ∇T is the temperature gradient across the open boundary. q̇p,w is the energy
transferred from a solid surface (wall) to a droplet or particle adhering to it. Notice that it is subtracted
off in Q_PART because it makes no contribution to the energy of the gas.

• Q_PRES The work done by volumetric expansion (kW).

• Q_PART The rate of energy gained by the gas from liquid droplets or solid particles. q̇p,r is the radiation
absorbed by a droplet or particle (kW). q̇p,c is the energy transferred via convection from the gas to a
droplet or particle (kW). q̇p,w is the energy transferred from a solid surface (wall) to a droplet or particle
adhering to it.

An additional column, Q_TOTAL, includes the sum of the terms on the right hand side of the equation. Note
that this summation does not include HRR_OX, as explained above. Ideally, this sum should equal the term
on the left, Q_ENTH. All terms are reported in units of kW.
The other columns in the CHID_hrr.csv file contain the total burning rate of fuel, in units of kg/s,
and the zone pressures. Note that the reported value of the burning rate is not adjusted to account for the
possibility that each individual material might have a different heat of combustion. For this reason, it is not
always the case that the reported total burning rate multiplied by the gas phase heat of combustion is equal
to the reported heat release rate.
Note that the volume integrations in Eq. (22.20) are performed over the entire domain. The differential,
dV , is the product of the local grid cell dimensions, dx dy dz. For the special case of two-dimensional
cylindrical coordinates, dV = r dr dθ dz, where r = x, dr = dx, and dθ = dy. In the 2D Cartesian case
(1 cell in the y direction, CYLINDRICAL=.FALSE.), the cell volumes and areas are divided by dy so that the
column output is a value per unit length (e.g., kW/m). In the 2D cylindrical case, the cell volumes are divided
by dy (which represents radians in this case) and multiplied by 2π to account for complete integration in
the θ direction. The resulting value is nominally the same as the corresponding 3D problem. An example is
shown in Fig. 22.3.
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
200

150

100

50

0
0 2 4 6 8 10

Figure 22.3: Heat release rate for the test_hrr_2d_cyl test case compared with the corresponding 3D problem.

As a test of the energy balance, a sample case called Pressure_Solver/[Link] simulates a fire
near the end of five connected hallways. The other end of the hallways is open. As is seen in Fig. 22.4,
the quantities Q_ENTH and Q_TOTAL are very closely matched, indicating that the sources of energy loss and
gain are properly added and subtracted from the energy equation. As expected, the net energy gain/loss
eventually goes to zero as the compartment reaches a quasi-steady state.

372
 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release

Energy Budget (hallways)

150

Rate of Energy Change (kW)

100
Q_ENTH
Q_TOTAL

50

0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time (s)

Figure 22.4: The energy budget for the hallways test case.

22.10.2 Gas Species Mass

If you set MASS_FILE=T on the DUMP line, a file called CHID_mass.csv is produced that lists the total mass
of all gas species as a function of time. This flag is F by default because the calculation of all gas species in
all mesh cells is time-consuming. The parameter DT_MASS or RAMP_MASS controls the frequency of output.

22.10.3 Mass Loss Rates

The rate at which gas species are generated at solid surfaces, solid particles, or liquid droplets is recorded
in the file CHID_hrr.csv. This file is automatically generated; the only input parameters associated with
it are DT_HRR and RAMP_HRR on the DUMP line. This file contains quantities related to the energy budget
(Sec. 22.10.1), and the pressures of user-designated pressure zones (Sec. 22.10.4). The generation rates of
all lumped gas species are given in units of kg/s.

22.10.4 Zone Pressures

If you specify pressure ZONEs; that is, specific areas of the domain where the background pressure rises
above ambient, the pressure of each zone is listed in the file CHID_hrr.csv.

22.10.5 Visibility and Obscuration

If you are performing a fire calculation using the simple chemistry approach, the smoke is tracked along
with all other major products of combustion. The most useful quantity for assessing visibility in a space is
the light extinction coefficient, K [83]. The intensity of monochromatic light passing a distance L through
smoke is attenuated according to
I/I0 = e−KL (22.21)
The light extinction coefficient, K, is a product of a mass specific extinction coefficient, Km , which is fuel
dependent, and the density of smoke particulate, ρYS

K = Km ρ YS (22.22)

Devices that output a % obscuration such as a DEVC with a QUANTITY of 'ASPIRATION', 'CHAMBER OBSCURATION'
(smoke detector), or 'PATH OBSCURATION' (beam detector) are discussed respectively in Sec. 18.3.7, Sec. 18.3.5,
and Sec. 18.3.6.

373
 Estimates of visibility through smoke can be made by using the equation

S = C/K (22.23)

where C is a non-dimensional constant characteristic of the type of object being viewed through the smoke,
i.e., C = 8 for a light-emitting sign and C = 3 for a light-reflecting sign [83]. Since K varies from point to
point in the domain, the visibility S does as well.
Three parameters control smoke production and visibility. The first is the SOOT_YIELD on the REAC
line, defined as the fraction of fuel mass that is converted to soot if the simple chemistry approach is being
used. The second parameter, MASS_EXTINCTION_COEFFICIENT, is the Km in Eq. (22.22). It is defined on
one or more of the SPEC lines for the various light absorbing gas species. When using the simple chemistry
combustion model, you can change the default mass extinction coefficient by adding a line to the input file of
the form: &SPEC ID='SOOT', MASS_EXTINCTION_COEFFICIENT=..., LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY=T /. Its
default value is 8700 m2 /kg, a value suggested for flaming combustion of wood and plastics7 . The third
parameter, VISIBILITY_FACTOR on the MISC line, is the constant C in Eq. (22.23). It is 3 by default.
The gas phase output quantity 'EXTINCTION COEFFICIENT' is K. A similar quantity is the 'OPTICAL
DENSITY', D = K/2.3, the result of using log10 in the definition

1 I
 
D ≡ − log10 = K log10 e (22.24)
L I0

The visibility S is output via the QUANTITY called 'VISIBILITY'. Note that, by default, the visibility is
associated with the smoke that is implicitly defined by the simple chemistry model. However, this quantity
can also be associated with an explicitly defined species via the inclusion of a SPEC_ID. In other words, you
can specify the output quantity 'VISIBILITY' along with a SPEC_ID. This does not require that you do a
simple chemistry calculation; only that you have specified the given species via a separate SPEC line. You
can specify a unique MASS_EXTINCTION_COEFFICIENT on the SPEC line as well.
Note that FDS cannot report a visibility of infinity, but rather reports a MAXIMUM_VISIBILITY that you
can control via the MISC line. The default is 30 m.

22.10.6 Flame Height and Flame Tilt

The “flame height,” and to some extent the “flame tilt,” are common quantities used to assess the hazard
from a large fire. FDS does not output these quantities directly, but there is a combination of devices and
controls that yield these values. This is all best explained with an example. Suppose you are simulating
a fire in a domain that is 10 m high with a grid resolution of 0.2 m. The fire is centered about the point
(x, y) = (0, 0) at z = 0. The following input lines compute the flame height and tilt:

&DEVC ID='HRR', Z_ID='z', XBP=0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.1,9.9, QUANTITY='HRRPUV',

SPATIAL_STATISTIC='VOLUME INTEGRAL', DX=5, DY=5, DZ=0.1, POINTS=100,
STATISTICS_START=10. /
&CTRL ID='H', FUNCTION_TYPE='PERCENTILE', INPUT_ID='HRR', PERCENTILE=0.97 /
&DEVC ID='x_max', XB=-5,5,-5,5,9.0,9.2, QUANTITY='TEMPERATURE',
SPATIAL_STATISTIC='MAXLOC X' /
&DEVC ID='y_max', XB=-5,5,-5,5,9.0,9.2, QUANTITY='TEMPERATURE',
SPATIAL_STATISTIC='MAXLOC Y' /
&CTRL ID='x2', FUNCTION_TYPE='POWER', INPUT_ID='x_max','CONSTANT', CONSTANT=2 /
&CTRL ID='y2', FUNCTION_TYPE='POWER', INPUT_ID='y_max','CONSTANT', CONSTANT=2 /
&CTRL ID='r2', FUNCTION_TYPE='SUM', INPUT_ID='x2','y2' /
&CTRL ID='r', FUNCTION_TYPE='POWER', INPUT_ID='r2','CONSTANT', CONSTANT=0.5 /
7 For most flaming fuels, a suggested value for Km is 8700 m2 /kg ± 1100 m2 /kg at a wavelength of 633 nm [84]

374
&CTRL ID='r/9', FUNCTION_TYPE='DIVIDE', INPUT_ID='d','CONSTANT', CONSTANT=9 /
&CTRL ID='tilt_rad', FUNCTION_TYPE='ATAN', INPUT_ID='r/9' /
&CTRL ID='tilt_deg', FUNCTION_TYPE='MULTIPLY', INPUT_ID='tilt_rad','CONSTANT',
CONSTANT=57.296 /
&CTRL ID='cos_theta', FUNCTION_TYPE='COS', INPUT_ID='tilt_rad' /
&CTRL ID='L', FUNCTION_TYPE='DIVIDE', INPUT_ID='H','cos_theta' /
&DEVC ID='L_F', CTRL_ID='L', XYZ=0,0,0, QUANTITY='CONTROL VALUE',
TEMPORAL_STATISTIC='RUNNING AVERAGE', STATISTICS_START=10, UNITS='m' /
&DEVC ID='tilt', CTRL_ID='tilt_deg', XYZ=0,0,0, QUANTITY='CONTROL VALUE',
TEMPORAL_STATISTIC='RUNNING AVERAGE', STATISTICS_START=10, UNITS='deg' /

• ID='HRR' Compute a vertical array of heat release rates over horizontal slices that are one cell thick.

• ID='H' Take the function ('z','HRR') and compute the height below which 97 % of the fire’s energy
is released.

• ID='x_max' Find the x coordinate of the point of maximum temperature within the volume defined by
XB. Do the same for the y coordinate.

• ID='x2','y2','r2','r','r/9' Determine the radial distance from the origin to the point of maximum
temperature. Divide this distance by the height of the slice within which you located the maximum
temperature, z = 9.

• ID='tilt_rad','tilt_deg' Calculate the arctangent of 'r/9' to determine the tilt angle in radians.
Then convert this value to degrees.

• ID='cos_theta' Calculate the cosine of the tilt angle.

• ID='L' Divide the vertical flame height by the cosine of the tilt angle to arrive at the length of the flame.

• ID='L_F','tilt' Print out the flame length and tilt angle to the device file using a running average to
smooth the noisy data.

To better understand the control logic, see Sec. 18.4. Pay particular attention to the averaging periods, start
times, etc. You do not want to begin a running average until the fire plume has stabilized. Practice with
some simple cases before implementing this in a complex simulation.

22.10.7 Layer Height and the Average Upper and Lower Layer Temperatures
Fire protection engineers often need to estimate the location of the interface between the hot, smoke-laden
upper layer and the cooler lower layer in a burning compartment. Relatively simple fire models, often re-
ferred to as two-zone models, compute this quantity directly, along with the average temperature of the upper
and lower layers. In a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model like FDS, there are not two distinct zones,
but rather a continuous profile of temperature. Nevertheless, there are methods that have been developed
to estimate layer height and average temperatures from a continuous vertical profile of temperature. One
such method [85] is as follows: Consider a continuous function T (z) defining temperature T as a function
of height above the floor z, where z = 0 is the floor and z = H is the ceiling. Define Tu as the upper layer
temperature, Tl as the lower layer temperature, and zint as the interface height. Compute the quantities:
Z H
(H − zint ) Tu + zint Tl = T (z) dz = I1
0

375
 Z H
1 1 1
(H − zint ) + zint = dz = I2
Tu Tl 0 T (z)

Solve for zint :

Tl (I1 I2 − H 2 )
zint = (22.25)
I1 + I2 Tl2 − 2 Tl H
Let Tl be the temperature in the lowest mesh cell and perform the numerical integration of I1 and I2 . Tu is
defined as the average upper layer temperature via
Z H
(H − zint ) Tu = T (z) dz (22.26)
zint

Further discussion of similar procedures can be found in Ref. [86].

The quantities 'LAYER HEIGHT', 'UPPER TEMPERATURE' and 'LOWER TEMPERATURE' can be designated
via DEVC lines in the input file. For example, the line:

&DEVC XB=2.0,2.0,3.0,3.0,0.0,3.0, QUANTITY='LAYER HEIGHT', ID='whatever' /

produces a time history of the smoke layer height at x = 2 and y = 3 between z = 0 and z = 3.

22.10.8 Thermocouples
The output quantity THERMOCOUPLE is the temperature of a modeled thermocouple. The thermocouple tem-
perature lags the true gas temperature by an amount determined mainly by its bead size. It is found by
solving the following equation for the thermocouple temperature, TTC [87]
DTC dTTC 4
ρTC cTC = εTC (U/4 − σ TTC ) + h(Tg − TTC ) (22.27)
6 dt
where εTC is the emissivity of the thermocouple, U is the integrated radiative intensity, Tg is the true gas
temperature, and h is the heat transfer coefficient to a small sphere, h = k Nu/DTC . The bead DIAMETER,
EMISSIVITY, DENSITY, and SPECIFIC_HEAT are given on the associated PROP line. To over-ride the calcu-
lated value of the heat transfer coefficient, set HEAT_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT on the PROP line (W/(m K)).
The default value for the bead diameter is 0.001 m. The default emissivity is 0.85. The default values for
the bead density and specific heat are that of nickel; 8908 kg/m3 and 0.44 kJ/kg/K, respectively. See the
discussion on heat transfer to a water droplet in the Technical Reference Guide for details of the convective
heat transfer to a small sphere.
The above discussion is appropriate for a so-called “bare bead” thermocouple, but often thermocouples
are shielded or sheathed in various ways to mitigate the effect of thermal radiation. In such cases, there
is no obvious bead diameter and there may be multiple metals and air gaps in the construction. Usually,
the manufacturer provides a time constant, which is defined as the time required for the sensor to respond
to 63.2 % of its total output signal when suddenly plunged into a warm air stream flowing at 20 m/s. The
analysis and testing is typically done at relatively low temperature, in which case the radiation term in
Eq. (22.27) can be neglected and the time constant, τ, can be defined in terms of effective thermal properties
and an effective diameter:
Deff ρeff ceff k Nu ρ∥u∥Deff
τ= ; h= ; Nu = 2 + 0.6 Re1/2 Pr1/3 ; Re = (22.28)
6h Deff µ
For a given value of the time constant, τ, and effective thermal properties, Eq. (22.28) can be solved implic-
itly for the effective diameter. The TIME_CONSTANT is specified on a PROP line which is identified by the DEVC

376
line using a PROP_ID. If you specify the TIME_CONSTANT, you can still specify the effective EMISSIVITY,
DENSITY, SPECIFIC_HEAT, and HEAT_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT as well, but not the DIAMETER because this
will be calculated automatically. In most cases, it is sufficient to simply specify the TIME_CONSTANT.
Figure 22.5 shows the results of a simple test case called thermocouple_time_constant whose input
file is in the Heat_Transfer samples folder. Three thermocouples with given time constants of 0.5 s, 3.0 s,
and 8.0 s are suddenly subjected to a 20 m/s air stream of 30 ◦ C. It is expected that each TC should reach a
temperature of 26.32 ◦ C at their given time constants.
FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
35
Bead Temperature (thermocouple_time_constant)

Temperature (°C) 30

25
Exact (0.5 s)
Exact (3.0 s)
20 Exact (8.0 s)
FDS (0.5 s)
FDS (3.0 s)
FDS (8.0 s)
15
0 5 10 15 20
Time (s)

Figure 22.5: Temperature response of thermocouples with time constants of 0.5 s, 3.0 s, and 8.0 s compared with the
exact solution of Eq. (22.27).

22.10.9 Volume Flow

A common quantity related to heating and ventilation systems is volume flow, typically denoted V̇ and
expressed in units of m3 /s or ft3 /min. The way volume flow output is specified depends on whether it is at a
boundary or completely within the gas phase.

Volume Flow in the Gas Phase

Consider a flow of gases through a window located at x = x0 and bounded by y1 ≤ y ≤ y2 and z1 ≤ z ≤ z2 .
Its volume flow is given by:
Z z2 Z y2 k2 j2
V̇ (t) = u(x0 , y, z) dy dz ≈ ∑ ∑ ui jk δ y δ z (22.29)
z1 y1 k=k1 j= j1

To specify volume flow as an output, use an input line like the following:

&DEVC ID='Vdot', XB=X0,X0,Y1,Y2,Z1,Z2, QUANTITY='U-VELOCITY',

SPATIAL_STATISTIC='AREA INTEGRAL' /

This produces a column in the CHID_devc.csv containing the time history of the volume flow (m3 /s) through
the window. Note that if the gas is flowing in the positive coordinate direction, the volume flow is positive.
You can reverse the sign by adding CONVERSION_FACTOR=-1 to the DEVC line. If you want to distinguish the
inflow from the outflow through the same window, use the parameters QUANTITY_RANGE(1:2) to set upper or
lower bounds. For example, if you only want to record the volume flow in the negative coordinate direction,
set QUANTITY_RANGE(2)=0, meaning that positive values of velocity are not counted in the summation.

377
Volume Flow at a Boundary
To record the volume flow at a solid surface or vent, add a line like the following:

&DEVC ID='Vdot', XB=..., QUANTITY='NORMAL VELOCITY', SURF_ID='...',

SPATIAL_STATISTIC='SURFACE INTEGRAL' /

This line instructs FDS to sum the normal component of velocity over any surface with the given SURF_ID
within the volume bounded by XB. Note that a flow entering into the computational domain is negative.
Even though you may only be interested in the volume flow through a plane, provide an actual volume
using XB to ensure that even if the vent or obstruction is snapped to the nearest grid cell, the area over which
the integral is summed will not fall outside of your specified volume limits.

22.10.10 Mass Flow

There are several output options for mass flux and mass flow depending on whether a gas or solid phase
quantity is desired, and the level of precision desired.

Mass Flow in the Gas Phase

The mass flow of gas species α through a window located at x = x0 and bounded by y1 ≤ y ≤ y2 and
z1 ≤ z ≤ z2 is given by:
k2 j2
ρi jkYi jk + ρi+1, jkYi+1, jk
Z z2 Z y2
ṁα (t) = ρYα u dy dz ≈ ∑ ∑ ui jk δ y δ z (22.30)
z1 y1 k=k1 j= j1 2

To instruct FDS to output this quantity, use the input line:

&DEVC ID='m-dot', XB=x0,x0,y1,y2,z1,z2, QUANTITY='MASS FLUX X', SPEC_ID='ALPHA',

SPATIAL_STATISTIC='AREA INTEGRAL' /

To limit the integration to only flow in the positive or negative coordinate direction, set QUANTITY_RANGE(1)
or QUANTITY_RANGE(2) to zero. If you want the total mass flow, omit the SPEC_ID.
'MASS FLUX X' and its y and z counterparts are only estimates of the actual computed mass flux for two
reasons.

1. These quantities use an estimate of the flux-limiting mass flux terms that are computed by FDS. Notice
in Eq. (22.30) that the density ρ and mass fraction Yα are approximated at the forward x face of cell
i jk with a simple average. The actual discrete approximation is more complicated than this, but these
flux-limiting mass flux terms are normally not saved outside of the routine where they are computed.

2. If a SPEC_ID is specified, Eq. (22.30) represents only the advective component of the total mass flux. In
turbulent flows, the diffusive component, which includes turbulent diffusion, can be significant.

If you want more precise output that includes the diffusive component of the mass flux and the exact flux
limiter for the advective component, specify 'TOTAL MASS FLUX X' rather than 'MASS FLUX X' (or the y
or z coordinate analogs). If you want to get a breakdown of the components, specify 'ADVECTIVE MASS
FLUX X' and 'DIFFUSIVE MASS FLUX X' as well. Take care to specify XB in unambiguous cell locations
(i.e., not directly on a cell face or boundary). With a DEVC in cell (I,J,K) the flux will be reported from the
(I+1/2,J,K) face, etc., on the staggered grid.

378
Mass Flow at a Boundary
There are three quantities that may be used for recording the mass flux of a particular gas species at a
boundary: 'MASS FLUX', 'MASS FLUX WALL', and TOTAL MASS FLUX WALL'. Each takes a SPEC_ID if a
particular gas species is desired; otherwise the sum of all gas species is given. The difference between the
outputs is that 'MASS FLUX' refers to the generation rate of a gas species or solid material component at a
solid boundary, whether it be user-specified or the result of a pyrolysis model. 'MASS FLUX WALL', on the
other hand, is the actual computed mass flux which might be slightly different than 'MASS FLUX' due to
small numerical error in the normal component of velocity at a solid wall. That is, 'MASS FLUX WALL' is a
direct computation of
ṁα = ρYα un − ρDα ∂Yα /∂ n (22.31)
where n is the normal direction of the surface. The third mass flux output option is called 'TOTAL MASS
FLUX WALL'. This quantity is very similar to 'MASS FLUX WALL' except that it combines the predicted and
corrected mass flux over a single time step. It is the boundary analog of the gas phase quantities 'TOTAL
MASS FLUX X/Y/Z'.
For each form of the boundary mass flux, a positive value means that mass is entering the computational
domain. These quantities may be applied at a solid surface or vent. 'MASS FLUX WALL' and 'TOTAL MASS
FLUX WALL' can also be applied at an OPEN boundary.
To demonstrate the difference between these various forms of mass flux output, consider Fig. 22.6.
These plots show the spatially integrated mass flux of gas from a solid surface, where the mass flux has
been ramped up linearly for 10 s, held steady for 20 s, and ramped down to zero linearly for 10 s. The
'MASS FLUX' output merely mimics this specified curve. The 'MASS FLUX WALL' and 'TOTAL MASS FLUX
WALL' output exhibit fluctuations caused by the fact that the mass flux is not perfectly applied at the solid
surface—there are small fluctuations in the normal component of velocity caused by the inexact velocity-
pressure coupling at the boundary. These fluctuations are minor and average out close to the specified value,
but sometimes it is useful to use the more exact output quantities for diagnostic purposes.
-3 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release -3 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
10 10
2 1.7
Mass Flow (mass_flux_comparison) Mass Flow (mass_flux_comparison)

1.5 1.65
Mass Flow (kg/s)

Mass Flow (kg/s)

1 1.6

0.5 Ideal Mass Flow 1.55 Ideal Mass Flow

MASS FLUX MASS FLUX
MASS FLUX WALL MASS FLUX WALL
TOTAL MASS FLUX WALL TOTAL MASS FLUX WALL
0 1.5
0 10 20 30 40 50 15 20 25
Time (s) Time (s)

Figure 22.6: (Left) Mass flow rate of a gas from a solid boundary. (Right) Close-up view.

379
22.10.11 Enthalpy Flow
Enthalpy Flow in the Gas Phase
The flow of enthalpy through a window located at x = x0 and bounded by y1 ≤ y ≤ y2 and z1 ≤ z ≤ z2 is
given by:

∂T
Z z 2 Z y2  
q̇(t) = ρ(hs (T ) − hs (T∞ ))u − k dy dz ≈
z1 y1 ∂x
k2 j2 
Ti+1, jk − Ti jk
  
∑ ∑ ρi+ 21 , jk hs (Ti+ 12 , jk ) − hs (T∞ ) ui jk − ki jk δ x δyδz (22.32)
k=k1 j= j1

To instruct FDS to output this quantity, use the input line:

&DEVC ID='q-dot', XB=x0,x0,y1,y2,z1,z2, QUANTITY='ENTHALPY FLUX X',

SPATIAL_STATISTIC='AREA INTEGRAL' /

Enthalpy Flow at a Boundary

'ENTHALPY FLUX WALL' is the equivalent of 'ENTHALPY FLUX X/Y/Z' at a boundary. It is the rate of energy
advected into the domain at a vent or open boundary:

∂T
q̇′′w = −ρw hs (Tw ) u · n − k (22.33)
∂n
where n is the coordinate direction pointing into the boundary; that is, out of the computational domain.
Note that the enthalpy flux at a boundary is defined using the density, temperature, and sensible enthalpy of
the gas mixture at the boundary, and is not relative to ambient conditions like its gas phase counterparts. For
this reason, this quantity is often used in energy budget calculations to track the flow of enthalpy into and
out of the computational domain. The quantity is positive for gas flow into the domain.

22.10.12 Heat Flux

There are various output quantities related to the thermal exposure of solid surfaces.

• 'TOTAL HEAT FLUX' The rate of radiative and convective energy absorbed at a solid surface:

q̇′′tot = εs q̇′′inc − σ Ts4 + hc (Tg − Ts ) (22.34)

where q̇′′inc is the incident radiative heat flux, εs is the surface emissivity, hc is the convective heat transfer
coefficient, Ts is the surface temperature, and Tg is the gas temperature in the vicinity of the surface. The
convective heat transfer coefficient is calculated by FDS using the specified surface properties and the
calculated near-boundary flow characteristics.

• 'RADIATIVE HEAT FLUX' The net radiative component of Eq. (22.34), q̇′′r = εs q̇′′inc − σ Ts4 .

• 'CONVECTIVE HEAT FLUX' The convective component of Eq. (22.34), q̇′′c = hc (Tg − Ts ).

• 'CONVECTIVE HEAT FLUX GAUGE' The convective component of Eq. (22.35), q̇′′c,gauge = hc (Tg −Tgauge ).

• 'INCIDENT HEAT FLUX' The term q̇′′inc in Eq. (22.34).

380
• 'GAUGE HEAT FLUX' This quantity simulates a measurement made with a water-cooled heat flux gauge:
4
q̇′′gauge = εgauge q̇′′inc − σ Tgauge + hc (Tg − Tgauge ) (22.35)

If the heat flux gauge used in an experiment has a temperature other than ambient or an emissivity
other than 1, specify GAUGE_TEMPERATURE (Tgauge , ◦ C) and GAUGE_EMISSIVITY (εgauge ) on the PROP line
associated with the device:

&DEVC ID='hf', XYZ=..., IOR=-2, QUANTITY='GAUGE HEAT FLUX', PROP_ID='hfp' /

&PROP ID='hfp', GAUGE_TEMPERATURE=80., GAUGE_EMISSIVITY=0.9 /

By default, the heat transfer coefficient, hc , in Eq. (22.35) is calculated at the solid surface to which the
device is attached, based on the specified surface properties and characteristics of the surrounding flow
field. However, you may specify a fixed HEAT_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT (W/(m2 ·K)) for the gauge on
the PROP line.

• 'GAUGE HEAT FLUX GAS' The same as 'GAUGE HEAT FLUX', except that it can be located anywhere
within the computational domain and not just at a solid surface. It also has an arbitrary ORIENTATION
vector that points in any desired direction. The ORIENTATION vector need not be normalized, as in the
following:

&DEVC ID='hf', QUANTITY='GAUGE HEAT FLUX GAS', XYZ=..., ORIENTATION=-1,1,0,

PROP_ID='my gauge' /
&PROP ID='my gauge', GAUGE_EMISSIVITY=0.85, HEAT_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT=15. /

The GAUGE_TEMPERATURE, Tgauge , GAUGE_EMISSIVITY, εgauge , and HEAT_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT, hc

(W/(m2 K)), can be specified using a PROP line that is referenced by the DEVC line. Their default values
are TMPA, 1, and 10, respectively.
Note that the parameter SPATIAL_STATISTIC is not appropriate for this quantity, meaning that you
cannot integrate this quantity over a plane or volume. However, you can use the parameter POINTS to
create a one-dimensional array of these devices (see Sec. 22.2.5).

• 'RADIOMETER' Similar to a water-cooled heat flux gauge, except that this quantity measures only the net
radiative component:
4
q̇′′radiometer = εgauge q̇′′inc − σ Tgauge (22.36)

The GAUGE_TEMPERATURE (Tgauge , ◦ C) and GAUGE_EMISSIVITY (εgauge ) can be set on the PROP line asso-
ciated with the device if their values are different than ambient and 1, respectively.
The quantity RADIOMETER is based on the ellipsoidal radiometer concept first proposed by Nils-Erik
Gunners and described in the Ref. [88]. The intent of such a device is to eliminate the contribution of
convection from the measurement.

• 'RADIOMETER GAS' The same as 'RADIOMETER' described above, except it can located anywhere within
the computational domain and not just at a solid surface. It also has an arbitrary ORIENTATION vector
that points in any desired direction, much like a heat flux gauge. The ORIENTATION vector need not be
normalized, as in the following:

&DEVC ID='hf', QUANTITY='RADIOMETER GAS', XYZ=..., ORIENTATION=-1,1,0/

381
 Note that the parameter SPATIAL_STATISTIC is not appropriate for this quantity, meaning that you
cannot integrate this quantity over a plane or volume. However, you can use the parameter POINTS to
create a one-dimensional array of these devices (see Sec. 22.2.5).

• 'RADIATIVE HEAT FLUX GAS' This output quantity is the same as 'RADIATIVE HEAT FLUX' described
above, except it can located anywhere within the computational domain and not just at a solid surface.
It also has an arbitrary ORIENTATION vector that points in any desired direction, much like a heat flux
gauge. The ORIENTATION vector need not be normalized, as in the following:

&DEVC ID='hf', QUANTITY='RADIATIVE HEAT FLUX GAS', XYZ=..., ORIENTATION=-1,1,0/

Note that the parameter SPATIAL_STATISTIC is not appropriate for this quantity, meaning that you
cannot integrate this quantity over a plane or volume. However, you can use the parameter POINTS to
create a one-dimensional array of these devices (see Sec. 22.2.5).

• 'RADIANCE' The radiation intensity at the point, x, and direction angle, s, where the summation is over
all spectral bands:
N
I(x, s) = ∑ In (x, s) (22.37)
n=1

This output quantity is specified in a similar way as 'RADIATIVE HEAT FLUX GAS' in that a surrogate
target particle is placed at the point XYZ with an ORIENTATION vector pointing in any desired direction.

&DEVC ID='rad2', QUANTITY='RADIANCE', XYZ=..., ORIENTATION=-1,0,0 /

The units for 'RADIANCE' are kW/m2 /sr.

For QUANTITY types ending in GAS, a view angle for the radiation component of the device can be set
using VIEW_ANGLE on PROP. Wall devices can only have a 180◦ view angle.

22.10.13 Adiabatic Surface Temperature

FDS includes a calculation of the adiabatic surface temperature (AST), a way of expressing the thermal
exposure of a solid surface. Following the idea proposed by Ulf Wickström [89], TAST is the surface tem-
perature for which the total heat flux defined by Eq. (22.34) is zero. The following equation can be solved
using an analytical solution given by Malendowski [90]:
4
εs q̇′′inc − σ TAST + hc (Tg − TAST ) = 0 (22.38)

where, q̇′′inc is the incident radiative heat flux onto the surface, εs is the surface emissivity, hc is the convective
heat transfer coefficient, and Tg is the surrounding gas temperature.
To output the AST at a single point on a solid surface, include a device as follows:

&DEVC ID='AST', XYZ=..., IOR=..., QUANTITY='ADIABATIC SURFACE TEMPERATURE' /

Note that IOR specifies the orientation of the surface. To produce a contour plot of AST on all solid surfaces,
include a boundary file as follows:

&BNDF QUANTITY='ADIABATIC SURFACE TEMPERATURE' /

382
The usefulness of the AST is that it represents an effective exposure temperature that can be passed on
to a more detailed model of the solid object. It provides the gas phase thermal boundary condition in a
single quantity, and it is not affected by the uncertainty associated with the solid phase heat conduction
model within FDS. Obviously, the objective in passing information to a more detailed model is to get a
better prediction of the solid temperature (and ultimately its mechanical response) than FDS can provide.
To reinforce this notion, you can output the adiabatic surface temperature even when there is no actual solid
surface in your model using the following lines:

&DEVC ID='AST', XYZ=..., QUANTITY='ADIABATIC SURFACE TEMPERATURE GAS',

ORIENTATION=0.707,0.0,0.707, PROP_ID='props' /
&PROP ID='props', EMISSIVITY=0.9, HEAT_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT=10. /

This output indicates the maximum achievable solid surface temperature at the given location XYZ that is not
actually in the vicinity of any solid surface, facing in any direction as indicated by the ORIENTATION vector.
Note that you must set the EMISSIVITY and HEAT_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT (W/(m2 ·K)) on the PROP line
because there is no actual solid surface from which to infer these values. In fact, FDS creates a Lagrangian
particle that records the AST at the desired location. FDS creates an INIT line to position the particle. If
you want to output other quantities at this point that are related to the AST, you can create another DEVC at
the same location and use INIT_ID to identify the DEVC line for the ADIABATIC SURFACE TEMPERATURE. For
example, you can output the heat transfer coefficient used in calculating the AST as follows:

&DEVC ID='AST', XYZ=..., QUANTITY='ADIABATIC SURFACE TEMPERATURE GAS', ... /

&DEVC ID='HTC', XYZ=..., QUANTITY='HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENT', INIT_ID='AST' /

Example: AST vs. Surface Temperature

The test case called adiabatic_surface_temperature.fds in the Radiation folder simulates a 0.1 mm
steel plate being heated by a thermal plume. The plate is perfectly insulated (BACKING='INSULATED' on
the SURF line) and its steady-state temperature should be equivalent to its adiabatic surface temperature or
AST. The left plot of Fig. 22.7 shows the plate temperature rising toward the AST, much as an actual plate
thermometer would. The right plot simply shows the AST calculated using the QUANTITY 'ADIABATIC
SURFACE TEMPERATURE' applied via a DEVC at the plate surface, and the AST calculated using the QUANTITY
'ADIABATIC SURFACE TEMPERATURE GAS' applied via a DEVC positioned just in front of the plate. The
idea of the latter device would be to record the AST even if the plate were not actually represented in
the simulation. For these two recordings of the AST to be identical, the plate SURFace conditions and
the AST-Gas PROPerties must both include the same explicitly-defined HEAT_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT and
EMISSIVITY.

22.10.14 Extracting Detailed Radiation Data

FDS solves the radiation transport equation (RTE) using a finite volume method in which the radiation
intensity is computed over a discrete number of solid angles. Because there are approximately 100 angles
by default, the angle-specific intensity values are not saved in the gas phase cells—only at boundaries.
However, there is a way to save these values into a file, which might be useful for transferring data to
another model or diagnosing problems with the RTE. This form of output is only appropriate when the
default gray gas radiation model is used, not the narrow-band model.
Data is saved within rectangular blocks of cells using one or more input lines of the form:

&RADF XB=..., I_STEP=2, J_STEP=3, K_STEP=1 /

383
 FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release FDS-6.10.1-0-g12efa16-release
500 500
Plate Temp vs AST (adiabatic_surface_temperature) Gas vs Solid AST (adiabatic_surface_temperature)
400 400
Temperature (°C)

Temperature (°C)
300 300

200 200

100 100
Plate (temp) AST
AST AST-Gas
0 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Time (s) Time (s)

Figure 22.7: (Left) Surface temperature vs. adiabatic surface temperature of an insulated plate. (Right) AST recorded
with a device positioned on the plate surface (AST) and one just off the surface (AST-Gas).

This line directs FDS to write out the radiation intensity, Iil jk (W/m2 /sr), for each cell with indices i jk that
is bounded by XB and for each solid angle l. You can skip cells using the parameters I_STEP, J_STEP, and
K_STEP, each of which default to 1. The print outs are done every DT_RADF s. This parameter is listed on the
DUMP line. The time interval, DT_RADF, has no default value and must be set.
Each output file is in text, not binary, format (for example, CHID_radf_n.txt). The format of the file is
shown in Fig. 22.8. NSTEPS is the number of TIMES that data is written out. NP is the number of points within
the block designated by XB on the RADF line of the input file. XYZ_INTENSITIES are the coordinates of the
NP points. NI is the number of solid angles, which are listed under XYZ_DIRECTIONS. A direction vector is a
normalized form of the discretized solid angle vector, (Dlx , Dly , Dlz ), that is described in the Radiation chapter
of the FDS Technical Reference Guide, Volume 1 [3].
Each TIME the intensities are written out, each cell in the designated block will list its temperature in
degrees K, a placeholder value of 0, and then the intensities at the NI solid angles in units of W/m2 /sr.

22.10.15 Flame Temperature

The output quantity 'TEMPERATURE' reports the average gas temperature within a gas phase grid cell. In a
typical fire simulation, combustion within the grid cell occurs over a flame sheet that is not resolvable on
the grid. Because the source term in the radiation transport equation is a function of the gas temperature to
the fourth power, the temperature in cells where combustion occurs is given an effective value so that the
user-specified RADIATIVE_FRACTION is achieved. The output quantity 'EFFECTIVE FLAME TEMPERATURE'
displays this modified temperature.
This quantity should not be taken as the adiabatic flame temperature. More details are given in Sec-
tion 14.1.3.

22.10.16 Detailed Spray Properties

Detailed experimental measurements of sprays8 using Phase Doppler Particle Analysis (PDPA) provide
information on the droplet size distribution, speed and concentration. A special device type is defined via
a DEVC line to simulate the PDPA measurement. The actual quantity to measure, and the details of the
measurement are defined using an associated PROP line.
8 The 'PDPA' output quantities generally apply to liquid droplets. However, they also can be applied to solid particles.

384
NSTEPS
2

TIMES
0.00
10.00

NP
3150

XYZ_INTENSITIES
2.350 1.350 0.050
.
.
.

NI
104

XYZ_DIRECTIONS
0.138 0.138 0.981
-0.138 0.138 0.981
.
.
.

TIME
0.00

INTENSITIES
293.15 0.00 133.17 133.17 133.17 133.17 133.17 ...
.
.
.

Figure 22.8: Format of RADF output file.

385
 By default, the PDPA device output at time t is computed as a time integral between ts (PDPA_START)
and te (PDPA_END): Z te
1
F(t) = f (t ′ ) dt ′ (22.39)
te − ts ts
but instantaneous values can be obtained by setting PDPA_INTEGRATE=.FALSE. on the corresponding PROP
line, in which case
F(t) ≡ f (t) (22.40)
The function f (t) has two forms:
1
∑i ni Dm
i φ ∑i ni φ
  m−n
f1 (t) = ; f2 (t) = (22.41)
∑i ni Dni V

where ni is the number of real particles represented by the single simulated particle, Di is the particle
diameter, and φ is the QUANTITY to be measured. In each case, the summation goes over all the particles
within a sphere with radius PDPA_RADIUS centered at the location given by XYZ on the DEVC line.
The first function, f1 (t), is used for the computation of various mean diameters, with associated proper-
ties defined using the following keywords on the PROP line:

• PDPA_M is the exponent m in the numerator.

• PDPA_N is the exponent n in denominator.

If m = n, the exponent 1/(m − n) is removed from the formula.

The second function, f2 (t), is used to compute mass and energy-related quantities without the diameter
weighting. The concentrations are based on the sampling volume, V , defined by PDPA_RADIUS. The options
for the QUANTITY, φ , are listed in Table 22.2.

Table 22.2: Output quantities available for PDPA.

QUANTITY φ f Units of f
'DIAMETER' (default) 1 f1 µm
'ENTHALPY' (4/3)πρi ri3 (c p,i (Ti )Ti − c p,i (Tm )Tm ) f2 kJ/m3
'PARTICLE FLUX X' (4/3)πρi ri3 ui f2 kg/(m2 s)
'PARTICLE FLUX Y' (4/3)πρi ri3 vi f2 kg/(m2 s)
'PARTICLE FLUX Z' (4/3)πρi ri3 wi f2 kg/(m2 s)
'U-VELOCITY' ui f1 m/s
'V-VELOCITY' vi f1 m/s
'W-VELOCITY' wi f1 m/s
1
'VELOCITY' (u2i + v2i + w2i ) 2 f1 m/s
'TEMPERATURE' Ti f1 ◦C

'MASS CONCENTRATION' (4/3)πρi ri3 f2 kg/m3

'NUMBER CONCENTRATION' 1 f2 particles/m3
∗ Tm is the melting temperature of the associated species.

It is also possible to output histograms of PDPA output quantities. When HISTOGRAM is set to T on
the PROP line, normalized histogram bin counts are output to a comma-separated value (.csv) file from all
devices (DEVC) associated with this PROP line. The number of bins and the limits of the histogram are

386
controlled by parameters on the PROP line. The value used in creating the histogram is Dm i φ . Note that
when the specified histogram QUANTITY is 'DIAMETER', the HISTOGRAM_LIMITS must be given in meters,
not microns. Values falling outside the histogram limits are included in the counts of the first and last bins.
Cumulative distributions can be output by setting HISTOGRAM_CUMULATIVE=T on the PROP line. To output
unnormalized counts or cumulative distribution, set HISTOGRAM_NORMALIZE to F. Note, however, that the
counts correspond to the super droplets/particles, not the numerical ones. Due to the stratified sampling
technique used (see Sec. 15.3.3), the counts are not necessarily integers.
The histogram output file contains two-columns for each device. The first column provides the values
of the bin center-points, and the second column provides the relative frequency. Volume and area based
distributions can be output by setting the PDPA_N parameter on the PROP line to 3 and 2 respectively. Notice
that this works differently from the mean diameter computation where the weighting is based on the PDPA_M
parameter.
The properties of the PDPA device are defined using the following parameters on the PROP line:

• PART_ID Name of the particle group to limit the computation to. Do not specify to account for all
particles.

• PDPA_START ts , starting time of time integration in seconds. PDPA output is always a running average
over time. As the spray simulation may contain some initial transient phase, it may be useful to specify
the starting time of data collection.

• PDPA_END te , ending time of time integration in seconds.

• PDPA_INTEGRATE A logical parameter for choosing between time integrated or instantaneous values. T
by default.

• PDPA_RADIUS Radius (m) of the sphere, centered at the device location, inside which the particles are
monitored.

• PDPA_NORMALIZE Can be set F to force V = 1 in the formula for f2 (t).

• QUANTITY Specified on PROP line for choosing the variable φ .

• HISTOGRAM_NBINS Number of bins used for the histogram.

The following example is used to measure the Sauter mean diameter, D32 , of the particle type 'water
drops', starting from time 5 s.

&PROP ID='pdpa_d32'
PART_ID='water drops'
PDPA_M=3
PDPA_N=2
PDPA_RADIUS=0.01
PDPA_START=5. /
&DEVC XYZ=0.0,0.0,1.0, QUANTITY='PDPA', PROP_ID='pdpa_d32' /

The following example is used to write out a histogram of droplet size using 20 equally sized bins between
0 and 2000 µm.

&PROP ID='pdpa_d'
PART_ID='water drops'
QUANTITY='DIAMETER'
PDPA_RADIUS=0.01

387
 PDPA_START=0.0
PDPA_M=1
HISTOGRAM=T
HISTOGRAM_NBINS=20
HISTOGRAM_LIMITS=0,2000E-6 /
&DEVC XYZ=0.0,0.0,1.0, QUANTITY='PDPA', PROP_ID='pdpa_d' /

The following example provides a normalized distribution of droplet volumes:

&PROP ID='Droplet volumetric distribution'

PART_ID='water-drops'
QUANTITY='DIAMETER'
PDPA_RADIUS=0.2
PDPA_START=2.0
PDPA_M=1
PDPA_N=3
HISTOGRAM=T
HISTOGRAM_NBINS=30
HISTOGRAM_CUMULATIVE=.FALSE.
HISTOGRAM_NORMALIZE=.TRUE.
HISTOGRAM_LIMITS=0,500e-6 /

22.10.17 Output Associated with Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA)

In addition to the profile (PROF) output, there are various additional quantities that are useful for monitoring
reacting surfaces. For example, 'WALL THICKNESS' gives the overall thickness of the solid surface element.
'SURFACE DENSITY' gives the overall mass per unit area for the solid surface element, computed as an
integral of material density over wall thickness. Both quantities are available both as DEVC and BNDF. For
the quantity 'SURFACE DENSITY', you can add a MATL_ID to get the surface density of a single component
of the solid material.

Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) Output

Thermogravimetric Analysis or TGA is a bench-scale measurement in which a very small solid material
sample is heated up at a constant rate. The results of a TGA measurement are presented in the form of a
normalized mass and normalized mass loss rate. Analogous quantities can be output from FDS:
.
′′ ′′
'NORMALIZED MASS' = ∑ mα (t) ∑ mα (0) (dimensionless)
α α
.
′′ ′′
'NORMALIZED MASS LOSS RATE' = ∑ ṁα (t) ∑ mα (0) (1/s)
α α

For both of these quantities, you can add a MATL_ID to get the normalized mass or mass loss rate of a single
component of the solid material, m′′α (t)/ ∑α m′′α (0).

Micro-Combustion Calorimetry (MCC) Output

Micro-Combustion Calorimetry or MCC is similar to TGA, except the vaporized gas is burned. The result
is a normalized heat release rate:
.
′′ ′′
'NORMALIZED HEAT RELEASE RATE' = ṁ f (t) ∆H ∑ mα (0) (W/g)
α

Note that ṁ′′F is the mass flux of fuel and ∆H is the heat of combustion.

388
Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) Output
Differential Scanning Calorimetry or DSC is a measurement of the rate of heat absorption by a small material
sample under constant heating. The result is a normalized heat absorption rate:
.
′′ ′′
'NORMALIZED HEATING RATE' = q̇c (t) ∑ mα (0) (W/g)
α

Note that it is assumed that the sample is heated purely by convection, in which case q̇′′c is the convective
heat flux.

22.10.18 Fractional Effective Dose (FED) and Fractional Irritant Concentration (FIC)
The Fractional Effective Dose index (FED), developed by Purser [91], is a commonly used measure of
human incapacitation due to the combustion gases. The FED value is calculated as

FEDtot = (FEDCO + FEDCN + FEDNOx + FLDirr ) × HVCO2 + FEDO2 (22.42)

The fraction of an incapacitating dose of CO is calculated as

Z t
FEDCO = 2.764 × 10−5 (CCO (t))1.036 dt (22.43)
0

where t is time in minutes and CCO is the CO concentration (ppm). The fraction of an incapacitating dose of
CN is calculated as Z t
1 CCN (t)
  
FEDCN = exp − 0.0045 dt (22.44)
0 220 43
where t is time in minutes and CCN is the concentration (ppm) of HCN corrected for the protective effect of
NO2 . CCN is calculated as
CCN = CHCN −CNO2 −CNO (22.45)
The fraction of an incapacitating dose of NOx is calculated as
Z t
CNOx (t)
FEDNOx = dt (22.46)
0 1500
where t is time in minutes and CNOx is the sum of NO and NO2 concentrations (ppm).
The Fractional Lethal Dose (FLD) of irritants is calculated as
Z t
CHCl (t) CHBr (t) CHF (t) CSO2 (t) CNO2 (t) CC3 H4 O (t) CCH2 O (t)

FLDirr = + + + + + + dt
0 FFLD,HCl FFLD,HBr FFLD,HF FFLD,SO2 FFLD,NO2 FFLD,C3 H4 O FFLD,CH2 O
(22.47)
where t is time in minutes, the nominators are the instantaneous concentrations (ppm) of each irritant and
the denominators are the exposure doses of respective irritants predicted to be lethal to half the population.
The lethal exposure doses [91] are given in Table 22.3. To include the effect of an irritant gas not listed in
the table, you should specify FFLD in ppm×min using the FLD_LETHAL_DOSE property of the corresponding
SPEC line.
The fraction of an incapacitating dose of low O2 hypoxia is calculated as
Z t
dt
FEDO2 = (22.48)
0 exp [8.13 − 0.54 (20.9 −CO2 (t))]

389
 Table 22.3: Coefficients used for the computation of irritant effects of gases.

HCl HBr HF SO2 NO2 C3 H4 O CH2 O

FFLD (ppm × min) 114000 114000 87000 12000 1900 4500 22500
FFIC (ppm) 900 900 900 120 350 20 30

where t is time in minutes and CO2 is the O2 concentration (volume percent). The hyperventilation factor
induced by carbon dioxide is calculated as
exp(0.1903CCO2 (t) + 2.0004)
HVCO2 = (22.49)
7.1
where t is time in minutes and CCO2 is the CO2 concentration (percent).
The Fractional Irritant Concentration (FIC), also developed by Purser [91], represents the toxic effect
which depends upon the immediate concentrations of irritants. The overall irritant concentration FIC is
calculated as
CHCl (t) CHBr (t) CHF (t) CSO2 (t) CNO2 (t) CC3 H4 O (t) CCH2 O (t)
FICirr = + + + + + + (22.50)
FFIC,HCl FFIC,HBr FFIC,HF FFIC,SO2 FFIC,NO2 FFIC,C3 H4 O FFIC,CH2 O
where the nominators are the instantaneous concentrations of each irritant and the denominators are the con-
centrations of respective irritants expected to cause incapacitation in half the population. The incapacitating
concentrations [91] are given in Table 22.3. To include the irritant effect of a gas not listed in the table, you
should specify FFIC in ppm using the FIC_CONCENTRATION property on the corresponding SPEC line.
The output quantities FED and FIC may be displayed either at a point via a device:

&DEVC ID='whatever', XYZ=..., QUANTITY='FED', PROP_ID='Activity Level' /

You can also visualize FIC as a contour slice. The output quantity FED cannot be directly output as a contour
slice, but it can be visualized as a slice in Smokeview if the slices for O2 , CO2 , and CO are defined in the
same plane:

&SLCF PBY=1.0, QUANTITY='VOLUME FRACTION', SPEC_ID='CARBON DIOXIDE' /

&SLCF PBY=1.0, QUANTITY='VOLUME FRACTION', SPEC_ID='CARBON MONOXIDE' /
&SLCF PBY=1.0, QUANTITY='VOLUME FRACTION', SPEC_ID='OXYGEN' /

Notice that all slices are defined on the same plane. If these slices are present, Smokeview can compute the
FED and display it as a contour slice.
Also note that device output for FED can make use of an optional activity level defined on a property
line:

&PROP ID='Activity Level', FED_ACTIVITY=3 /

The parameter FED_ACTIVITY is an integer denoting that the person is at rest (1), doing light work (2), or
doing heavy work (3). The default value is 2.

22.10.19 Histograms
It is sometimes useful to compile probability distribution functions (PDFs) or histograms of various output
quantities. Suppose, for example, you are monitoring the temperature at two locations, and in addition to

390
plots of the time histories, you want a PDF as well. Do something like following:

&DEVC XYZ=..., QUANTITY='TEMPERATURE', ID='T_1', PROP_ID='hist', HIDE_COORDINATES=F /

&DEVC XYZ=..., QUANTITY='TEMPERATURE', ID='T_2', PROP_ID='hist', HIDE_COORDINATES=T /
&PROP ID='hist'
HISTOGRAM=T
HISTOGRAM_NBINS=200
HISTOGRAM_LIMITS=0,2000e-6
HISTOGRAM_CUMULATIVE=F
HISTOGRAM_NORMALIZE=T /

When HISTOGRAM is set to T on the PROP line, normalized histogram bin counts are output to a comma-
separated value file (CHID_hist.csv). The parameter HISTOGRAM_NBINS is the number of bins dividing the
quantity range HISTOGRAM_LIMITS. Values falling outside the histogram limits are included in the counts
of the first and last bins. Cumulative distributions can be output by setting HISTOGRAM_CUMULATIVE=T. To
output unnormalized counts or a cumulative distribution, set HISTOGRAM_NORMALIZE=F.
The histogram output file contains two-columns for each device. The first column gives the bin center-
points, and the second column gives the relative frequency. The parameter HIDE_COORDINATES is handy
for suppressing the repeated entry of the first column when multiple devices use the same set of histogram
parameters.

22.10.20 Complex Terrain and Related Quantities

Complex terrain for wind and wildland fire simulations can be generated either by using an immersed bound-
ary GEOMetry. Visualizing output data on or just above complex terrain can be done in a few different ways.
The first method is via a “slice” file that conforms to the terrain. The following line illustrates how to
do it:

&SLCF AGL_SLICE=10., QUANTITY='TEMPERATURE' /

Instead of specifying a plane on which to draw contours of gas temperature, you specify that the contour
is to be located 10 m Above Ground Level (AGL). Adding VECTOR=T adds the option of showing velocity
vectors.
The second method of visualizing data on complex terrain is via a boundary (BNDF) file. Specify a solid
phase output quantity as you normally would, for example:

&BNDF QUANTITY='WALL TEMPERATURE' /

You may also specify an image file (.png) to overlay on the terrain via TERRAIN_IMAGE on the MISC line.

22.10.21 Wind and the Pressure Coefficient

In the field of wind engineering, a commonly used quantity is known as the PRESSURE_COEFFICIENT:
p − p∞
Cp = 1
(22.51)
2 ρ∞U
2

p∞ is the ambient, or “free stream” pressure, and ρ∞ is the ambient density. The parameter U is the free-
stream wind speed, given as CHARACTERISTIC_VELOCITY on the PROP line

&BNDF QUANTITY='PRESSURE COEFFICIENT', PROP_ID='U' /

&DEVC ID='Cp', XYZ=..., IOR=2, QUANTITY='PRESSURE COEFFICIENT', PROP_ID='U' /

391
&PROP ID='U', CHARACTERISTIC_VELOCITY=3.4 /

Thus, you can either paint values of Cp at all surface points, or create a single time history of Cp using a
single device at a single point.

Wall pressure, viscous stresses and integrated forces

If you desire to output the pressure on a point in the wall or viscous stress along the stream-wise direction
next to it, you can set devices in the form:

&DEVC ID='WP', XYZ=..., IOR=..., QUANTITY='WALL PRESSURE', SURF_ID='MySurf' /

&DEVC ID='WS', XYZ=..., IOR=..., QUANTITY='VISCOUS STRESS WALL ', SURF_ID='MySurf' /

The corresponding distributed forces at said point, projected in a specified direction, can be obtained adding
the vector triplet FORCE_DIRECTION. You can also integrate these distributed forces to obtain total pressure
and viscous forces on a surface. As an example, if you want to compute total forces on faces with SURF_
ID='MySurf', within a volume XB in the x direction, add:

&DEVC ID='PFx', XB=..., QUANTITY='WALL PRESSURE', SURF_ID='MySurf',

SPATIAL_STATISTIC='SURFACE INTEGRAL', FORCE_DIRECTION=1.,0.,0. /
&DEVC ID='VFx', XB=..., QUANTITY='VISCOUS STRESS WALL ',
SURF_ID='MySurf', SPATIAL_STATISTIC='SURFACE INTEGRAL',
FORCE_DIRECTION=1.,0.,0. /

22.10.22 Dry Volume and Mass Fractions

During actual experiments, species such as CO and CO2 are typically measured “dry”; that is, the water
vapor is removed from the gas sample prior to analysis. For easier comparison of FDS predictions with
measured data, you can specify the logical parameter DRY on a DEVC line that reports the 'MASS FRACTION'
or 'VOLUME FRACTION' of a species. For example, the first line reports the actual volume fraction of CO,
and the second line reports the output of a gas analyzer in a typical experiment.

&DEVC ID='wet CO', XYZ=..., QUANTITY='VOLUME FRACTION', SPEC_ID='CARBON MONOXIDE'/

&DEVC ID='dry CO', XYZ=..., QUANTITY='VOLUME FRACTION', SPEC_ID='CARBON MONOXIDE',
DRY=T /

22.10.23 Aerosol and Soot Concentration

Currently there are three different device options for outputting aerosol concentration (e.g., soot concentra-
tion) from FDS. It is important to recognize what each device is outputting so that the proper selection can
be made.

&DEVC ID='MF_SOOT', XYZ=..., QUANTITY='MASS FRACTION', SPEC_ID='SOOT'/

&DEVC ID='VF_SOOT', XYZ=..., QUANTITY='VOLUME FRACTION', SPEC_ID='SOOT'/
&DEVC ID='SOOT_VF', XYZ=..., QUANTITY='AEROSOL VOLUME FRACTION', SPEC_ID='SOOT'/

Specifying a DEVC with a 'MASS FRACTION' and a SPEC_ID of SOOT will output the mass fraction of soot in
the gas phase. The quantity 'VOLUME FRACTION' and a SPEC_ID of SOOT will output the volume fraction of
soot in the gas phase treating the soot as if it were an ideal gas. The quantity 'AEROSOL VOLUME FRACTION'

392
and a SPEC_ID of 'SOOT' will output the volume fraction of soot as if it were a solid particle in the compu-
tational cell based on the following equation,

fv = ρYa /ρa (22.52)

where ρ is the local density, Ya is the local mass fraction of the aerosol, and ρa is density of the aerosol
defined using the SPEC input DENSITY_SOLID. The default value for DENSITY_SOLID is SOOT_DENSITY on
MISC, which defaults to 1800 kg/m3 for soot [92].

22.10.24 Gas Velocity

The gas velocity components, u, v, and w, can be output as slice (SLCF), point device (DEVC), isosurface
(ISOF), or Plot3D quantities using the names 'U-VELOCITY', 'V-VELOCITY', and 'W-VELOCITY'. The total
velocity is specified as just 'VELOCITY'. Normally, the velocity is always positive, but you can use the
parameter VELO_INDEX with a value of 1, 2 or 3 to indicate that the velocity ought to have the same sign as
u, v, or w, respectively. This is handy if you are comparing velocity predictions with measurements. For
Plot3D files, add PLOT3D_VELO_INDEX(N)=... to the DUMP line, where N refers to the Plot3D quantity 1, 2,
3, 4 or 5.

22.10.25 Enthalpy
There are several outputs that report the enthalpy of the gas mixture. First, the 'SPECIFIC ENTHALPY' and
the 'SPECIFIC SENSIBLE ENTHALPY' are defined:
Z T Z T
h(T ) = ∆h◦f + ′
c p (T ) dT ′
; hs (T ) = c p (T ′ ) dT ′ (22.53)
Tref Tref

Both have units of kJ/kg. The quantities 'ENTHALPY' and 'SENSIBLE ENTHALPY' are ρh and ρhs , respec-
tively, in units of kJ/m3 .

22.10.26 Computer Performance

There are several useful DEVC QUANTITY’s that can help monitor the performance of your computer:
• 'ACTUATED SPRINKLERS' Number of activated sprinklers.

• 'CFL MAX' The maximum value of the CFL (Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy) number, the primary constraint
on the time step, for the mesh in which the device is located. By default, the time step is chosen so that
the CFL number remains within the range of 0.8 to 1.0. If you want to see the CFL number in each grid
cell, use a slice (SLCF) file with QUANTITY='CFL' and CELL_CENTERED=T.

• 'CPU TIME' Elapsed CPU time since the start of the simulation, in seconds.

• 'ITERATION' Number of time steps completed at the given time of the simulation.

• 'NUMBER OF PARTICLES' Number of Lagrangian particles for the MESH in which the DEVC is located.

• 'TIME STEP' Duration of a simulation time step, δt, in seconds.

• 'VN MAX' The maximum value of the VN (Von Neumann) number, a secondary constraint on the time
step, for the mesh in which the device is located. By default, the time step is chosen so that the VN
number remains below 1. If you want to see the VN number in each grid cell, use a slice (SLCF) file with
QUANTITY='VN' and CELL_CENTERED=T.

393
 • 'WALL CLOCK TIME' Elapsed wall clock time since the start of the simulation, in seconds.

• 'WALL CLOCK TIME ITERATIONS' Elapsed wall clock time since the start of the time stepping loop, in
seconds.

• 'RAM' (Linux only) The memory used by the process that controls the mesh in which this device is
located, in units of MB. This value is the equivalent of the value reported under the heading RES when
doing a top command at the command prompt. Usually RES is reported in kB, but it is converted to
MB here. More precisely, 'RAM' is 1/1000 of the value of VmRSS in the system file called /proc/<PID>/
status where <PID> is the process ID.

In addition, the following flags can be useful in monitoring the performance of an MPI calculation. They
are typically used for debugging.

• VELOCITY_ERROR_FILE If set to T on the DUMP line, this parameter will cause FDS to create a file with
a time history of the maximum error associated with the normal component of velocity at solid or
interpolated boundaries. See Sec. 21.3 for a description of this file.

22.10.27 Output File Precision

There are several different output files that have the format of a comma-separated value (.csv) file. These
files consist of real numbers in columns separated by commas. By default, the real numbers are formatted

-1.2345678E+123

To change the precision of the numbers, use SIG_FIGS on the DUMP line to indicate the number of significant
figures in the mantissa (default is 8). Use SIG_FIGS_EXP to change the number of digits in the exponent
(default is 3). Keep in mind that the precision of real numbers used internally in an FDS calculation is
approximately 12, equivalent to 8 byte or double precision following conventional Fortran rules.

22.10.28 A Posteriori Mesh Quality Metrics

The quality of a particular simulation is most directly tied to grid resolution. Three output quantities are
discussed here for measuring errors in the velocity and scalar fields. It should be noted that the link between
these metrics and true simulation quality is still in the research phase. In other words, a good quality score
is not sufficient to assure a good simulation (at the present time).

Measure of Turbulence Resolution

A scalar quantity referred to as the measure of turbulence resolution [93] is defined locally as:

ksgs
M(x) = (22.54)
⟨TKE⟩ + ksgs

Angled brackets denote suitable time-averages.

The turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) must be post processed because we cannot compute the fluctuation
until we know the mean. Use the following DEVCs to output the three velocity components:

&DEVC ..., QUANTITY='U-VELOCITY' /

&DEVC ..., QUANTITY='V-VELOCITY' /
&DEVC ..., QUANTITY='W-VELOCITY' /

394
TKE is then computed by
TKE = 1
(ũ − ⟨ũ⟩)2 + (ṽ − ⟨ṽ⟩)2 + (w̃ − ⟨w̃⟩)2 (22.55)


2

The subgrid kinetic energy is estimated from Deardorff’s eddy viscosity model (see [3])

ksgs ≈ (µt /(ρCν ∆))2 (22.56)

To output an estimate of the subgrid kinetic energy per unit mass use

&DEVC ..., QUANTITY='SUBGRID KINETIC ENERGY' /

You should then average TKE and ksgs for use in (22.54).
The concept behind the measure of turbulence resolution is illustrated in Figure 22.9. Notice that on the
left the difference between the grid signal and the test signal is very small. On the right, the grid signal is
highly turbulent and the corresponding test signal is much smoother. We infer then that the flow is under-
resolved.

1 1
grid signal, ū grid signal, ū
ˆ
test signal, ū ˆ
test signal, ū
0.5 0.5
signal

signal

0 0

−0.5 −0.5

−1 −1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
space space

Figure 22.9: (Left) Resolved signal, M is small. (Right) Unresolved signal, M is close to unity.

For the canonical case of isotropic turbulence Pope actually defines LES such that M < 0.2. That is, LES
requires resolution of 80% of the kinetic energy in the flow field (because this puts the grid Nyquist limit
within the inertial subrange). The question remains as to whether this critical value is sufficient or necessary
for a given engineering problem. As shown in Ref. [94], maintaining mean values of M near 0.2 indeed
provides satisfactory results (simulation results within experimental error bounds) for mean velocities and
species concentrations in non-reacting, buoyant plumes.

Wavelet Error Measure

A resolution metric that we call the wavelet error measure or WEM may be output using, for example,

&SLCF PBY=0, QUANTITY='WAVELET ERROR', QUANTITY2='HRRPUV' /

We begin by providing background on the simple Haar wavelet [95]. For a thorough and more sophisti-
cated review of wavelet methods, the reader is referred to Schneider and Vasilyev [96].

395
 Suppose the scalar function f (r) is sampled at discrete points r j , separated by a distance h, giving values
s j . Defining the unit step function over the interval [r1 , r2 ] by

1 if r1 ≤ r < r2

ϕ[r1 ,r2 ] = (22.57)
0 otherwise

the simplest possible reconstruction of the signal is the step function approximation

f (r) ≈ ∑ s j ϕ[r j ,r j +h] (r) (22.58)

j

By “viewing” the signal at a coarser resolution, say 2h, an identical reconstruction of the function f over the
interval [r j , r j + 2h] may be obtained from
s j + s j+1 s j − s j+1
f[r j ,r j +2h] (r) = ϕ[r j ,r j +2h] (r) + ψ (r) (22.59)
| {z 2 } | {z 2 } [r j ,r j +2h]
a c

where a is as the average coefficient and c is as the wavelet coefficient. The Haar mother wavelet (Figure
22.10) is identified as

1 if r1 ≤ r < 21 (r1 + r2 )

ψ[r1 ,r2 ] (r) = (22.60)
−1 if 12 (r1 + r2 ) ≤ r < r2

1
ψ[0,1]

−1

−1 0 1 2

Figure 22.10: Haar mother wavelet on the interval [0,1].

The decomposition of the signal shown in Eq. (22.59) may be repeated at ever coarser resolutions. The
result is a wavelet transform. The procedure is entirely analogous to the Fourier transform, but with compact
support. If we look at a 1D signal with 2m points, the repeated application of (22.59) results in an m × m
matrix of averages a with components ai j and an m × m wavelet coefficient matrix c with components ci j .
Each row i of a may be reconstructed from the i + 1 row of a and c. Because of this and because small values
of the wavelet coefficient matrix may be discarded, dramatic compression of the signal may be obtained.
Here we are interested in using the wavelet analysis to say something about the local level of error due
to grid resolution. Very simply, we ask what can be discerned from a sample of four data points along a line.
Roughly speaking we might expect to see one of the four scenarios depicted in Figure 22.11. Within each
plot window we also show the results of a Haar wavelet transform for that signal. Looking first at the two

396
top plots, on the left we have a step function and on the right we have a straight line. Intuitively, we expect
large error for the step function and small error for the line. The following error measure achieves this goal:

|c11 + c12 | − |c21 |

 
WEM(x,t) = max (22.61)
x,y,z |a21 |
Note that we have arbitrarily scaled the measure so that a step function leads to WEM of unity. In practice
the transform is performed in all coordinate directions and the max value is reported. The scalar value may
be output to Smokeview at the desired time interval.

1 1
a = 0.00 1.00 a = 0.17 0.83
normalized signal

normalized signal
0.8 0.50 0.00 0.8 0.50 0.00

0.6 c = 0.00 0.00 0.6 c = -0.17 -0.17

-0.50 0.00 -0.33 0.00
0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2

0 0
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
spatial index spatial index

1 1
a = 0.50 0.50
normalized signal

normalized signal

0.8 0.50 0.00 0.8

0.6 0.6 a = 0.50 0.50

0.50 0.00
0.4 0.4
c = -0.50 0.50
0.2 c = -0.50 -0.50 0.2 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00
0 0
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
spatial index spatial index

Figure 22.11: Averages and coefficients for local Haar wavelet transforms on four typical signals.

Looking now at the two plots on the bottom of Figure 22.11, the signal on the left, which may indicate
spurious oscillations or unresolved turbulent motion, leads to WEM = 2. Our measure therefore views this
situation as the worst case in a sense. The signal to the lower right is indicative of an extremum, which
actually is easily resolved by most centered spatial schemes and results again in WEM = 0.
In [94], the time average of WEM was reported for LES of a non-reacting buoyant plume at three grid
resolutions. From this study, the best advice currently is to maintain average values of WEM less than 0.5.

Local Cell Reynolds Number

Additionally, we provide an estimate of the local cell Reynolds number given by the ratio of the cell size
(LES filter width, ∆) to an estimate of the local Kolmogorov scale, η (see [69]). For a DNS, ∆/η should be

397
less than or equal to one. The Kolmogorov scale is computed from its definition:
1/4
(µ/ρ)3

η≡ (22.62)
ε

where µ is the molecular dynamic viscosity, ρ is the density, and ε is the kinetic energy dissipation rate,
which requires modeling. In FDS, we assume the dissipation rate is locally equivalent to the production of
subgrid-scale kinetic energy. This implies

ε = (µt /ρ)|S̃|2 (22.63)

where µt is the turbulent viscosity and |S̃| is the filtered strain invariant (see FDS Tech Guide).

&SLCF PBY=0, QUANTITY='CELL REYNOLDS NUMBER' /

Near-Wall Grid Resolution

Large-eddy simulations of boundary layer flows fall into two general categories: LES with near-wall reso-
lution and LES with near-wall modeling (wall functions). FDS employs the latter. The wall models used
in FDS are law of the wall [69]. For the wall models to function properly, the grid resolution near the wall
should fall within a certain range of y+ , the non-dimensional distance from the wall expressed in viscous
units. To check this, you may add a boundary file output as follows:

&BNDF QUANTITY='VISCOUS WALL UNITS' /

The value of y+ reported is half (since the velocity lives at the cell face center) the wall-normal cell di-
mension (δ n) divided by the maximum between the local viscous length scale, δν [69] or the sand grain
roughness, s, for rough walls:

δ n/2 µ/ρ
y+ = δν = τw /ρ ,
p
; ; uτ = (22.64)
max(δν , s) uτ

where τw = µ ∂ |u|/∂ n is the viscous stress evaluated at the wall (τw is computed by the wall function, |u|
is taken as an estimate of the stream-wise velocity component near the wall); the quantity uτ is the friction
velocity. The friction velocity may also be output in a boundary file or via a device attached to a wall. For
example:

&DEVC XYZ=1,0,0, QUANTITY='FRICTION VELOCITY', IOR=3, ID='u_tau' /

Wall functions for LES are still under development, but as a general guideline for efficiency reasons it is
recommended that the first grid cell fall within the log layer. There is no penalty—other than computational
time—for being more highly resolved. The viscous sublayer lies within 0 < y+ < 5. The transition region
lies roughly between 5 < y+ < 30, a value y+ = 30 would be considered highly resolved. The upper limit
of the log region for statistically stationary boundary layers depends on the Reynolds number, and there are
no hard rules for transient flows. Beyond y+ = 1000 the first grid cell is likely to fall in the wake region of
the boundary layer and may produce unreliable results. A reasonable target for practical engineering LES is
y+ = O(100).

398
22.10.29 Extinction
In combustion, knowing if, when, or where chemical reactions have been extinguished is important. The
output quantity EXTINCTION tells the user whether or not combustion has been prevented by the extinction
routine. By default, EXTINCTION = 0, which means that the FDS extinction routine has not prevented com-
bustion. An EXTINCTION value of 1 means that the routine has prevented combustion. The criteria for an
EXTINCTION value of 1 is the presence of fuel and oxidizer without any energy release. An EXTINCTION
value of -1 means that there is either no fuel or no oxidizer present.

22.10.30 Fire spread over a surface

In some cases it can be useful to output timings related to the spread of fire over a surface. For example,
when modeling wildland fires the shape and spread of the fire front can be very important. For this reason,
two specialized output quantities are available as boundary files (Sec. 22.5) or as measurements from devices
places on a solid boundary (Sec. 22.2). These are FIRE ARRIVAL TIME and FIRE RESIDENCE TIME. The
FIRE ARRIVAL TIME quantity outputs the time at which the gas-phase cell adjacent to the solid exceeds
a threshold for heat release rate per volume (HRRPUV) and the FIRE RESIDENCE TIME gives the cumulative
time over which the threshold is exceeded during the simulation. The chosen threshold is the same as used by
smokeview for rendering HRRPUV, as described in Sec. 22.8. In the case of a level set simulation (Sec. 17.5),
the FIRE ARRIVAL TIME can be computed directly from the level set value and the FIRE RESIDENCE TIME
comes from the spread-rate adjusted burning duration of the fuel, as described in Sec. 17.5.2. These two
quantities are cumulatively populated over time such that a full picture of the fire spread can be obtained
from relatively infrequent outputs - theoretically only one snapshot at the end of the simulation is required.
For level set simulations another output is available, called LS SPREAD RATE. This output stores the
magnitude of the local spread rate calculated as the fire reaches a given point along the surface. The depen-
dence on slope and local wind is related to the mode of level set which is activated (Sec. 17.5).

399
22.11 Extracting Numbers from the Output Data Files
As part of the standard FDS-SMV distribution package, there is a short Fortran program called fds2ascii.
The source code is located in the GitHub repository, firemodels/fds, in the directory, Utilities/fds2ascii.
To run the program, just type:

fds2ascii

at the command prompt. You will be asked a series of questions about which type of output file to process,
what time interval to time average the data, and so forth. A single file is produced with the name CHID_
[Link]. A typical command line session looks like this:

>> fds2ascii
Enter Job ID string (CHID):
bucket_test_1
What type of file to parse?
PL3D file? Enter 1
SLCF file? Enter 2
BNDF file? Enter 3
3
Enter Sampling Factor for Data?
(1 for all data, 2 for every other point, etc.)
1
Limit the domain size? (y or n)
y
Enter min/max x, y and z
-5 5 -5 5 0 1
1 MESH 1, WALL TEMPERATURE
Enter starting and ending time for averaging (s)
35 36
Enter orientation: (plus or minus 1, 2 or 3)
3
Enter number of variables
1
Enter boundary file index for variable 1
1
Enter output file name:
bucket_test_1_fds2ascii.csv
Writing to file... bucket_test_1_fds2ascii.csv

These commands tell fds2ascii that you want to convert (binary) boundary file data into a text file. You
want to sample every data point within the specified volume, you want only those surfaces that point upward
(+3 orientation), you only want 1 variable (only one is listed anyway and its index is 1 – that is just the
number used to list the available files). The data will be time-averaged, and it will be output to a file listed
at the end of the session. Here is a more detailed explanation of the questions:

Enter Job ID string (CHID): Enter the name of the job that you entered into the FDS input file under the
parameter CHID. Do not include the .fds suffix.

What type of file to parse? The program can only read Plot3D (PL3D), slice (SLCF), or boundary (BNDF)
files.

Enter Sampling Factor for Data: If you want to print out every point, enter 1; every other point, enter 2;
and so on.

400
Domain selection: The answer is a one or two letter code. If the first letter is y or Y, this means you want
to print out a subset of the data for the entire domain. If n or N, you do not want to limit the data. The
answer of z or Z is only for cases where you have an outdoor fire scenario over rough terrain, and you
want to offset the z coordinate so that it denotes height off the ground. If the second letter of the two
letter code is a or A, this means that you want the program to automatically select the appropriate files. If
the first letter of the two letter code is y or Y, you will be prompted for 6 numbers denoting the minimum
and maximum values of x, y, and z.

Enter starting and ending time for averaging (s): The slice and boundary file data will be time-averaged
over the designated time interval.

How many variables to read: Enter the number of different output quantities that you want to include in
your output file.

Enter orientation: (plus or minus 1, 2 or 3): For a boundary file, you must designate the orientation of
the surfaces you want to print out. +1 means surfaces facing the positive x direction, -2 means negative
y, and so on.

401
22.12 Gas Phase Output Quantities
Table 22.4, spread over the following pages, lists gas phase output quantities. The column “File Type” lists
the allowed output files for the quantities: “D” is for Device (DEVC), “I” is for Iso-surface (ISOF), “P” is for
Plot3D, “S” is for Slice (SLCF).
For those output quantities that require a species name via SPEC_ID, the species implicitly defined when
using the simple chemistry combustion model are 'OXYGEN', 'NITROGEN', 'WATER VAPOR', and 'CARBON
DIOXIDE'. If CO_YIELD, SOOT_YIELD, and/or HCN_YIELD are specified on the REAC line, then 'CARBON
MONOXIDE', 'SOOT', and/or 'HYDROGEN CYANIDE' are included as output species. The fuel species can be
output via the FUEL specified on the REAC line. As an example of how to use the species names, suppose
you want to calculate the integrated mass flux of carbon monoxide through a horizontal plane, like the total
amount entrained in a fire plume. Use a “device” as follows

&DEVC ID='CO_flow', XB=-5,5,-5,5,2,2, QUANTITY='MASS FLUX Z',

SPEC_ID='CARBON MONOXIDE', SPATIAL_STATISTIC='AREA INTEGRAL' /

The ID is just a label in the output file. When an output quantity is related to a particular gas species or
particle type, you must specify the appropriate SPEC_ID or PART_ID on the same input line. All output
quantity names ought to be in single quotes.

402
 Table 22.4: Gas phase output quantities.

QUANTITY Explanation Units File Type

ABSOLUTE PRESSURE Absolute pressure, p = p + p̃ Pa D,I,P,S
ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT Section 14.3 1/m D,I,P,S
ADVECTIVE MASS FLUX X1 Section 22.10.10 kg/s/m2 D,I,P,S
ADVECTIVE MASS FLUX Y1 Section 22.10.10 kg/s/m2 D,I,P,S
ADVECTIVE MASS FLUX Z1 Section 22.10.10 kg/s/m2 D,I,P,S
AEROSOL VOLUME FRACTION1 Section 22.10.23 mol/mol D,I,P,S
BACKGROUND PRESSURE Background pressure, p Pa D,I,P,S
BULK DENSITY Section 9.2.9 kg/m3 D,I,P,S
CELL REYNOLDS NUMBER Section 22.10.28 D,I,P,S
CELL U (ui, j,k + ui−1, j,k )/2 m/s D,I,P,S
CELL V (vi, j,k + vi, j−1,k )/2 m/s D,I,P,S
CELL W (wi, j,k + wi, j,k−1 )/2 m/s D,I,P,S
CFL Section 22.10.26 D,I,P,S
CFL MAX Section 22.10.26 D
CHEMISTRY SUBITERATIONS Section 13.3.7 D,S
CHI_R Section 14.1 D,I,S
COMBUSTION EFFICIENCY δt/τmix D,I,P,S
CONDUCTIVITY Section 12.1.3 W/(m K) D,I,P,S
C_SMAG Smagorinsky coefficient D,I,P,S
DENSITY1 Total or species density kg/m3 D,I,P,S
DIFFUSIVE MASS FLUX X1 Section 22.10.10 kg/s/m2 D,I,P,S
DIFFUSIVE MASS FLUX Y1 Section 22.10.10 kg/s/m2 D,I,P,S
DIFFUSIVE MASS FLUX Z1 Section 22.10.10 kg/s/m2 D,I,P,S
DIFFUSIVITY1 Section 12.1.3 m2 /s D,I,P,S
DISSIPATION RATE (µ/ρ) Si j Si j m2 /s3 D,I,P,S
DIVERGENCE ∇·u 1/s D,I,P,S
EFFECTIVE FLAME TEMPERATURE Section 22.10.15 ◦C D,I,P,S
ENTHALPY Section 12.1.3 kJ/m3 D,I,P,S
ENTHALPY FLUX X Section 22.10.11 kW/m2 D,I,P,S
ENTHALPY FLUX Y Section 22.10.11 kW/m2 D,I,P,S
ENTHALPY FLUX Z Section 22.10.11 kW/m2 D,I,P,S
EXTINCTION Section 22.10.29 D,S
EXTINCTION COEFFICIENT Section 22.10.5 1/m D,I,P,S
F_X, F_Y, F_Z Momentum terms, Fx , Fy , Fz m/s2 D,I,P,S
H H = |u|2 /2 + p̃/ρ (m/s)2 D,I,P,S
HRRPUV q̇′′′ kW/m3 D,I,P,S
HRRPUV REAC6 q̇′′′ for REAC_ID kW/m3 D,S
IDEAL GAS PRESSURE p̄ = ρRT /W Pa D,I,P,S
U = I ds kW/m2 D,I,P,S
R
INTEGRATED INTENSITY
INTERNAL ENERGY ρh − p̄ kJ/m3 D,I,P,S
KINETIC ENERGY Staggered (u2 + v2 + w2 )/2 (m/s)2 D,I,P,S
KOLMOGOROV LENGTH SCALE Sectionp 22.10.28 m D,I,P,S
MACH NUMBER |u|/ (R/W )T γ S,D

403
 Table 22.4: Gas phase output quantities (continued).

QUANTITY Explanation Units File Type

MASS FLUX X1 Section 22.10.10 kg/(m2 s) D,I,P,S
MASS FLUX Y1 Section 22.10.10 kg/(m2 s) D,I,P,S
MASS FLUX Z1 Section 22.10.10 kg/(m2 s) D,I,P,S
MASS FRACTION1 Yα kg/kg D,I,P,S
MAXIMUM VELOCITY ERROR Section 21 m/s D
MIXING TIME Combustion mixing time, τmix s D,I,P,S
MIXTURE FRACTION Z kg/kg D,I,P,S
MOLECULAR CONDUCTIVITY Section 12.1.3 W/(m K) D,I,P,S
MOLECULAR VISCOSITY Molecular viscosity, µ(Z, T ) kg/(m s) D,I,P,S
OPTICAL DENSITY Section 22.10.5 1/m D,I,P,S
ORIENTED VELOCITY5 (u, v, w) · (nx , ny , nz ) m/s D
PRESSURE Perturbation pressure, p̃ Pa D,I,P,S
PRESSURE ITERATIONS Number of pressure iterations D
PRESSURE ZONE Section 10.3 D,S
1 2 − trace((∇u)2 )]
Q CRITERION 2 [trace(∇u) p 1/s2 D,I,P,S
RADIAL VELOCITY (u, v) · (x, y)/ x2 + y2 m/s D,I,P,S
RADIATION ABSORPTION κU kW/m3 D,I,P,S
RADIATION EMISSION 4κσ T 4 kW/m3 D,I,P,S
RADIATION LOSS ∇ · q′′r = κ(U − 4σ T 4 ) kW/m3 D,I,P,S
RADIATIVE HEAT FLUX GAS Section 22.10.12 kW/m2 D
REAC SOURCE TERM1 ṁ′′′
α kg/m3 D,I,P,S
RELATIVE HUMIDITY Section 13.1.1 % D,I,P,S
RESOLVED KINETIC ENERGY kres = (ū2 + v̄2 + w̄2 )/2 (m/s)2 D,I,P,S
RTE SOURCE CORRECTION FACTOR Section 14.1.3 D
SENSIBLE ENTHALPY Section 22.10.25 kJ/m3 D,I,P,S
SPECIFIC ENTHALPY Section 22.10.25 kJ/kg D,I,P,S
SPECIFIC HEAT cp kJ/(kg K) D,I,P,S
SPECIFIC INTERNAL ENERGY h − p̄/ρ kJ/kg D,I,P,S
SPECIFIC SENSIBLE ENTHALPY Section 22.10.25 kJ/kg D,I,P,S
STRAIN RATE 2(Si j Si j − 1/3(∇ · u)2 ) 1/s D,I,P,S
STRAIN RATE X ∂ w/∂ y + ∂ v/∂ z 1/s D,I,P,S
STRAIN RATE Y ∂ u/∂ z + ∂ w/∂ x 1/s D,I,P,S
STRAIN RATE Z ∂ v/∂ x + ∂ u/∂ y 1/s D,I,P,S
SUBGRID KINETIC ENERGY Section 22.10.28 m2 /s2 D,S
SUM LUMPED MASS FRACTIONS ∑i Zi (should be 1) D,S
SUM PRIMITIVE MASS FRACTIONS ∑α Yα (should be 1) D,S
TEMPERATURE Section 22.10.15 ◦C D,I,P,S
TOTAL MASS FLUX X1 Section 22.10.10 kg/s/m2 D,I,P,S
TOTAL MASS FLUX Y1 Section 22.10.10 kg/s/m2 D,I,P,S
TOTAL MASS FLUX Z1 Section 22.10.10 kg/s/m2 D,I,P,S
U-VELOCITY Gas velocity component, u m/s D,I,P,S
V-VELOCITY Gas velocity component, v m/s D,I,P,S
W-VELOCITY Gas velocity component, w m/s D,I,P,S

404
 Table 22.4: Gas phase output quantities (continued).

QUANTITY Explanation Units File Type

VELOCITY3 Gas velocity m/s D,I,P,S
VISCOSITY Effective viscosity, µ + µt kg/(m s) D,I,P,S
VISIBILITY Section 22.10.5 m D,I,P,S
VN Section 22.10.26 D,I,P,S
VN MAX Section 22.10.26 D
VORTICITY X ∂ w/∂ y − ∂ v/∂ z 1/s D,I,P,S
VORTICITY Y ∂ u/∂ z − ∂ w/∂ x 1/s D,I,P,S
VORTICITY Z ∂ v/∂ x − ∂ u/∂ y 1/s D,I,P,S
VOLUME FRACTION1 Xα mol/mol D,I,P,S
WAVELET ERROR Section 22.10.28 S

1 Requires the specification of a gas species using SPEC_ID.

Omit SPEC_IDfor total flux.
Do not use for MIXTURE FRACTION.
2 Requires the specification of a particle name using PART_ID.
3 Add VELO_INDEX=1to the input line if you want to multiply the velocity by the sign of u.
Use the indices 2 and 3 for v and w, respectively.
4 Allows for an optional MATL_ID.
5 Requires an ORIENTATION on the DEVC line.
6 Requires REAC_ID.

405
22.13 Solid Phase Output Quantities
Table 22.5 below lists solid phase output quantities. Appropriate sections are cited. The definition of
mathematical symbols can be found in Volume 1 of the FDS Technical Reference Guide [3]. The File Type
“B” refers to a boundary file, “D” refers to the device file, CHID_devc.csv, and “pr” refers to the profile file,
CHID_prof.csv.

Table 22.5: Solid phase output quantities.

QUANTITY Explanation Units File Type

ADIABATIC SURFACE TEMPERATURE Section 22.10.13 ◦C B,D
AMPUA2 Section 22.9.1 kg/m2 B,D
1
AMPUA_Z Section 22.9.1 kg/m2 B,D
BACK WALL TEMPERATURE Section 22.2.2 ◦C B,D
BLOWING CORRECTION Section 8.2.2 B,D
BURNING RATE Mass loss rate of fuel kg/(m2 s) B,D
CONDENSATION HEAT FLUX Section 13.7 kW/m2 B,D
CONVECTIVE HEAT FLUX Section 22.10.12 kW/m2 B,D
CONVECTIVE HEAT FLUX GAUGE Section 22.10.12 kW/m2 B,D
CONVECTIVE HEAT TRANSFER REGIME Section 8.2.2 B,D
CPUA2 Section 22.9.1 kW/m2 B,D
1
CPUA_Z Section 22.9.1 kW/m2 B,D
DEPOSITION VELOCITY Section 13.4 m/s B,D
FRICTION VELOCITY Section 22.10.28 m/s B,D
GAUGE HEAT FLUX Section 22.10.12 kW/m2 B,D
ENTHALPY FLUX WALL Section 22.10.11 kW/m2 B,D
TOTAL HEAT FLUX Section 22.10.12 kW/m2 B,D
EMISSIVITY Surface emissivity (usually constant) B,D
FIRE ARRIVAL TIME Section 22.10.30 s B,D
FIRE RESIDENCE TIME Section 22.10.30 s B,D
LS SPREAD RATE Section 22.10.30 m/s B,D
GAS DENSITY Gas Density near wall kg/m3 B,D
GAS TEMPERATURE Gas Temperature near wall ◦C B,D
HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENT Section 8.2.2 W/(m2 K) B,D
HRRPUA q̇′′ kW/m2 B,D
INCIDENT HEAT FLUX Section 22.10.12 kW/m2 B,D
INSIDE WALL TEMPERATURE Section 22.2.2 ◦C D,Pr
INSIDE WALL DEPTH Section 22.2.2 m D,Pr
LAYER DIVIDE DEPTH Section 9.2.2 m B,D
MASS FLUX1,4 Section 22.10.10 kg/(m2 s) B,D
MASS FLUX WALL1 Section 22.10.10 kg/(m2 s) B,D
MPUA2 Section 22.9.1 kg/m2 B,D
1
MPUA_Z Section 22.9.1 kg/m2 B,D
NORMAL VELOCITY Wall normal velocity m/s B,D
NORMALIZED HEATING RATE Section 22.10.17 W/g D
NORMALIZED HEAT RELEASE RATE Section 22.10.17 W/g D
NORMALIZED MASS4 Section 22.10.17 D

406
 Table 22.5: Solid phase output quantities (continued).

QUANTITY Explanation Units File Type

NORMALIZED MASS LOSS RATE4 Section 22.10.17 1/s D
OXIDATIVE HRRPUA Section 9.2.3 kW/m2 B,D
PRESSURE COEFFICIENT Section 22.10.21 B,D
RADIATIVE HEAT FLUX Section 22.10.12 kW/m2 B,D
RADIOMETER Section 22.10.12 kW/m2 B,D
REFERENCE_HEAT_FLUX Section 9.1.4 kW/m2 B,D
SOLID CONDUCTIVITY4 Section 22.2.2 W/(m K) D,Pr
SOLID DENSITY4 Section 22.2.2 kg/m3 D,Pr
SOLID ENTHALPY4 Section 22.2.2 kJ/m3 D,Pr
SOLID MASS FRACTION5 Section 22.2.2 kg/kg D,Pr
SOLID SPECIFIC HEAT4 Section 22.2.2 kJ/(kg K) D,Pr
SUBSTEPS Section 8.3.8 B,D
SURFACE DENSITY4 Section 22.10.17 kg/m2 B,D
SURFACE DEPOSITION1 Section 13.4 kg/m2 B,D
TOTAL MASS FLUX WALL1 Section 22.10.10 kg/s/m2 B,D
VELOCITY ERROR Section 21 m/s B,D
VISCOUS STRESS WALL Section 22.10.21 Pa B,D
VISCOUS WALL UNITS Section 22.10.28 B,D
ρs cs T dVs kJ B,D
R
WALL ENTHALPY
WALL PRESSURE Section 22.10.21 Pa B,D
WALL TEMPERATURE Surface temperature ◦C B,D
WALL THICKNESS Section 22.10.17 m B,D
WALL VISCOSITY Near-wall viscosity, µw kg/(m s) B,D

1 Requires the specification of a gas species using SPEC_ID.

2 Requires the specification of a particle name using PART_ID.
3 Requires specification of an additional scalar using QUANTITY2.
4 Allows for an optional MATL_ID.
5 Requires a MATL_ID.

407
22.14 Device, Control, and Other Miscellaneous Output Quantities
Table 22.6 below lists output quantities associated with devices and controls, as well as other miscellaneous
output. The File Type “D” refers to the device output file CHID_devc.csv. The File Type “S” refers to a
contour or “slice” file.
Table 22.6: Output quantities for devices, controls, and miscellaneous functions.

QUANTITY Explanation Units File Type

ACTUATED SPRINKLERS Section 22.10.26 D
ASPIRATION Section 18.3.7 %/m D
CHAMBER OBSCURATION Section 18.3.5 %/m D
CELL INDEX I Mesh cell index in x D,S
CELL INDEX J Mesh cell index in y D,S
CELL INDEX K Mesh cell index in z D,S
CONTROL Section 18.5 D
CONTROL VALUE Section 18.5 D
CPU TIME Section 22.10.26 s D
FED Section 22.10.18 D
FIC Section 22.10.18 D,S
FIRE DEPTH Section 18.3.8 m D
ITERATION Section 22.10.26 D
LAYER HEIGHT Section 22.10.7 m D
LINK TEMPERATURE Section 18.3.4 ◦C D
LOWER TEMPERATURE Section 22.10.7 ◦C D
NUMBER OF PARTICLES Section 22.10.26 D
OPEN NOZZLES Section 22.10.26 D
PATH OBSCURATION Section 18.3.6 % D
RAM Section 22.10.26 MB D
RANDOM NUMBER Uniform random variable over [0,1] D
SPRINKLER LINK TEMPERATURE Section 18.3.1 ◦C D
THERMOCOUPLE Section 22.10.8 ◦C D
TIME Section 22.2 s D
TIME STEP Section 22.10.26 s D
TRANSMISSION Section 18.3.6 %/m D
UPPER TEMPERATURE Section 22.10.7 ◦C D
WALL CLOCK TIME Section 22.10.26 s D
WALL CLOCK TIME ITERATIONS Section 22.10.26 s D

408
22.15 Droplet and Particle Output Quantities
Table 22.7 below lists some less often used output quantities. These are mainly used for diagnostic purposes.
Explanations for most can be found in Volume 1 of the FDS Technical Reference Guide [3].

Table 22.7: Particle and droplet output quantities.

QUANTITY Explanation Units File Type

ADA2 Avg. Droplet (cross sectional) Area m2 /m3 D,I,P,S
1
ADA_Z Avg. Droplet (cross sectional) Area m2 /m3 D,I,P,S
ADD2 Avg. Droplet Diameter µm D,I,P,S
1
ADD_Z Avg. Droplet Diameter µm D,I,P,S
ADT2 Avg. Droplet Temperature ◦C D,I,P,S
1
ADT_Z Avg. Droplet Temperature ◦C D,I,P,S
DROPLET VOLUME FRACTION2 Section 22.9.3 D,P,S
MPUV3 Section 22.9.3 kg/m3 D,P,S
3
MPUV_Z Section 22.9.3 kg/m3 D,P,S
PARTICLE ACCEL X2 Section 22.9.4 m/s2 PA
PARTICLE ACCEL Y2 Section 22.9.4 m/s2 PA
PARTICLE ACCEL Z2 Section 22.9.4 m/s2 PA
PARTICLE AGE Section 22.9.4 s PA
PARTICLE BULK DENSITY Section 22.9.4 kg/(m3 ) PA
PARTICLE DIAMETER Section 22.9.4 µm PA
PARTICLE DRAG COEFFICIENT2 Section 22.9.4 PA
PARTICLE DRAG FORCE X2 Section 22.9.4 N PA
PARTICLE DRAG FORCE Y2 Section 22.9.4 N PA
PARTICLE DRAG FORCE Z2 Section 22.9.4 N PA
PARTICLE FLUX X2 Section 22.9.3 kg/(m2 s) P,S
PARTICLE FLUX Y2 Section 22.9.3 kg/(m2 s) P,S
PARTICLE FLUX Z2 Section 22.9.3 kg/(m2 s) P,S
PARTICLE HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENT2 Section 22.9.4 W/m2 /K PA
PARTICLE MASS Section 22.9.4 kg PA
PARTICLE PHASE Section 22.9.4 PA
PARTICLE RADIATION LOSS Section 22.9.3 kW/m3 D,I,P,S
PARTICLE TEMPERATURE Section 22.9.4 ◦C PA
PARTICLE U Section 22.9.4 m/s PA
PARTICLE V Section 22.9.4 m/s PA
PARTICLE VELOCITY Section 22.9.4 m/s PA
PARTICLE W Section 22.9.4 m/s PA
PARTICLE WEIGHTING FACTOR Section 22.9.4 PA
PARTICLE X Section 22.9.4 m PA
PARTICLE Y Section 22.9.4 m PA
PARTICLE Z Section 22.9.4 m PA
PDPA Droplet statistics, Section 22.10.16 D
QABS2 Absorption efficiency of droplets D,I,P,S
1
QABS_Z Absorption efficiency of droplets D,I,P,S

409
 Table 22.7: Particle and droplet output quantities (continued).

QUANTITY Explanation Units File Type

QSCA2 Scattering efficiency of droplets D,I,P,S
1
QSCA_Z Scattering efficiency of droplets D,I,P,S

1 Requires the specification of a gas species using SPEC_ID.

2 Requires the specification of a particle class using PART_ID.
3 Requires the specification of a non-zero mass particle class using PART_ID.

22.16 Summary of HVAC Output Quantities

Table 22.8 summarizes the various output quantities for HVAC systems. In the file type column, D indicates
a device output specified with a DEVC input, and H indicates a Smokeview output specified with an HVAC
input.
All HVAC output quantities can be selected with a DEVC input. Do not specify an XYZ or XB for HVAC
outputs. When using a DEVC, quantities for a duct require the specification of a DUCT_ID, quantities for a node
require the specification of a NODE_ID, and quantities for a duct cell (when HVAC_MASS_TRANSPORT_CELL_L
or N_CELLS are specified) require specification of both a DUCT_ID and a CELL_L (distance along the duct in
meters from the first node where the desired cell is located). Mass and volume fraction outputs also require
the specification of a SPEC_ID. Fan and aircoil outputs require the DUCT_ID of the duct they are located
in. Filter outputs require the NODE_ID of the node they are located in. The quantity DUCT ENTHALPY FLOW
applies Eq. 22.32 to the flow in the duct. To have the node output NODE ENTHALPY reflect the duct quantity of
DUCT ENTHALPY FLOW set RELATIVE=.TRUE for the node output. The quantity NODE PRESSURE DIFFERENCE
requires that one specify both elements of the array NODE_ID, and the pressure difference is calculated by
subtracting the first node from the second.
HVAC output quantities beginning with DUCT that are not duct cell quantities and output quantities
beginning with NODE except for NODE PRESSURE DIFFERENCE can also be output to the [Link] file that
Smokeview uses to visualize duct quantities (file format description in Section 27.21). These are identified
in Table 22.8 as a File Type of H. Smokeview outputs are specified using the HVAC namelist. To select
duct outputs create a single HVAC input with TYPE_ID='DUCT QUANTITY LIST', and to select node outputs
create a single HVAC input with TYPE_ID='NODE QUANTITY LIST'. Specify a list of up to 20 outputs using
QUANTITY, and if any quantities require a species also specify QUANTITY_SPEC_ID for that quantities. For
duct outputs, if the duct is divided into cells, then Smokeview outputs are written for each cell. The output
interval can be set using DT_HVAC on DUMP. For example:

&HVAC TYPE_ID='DUCT QUANTITY LIST',

QUANTITY='DUCT VELOCITY','DUCT LOSS','DUCT VOLUME FRACTION','DUCT VOLUME
FRACTION',
QUANTITY_SPEC_ID(3)='OXYGEN',QUANTITY_SPEC_ID(4)='SOOT'/

would output the velocity, flow loss, and the volume fractions of oxygen and soot in all ducts.

410
 Table 22.8: HVAC output quantities.

QUANTITY Explanation Units File Type

AIRCOIL HEAT EXCHANGE Heat exchange rate for an aircoil kW D
DUCT DENSITY Density of the flow in a duct kg/m3 D,H
DUCT CELL DENSITY Gas density in a duct cell kg/m3 D
DUCT CELL MASS FRACTION Mass fraction of a species in a duct cell kg/kg D
DUCT CELL TEMPERATURE Gas temperature in a duct cell ◦C D
DUCT CELL VOLUME FRACTION Volume fraction of a species in a duct cell mol/mol D
DUCT ENTHALPY FLOW Enthalpy flow in a duct kW D,H
DUCT LOSS Total flow loss coefficient for a duct D,H
DUCT MASS FLOW Mass flow in a duct kg/s D,H
DUCT MASS FRACTION Mass fraction of a species in a duct kg/kg D,H
DUCT TEMPERATURE Temperature of the flow in a duct ◦C D,H
DUCT VELOCITY Velocity of a duct m/s D,H
DUCT VOLUME FLOW Volumetric flow in a duct m3 /s D,H
DUCT VOLUME FRACTION Volume fraction of a species in a duct mol/mol D,H
FAN PRESSURE Pressure output of a fan in a duct Pa D
FILTER LOADING Loading of a species in a filter kg D
FILTER LOSS Flow loss through a filter D
NODE DENSITY Density of the flow through a node kg/m3 D,H
NODE ENTHALPY Enthalpy of a node kJ/kg D,H
NODE SENSIBLE ENTHALPY Sensible Enthalpy of a node kJ/kg D,H
NODE MASS FRACTION Mass fraction of a species in a node kg/kg D,H
NODE PRESSURE Pressure of a node Pa D,H
NODE PRESSURE DIFFERENCE Pressure difference between two nodes Pa D
NODE TEMPERATURE Temperature of the flow though a node ◦C D,H
NODE VOLUME FRACTION Volume fraction of a species in a node mol/mol D,H

411
Chapter 23

Alphabetical List of Input Parameters

This chapter lists all of the input parameters for FDS in separate tables grouped by namelist, these tables
are in alphabetical order along with the parameters within them. This is intended to be used as a quick
reference and does not replace reading the detailed description of the parameters in the main body of this
guide. See Table 5.1 for a cross-reference of relevant sections and the tables in this chapter. The reason for
this statement is that many of the listed parameters are mutually exclusive – specifying more than one can
cause the program to either fail or run in an unpredictable manner. Also, some of the parameters trigger the
code to work in a certain mode when specified. For example, specifying the thermal conductivity of a solid
surface triggers the code to assume the material to be thermally-thick, mandating that other properties be
specified as well. Simply prescribing as many properties as possible from a handbook is bad practice. Only
prescribe those parameters which are necessary to describe the desired scenario. Note that you may use the
character string FYI on any namelist line to make a note or comment.

23.1 BACK (Background species)

Table 23.1: For more information see Section 12.1.1.

BACK (Background Species Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
SPEC_ID Char. Array Section 12.1.1
MASS_FRACTION Real Array Section 12.1.1

413
23.2 BNDF (Boundary File Parameters)

Table 23.2: For more information see Section 22.5.

BNDF (Boundary File Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
CELL_CENTERED Logical Section 22.5 F
MATL_ID Character Section 22.13
PART_ID Character Section 22.13
PROP_ID Character Section 22.5
QUANTITY Character Section 22.13
SPEC_ID Character Section 22.13
TEMPORAL_STATISTIC Character Section 22.5

23.3 CATF (Concatenate Input Files Parameters)

Table 23.3: For more information see Section 5.4.

CATF (Concatenate Input Files Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
OTHER_FILES Character Array Section 5.4

23.4 CLIP (Clipping Parameters)

Table 23.4: For more information see Section 19.5.

CLIP (Specified Upper and Lower Limits)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
CLIP_DT_RESTRICTIONS_MAX Integer Section 19.5.2 5
MAXIMUM_DENSITY Real Section 19.5.2 kg/m3
MAXIMUM_TEMPERATURE Real Section 19.5.1 ◦C

MINIMUM_DENSITY Real Section 19.5.2 kg/m3

MINIMUM_TEMPERATURE Real Section 19.5.1 ◦C

414
23.5 COMB (General Combustion Parameters)

Table 23.5: For more information see Chapter 13.

(General combustion parameters)

COMB
Keyword Type Description Units Default
CHECK_REALIZABILITY Logical Section 13.3.7 F
COMPUTE_ADIABATIC_FLAME_TEMPERATURE Logical Section 13.1.6 F
DO_CHEM_LOAD_BALANCE Logical Section 13.3.7 F
EQUIV_RATIO_CHECK Logical Section 13.3.7 T
EXTINCTION_MODEL Character Section 13.1.6
FINITE_RATE_MIN_TEMP Real Section 13.3 ◦C -273.15
FIXED_MIX_TIME Real Section 13.1.5 s
FREE_BURN_TEMPERATURE Real Section 13.1.6 ◦C 600
INITIAL_UNMIXED_FRACTION Real Section 13.1.5 1.0
MAX_CHEMISTRY_SUBSTEPS Integer Section 13.3.7 20
MAX_EQUIV_RATIO Real Section 13.3.7 10.0
MIN_EQUIV_RATIO Real Section 13.3.7 0.2.
N_FIXED_CHEMISTRY_SUBSTEPS Integer Section 13.3.7 -1
ODE_SOLVER Character Section 13.3.7
ODE_MIN_ATOL Real Section 13.3.7
ODE_REL_ERROR Real Section 13.3.7
SUPPRESSION Logical Section 13.1.6 T
TAU_CHEM Real Section 13.1.5 1.E-10
TAU_FLAME Real Section 13.1.5 1.E10
ZZ_MIN_GLOBAL Real Section 13.3 1.E-10

23.6 CSVF (Comma Separated Velocity Files)

Table 23.6: For more information see Section 20.5.

CSVF (Comma Delimited Initialization Files)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
SPECFILE Character Section 20.5
TMPFILE Character Section 20.5
UVWFILE Character Section 20.5

415
23.7 CTRL (Control Function Parameters)

Table 23.7: For more information see Section 18.5.

CTRL (Control Function Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
CONSTANT Real Section 18.5.6
CONTROL_FORCE(3) Logical Array Section 18.5.7 F
DELAY Real Section 18.5.10 s 0.
DIFFERENTIAL_GAIN Real Section 18.5.7 0.
FUNCTION_TYPE Character Section 18.4
ID Character Section 18.5
INITIAL_STATE Logical Section 18.4 F
INPUT_ID Char. Array Section 18.5
INTEGRAL_GAIN Real Section 18.5.7 0.
LATCH Logical Section 18.4 T
N Integer Section 18.5 1
ON_BOUND Character Section 18.5.3 LOWER
PERCENTILE Real Section 18.5.8
PROPORTIONAL_GAIN Real Section 18.5.7 0.
RAMP_ID Character Section 18.5.5
SETPOINT(2) Real Section 18.4
TARGET_VALUE Real Section 18.5.7 0.
TRIP_DIRECTION Integer Section 18.4 1

23.8 DEVC (Device Parameters)

Table 23.8: For more information see Section 18.1.

DEVC (Device Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
ABSOLUTE_VALUE Logical Section 18.2 F
BYPASS_FLOWRATE Real Section 18.3.7 kg/s 0
CELL_L Real Section 22.16 m
CONVERSION_ADDEND Real Section 18.2 0
CONVERSION_FACTOR Real Section 18.2 1
COORD_FACTOR Real Section 22.2.5 1
CTRL_ID Character Section 18.6.1
DB Character Section 22.2.3
DELAY Real Section 18.3.7 s 0
DEPTH Real Section 22.2.2 m 0
DEVC_ID Character Sections 18.3.7 and 18.6.1
D_ID Character Section 22.2.5

416
 Table 23.8: Continued

DEVC (Device Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
DRY Logical Section 22.10.22 F
DUCT_ID Character Section 10.2
DX Real Section 22.2.5 m 0
DY Real Section 22.2.5 m 0
DZ Real Section 22.2.5 m 0
FLOWRATE Real Section 18.3.7 kg/s 0
FORCE_DIRECTION Real(3) Section 22.10.21
HIDE_COORDINATES Logical Section 22.2.5 F
ID Character Section 18.1
INITIAL_STATE Logical Section 18.4 F
INIT_ID Character Section 15.4
IOR Integer Section 18.1
LATCH Logical Section 18.4 T
LP_TAG Integer Section 22.9.5
MATL_ID Character Section 22.10.17
MOVE_ID Character Section 22.2.5
N_INTERVALS Integer Section 22.2.4 10
NODE_ID Character(2) Section 10.2
NO_UPDATE_CTRL_ID Character Section 18.6.3
NO_UPDATE_DEVC_ID Character Section 18.6.3
ORIENTATION Real Triplet Section 18.1 0,0,-1
OUTPUT Logical Section 18.2 T
PART_ID Character Section 22.15
PIPE_INDEX Integer Section 18.3.1 1
POINTS Integer Section 22.2.5 1
POINTS_ARRAY_X Real Array Section 22.2.5 m
POINTS_ARRAY_Y Real Array Section 22.2.5 m
POINTS_ARRAY_Z Real Array Section 22.2.5 m
PROP_ID Character Section 18.1
QUANTITY Character Section 18.1
QUANTITY2 Character Section 22.2.5
QUANTITY_RANGE Real(2) Section 22.2.3 -1.E50,1.E50
REAC_ID Character Section 22.12
RELATIVE Logical Section 18.2 F
R_ID Character Section 22.2.5
ROTATION Real Section 18.1 deg. 0
SETPOINT Real Section 18.4
SMOOTHING_FACTOR Real Section 18.4 0
SMOOTHING_TIME Real Section 18.4 s
SPATIAL_STATISTIC Character Section 22.2.3
SPEC_ID Character Section 22.12
STATISTICS_END Real Section 22.2.4 s T_BEGIN

417
 Table 23.8: Continued

DEVC (Device Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
STATISTICS_START Real Section 22.2.4 s T_BEGIN
SURF_ID Character Section 22.2.3
TEMPORAL_STATISTIC Character Section 22.2.3
TIME_AVERAGED Logical Section 18.2
TIME_HISTORY Logical Section 22.2.5
TIME_PERIOD Real Section 22.2.4 s
TRIP_DIRECTION Integer Section 18.4 1
UNITS Character Section 18.2
VELO_INDEX Integer Section 22.10.24 0
XB(6) Real Sextuplet Section 22.2.3 m
XBP(6) Real Sextuplet Section 22.2.5 m
XYZ(3) Real Triplet Section 18.1 m
X_ID Character Section 22.2.5 ID-x
Y_ID Character Section 22.2.5 ID-y
Z_ID Character Section 22.2.5 ID-z
XYZ_UNITS Character Section 22.2.5 'm'

23.9 DUMP (Output Parameters)

Table 23.9: For more information see Chapter 22.

DUMP (Output Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
CFL_FILE Logical Section 6.2.2 F
CLIP_RESTART_FILES Logical Section 5.6 T
COLUMN_DUMP_LIMIT Logical Section 18.2 F
CTRL_COLUMN_LIMIT Integer Section 18.2 254
DEVC_COLUMN_LIMIT Integer Section 18.2 254
DIAGNOSTICS_INTERVAL Integer Section 3.4 100
DT_BNDF Real Section 22.1 s ∆t /NFRAMES
DT_CPU Real Section 27.6 s 2∆t
DT_CTRL Real Section 22.1 s ∆t /NFRAMES
DT_DEVC Real Section 22.1 s ∆t /NFRAMES
DT_FLUSH Real Section 22.1 s ∆t /NFRAMES
DT_HRR Real Section 22.1 s ∆t /NFRAMES
DT_HVAC Real Section 22.1 s ∆t /NFRAMES
DT_ISOF Real Section 22.1 s ∆t /NFRAMES
DT_MASS Real Section 22.1 s ∆t /NFRAMES
DT_PART Real Section 22.1 s ∆t /NFRAMES

418
 Table 23.9: Continued

DUMP (Output Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
DT_PL3D Real Section 22.1 s 2∆t
DT_PROF Real Section 22.1 s ∆t /NFRAMES
DT_RADF Real Section 22.10.14 s 2∆t
DT_RESTART Real Section 22.1 s 2∆t
DT_SL3D Real Section 22.1 s 2∆t
DT_SLCF Real Section 22.1 s ∆t /NFRAMES
DT_SMOKE3D Real Section 22.1 s ∆t /NFRAMES
SMV_PARALLEL_WRITE Logical Section 22 T
DT_SPEC Real Section 20.5 s
DT_TMP Real Section 20.5 s
DT_UVW Real Section 20.5 s
FLUSH_FILE_BUFFERS Logical Section 22 T
HRRPUV_MAX_SMV Real Section 22.8 kW/m3 1200
MASS_FILE Logical Section 22 F
MAXIMUM_PARTICLES Integer Section 15.5 1000000
NFRAMES Integer Section 22 1000
PLOT3D_PART_ID(5) Char. Quint Section 22.7
PLOT3D_QUANTITY(5) Char. Quint Section 22.7
PLOT3D_SPEC_ID(5) Char. Quint Section 22.7
PLOT3D_VELO_INDEX Int. Quint Section 22.10.24 0
RAMP_BNDF Character Section 22.1
RAMP_CPU Character Section 27.6
RAMP_CTRL Character Section 22.1
RAMP_DEVC Character Section 22.1
RAMP_FLUSH Character Section 22.1
RAMP_HRR Character Section 22.1
RAMP_HVAC Character Section 22.1
RAMP_ISOF Character Section 22.1
RAMP_MASS Character Section 22.1
RAMP_PART Character Section 22.1
RAMP_PL3D Character Section 22.1
RAMP_PROF Character Section 22.1
RAMP_RADF Character Section 22.10.14
RAMP_RESTART Character Section 22.1
RAMP_SL3D Character Section 22.1
RAMP_SLCF Character Section 22.1
RAMP_SMOKE3D Character Section 22.1
RAMP_SPEC Character Section 22.1
RAMP_TMP Character Section 22.1
RAMP_UVW Character Section 22.1
RENDER_FILE Character Reference [2]
RESULTS_DIR Character Section 22

419
 Table 23.9: Continued

DUMP (Output Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
SIG_FIGS Integer Section 22.10.27 8
SIG_FIGS_EXP Integer Section 22.10.27 3
SMOKE3D Logical Section 22.8 T
STATUS_FILES Logical Section 22 F
SUPPRESS_DIAGNOSTICS Logical Section 3.4 F
TEMP_MAX_SMV Real Section 22.8 ◦C 2000
TEMP_MIN_SMV Real Section 22.8 ◦C 2000
VELOCITY_ERROR_FILE Logical Section 22.10.26 F
WRITE_XYZ Logical Section 22.7 F

∆t=T_END-T_BEGIN

23.10 GEOM (Unstructured Geometry Parameters)

Table 23.10: For more information see Section 7.3.

(Unstructured Geometry Parameters)

GEOM
Keyword Type Description Units Default
BINARY_FILE Character Section 7.3.9 'null'
BNDF_GEOM Logical Section 22.5 T
CELL_BLOCK_IOR Integer Section 7.3.10 0
CELL_BLOCK_ORIENTATION Real Triplet Section 7.3.10 0.0,0.0,0.0
COLOR Character Section 7.5 'null'
CYLINDER_LENGTH Real Section 7.3.6 m
CYLINDER_RADIUS Real Section 7.3.6 m
CYLINDER_ORIGIN Real Triplet Section 7.3.6 m
CYLINDER_AXIS Real Triplet Section 7.3.6
CYLINDER_NSEG_AXIS Integer Section 7.3.6
CYLINDER_NSEG_THETA Integer Section 7.3.6
EXTEND_TERRAIN Logical Section 7.3.6 F
EXTRUDE Real Section 7.3.6 m
FACES Array of Integer Triplets Section 7.3
ID Character Section 7.3 'geom'_#
IJK Integer Triplet Section 7.3.6 0,0,0
IS_TERRAIN Logical Section 7.3.6 F
MOVE_ID Character Section 7.3.8 'null'
N_LAT Integer Section 7.3.6 0
N_LEVELS Integer Section 7.3.6 0
N_LONG Integer Section 7.3.6 0
POLY Integer Array Section 7.3.6

420
 Table 23.10: Continued

GEOM (Unstructured Geometry Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
RGB(3) Integer Triplet Section 7.5
SPHERE_ORIGIN Real Triplet Section 7.3.6 m
SPHERE_RADIUS Real Section 7.3.6 m
SPHERE_TYPE Integer Section 7.3.6
SURF_ID Character Section 7.3 'INERT'
SURF_ID6(6) Character Sextuplet Section 7.2.1
SURF_IDS(3) Character Triplet Section 7.2.1
TEXTURE_MAPPING Character Section 7.5.2 'RECTANGULAR'
TEXTURE_ORIGIN Real Triplet Section 7.5.2 m 0.0,0.0,0.0
TEXTURE_SCALE Real Section 7.5.2 1.0
TRANSPARENCY Real Section 7.5 1.0
VERTS Array of Real Triplets Section 7.3 m
XB(6) Real Array Section 7.3.6 m
ZMIN Real Section 7.3.6 m
ZVALS Real Array Section 7.3.6 m
ZVAL_HORIZON Real Section 7.3.6 m

23.11 HEAD (Header Parameters)

Table 23.11: For more information see Section 6.1.

HEAD (Header Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
CHID Character Section 6.1 'output'
TITLE Character Section 22.7

23.12 HOLE (Obstruction Cutout Parameters)

Table 23.12: For more information see Section 7.2.8.

HOLE (Obstruction Cutout Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
COLOR Character Section 7.5
CTRL_ID Character Section 7.2.8
DEVC_ID Character Section 7.2.8
ID Character Identifier for input line

421
 Table 23.12: Continued

HOLE (Obstruction Cutout Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
MULT_ID Character Section 7.6
RGB(3) Integer Triplet Section 7.5
TRANSPARENCY Real Section 7.2.8
XB(6) Real Sextuplet Section 7.6 m

23.13 HVAC (HVAC System Definition)

Table 23.13: For more information see Section 10.2.

HVAC (HVAC System Definition)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
AIRCOIL_ID Character Section 10.2.1
AMBIENT Logical Section 10.2.3 F
AREA Real Section 10.2.1 m2
CLEAN_LOSS Real Section 10.2.5
COOLANT_MASS_FLOW Real Section 10.2.6 kg/s
COOLANT_SPECIFIC_HEAT Real Section 10.2.6 kJ/(kg K)
COOLANT_TEMPERATURE Real Section 10.2.6 ◦C

CTRL_ID Character Sections 10.2.1, 10.2.4, 10.2.5

DAMPER Logical Sections 10.2.1, 10.2.2 F
DEVC_ID Character Sections 10.2.1, 10.2.4, 10.2.5
DIAMETER Real Section 10.2.1 m
DISCHARGE_COEFFICIENT Real Section 10.3.2 1.
DUCT_ID Char. Array Section 10.2.3
EFFICIENCY Real Array Sections 10.2.5, 10.2.6 1.0
FAN_ID Character Section 10.2.1
FILTER_ID Character Section 10.2.3
FIXED_Q Real Section 10.2.6 kW
ID Character Section 10.2
LEAK_ENTHALPY Logical Section 10.3.2 F
LEAK_PRESSURE_EXPONENT Real Section 10.3.2 0.5
LEAK_REFERENCE_PRESSURE Real Section 10.3.2 Pa 4
LENGTH Real Section 10.2.1 m
LOADING Real Array Section 10.2.5 kg 0.0
LOADING_MULTIPLIER Real Array Section 10.2.5 1/kg 1.0
LOSS Real Array Sections 10.2.1 – 10.2.5 0.0
MASS_FLOW Real Section 10.2.1 kg/s
MAX_FLOW Real Section 10.2.4 m3 /s
MAX_PRESSURE Real Section 10.2.4 Pa

422
 Table 23.13: Continued

HVAC (HVAC System Definition)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
N_CELLS Integer Section 10.2.8 10×LENGTH
NETWORK_ID Character Section 10.2
NODE_ID Char. Doublet Section 10.2.1
PERIMETER Real Section 10.2.1 m
QUANTITY Char. Array Sections 22.16
QUANTITY_SPEC_ID Char. Array Sections 22.16
RAMP_ID Character Sections 10.2.1, 10.2.5, 10.2.4
RAMP_LOSS Character Sections 10.2.1, 10.2.2
REVERSE Logical Section 10.2.1 F
ROUND Logical Section 10.2.1 T
ROUGHNESS Real Section 10.2.1 m 0.0
SPEC_ID Char. Array Section 10.2.5
SQUARE Logical Section 10.2.1 T
TAU_AC Real Section 10.2.6 s 1.0
TAU_FAN Real Section 10.2.4 s 1.0
TAU_VF Real Section 10.2.1 s 1.0
TRANSPORT_PARTICLES Logical Section 10.3.2 s F
TYPE_ID Character Section 10.2
VENT_ID Character Section 10.2.3
VENT2_ID Character Section 10.3.2
VOLUME_FLOW Real Section 10.2.1, 10.2.4 m3 /s
WAYPOINTS Real Array Section 10.2.1 m
XYZ Real Triplet Section 10.2.3 m 0.0

23.14 INIT (Initial Conditions)

Table 23.14: For more information see Section 20.

INIT (Initial Conditions)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
BULK_DENSITY_FACTOR Real Section 17.2.2 1.
BULK_DENSITY_FILE Character Section 17.2.2
CELL_CENTERED Logical Section 15.5.3 F
CROWN_BASE_HEIGHT Real Section 17.2.1 m
CROWN_BASE_WIDTH Real Section 17.2.1 m
CTRL_ID Character Section 15.5.3
DB Character Section 20.1
DEVC_ID Character Section 15.5.3
DIAMETER Real Section 15.5.3 µm

423
 Table 23.14: Continued

INIT (Initial Conditions)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
DRY Logical Section 17.2 F
DT_INSERT Real Section 15.5.3 s
DX Real Section 15.5.3 m 0.
DY Real Section 15.5.3 m 0.
DZ Real Section 15.5.3 m 0.
HEIGHT Real Section 15.5.3 m
HRRPUV Real Section 20.3 kW/m3
ID Character Section 15.4
INNER_RADIUS Real Section 15.5.3 m 0.
MASS_FRACTION(:) Real Array Section 20.1 kg/kg Ambient
MASS_PER_TIME Real Section 15.5.3 kg/s
MASS_PER_VOLUME Real Section 15.5.3 kg/m3 1
MULT_ID Character Section 7.6
NODE_ID Character Section 10.2.8
N_PARTICLES Integer Section 15.5.3 0
N_PARTICLES_PER_CELL Integer Section 15.5.3 0
ORIENTATION_RAMP(3) Character Section 15.5.4
PART_ID Character Section 15.5.3
PARTICLE_WEIGHT_FACTOR Real Section 15.5.3 1.
PATH_RAMP(3) Character Section 15.5.3
RADIATIVE_FRACTION Real Section 20.3 0.
RADIUS Real Section 15.5.3 m
RAMP_MF_Z Character Section 20.1
RAMP_PART Character Section 15.5.3
RAMP_Q Character Section 20.3
RAMP_TMP_Z Character Section 20.2
RAMP_VF_Z Character Section 20.1
SHAPE Character Section 15.5.3 'BLOCK'
SPEC_ID(N) Character Array Section 20.1
TEMPERATURE Real Section 20.2 °C TMPA
TREE_HEIGHT Real Section 17.2.1 m
UNIFORM Logical Section 15.5.3 F
UVW(3) Real Array Section 15.5.3 m/s 0.
VOLUME_FRACTION(:) Real Array Section 20.1 mol/mol Ambient
XB(6) Real Array Section 20.1 m
XYZ(3) Real Array Section 15.5.3 m

424
23.15 ISOF (Isosurface Parameters)

Table 23.15: For more information see Section 22.6.

ISOF (Isosurface Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
DELTA Real Section 22.6
QUANTITY Character Section 22.6
QUANTITY2 Character Section 22.6
SKIP Character Section 22.6
SPEC_ID Character Section 22.6
SPEC_ID2 Character Section 22.6
VALUE(:) Real Array Section 22.6
VELO_INDEX Integer Section 22.10.24 0
VELO_INDEX2 Integer Section 22.10.24 0

23.16 MATL (Material Properties)

Table 23.16: For more information see Section 8.3.

MATL (Material Properties)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
A(:) Real Array Section 9.2 1/s
ABSORPTION_COEFFICIENT Real Section 8.3.2 1/m 50000.
ADJUST_H Logical Section 9.4 T
ALLOW_SHRINKING Logical Section 9.2.4 T
ALLOW_SWELLING Logical Section 9.2.4 T
BOILING_TEMPERATURE Real Section 9.2.7 ◦C 5000.
CONDUCTIVITY Real Section 8.3.2 W/(m K) 0.
CONDUCTIVITY_RAMP Character Section 8.3.2
DENSITY Real Section 8.3.2 kg/m3 0.
E(:) Real Array Section 9.2 J/mol
EMISSIVITY Real Section 8.3.2 0.9
GAS_DIFFUSION_DEPTH(:) Real Array Section 9.2 m 0.001
HEATING_RATE(:) Real Array Section 9.2 ◦ C/min 5.
HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION(:,:) Real Array Section 9.2 kJ/kg
HEAT_OF_REACTION(:) Real Array Section 9.2 kJ/kg 0.
ID Character Section 8.1
MATL_ID(:,:) Character Section 9.2
MAX_REACTION_RATE(:) Real Array Section 9.2.3 kg/(m3 s) ∞
MW Real Section 9.2.7 g/mol
N_O2(:) Real Array Section 9.2 0.
N_REACTIONS Integer Section 9.2 0

425
 Table 23.16: Continued

MATL(Material Properties)
Keyword Type Description Units Default
N_S(:) Real Array Section 9.2 1.
N_T(:) Real Array Section 9.2 0.
NU_MATL(:,:) Real Array Section 9.2 kg/kg 0.
NU_PART(:,:) Real Array Section 9.2 kg/kg 0.
NU_SPEC(:,:) Real Array Section 9.2 kg/kg 0.
PART_ID(:,:) Char. Array Section 9.2
PYROLYSIS_RANGE(:) Real Array Section 9.2.3 ◦C 80.
REAC_RATE_DELTA Real Section 8.3.8 0.05
REFERENCE_ENTHALPY Real Section 9.4 kJ/kg
REFERENCE_ENTHALPY_TEMPERATURE Real Section 9.4 K
REFERENCE_RATE(:) Real Array Section 9.2 1/s
REFERENCE_TEMPERATURE(:) Real Array Section 9.2 ◦C

SPECIFIC_HEAT Real Section 8.3.2 kJ/(kg K) 0.

SPECIFIC_HEAT_RAMP Character Section 8.3.2
SPEC_ID(:,:) Char. Array Section 9.2
SURFACE_OXIDATION_MODEL Logical Section 17.1 F
X_O2_PYRO Logical Section 9.4

23.17 MESH (Mesh Parameters)

Table 23.17: For more information see Section 6.3.

MESH (Mesh Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
BNDF_MESH Logical Section 22.5 T
CHECK_MESH_ALIGNMENT Logical Section 6.3.4 F
COLOR Character Section 6.3.3 'BLACK'
CYLINDRICAL Logical Section 6.3.2 F
ID Character Section 6.3.1
IJK Integer Triplet Section 6.3.1 10,10,10
MPI_PROCESS Integer Section 6.3.3
MULT_ID Character Section 7.6
RGB Integer Triplet Section 6.3.3 0,0,0
TRNX_ID Character Section 6.3.5
TRNY_ID Character Section 6.3.5
TRNZ_ID Character Section 6.3.5
XB(6) Real Sextuplet Section 6.3.1 m 0,1,0,1,0,1

426
23.18 MISC (Miscellaneous Parameters)

Table 23.18: For more information see Section 19.

MISC (Miscellaneous Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
AEROSOL_AL2O3 Logical Section 14.3 F
AEROSOL_SCRUBBING Logical Section 13.6 F
AGGLOMERATION Logical Section 13.5 T
ALIGNMENT_TOLERANCE Real Section 6.3.4 0.001
BNDF_DEFAULT Logical Section 22.5 T
C_DEARDORFF Real Section 19.2 0.1
CFL_MAX Real Section 19.3.1 1.0
CFL_MIN Real Section 19.3.1 0.8
CFL_VELOCITY_NORM Integer Section 19.3.1
CHECK_FO Logical Section 8.3.8 F
CHECK_HT Logical Section 19.3.4 F
CHECK_VN Logical Section 19.3.2 T
CNF_CUTOFF Real Section 15.3.3 0.005
CONSTANT_SPECIFIC_HEAT_RATIO Logical Section 12.1.3 F
C_SMAGORINSKY Real Section 19.2 0.20
C_VREMAN Real Section 19.2 0.07
C_WALE Real Section 19.2 0.60
DEPOSITION Logical Section 13.4 T
EXTERNAL_FILENAME Character Section 18.8
FIXED_LES_FILTER_WIDTH Real Section 19.2 m
FLUX_LIMITER Integer Section 19.4 2
FREEZE_VELOCITY Logical Section 20.4.2 F
GAMMA Real Section 12.1.2 1.4
GRAVITATIONAL_DEPOSITION Logical Section 13.4 T
GRAVITATIONAL_SETTLING Logical Section 13.4 T
GVEC(3) Real Array Section 20.7 m/s2 0,0,-9.81
H_F_REFERENCE_TEMPERATURE Real Section 22.10.25 ◦C 25.
HUMIDITY Real Section 12.1.1 % 40.
HVAC_LOCAL_PRESSURE Logical Section 10.2 T
HVAC_MASS_TRANSPORT_CELL_L Real Section 10.2.8 m
HVAC_PRES_RELAX Real Section 10.2 1.0
HVAC_QFAN Logical Section 10.2.4 F
IBLANK_SMV Logical Section 22.4 T
I_MAX_TEMP Integer Section 19.5.1 K 5000
LES_FILTER_TYPE Character Section 19.2 'MEAN'
LEVEL_SET_ELLIPSE Logical Section 17.5 T
LEVEL_SET_MODE Integer Section 17.5 0
MAXIMUM_VISIBILITY Real Section 22.10.5 m 30
MAX_LEAK_PATHS Integer Section 10.3.2 200
MAX_RAMPS Integer Section 11 100

427
 Table 23.18: Continued

(Miscellaneous Parameters)
MISC
Keyword Type Description Units Default
MINIMUM_ZONE_VOLUME Real Section 10.3.4 m3 0
MPI_TIMEOUT Real Section 4.2 s 600.
NEAR_WALL_PARTICLE_INTERPOLATION Logical Section 15.4.2 F
NEIGHBOR_SEPARATION_DISTANCE Real Section 8.4 m 0.
NOISE Logical Section 20.4.1 T
NOISE_VELOCITY Real Section 20.4.1 m/s 0.005
NO_PRESSURE_ZONES Logical Section 10.3.1 F
NORTH_BEARING Real Section 17.5.5 deg.
NUCLEATION_SITES Real Section 13.7 #/m3 1 × 107
ORIGIN_LAT Real Section 17.5.5 deg.
ORIGIN_LON Real Section 17.5.5 deg.
OVERWRITE Logical Section 5.5 T
PARTICLE_CFL Logical Section 19.3.3 F
PARTICLE_CFL_MAX Real Section 19.3.3 1.0
PARTICLE_CFL_MIN Real Section 19.3.3 0.8
POROUS_FLOOR Logical Section 15.6 T
PR Real Section 19.2 0.5
P_INF Real Section 20.2 Pa 101325
RAMP_GX Character Section 20.7
RAMP_GY Character Section 20.7
RAMP_GZ Character Section 20.7
RAMP_UX Character Section 20.4.3
RAMP_UY Character Section 20.4.3
RAMP_UZ Character Section 20.4.3
RAMP_VX Character Section 20.4.3
RAMP_VY Character Section 20.4.3
RAMP_VZ Character Section 20.4.3
RAMP_WX Character Section 20.4.3
RAMP_WY Character Section 20.4.3
RAMP_WZ Character Section 20.4.3
RESTART Logical Section 5.6 F
RESTART_CHID Character Section 5.6 CHID
RND_SEED Integer Section 5.6
SC Real Section 20.4.1 0.5
SIMULATION_MODE Character Section 19.1 'VLES'
SMOKE_ALBEDO Real Reference [2] 0.3
SOLID_PHASE_ONLY Logical Section 9.3 F
SOOT_DENSITY Real Section 13.4 1800
SOOT_OXIDATION Logical Section 13.4 F
TAU_DEFAULT Real Section 11.1 s 1.
TERRAIN_IMAGE Character Section 22.10.20
TEXTURE_ORIGIN(3) Real Triplet Section 7.5.2 m (0.,0.,0.)

428
 Table 23.18: Continued

MISC (Miscellaneous Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
THERMOPHORETIC_DEPOSITION Logical Section 13.4 T
THERMOPHORETIC_SETTLING Logical Section 13.4 T
THICKEN_OBSTRUCTIONS Logical Section 7.2.1 F
TMPA Real Section 20.2 ◦C 20.
TURBULENCE_MODEL Character Section 19.2 'DEARDORFF'
TURBULENT_DEPOSITION Logical Section 13.4 T
UNFREEZE_TIME Real Section 20.6
VERBOSE Logical Section 6.3.3
VISIBILITY_FACTOR Real Section 22.10.5 3
VN_MAX Real Section 19.3.2 1.0
VN_MIN Real Section 19.3.2 0.8
Y_CO2_INFTY Real Section 13.1.1 kg/kg
Y_O2_INFTY Real Section 13.1.1 kg/kg

23.19 MOVE (Coordinate Transformation Parameters)

Table 23.19: For more information see Section 11.4.

MOVE (Coordinate Transformation Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
AXIS(3) Real Array Axis of rotation (0.,0.,1.)
SCALE Real Scaling in all directions 1.
SCALEX Real Scaling in the unrotated x direction 1.
SCALEY Real Scaling in the unrotated y direction 1.
SCALEZ Real Scaling in the unrotated z direction 1.
DX Real Translation in the x direction m 0.
DY Real Translation in the y direction m 0.
DZ Real Translation in the z direction m 0.
ID Character Identification tag
ROTATION_ANGLE Real Angle of rotation about AXIS deg. 0.
T34 Real Array 3 × 4 Transformation Matrix 0.
X0 Real x origin m 0.
Y0 Real y origin m 0.
Z0 Real z origin m 0.

429
23.20 MULT (Multiplier Function Parameters)

Table 23.20: For more information see Section 7.6.

MULT (Multiplier Function Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
DX Real Spacing in the x direction m 0.
DXB(6) Real Array Spacing for all 6 coordinates m 0.
DX0 Real Translation in the x direction m 0.
DY Real Spacing in the y direction m 0.
DY0 Real Translation in the y direction m 0.
DZ Real Spacing in the z direction m 0.
DZ0 Real Translation in the z direction m 0.
ID Character Identification tag
I_LOWER Integer Lower array bound, x direction 0
I_LOWER_SKIP Integer Lower array bound begin skip, x direction
I_UPPER Integer Upper array bound, x direction 0
I_UPPER_SKIP Integer Upper array bound end skip, x direction
J_LOWER Integer Lower array bound, y direction 0
J_LOWER_SKIP Integer Lower array bound begin skip, y direction
J_UPPER Integer Upper array bound, y direction 0
J_UPPER_SKIP Integer Upper array bound end skip, y direction
K_LOWER Integer Lower array bound, z direction 0
K_LOWER_SKIP Integer Lower array bound begin skip, z direction
K_UPPER Integer Upper array bound, z direction 0
K_UPPER_SKIP Integer Upper array bound end skip, z direction
N_LOWER Integer Lower sequence bound 0
N_LOWER_SKIP Integer Lower sequence bound begin skip
N_UPPER Integer Upper sequence bound 0
N_UPPER_SKIP Integer Upper sequence bound end skip

23.21 OBST (Obstruction Parameters)

Table 23.21: For more information see Section 7.2.

OBST (Obstruction Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
ALLOW_VENT Logical Section 7.2.1 T
BNDF_FACE(-3:3) Logical Array Section 22.5 T
BNDF_OBST Logical Section 22.5 T
BULK_DENSITY Real Section 9.2.9 kg/m3
CELL_SIZE Real Section 8.4.1 m
CELL_SIZE_FACTOR Real Section 8.4.1

430
 Table 23.21: Continued

OBST (Obstruction Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
COLOR Character Section 7.2.1
CTRL_ID Character Section 18.4.2
DEVC_ID Character Section 18.4.2
HEIGHT Real Section 7.6.2 m
ID Character Section 7.2.1
INTERNAL_HEAT_SOURCE Real Section 8.4.1 kW/m3 0.
LENGTH Real Section 7.6.2 m
MATL_ID(:) Char. Array Section 8.4.5
MATL_MASS_FRACTION(:) Real Array Section 8.4.5 kg/kg
MULT_ID Character Section 7.6
N_LAYER_CELLS_MAX Integer Section 8.4.1
ORIENTATION(3) Real Array Section 7.6.2 m (0.,0.,1.)
OUTLINE Logical Section 7.2.1 F
OVERLAY Logical Section 7.2.4 T
PERMIT_HOLE Logical Section 7.2.8 T
RADIUS Real Section 7.6.2 m
RAMP_IHS Character Section 8.4.1
REMOVABLE Logical Section 7.2.8 T
RGB(3) Integer Array Section 7.2.1
SHAPE Character Section 7.6.2
STRETCH_FACTOR Real Section 8.4.1
SURF_ID Character Section 7.2.1
SURF_ID_INTERIOR Character Section 9.2.9
SURF_ID6(6) Char. Array Section 7.2.1
SURF_IDS(3) Char. Array Section 7.2.1
TEXTURE_ORIGIN(3) Real Array Section 7.5.2 m (0.,0.,0.)
THETA Real Section 7.6.2 deg.
THICKEN Logical Section 7.2.1 F
TRANSPARENCY Real Section 7.2.1 1
WIDTH Real Section 7.6.2 m
XB(6) Real Array Section 7.2.1 m
XYZ(3) Real Array Section 7.6.2 m (0.,0.,0.)

431
23.22 PART (Lagrangian Particles/Droplets)

Table 23.22: For more information see Chapter 15.

(Lagrangian Particles/Droplets)
PART
Keyword Type Description Units Default
ADHERE_TO_SOLID Integer Section 15.4.5 0
AGE Real Section 15.5 s 1 × 105
BREAKUP Logical Section 15.3.6 F
BREAKUP_CNF_RAMP_ID Character Section 15.3.6
BREAKUP_DISTRIBUTION Character Section 15.3.6 'ROSIN...'
BREAKUP_GAMMA_D Real Section 15.3.6 2.4
BREAKUP_RATIO Real Section 15.3.6 3/7
BREAKUP_SIGMA_D Real Section 15.3.6
CHECK_DISTRIBUTION Logical Section 15.3.3 F
CNF_RAMP_ID Character Section 15.3.3
COLOR Character Section 22.9 'BLACK'
COMPLEX_REFRACTIVE_INDEX Real Section 15.3.2 0.01
CTRL_ID Character Section 15.5.1
DENSE_VOLUME_FRACTION Real Section 15.3.4 1 × 10−5
DEVC_ID Character Section 15.5.1
DIAMETER Real Section 15.3.3 µm
DISTRIBUTION Character Section 15.3.3 'ROSIN...'
DRAG_COEFFICIENT(3) Real Array Section 15.4.2
DRAG_LAW Character Section 15.4.2 'SPHERE'
EVAP_MODEL Character Section 15.3 B-number
EMBER_DENSITY_THRESHOLD Real Section 17.2.4
EMBER_PARTICLE Logical Section 17.2.4 F
EMBER_VELOCITY_THRESHOLD Real Section 17.2.4
FREE_AREA_FRACTION Real Section 15.4.9
GAMMA_D Real Section 15.3.3 2.4
HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION Real Section 15.3.1 kJ/kg
HEAT_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT_GAS Real Section 15.3.1 W/m2 /K
HEAT_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT_SOLID Real Section 15.7.1 W/m2 /K
HORIZONTAL_VELOCITY Real Section 15.7.1 m/s 0.2
ID Character Section 15.1
INITIAL_TEMPERATURE Real Section 15.3.1 ◦C TMPA
KILL_DIAMETER Real Section 15.3.3 µm
MASSLESS Logical Section 15.2 F
MASS_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT Real Section 15.3.1 m/s
MAXIMUM_DIAMETER Real Section 15.3.3 µm 1000000
MINIMUM_DIAMETER Real Section 15.3.3 µm
MONODISPERSE Logical Section 15.3.3 F
N_STRATA Integer Section 15.3.3 6
NEW_PARTICLE_INCREMENT Integer Section 15.5 1000
ORIENTATION(1:3,:) Real Array Section 15.4

432
 Table 23.22: Continued

(Lagrangian Particles/Droplets)
PART
Keyword Type Description Units Default
PERMEABILITY(3) Real Array Section 15.4.8
POROUS_VOLUME_FRACTION Real Section 15.4.8
PRIMARY_BREAKUP_LENGTH Real Section 15.3.5 m
PRIMARY_BREAKUP_DRAG_REDUCTION_FACTORReal Section 15.3.5 1.0
PROP_ID Character Section 15.1
QUANTITIES(10) Character Section 22.9
QUANTITIES_SPEC_ID(10) Character Section 22.9
RADIATIVE_PROPERTY_TABLE Real Section 15.3.2
REAL_REFRACTIVE_INDEX Real Section 15.3.2 1.33
RGB(3) Integers Section 22.9
RUNNING_AVERAGE_FACTOR Real Section 15.3.2 0.5
RUNNING_AVERAGE_FACTOR_WALL Real Section 15.3.2 0.5
SAMPLING_FACTOR Integer Section 22.9 1
SHAPE_FACTOR Real Section 17.2 0.25
SIGMA_D Real Section 15.3.3
SPEC_ID Character Section 15.3.1
STATIC Logical Section 15.4 F
SURFACE_DIAMETER Real Section 15.7.1 µm
SURFACE_TENSION Real Section 15.3.6 N/m 7.28 × 10−2
SURF_ID Character Section 15.4
TARGET_ONLY Logical Section 15.4.11 F
TRACK_EMBERS Logical Section 17.2.4 T
TURBULENT_DISPERSION Logical Section 15.2 F
VERTICAL_VELOCITY Real Section 15.7.1 m/s 0.5

23.23 PRES (Pressure Solver Parameters)

Table 23.23: For more information see Section 21.

PRES (Pressure Solver Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
BAROCLINIC Logical Section 21.2 T
CHECK_POISSON Logical Section 21.1 F
FISHPAK_BC(3) Integer Array Section 7.4.2
ITERATION_SUSPEND_FACTOR Real Section 21.1 s 0.95
MAX_PRESSURE_ITERATIONS Integer Section 21.1 10
PRESSURE_RELAX_TIME Real Section 10.3.3 s 1.
PRESSURE_TOLERANCE Real Section 21.1 s−2
RELAXATION_FACTOR Real Section 10.3.3 1.

433
 Table 23.23: Continued

PRES (Pressure Solver Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
SOLVER Character Section 21.1.1 'FFT'
SUSPEND_PRESSURE_ITERATIONS Logical Section 21.1 T
TUNNEL_PRECONDITIONER Logical Section 21.3 F
VELOCITY_TOLERANCE Real Section 21.1 m/s

23.24 PROF (Wall Profile Parameters)

Table 23.24: For more information see Section 22.3.

PROF (Wall Profile Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
CELL_CENTERED Logical Section 22.3 F
FORMAT_INDEX Integer Section 22.3 1
ID Character Section 22.3
INIT_ID Character Section 22.3
IOR Real Section 22.3
LP_TAG Integer Section 22.3 1
MATL_ID Character Section 22.3
PART_ID Character Section 22.3
QUANTITY Character Section 22.3
XYZ Real Triplet Section 22.3 m

23.25 PROP (Device Properties)

Table 23.25: For more information see Section 18.3.

PROP (Device Properties)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
ACTIVATION_OBSCURATION Real Section 18.3.5 %/m 3.24
ACTIVATION_TEMPERATURE Real Section 18.3.1 ◦C 74.
ALPHA_C Real Section 18.3.5 1.8
ALPHA_E Real Section 18.3.5 0.
BETA_C Real Section 18.3.5 1.
BETA_E Real Section 18.3.5 1.
CHARACTERISTIC_VELOCITY Real Section 22.10.21 m/s 1.
C_FACTOR Real Section 18.3.1 (m/s)1/2 0.

434
 Table 23.25: Continued

PROP (Device Properties)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
DENSITY Real Section 22.10.8 kg/m3 8908.
DIAMETER Real Section 22.10.8 m 0.001
EMISSIVITY Real Section 22.10.8 0.85
FED_ACTIVITY Integer Section 22.10.18 2
FLOW_RAMP Character Section 18.3.1
FLOW_RATE Real Section 18.3.1 L/min
FLOW_TAU Real Section 18.3.1 0.
GAUGE_EMISSIVITY Real Section 22.10.12 1.
GAUGE_TEMPERATURE Real Section 22.10.12 ◦C TMPA
2
HEAT_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT Real Section 22.10.8 W/(m K)
HISTOGRAM Logical Section 22.10.19 F
HISTOGRAM_CUMULATIVE Logical Section 22.10.19 F
HISTOGRAM_LIMITS(2) Real Array Section 22.10.19
HISTOGRAM_NBINS Integer Section 22.10.19 10
HISTOGRAM_NORMALIZE Logical Section 22.10.19 T
ID Character Section 18.3
INITIAL_TEMPERATURE Real Section 18.3.1 ◦C TMPA
1
K_FACTOR Real Section 18.3.1 L/(min bar )2 1.
LENGTH Real Section 18.3.5 m 1.8
MASS_FLOW_RATE Real Section 18.3.1 kg/s
OFFSET Real Section 18.3.1 m 0.05
OPERATING_PRESSURE Real Section 18.3.1 bar 1.
ORIFICE_DIAMETER Real Section 18.3.1 m 0.
PARTICLES_PER_SECOND Integer Section 18.3.1 5000
PARTICLE_VELOCITY Real Section 18.3.1 m/s 0.
PART_ID Character Section 18.3.1
PDPA_END Real Section 22.10.16 s T_END
PDPA_INTEGRATE Logical Section 22.10.16 T
PDPA_M Integer Section 22.10.16 0
PDPA_N Integer Section 22.10.16 0
PDPA_NORMALIZE Logical Section 22.10.16 T
PDPA_RADIUS Real Section 22.10.16 m 0.
PDPA_START Real Section 22.10.16 s 0.
PRESSURE_RAMP Character Section 18.3.1
P0 Real Section 18.3.3 m/s 0.
PX(3) Real Section 18.3.3 m/s 0.
PXX(3,3) Real Section 18.3.3 m/s 0.
QUANTITY Character Section 18.3.1
√
RTI Real Section 18.3.1 ms 100.
SMOKEVIEW_ID(:) Char. Array Section 18.7.1
SMOKEVIEW_PARAMETERS(:) Char. Array Section 18.7.2
SPARK Logical Section 13.1.7 F

435
 Table 23.25: Continued

PROP (Device Properties)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
SPEC_ID Character Section 18.3.5
SPECIFIC_HEAT Real Section 22.10.8 kJ/(kg K) 0.44
SPRAY_ANGLE(2,2) Real Section 18.3.1 degrees 60.,75.
SPRAY_PATTERN_BETA Real Section 18.3.1 degrees 5.
SPRAY_PATTERN_MU Real Section 18.3.1 degrees 0.
SPRAY_PATTERN_SHAPE Character Section 18.3.1 'GAUSSIAN'
SPRAY_PATTERN_TABLE Character Section 18.3.1
TIME_CONSTANT Real Section 22.10.8 s
VELOCITY_COMPONENT Integer Section 18.3.3
VIEW_ANGLE Real Section 22.10.12 degrees 180.

23.26 RADF (Radiation Output File Parameters)

Table 23.26: For more information see Section 22.10.14.

RADF (Radiation Output File Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
I_STEP Integer Section 22.10.14 1
J_STEP Integer Section 22.10.14 1
K_STEP Integer Section 22.10.14 1
XB Real Sextuplet Section 22.10.14 m

23.27 RADI (Radiation Parameters)

Table 23.27: For more information see Section 14.1.

RADI (Radiation Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
ANGLE_INCREMENT Integer Section 14.3 5
BAND_LIMITS Real Array Section 14.3.2 µm
C_MAX Real Section 14.1 100
C_MIN Real Section 14.1 0.1
INITIAL_RADIATION_ITERATIONS Integer Section 14.2 3
KAPPA0 Real Section 14.3 1/m 0
MIE_MINIMUM_DIAMETER Real Section 14.4 µm 0.5
MIE_MAXIMUM_DIAMETER Real Section 14.4 µm 1.5×D

436
 Table 23.27: Continued

RADI (Radiation Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
MIE_NDG Integer Section 14.4 50
NMIEANG Integer Section 14.4 15
NUMBER_RADIATION_ANGLES Integer Section 14.2 100
OPTICALLY_THIN Logical Section 14.1 F
PATH_LENGTH Real Section 14.3.1 m 0.1
QR_CLIP Real Section 14.1 kW/m3 1
RADIATION Logical Section 14.1.1 T
RADIATION_ITERATIONS Integer Section 14.2 1
RADTMP Real Section 14.4 ◦C 900
TIME_STEP_INCREMENT Integer Section 14.2 3
WIDE_BAND_MODEL Logical Section 14.3.2 F
WSGG_MODEL Logical Section 14.3.3 F

23.28 RAMP (Ramp Function Parameters)

Table 23.28: For more information see Chapter 11.

RAMP (Ramp Function Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
CTRL_ID Character Section 18.6.1
CTRL_ID_DEP Character Section 18.6.2
DEVC_ID Character Section 18.6.1
DEVC_ID_DEP Character Section 18.6.2
EXTERNAL_FILE Logical Section 18.8 F
F Real Chapter 11
ID Character Chapter 11
INITIAL_VALUE Real Section 18.8
NUMBER_INTERPOLATION_POINTS Integer Chapter 11 5000
T Real Chapter 11 s (or ◦ C)

X Real Section 20.7 m

Z Real Section 16.1 m

437
23.29 REAC (Reaction Parameters)

Table 23.29: For more information see Chapter 13.

(Reaction Parameters)
REAC
Keyword Type Description Units Default
A Real Section 13.3
A_LOW_PR Real Section 13.3.5
A_TROE Real Section 13.3.5
AIT_EXCLUSION_ZONE(6,:) Real Array Section 13.1.7 m
AIT_EXCLUSION_ZONE_CTRL_ID(:) Char. Array Section 13.1.7 'null'
AIT_EXCLUSION_ZONE_DEVC_ID(:) Char. Array Section 13.1.7 'null'
AIT_EXCLUSION_ZONE_TEMPERATURE(:)Real Array Section 13.1.8 ◦C

AUTO_IGNITION_TEMPERATURE Real Section 13.1.7 ◦C -273 ◦ C

CHECK_ATOM_BALANCE Logical Section 13.2 T
CO_YIELD Real Section 13.1.1 kg/kg 0
CRITICAL_FLAME_TEMPERATURE Real Section 13.1.6 ◦C 1427
E Real Section 13.3 J/mol
E_LOW_PR Real Section 13.3.5 J/mol
EPUMO2 Real Section 13.1.2 kJ/kg 13100
EQUATION Character Section 13.2.5
FUEL Character Section 13.1.1
FUEL_C_TO_CO_FRACTION Real Section 13.1.3 2/3
FUEL_H_TO_H2_FRACTION Real Section 13.1.3 0
FUEL_N_TO_HCN_FRACTION Real Section 13.1.3 1/5
FUEL_RADCAL_ID Character Section 13.1.1
HCN_YIELD Real Section 13.1.1 kg/kg 0
HEAT_OF_COMBUSTION Real Section 13.1.2 kJ/kg
HOC_COMPLETE Real Section 13.1.4 kJ/kg
ID Character Section 13.1.1
IDEAL Logical Section 13.1.1 F
LOWER_OXYGEN_LIMIT Real Section 13.1.6 mol/mol
N_S(:) Real Array Section 13.3
N_SIMPLE_CHEMISTRY_REACTIONS Integer Section 13.1.3 1
N_T Real Section 13.3
NU(:) Real Array Section 13.3
PRIORITY Integer Section 13.2.3 1
RADIATIVE_FRACTION Real Section 14.1
RAMP_CHI_R Character Section 14.1
REAC_ATOM_ERROR Real Section 13.2 atoms 1.E-4
REAC_MASS_ERROR Real Section 13.2 kg/kg 1.E-4
REACTYPE Character Section 13.3.5 'ARRHENIUS-TYPE'
REVERSE Logical Section 13.3.3 F
SOOT_YIELD Real Section 13.1.1 kg/kg 0.0
SPEC_ID_N_S(:) Char. Array Section 13.3
SPEC_ID_NU(:) Char. Array Section 13.3

438
 Table 23.29: Continued

REAC(Reaction Parameters)
Keyword Type Description Units Default
T1_TROE Real Section 13.3.5 K
T2_TROE Real Section 13.3.5 K
T3_TROE Real Section 13.3.5 K
THIRD_BODY Logical Section 13.3 F
THIRD_EFF(:) Real Array Section 13.3.4
THIRD_EFF_ID(:) Char. Array Section 13.3.4

23.30 SLCF (Slice File Parameters)

Table 23.30: For more information see Section 22.4.

SLCF (Slice File Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
AGL_SLICE Real Section 22.10.20 m
CELL_CENTERED Logical Section 22.4 F
DB Character Section 22.4
ID Character Section 22.4
MAXIMUM_VALUE Real Reference [2]
MESH_NUMBER Integer Section 22.4
MINIMUM_VALUE Real Reference [2]
PART_ID Character Section 22.12
PBX, PBY, PBZ Real Section 22.4 m
PROP_ID Character Section 22.10.18
QUANTITY Character Section 22.12
QUANTITY2 Character Section 22.12
REAC_ID Character See QUANTITY=`HRRPUV REAC`
SPEC_ID Character Section 22.12
VECTOR Logical Section 22.4 F
VELO_INDEX Integer Section 22.10.24 0
XB(6) Real Array Section 22.4 m

439
23.31 SM3D (Smoke3D Parameters)

Table 23.31: For more information see Section 22.8.

SM3D (Smoke3D Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
QUANTITY Character Section 22.8
SPEC_ID Character Section 22.8

23.32 SPEC (Species Parameters)

Table 23.32: For more information see Section 12.

SPEC (Species Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
AEROSOL Logical Section 13.4 F
ALT_ID Character Section 12.1.1
BACKGROUND Logical Section 12 F
BETA_LIQUID Real Section 15.3.1 1/K
C Real Section 12.1.2
COMPLEX_REFRACTIVE_INDEX Real Section 13.7 0.01
CONDUCTIVITY Real Section 12.1.2 W/(m K)
CONDUCTIVITY_LIQUID Real Section 15.3.1 W/(m K)
CONDUCTIVITY_SOLID Real Section 13.4 W/(m K) 0.26
COPY_LUMPED Logical Section 12.2 F
DENSITY_LIQUID Real Section 15.3.1 kg/m3
DENSITY_SOLID Real Section 13.4 kg/m3 1800.
DIFFUSIVITY Real Section 12.1.3 m2 /s
ENTHALPY_OF_FORMATION Real Section 15.3.1 kJ/mol
EPSILONKLJ Real Section 12.1.2 0
FIC_CONCENTRATION Real Section 22.10.18 ppm 0.
FLD_LETHAL_DOSE Real Section 22.10.18 ppm×min 0.
FORMULA Character Section 12.1.2
H Real Section 12.1.2
HEAT_OF_VAPORIZATION Real Section 15.3.1 kJ/kg
H_V_REFERENCE_TEMPERATURE Real Section 15.3.1 ◦C

ID Character Section 12.1.1

LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY Logical Section 12.2 F
MASS_EXTINCTION_COEFFICIENT Real Section 18.3.5 0
MASS_FRACTION(:) Real Array Section 12.2 0
MASS_FRACTION_0 Real Section 12.1.1 0
MASS_FRACTION_COND_0 Real Section 13.7 0
MAX_DIAMETER Real Section 13.5 m

440
 Table 23.32: Continued

SPEC (Species Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
MEAN_DIAMETER Real Section 13.4 m
MELTING_TEMPERATURE Real Section 15.3.1 ◦C

MIN_DIAMETER Real Section 13.5 m

MW Real Section 12.1.2 g/mol 29.
N Real Section 12.1.2
N_BINS Integer Section 13.5
O Real Section 12.1.2
ODE_ABS_ERROR Real Section 13.3.7
ODE_REL_ERROR Real Section 13.3.7
POLYNOMIAL Character Section 12.1.3
POLYNOMIAL_COEFF(:) Real Array Section 12.1.3
POLYNOMIAL_TEMP(:) Real Array Section 12.1.3 K
PR_GAS Real Section 12.1.2 PR
PRIMITIVE Logical Section 12.1.2
RADCAL_ID Character Section 12.1.5
RAMP_CP Character Section 12.1.2
RAMP_CP_L Character Section 15.3.1
RAMP_D Character Section 12.1.2
RAMP_G_F Character Section 12.1.2
RAMP_K Character Section 12.1.2
RAMP_MU Character Section 12.1.2
REAL_REFRACTIVE_INDEX Real Section 13.7 1.33
REFERENCE_ENTHALPY Real Section 12.1.2 kJ/kg
REFERENCE_TEMPERATURE Real Section 12.1.2 ◦C 25.
SIGMALJ Real Section 12.1.2 0
SPEC_ID(:) Char. Array Section 12.2
SPECIFIC_HEAT Real Section 12.1.2 kJ/(kg K)
SPECIFIC_HEAT_LIQUID Real Section 15.3.1 kJ/(kg K)
THERMOPHORETIC_DIAMETER Real Section 13.4 m 0.03E-6
TURBULENT_SCHMIDT_NUMBER Real Section 12.1.2 0.5
VAPORIZATION_TEMPERATURE Real Section 15.3.1 ◦C

VISCOSITY Real Section 12.1.2 kg/(m s)

VISCOSITY_LIQUID Real Section 15.3.1 kg/(m s)
VOLUME_FRACTION(:) Real Array Section 12.2

441
23.33 SURF (Surface Properties)

Table 23.33: For more information see Section 7.1.

SURF (Surface Properties)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
ADIABATIC Logical Section 8.2.3 F
ALLOW_SURFACE_PARTICLES Logical Section 15.7.1 T
ALLOW_UNDERSIDE_PARTICLES Logical Section 15.7.1 F
AREA_MULTIPLIER Real Section 9.1.2 1.0
BACKING Character Section 8.3.3 'EXPOSED'
BLOWING Logical Section 8.2.2
BURN_AWAY Logical Section 9.2.9 F
BURN_DURATION Real Section 9.2.8 s 1000000
CELL_SIZE(:) Real Array Section 8.3.8 m
CELL_SIZE_FACTOR(:) Real Array Section 8.3.8 1.0
COLOR Character Section 7.5
CONVECTION_LENGTH_SCALE Real Section 8.2.2 m 1.
CONVECTIVE_HEAT_FLUX Real Section 8.2.2 kW/m2
CONVERT_VOLUME_TO_MASS Logical Section 10.1.6 F
DEFAULT Logical Section 7.1 F
DELTA_TMP_MAX Real Section 8.3.8 ◦C 10
DRAG_COEFFICIENT Real Section 17.3 2.8
DSC_CONVERSION_FACTOR Real Section 9.3.2 1
DT_INSERT Real Section 15.5.1 s 0.01
E_COEFFICIENT Real Section 15.7 m2 /(kg s)
EMBER_GENERATION_HEIGHT(2) Real Section 17.5.3 m
EMBER_IGNITION_POWER_MEAN Real Section 17.5.4 kW
EMBER_IGNITION_POWER_SIGMA Real Section 17.5.4 kW 0.001
EMBER_TRACKING_RATIO Real Section 17.5.3 100
EMBER_YIELD Real Section 17.5.3 kg/kg
EMISSIVITY Real Section 8.2.2 0.9
EMISSIVITY_BACK Real Section 8.3.3
EXTERNAL_FLUX Real Section 9.3 kW/m2
EXTINCTION_TEMPERATURE Real Section 9.1.3 ◦C -273.
FREE_SLIP Logical Section 10.1.7 F
GEOMETRY Character Section 8.3.7 'CARTESIAN'
HEAT_OF_VAPORIZATION Real Section 9.1.3 kJ/kg
HEAT_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT Real Section 8.2.2 W/(m2 K)
HEAT_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT_BACK Real Section 8.2.2 W/(m2 K)
HEAT_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT_SIGMA Real Section 8.2.2 m
HEAT_TRANSFER_MODEL Character Section 8.2.2
HORIZONTAL Logical Section 8.3.7 F
HRRPUA Real Section 9.1 kW/m2
HT3D Logical Section 8.4 F

442
 Table 23.33: Continued

SURF (Surface Properties)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
ID Character Section 7.1
IGNITION_TEMPERATURE Real Section 9.1.3 ◦C 5000.
INERT_Q_REF Logical Section 9.1.4 F
INIT_IDS Char. Array Section 17.2.1
INIT_PER_AREA Real Section 17.2.1 m−2
INNER_RADIUS Real Section 15.4.1 m
INTERNAL_HEAT_SOURCE Real Array Section 8.3.6 kW/m3
LAYER_DIVIDE Real Section 9.2.2 /2
N_LAYERS
LEAK_PATH Int. Pair Section 10.3.2
LEAK_PATH_ID Character Pair Section 10.3.2
LENGTH Real Section 15.4.1 m
MASS_FLUX(:) Real Array Section 10.1.6 kg/(m2 s)
MASS_FLUX_TOTAL Real Section 10.1.2 kg/(m2 s)
MASS_FLUX_VAR Real Section 10.1.9
MASS_FRACTION(:) Real Array Section 10.1.6
MASS_PER_VOLUME(:) Real Array Section 17.2 kg/m3
MASS_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT Real Section 9.2.7 m/s
MATL_ID(:,:) Char. Array Section 9.2
MATL_MASS_FRACTION(:,:) Real Array Section 9.2
MAXIMUM_SCALING_HEAT_FLUX Real Section 9.1.4 kW/m2
MCC_CONVERSION_FACTOR Real Section 9.3.2 1
MINIMUM_BURNOUT_TIME Real Section 17.3.1 s 1000000
MINIMUM_LAYER_THICKNESS Real Section 8.3.8 m 1.E-4
MINIMUM_SCALING_HEAT_FLUX Real Section 9.1.4 kW/m2 0
MLRPUA Real Section 9.1 kg/(m2 s)
MOISTURE_FRACTION(:) Real Array Section 17.2 0.
N_LAYER_CELLS_MAX(:) Integer Array Section 8.3.8 1000
NEAR_WALL_EDDY_VISCOSITY Real Section 19.2 m2 /s
NEAR_WALL_TURBULENCE_MODEL Character Section 19.2
NET_HEAT_FLUX Real Section 8.2.2 kW/m2
NO_SLIP Logical Section 10.1.7 F
NPPC Integer Section 15.5.1 1
NUSSELT_C0 Real Section 8.2.2
NUSSELT_C1 Real Section 8.2.2
NUSSELT_C2 Real Section 8.2.2
NUSSELT_M Real Section 8.2.2
PARTICLE_EXTRACTION_VELOCITY Real Section 15.6 m/s
PARTICLE_MASS_FLUX Real Section 15.5.1 kg/(m2 s)
PARTICLE_SURFACE_DENSITY Real Section 15.5.1 kg/m2
PART_ID Character Section 15.5.1
PLE Real Section 16.5 0.3
PROFILE Character Section 10.5

443
 Table 23.33: Continued

SURF(Surface Properties)
Keyword Type Description Units Default
RADIUS Real Section 15.4.1 m
RAMP_EF Character Section 11.1
RAMP_HEAT_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT Real Section 8.2.2
Real
RAMP_HEAT_TRANSFER_COEFFICIENT_BACK Section 8.2.2
RAMP_IHS Character Section 8.3.6
RAMP_MF(:) Character Section 11.1
RAMP_PART Character Section 11.1
RAMP_Q Character Section 11.1
RAMP_T Character Section 11.1
RAMP_T_I Character Section 8.3.4
RAMP_TMP_BACK Character Section 8.3.9
RAMP_TMP_GAS_BACK Character Section 8.3.3
RAMP_TMP_GAS_FRONT Character Section 8.3.3
RAMP_V Character Section 11.1
RAMP_V_X Character Section 11.3
RAMP_V_Y Character Section 11.3
RAMP_V_Z Character Section 11.3
REFERENCE_HEAT_FLUX Real Array Section 9.1.4 kW/m2
REFERENCE_HEAT_FLUX_TIME_INTERVAL Real Section 9.1.4 s 1.0
REFERENCE_THICKNESS Real Array Section 9.1.4 m
REMESH_RATIO Real Section 8.3.8 0.15
RGB(3) Integer Array Section 7.5 255,204,102
ROUGHNESS Real Section 10.1.7 m 0.
SHAPE_FACTOR Real Section 17.3 0.25
SPEC_ID Character Section 10.1.6
SPREAD_RATE Real Section 9.1.1 m/s
STRETCH_FACTOR(:) Real Array Section 8.3.8 2.
SURFACE_VOLUME_RATIO(:) Real Section 17.2 1/m
TAU_EF Real Section 11.1 s 1.
TAU_MF(:) Real Array Section 11.1 s 1.
TAU_PART Real Section 11.1 s 1.
TAU_Q Real Section 11.1 s 1.
TAU_T Real Section 11.1 s 1.
TAU_V Real Section 11.1 s 1.
TEXTURE_HEIGHT Real Section 7.5.2 m 1.
TEXTURE_MAP Character Section 7.5.2
TEXTURE_WIDTH Real Section 7.5.2 m 1.
TGA_ANALYSIS Logical Section 9.3.2 F
TGA_CONVERSION_FACTOR Real Section 9.3.2 1
TGA_DT Real Section 9.3.2 s 0.01
TGA_DUMP Real Section 9.3.2 K 1
TGA_FINAL_TEMPERATURE Real Section 9.3.2 ◦C 800.

444
 Table 23.33: Continued

SURF (Surface Properties)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
TGA_HEATING_RATE Real Section 9.3.2 ◦ C/min 5.
THICKNESS(:) Real Array Section 8.1 m
TIME_STEP_FACTOR Real Section 8.3.8 10.
TMP_BACK Real Section 8.3.9 ◦C

TMP_FRONT Real Section 8.2.1 ◦C 20.

TMP_FRONT_INITIAL Real Section 8.2.3 ◦C

TMP_GAS_FRONT Real Section 8.3.3 ◦C

TMP_GAS_BACK Real Section 8.3.3 ◦C

TMP_INNER Real Section 8.3.4 ◦C 20.

TRANSPARENCY Real Section 7.5 1.
VARIABLE_THICKNESS Logical Section 8.4.5 F
VEG_LSET_BETA Real Section 17.5 0.01
VEG_LSET_CHAR_FRACTION Real Section 17.5 0.2
VEG_LSET_FIREBASE_TIME Real Section 17.5 s
VEG_LSET_FUEL_INDEX Integer Section 17.5
VEG_LSET_HT Real Section 17.5 m 0.2
VEG_LSET_IGNITE_TIME Real Section 17.5 s
VEG_LSET_M1 Real Section 17.5 0.03
VEG_LSET_M10 Real Section 17.5 0.04
VEG_LSET_M100 Real Section 17.5 0.05
VEG_LSET_MLW Real Section 17.5 0.70
VEG_LSET_MLH Real Section 17.5 0.70
VEG_LSET_QCON Real Section 17.5 kW/m2 0.
VEG_LSET_ROS_00 Real Section 17.5 m/s 0.
VEG_LSET_ROS_BACK Real Section 17.5 m/s 0.
VEG_LSET_ROS_FLANK Real Section 17.5 m/s 0.
VEG_LSET_ROS_HEAD Real Section 17.5 m/s 0.
VEG_LSET_ROS_FIXED Logical Section 17.5 F
VEG_LSET_SIGMA Real Section 17.5 1/m 5000.
VEG_LSET_SURF_LOAD Real Section 17.5 kg/m2 1.0
VEG_LSET_TAN2 Real Section 17.5
VEG_LSET_WIND_EXP Real Section 17.5 1.
VEL Real Section 10.1 m/s
VEL_BULK Real Section 10.5 m/s
VEL_GRAD Real Section 10.1.5 1/s
VEL_PART Real Section 15.5.1 m/s
VEL_T(2) Real Array Section 10.1.4 m/s
VOLUME_FLOW Real Section 10.1 m3 /s
WIDTH Real Section 15.4.1 m
XYZ(3) Real Array Section 9.1.1 m
Z0 Real Section 16.5 m 10.
Z_0 Real Section 16.2.2 m 0.

445
23.34 TABL (Table Parameters)

Table 23.34: For more information see Section 18.3.1.

TABL (Table Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
ID Character Section 18.3.1
TABLE_DATA(9) Real Array Section 18.3.1

23.35 TIME (Time Parameters)

Table 23.35: For more information see Section 6.2.

TIME (Time Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
DT Real Section 6.2.2 s
DT_END_FILL Real Section 6.2.2 s 1.0 × 10−6
DT_END_MINIMUM Real Section 6.2.2 s 2.*EPSILON
DT_EXTERNAL Real Section 18.8 s 0
DT_EXTERNAL_HEARTBEAT Real Section 18.8 s 0
EXTERNAL_HEARTBEAT_FILENAME Character Section 18.8
HEARTBEAT_FAIL Logical Section 18.8 T
LIMITING_DT_RATIO Real Section 4.2 0.0001
LOCK_TIME_STEP Logical Section 6.2.2 F
RAMP_TIME Character Section 6.2.2
RESTRICT_TIME_STEP Logical Section 6.2.2 T
T_BEGIN Real Section 6.2.1 s 0.
T_END Real Section 6.2.1 s 1.
TIME_SHRINK_FACTOR Real Section 6.2.3 1.
WALL_INCREMENT Integer Section 8.3.8 2

446
23.36 TRNX, TRNY, TRNZ (MESH Transformations)

Table 23.36: For more information see Section 6.3.5.

TRNX, TRNY, TRNZ (MESH Transformations)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
CC Real Section 6.3.5 m
ID Character Section 6.3.5
IDERIV Integer Section 6.3.5
MESH_NUMBER Integer Section 6.3.5
PC Real Section 6.3.5

447
23.37 VENT (Vent Parameters)

Table 23.37: For more information see Section 7.4.

VENT (Vent Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
AREA_ADJUST Logical Section 18.6.4 F
COLOR Character Section 7.5
CTRL_ID Character Section 18.4.2
DB Character Section 7.4.1
DEVC_ID Character Section 18.4.2
DYNAMIC_PRESSURE Real Section 10.4 Pa 0.
GEOM Logical Section 17.5 F
ID Character Section 7.4.1
IOR Integer Section 7.4.4
L_EDDY Real Section 10.1.8 m 0.
L_EDDY_IJ(3,3) Real Array Section 10.1.8 m 0.
MB Character Section 7.4.1
MULT_ID Character Section 7.6
N_EDDY Integer Section 10.1.8 0
OBST_ID Character Section 18.4.2
OUTLINE Logical Section 7.4.1 F
PBX, PBY, PBZ Real Section 7.4.1
PRESSURE_RAMP Character Section 10.4
RADIUS Real Section 7.4.2 m
REYNOLDS_STRESS(3,3) Real Array Section 10.1.8 m2 /s2 0.
RGB(3) Integer Array Section 7.5
SPREAD_RATE Real Section 9.1.1 m/s 0.05
SURF_ID Character Section 7.4.1 'INERT'
TEXTURE_ORIGIN(3) Real Array Section 7.5.2 m (0.,0.,0.)
TMP_EXTERIOR Real Section 7.4.2 ◦C

TMP_EXTERIOR_RAMP Character Section 7.4.2

TRANSPARENCY Real Section 7.5 1.0
UVW(3) Real Array Section 10.2.7
VEL_RMS Real Section 10.1.8 m/s 0.
XB(6) Real Array Section 7.4.1 m
XYZ(3) Real Array Section 9.1.1 m

448
23.38 WIND (Wind and Atmospheric Parameters)

Table 23.38: For more information see Section 16.2.

WIND(Wind and atmospheric parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
CORIOLIS_VECTOR(3) Real Section 16.3.2 0.
DIRECTION Real Section 16.2 degrees 270
FORCE_VECTOR(3) Real Section 16.3.1 Pa/m 0.
GEOSTROPHIC_WIND(2) Real Section 16.3.3 m/s
GROUND_LEVEL Real Section 16.5 m 0.
L Real Section 16.2 m 0
LAPSE_RATE Real Section 16.5 ◦ C/m 0
LATITUDE Real Section 16.3.2 degrees
PRESSURE_GRADIENT_FORCE Real Section 16.3.1 Pa/m
RAMP_DIRECTION_T Character Section 16.2
RAMP_DIRECTION_Z Character Section 16.2
RAMP_FVX_T Character Section 16.3.1
RAMP_FVY_T Character Section 16.3.1
RAMP_FVZ_T Character Section 16.3.1
RAMP_PGF_T Character Section 16.3.1
RAMP_SPEED_T Character Section 16.1
RAMP_SPEED_Z Character Section 16.1
RAMP_TMP0_Z Character Section 16.5
SIGMA_THETA Real Section 16.1 degrees
SPEED Real Section 16.2 m/s 0.
STRATIFICATION Logical Section 16.5 T
TAU_THETA Real Section 16.1 s 300
THETA_STAR Real Section 16.2 K
TMP_REF Real Section 16.2 ◦C TMPA
U_STAR Real Section 16.2 m/s
U0,V0,W0 Reals Section 16.2 m/s 0.
USE_ATMOSPHERIC_INTERPOLATION Logical FDS Tech Guide [3] T
Z_0 Real Section 16.2 m 0.03
Z_REF Real Section 16.2 m 10.

449
23.39 ZONE (Pressure Zone Parameters)

Table 23.39: For more information see Section 10.3.

ZONE (Pressure Zone Parameters)

Keyword Type Description Units Default
DISCHARGE_COEFFICIENT(N) Real Section 10.3.2 1.
ID Character Section 10.3.1
LEAK_AREA(N) Real Section 10.3.2 m2 0
LEAK_PRESSURE_EXPONENT(N) Real Section 10.3.2 0.5
LEAK_REFERENCE_PRESSURE(N) Real Section 10.3.2 Pa 4
XYZ(3,:) Real Array Section 10.3.1 m

450
Chapter 24

Error Codes

101 Problem with ... line. Chapter 23

102 Input file ... not found in the current directory. Section 3.2
103 CATF file ... not found. Section 5.4
104 OVERWRITE=F and concatenated file ... exists. Section 5.5
105 Input file ... has line with ... characters. Section 5.4
106 CATF file ... has line with ... characters. Section 5.4
107 Hidden carriage return character in line starting with ... Section 5.1
108 No periods allowed in CHID. Section 5.1
109 Remove the file ... from the current directory. Section 5.6
110 All meshes must be CYLINDRICAL ... Section 6.3.2
111 MULT_ID ... on MESH line ... not found. Section 6.3.3
112 The number of MPI processes ... exceeds the number of meshes Section 3.1.2
113 No MESH line(s)defined. Section 6.3.1
114 MPI_PROCESS for MESH ... greater than total ... Section 6.3.3
115 Number of meshes exceeds number of MPI processes ... Section 3.1.2
116 IJK(2)must be 1 for all grids in 2D Calculation. Section 6.3.2
117 MPI_PROCESS must be continuous and monotonically increasing. Section 6.3.3
118 MESH 1 must be assigned to MPI_PROCESS 0. Section 6.3.3
119 XB(:)=XB(:)on MESH ... Section 6.3.1
120 XB(1)<0 with CYLINDRICAL on MESH ... Section 6.3.2
121 J>1 with CYLINDRICAL on MESH ... Section 6.3.2
122 Too many MPI processes have been assigned to this job. Section 3.1.2
123 ... timed out for MPI process ... Section 4.2
124 Problem with grid transformation. Section 6.3.5
125 Do not specify endpoints in linear grid transformation. Section 6.3.5
126 x (y,z)transformation not monotonic, MESH ... Section 6.3.5

127 TURBULENCE_MODEL ... is not appropriate for DNS. Section 19.2

128 SIMULATION_MODE ... is not an option. Section 19.1
129 TURBULENCE_MODEL ... is not recognized. Section 19.2
130 FLUX_LIMITER ... is not recognized. Section 19.4
131 GEOSTROPHIC_WIND requires Coriolis force ... Section 16.3.3

451
132 SPEC ...: N_BINS must be >=2. Section 13.5
133 SPEC ...: AEROSOL must be .TRUE. to use N_BINS. Section 13.5
134 SPEC ...: Do not specify MEAN_DIAMETER and N_BINS. Section 13.5
135 SPEC ...: MAX(MIN)_DIAMETER not set. Section 13.5
136 SPEC ...: MAX_DIAMETER <= MIN_DIAMETER. Section 13.5
137 SPEC ...: LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY must be .TRUE. to use N_BINS. Section 13.5
138 SPEC ...: Cannot set N_BINS for a condensable species. Section 13.7
139 SPEC ...: Condensable species cannot be LUMPED_SPECIES_ONLY. Section 13.7
140 SPEC ...: Condensable species cannot be a lumped species. Section 13.7
141 Species ... is primitive but more than one SPEC_ID given. Section 12.2
142 SPEC ... cannot specify both COPY_LUMPED and N_BINS. Section 12.2
143 SPEC ... cannot specify both COPY_LUMPED and BACKGROUND. Section 12.2
144 Only one BACKGROUND SPECies can be defined. Section 12.1
145 Cannot define a LUMPED_COMPONENT_ONLY ... Section 12.2
146 Cannot define a BACKGROUND species or redefine AIR ... Section 12.2
147 Species ... needs a name (ID=...). Section 12.1.1
148 SPEC ... cannot redefine AIR unless ... Section 12.1.4
149 SPEC ... cannot specify both SPECIFIC_HEAT and RAMP_CP. Section 12.1.3
150 SPEC ... cannot specify both SPECIFIC_HEAT_LIQUID ... Section 12.1.3
151 SPEC ... cannot specify both CONDUCTIVITY and RAMP_K. Section 12.1.3
152 SPEC ... cannot specify both DIFFUSIVITY and RAMP_D. Section 12.1.3
153 SPEC ... cannot specify both VISCOSITY and RAMP_MU. Section 12.1.3
154 SPEC ... cannot define both REFERENCE_ENTHALPY and ... Section 12.1.3
155 Species ... has the same ID as species ... Section 12.1.1
156 Cannot define MASS_FRACTION_0 for a LUMPED ... Section 12.1.1
157 SPEC ...: If one of SPECIFIC_HEAT_LIQUID ... Section 15.3.1
158 SPEC ...: No MEAN_DIAMETER given. Section 13.4
159 SPEC ... cannot specify both MASS and VOLUME_FRACTION. Section 12.2
160 SPEC ... cannot specify both FORMULA and C,H,O, or N. Section 12.1.3
161 Simple chemistry FUEL ... not defined on REAC or SPEC. Section 13.1.1
162 SPEC ... has the same names as a predefined lumped species. Section 13.1.1
163 REAC ...: FORMULA limited to C,H,O,N for simple chemistry. Section 13.1.1
164 REAC ...: Specify C and/or H for simple chemistry. Section 13.1.1
165 Cannot use simple chemistry with SOOT_OXIDATION. Section 13.4.2
166 SOOT_OXIDATION set without SOOT as a species. Section 13.4.2
167 SOOT_OXIDATION set without SOOT defined as an AEROSOL species. Section 13.4.2
168 SPEC ...: Subspecies ... not found. Section 12.2
169 SPEC ...: Mass or volume fraction for subspecies ... Section 12.2
170 SPEC ...: Cannot have duplicate species in SPEC_ID. Section 12.2

171 REAC, Not enough carbon for the CO_YIELD ... Section 13.1.1
172 REAC, Not enough hydrogen for the SOOT_YIELD ... Section 13.1.1
173 REAC, Not enough nitrogen for the HCN_YIELD. Section 13.1.1
174 REAC, Not enough nitrogen for the FUEL_N_TO_HCN_FRACTION. Section 13.1.1
175 REAC, Not enough carbon for the FUEL_C_TO_CO_FRACTION ... Section 13.1.1
176 REAC, Not enough hydrogen for the FUEL_H_TO_H2_FRACTION ... Section 13.1.1
180 SPEC ... does not have a SPECIFIC_HEAT_LIQUID ... Section 15.3.1
181 SPEC ... does not have a MELTING_TEMPERATURE. Section 15.3.1

452
182 SPEC ... does not have a VAPORIZATION_TEMPERATURE. Section 15.3.1
183 SPEC ... MELTING_TEMPERATURE must be less than ... Section 15.3.1
184 SPEC ... does not have a HEAT_OF_VAPORIZATION. Section 15.3.1
185 SPEC ... does not have a DENSITY_LIQUID. Section 15.3.1
187 SPEC ... is used for droplets and does not have liquid props. Section 15.3.1
188 EXTINCTION_MODEL ... is not recognized. Section 13.1.6
189 REAC ... cannot use both finite rate and simple chemistry. Section 13.1.1
190 REAC ... requires a FUEL. Section 13.1.1
191 FORMULA for SIMPLE_CHEMISTRY can only contain C,H,O, and N. Section 13.1.1
192 Specify fuel using C and/or H when using simple chemistry. Section 13.1.1
193 FUEL_C_TO_CO_FRACTION must be between 0 and 1. Section 13.1.3
194 FUEL_H_TO_H2O_FRACTION must be between 0 and 1. Section 13.1.3
195 FUEL_N_TO_HCN_FRACTION must be between 0 and 1. Section 13.1.3
196 REAC ... SPEC_ID_NU and NU arrays or EQUATION must be defined. Section 13.3
197 REAC ... THIRD_EFF values must be >= 0. Section 13.3.4
198 REAC ... invalid EQUATION specified. Section 13.2.5
199 REAC ... uses simple chemistry and has a duplicate fuel ... Section 13.1.1
200 Fuel for simple chemistry has NU_O2<= 0 and requires air ... Section 13.1.1
201 REAC ... Cannot set NUs if an EQUATION is specified. Section 13.2.5
202 REAC ... Tracked species ... not found. Section 13.3
204 REAC ... Primitive species ... not found. Section 13.3
205 REAC ... Products not specified. Section 13.3
206 REAC ... Reactants not specified. Section 13.3
207 REAC ... Mass of products does not equal mass of reactants. Section 13.2
208 REAC ... THIRD_EFF primitive species ... not found. Section 13.3.4
209 Name of ODE_SOLVER is not recognized. Section 13.3.7
210 REAC ... Missing an ENTHALPY_OF_FORMATION. Section 15.3.1
212 REAC ... Reversible reaction species ... missing G_F. Section 12.1.3

213 PART ... cannot have both a specified DIAMETER and a SURF_ID. Section 15.4
214 PART ... requires a specified DIAMETER. Section 15.3.3
215 Cannot have MASSLESS=.TRUE. with evaporating PARTICLEs. Section 15.2
216 PART ... needs a SURF_ID. Section 15.4
217 PART SPEC_ID ... not found. Section 15.3.1
218 PART ... Particles cannot evaporate to a lumped species. Section 15.3
219 PART ... No DRAG_COEFFICIENT when using a DRAG_LAW. Section 15.4.2
220 PART ... Specify exactly one ORIENTATION for a SCREEN. Section 15.4.9
221 PART ... Specify FREE_AREA_FRACTION for a SCREEN. Section 15.4.9
222 PART ... Specify all components for DRAG_COEFFICIENT and ... Section 15.4.8
223 PART ... Unrecognized drag law. Section 15.4.2
224 PART ... Invalid EVAP_MODEL. Section 15.3
225 HEAT_TRANSFER_MODEL not appropriate for PART. Section 8.2.2

231 PROP ... values for SPRAY_ANGLE cannot be the same. Section 18.3.1
232 PROP ... HISTOGRAM needs HISTOGRAM_NBINS>2. Section 22.10.19
233 PROP ... HISTOGRAM needs HISTOGRAM_LIMITS. Section 22.10.19
234 PROP ... FED_ACTIVITY out of range: ... Section 22.10.18
235 PROP ... VELOCITY_COMPONENT > 3: ... Section 18.3.3

453
236 PROP ... VELOCITY_PATCH requires P0. Section 18.3.3
237 PROP ... specify PARTICLE_VELOCITY with MASS_FLOW_RATE. Section 18.3.1
238 PROP ... too few flow parameters. Section 18.3.1
239 PROP SPEC_ID ... not found. Section 18.3.5
240 PART_ID for PROP ... not found. Section 18.3.1
241 PART_ID for PROP ... cannot refer to MASSLESS particles. Section 18.3.1
242 Spray Pattern Table ... massflux <= 0 for line ... Section 18.3.1
243 PROP ... VIEW_ANGLE must be between 0 and 180 Section 18.3.1

251 MATL ... REAC ... Set REFERENCE_TEMPERATURE or E, A. Section 9.2.3

252 MATL ... HEAT_OF_REACTION should be greater than 0. Section 9.2.6
253 MATL ... DENSITY=0. Section 8.3.2
254 MATL ... CONDUCTIVITY=0. Section 8.3.2
255 MATL ... SPECIFIC_HEAT=0. Section 8.3.2
256 MATL ... SURFACE_OXIDATION_MODEL but no OXYGEN. Section 17.1
257 Residue ... of ... is not defined. Section 9.2
258 PARTicle ... corresponding to MATL ... cannot be MASSLESS. Section 9.2
259 MATL ... PART_ID ... not defined. Section 9.2
260 MATL ... PART_ID ... has a NU_PART<=0. Section 9.2
261 Duplicate material name: ... Section 8.3
262 MATL ... requires a SPEC_ID for yield ... of reaction ... Section 9.2
263 MATL ... can only specify one SPEC_ID for a liquid. Section 9.2.7
264 MATL ... SPEC_ID ... not a tracked. Section 9.2
265 MATL ... Sum of NU inputs more than 1. Section 9.2
266 REAC ... FUEL ... is not a predefined or tracked species. Section 13.1.1
267 REAC ... has no consumed species. Section 13.2
268 BACK tracked species ... not found. Section 22.2.2

299 SURF ... has no solid or particle for TGA. Section 9.3.2
300 N_LAYER_CELLS_MAX should be at least ... for ... Section 8.3.8
301 SURF line must have an ID. Section 7.1
302 SURF ID ... is used more than once. Section 7.1
303 MOISTURE_FRACTION on SURF ... exceeds theoretical limit. Section 17.2
304 SURF ... One layer only for TGA_ANALYSIS=T. Section 9.3.2
305 SURF ... indicates a level set simulation ... Section 17.5
306 SURF ... cannot have a specified flux and a MATL_ID. Section 10.1.6
307 SURF ... must have a specified THICKNESS for Layer ... Section 8.1
308 SURF ... needs a RADIUS or THICKNESS. Section 8.3.7
309 SURF ... BACKING ... not recognized. Section 8.3.3
310 SURF ... must specify TMP_FRONT for CONVERT_VOLUME_TO_MASS. Section 10.1.6
311 SURF ... cannot use velocity RAMP with CONVERT_VOLUME_TO_MASS. Section 10.1.6
312 SURF ... GEOMETRY not recognized. Section 8.3.7
313 SURF ... HEAT_TRANSFER_MODEL not recognized. Section 8.2.2
314 SURF ... must have a REAC line when using HRRPUA or MLRPUA. Section 9.1
315 SURF ... should have only one LEAK_PATH and LEAK_PATH_ID. Section 10.3.2
316 SURF ... N_LAYER_CELLS_MAX must be > 0. Section 8.3.8
317 SURF ... Specify either ROUGHNESS or Z_0, not both. Section 10.1.7
318 SURF ... MASS_FLUX_TOTAL is only for outflow. Section 10.1.2

454
319 SURF ... must have a MATL_ID. Section 8.4.2
320 SURF ... cannot use both MASS_FLUX and MASS_FRACTION. Section 10.1.6
321 SURF ... MASS_FLUX cannot be less than zero. Section 10.1.6
322 SURF ... cannot use both MASS_FLUX and VEL. Section 10.1.6
323 SURF ... cannot use both MASS_FLUX and MASS_FLUX_TOTAL. Section 10.1.2
324 SURF ... cannot use both MASS_FLUX_TOTAL and VEL. Section 10.1.2
325 SURF ... cannot use a negative MASS_FRACTION. Section 10.1.6
326 SURF ... cannot use RAMP_MF with MLRPUA or HRRPUA. Section 11.1
327 SURF ... Must define SPEC_ID when using MASS_FLUX ... Section 10.1.6
328 SURF ... SPEC ... not found. Section 10.1.6
329 SURF ... sum of mass fractions greater than 1. Section 10.1.6
330 SURF ... cannot use background species for MASS_FRACTION. Section 10.1.6
331 SURF ... cannot use a RAYLEIGH model with GRAV=0. Section 8.2.2
332 SURF ... REFERENCE_HEAT_FLUX requires HRRPUA, ... Section 9.1.4
333 SURF ... MATL_ID ... not found. Section 10.3.2
334 SURF ... has too many materials. Section 9.2
335 SURF ... cannot have a reacting MATL and IGNITION_TEMPERATURE. Section 9.1.3
336 SURF ... cannot use both ADIABATIC and NET and CONVECTIVE ... Section 8.2.3
337 SURF ... cannot use both NET and CONVECTIVE_HEAT_FLUX. Section 8.2.2
338 SURF ... cannot use TMP_FRONT and NET_HEAT_FLUX. Section 8.2.2
339 SURF ... RAMP_T_I cannot be used with HT3D. Section 8.3.4
340 SURF ... RAMP_T_I requires a thermally thick surface. Section 8.3.4
341 SURF ... RAMP_T_I cannot be used with TMP_FRONT_INITIAL. Section 8.3.4
342 SURF ... RAMP_T_I cannot be used with TMP_FRONT. Section 8.3.4
243 SURF ... RAMP_T_I cannot be used with TMP_BACK. Section 8.3.4
344 SURF ... RAMP_T_I cannot be used with TMP_INNER. Section 8.3.4
345 SURF ... VEL_BULK must be less than or equal to VEL. Section 10.5
346 SURF ... ZONE ID for LEAK_PATH_ID(1)not found. Section 10.3.2
347 SURF ... ZONE ID for LEAK_PATH_ID(2)not found. Section 10.3.2
348 SURF ... Cannot set the same ZONE for each leakage path. Section 10.3.2
349 SURF ... LEAK_PATH greater than number of ZONEs. Section 10.3.2
350 SURF ... needs a THICKNESS. Section 8.3.7
351 SURF ... needs a LENGTH. Section 8.3.7
352 SURF ... needs a WIDTH. Section 8.3.7
353 PART ... SURF_ID ... not found. Section 15.4.1
354 SURF ... PART_ID ... not found. Section 15.5.1
355 SURF ... not Cartesian and cannot have a MATL with ... Section 8.3.2
356 SURF ... zero emissivity of MATL ... is inconsistent ... Section 8.3.2
357 SURF ... has a specified HRRPUA/MLRPUA and a pyrolysis model. Section 9.1
359 SURF ... cannot have a specified velocity or volume flux. Section 9.1
360 SURF ... uses HRRPUA and species ... is the FUEL for ... Section 9.1
361 SURF ... uses HRRPUA and MASS_FRACTION but no REAC ... Section 13.1.1
362 SURF ... uses MLRPUA and species ... is the FUEL for ... Section 9.1
363 SURF ... uses MLRPUA and MASS_FRACTION but no REAC ... Section 13.1.1
364 SURF ... cannot specify mass fraction with mass flux ... Section 10.1.6
365 SURF ... cannot specify mass fraction and outflow velocity. Section 10.1.6
366 SURF ... cannot leak and specify flow or pyrolysis ... Section 10.3.2
367 SURF ... cannot have both a mass flux and specified velocity. Section 10.1.6

455
368 SURF ... has a problem with VARIABLE_THICKNESS or HT3D. Section 8.4.2
369 SURF ... cannot have both HT3D and BURN_AWAY. Section 8.4.2
370 SURF ... No wall or particle for TGA_ANALYSIS. Section 9.3.2

371 Pressure solver ... not known. Section 21.1.1

372 Cannot use FISHPAK_BC for multiple mesh simulations. Section 7.4.2
373 Cannot have FISHPAK_BC>0. Section 7.4.2
374 Numerical Instability - FDS stopped. Section 4.2
375 OBST ... is VARIABLE_THICKNESS or HT3D and needs a MATL_ID. Section 8.4.2
376 Meshes must have the same y/z bounds for TUNNEL_PRECONDITIONER. Section 21.3
377 SURF ... IMPINGING JET model requires ... Section 8.2.2
378 SURF ... cannot be applied to a 3-D conducting solid. Section 8.3.3

381 Need more spectral band limits. Section 14.3.2

382 Spectral band limits should be given in ascending order. Section 14.3.2

390 RAMP ... is externally controlled, requires INITIAL_VALUE. Section 18.8

391 RAMP ... not found. Chapter 11
392 RAMP ... has only one point. Chapter 11
393 RAMP ... cannot specify both CTRL_ID and DEVC_ID. Chapter 18.6.1
394 RAMP ... variable T must be monotonically increasing. Chapter 11
395 RAMP with EXTERNAL_FILE is present but no EXTERNAL_FILENAME. Section 18.8
396 Row ... of ... has a bad 1st latitude. Section 18.3.1
397 Row ... of ... has a bad 2nd latitude. Section 18.3.1
398 Row ... of ... has a bad 1st longitude. Section 18.3.1
399 Row ... of ... has a bad 2nd longitude. Section 18.3.1
400 Row ... of ... has a bad velocity. Section 18.3.1
401 Row ... of ... has a bad mass flow. Section 18.3.1
402 Row ... of ... has a bad wavelength. Section 15.3.2
403 Row ... of ... has a bad real index. Section 15.3.2
404 Row ... of ... has a bad complex index. Section 15.3.2
407 TABLE ... not found. Section 18.3.1

421 SURF ... cannot be applied to a thin obstruction ... Section 7.2.2
422 VENT ... cannot be applied to a thin obstruction ... Section 7.2.2
423 HT3D solid must have at least one face exposed ... Section 8.4.2
424 HT3D thin solid must have at least one face exposed ... Section 8.4.2
425 MESH ... can stretch in at most 2 coordinate directions. Section 6.3.5
426 MESH ... Poisson initialization error: ... Section 4.2
427 DEVC ... requires repositioning. Section 22.2.1
428 DEVC ... must be associated with a heat-conducting surface. Section 22.13
429 PROF ... requires repositioning. Section 22.3
430 PROF ... must be associated with a heat-conducting surface. Section 22.13
431 MESH ... is not in alignment with MESH ... Section 6.3.4
432 SURF ... must specify velocity boundary condition ... Section 10.1.6
433 SURF ... cannot be applied below GROUND_LEVEL. Section 16.4
434 RAMP_V_X assigned to SURF ... Section 11.3
435 RAMP_V_Y assigned to SURF ... Section 11.3

456
436 RAMP_V_Z assigned to SURF ... Section 11.3
437 SURF ... cannot be applied to an exterior boundary. Section 8.4.2
438 SURF ... layers are thicker than the underlying obstruction. Section 8.4.3
439 MESH ... UVWFILE ... does not exist. Section 20.5
440 MESH ... TMPFILE ... does not exist. Section 20.5
441 MESH ... SPECFILE ... does not exist. Section 20.5
442 SURF ... has more RAMP_Q than REFERENCE_HEAT_FLUX. Section 9.1.4
443 SURF ... has more REFERENCE_HEAT_FLUX than RAMP_Q. Section 9.1.4
444 SURF ... If one REFERENCE_THICKNESS is set, all must be set. Section 9.1.4
445 SURF ... REFERENCE_HEAT_FLUX values must increase Section 9.1.4
for each thickness.
446 SURF REFERENCE_THICKNESS values must increase for each Section 9.1.4
new group of REFERENCE_HEAT_FLUX.
447 RAMP ... used with REFERENCE_HEAT_FLUX must start at T = 0. Section 9.1.4

501 No ID provided ... Section 10.2

502 Invalid TYPE_ID provided ... Section 10.2
503 Must have both DUCTs and NODEs in the input file. Section 10.2
504 Duct has no ID ... Section 10.2
505 Duct has no AREA, DIAMETER, or PERIMETER ... Section 10.2.1
506 Duct without AREA has no DIAMETER ... Section 10.2.1
507 If both ROUND and SQUARE are FALSE, Duct with DIAMETER must Section 10.2.1
also have PERIMETER ...
508 Duct cannot input both PERIMETER and DIAMETER with AREA ... Section 10.2.1
509 Can only specify one of CTRL_ID or DEVC_ID. ... Section 10.2.1
510 Duct can only have one of damper, fan or aircoil ... Section 10.2.1
511 Duct has fan specified but no fans have been defined ... Section 10.2.1
512 Duct has both MASS_FLOW and VOLUME_FLOW defined ... Section 10.2.1
513 Ductnode has no ID ... Section 10.2
514 Ambient or internal ductnode requires an elevation, XYZ(3)... Section 10.2.3
515 Non-AMBIENT or non VENT-connected ductnode needs >=2 ducts Section 10.2.3
516 AMBIENT or VENT-connected ductnode must have 1 duct ... Section 10.2.3
517 No ducts specified for ductnode ... Section 10.2.3
518 Ductnode with a filter must have 2 ducts ... Section 10.2.5
519 Fan has no ID ... Section 10.2
520 FAN can only be one of constant volume, quadratic or ramp ... Section 10.2.4
521 IF one of MAX_PRESSURE or MAX_FLOW given, both must be Section 10.2.4
specified ...
522 MAX_PRESSURE must be > 0 ... Section 10.2.4
523 MAX_FLOW must be > 0 ... Section 10.2.4
524 Filter has no ID ... Section 10.2
525 Problem with filter ... SPEC ... not found Section 10.2.5
526 Aircoil has no ID ... Section 10.2
527 Localized leakage has no ID ... Section 10.3.2
528 Leakage path must have VENT_ID defined ... Section 10.3.2
529 Leakage to AMBIENT must have VENT2_ID for the AMBIENT node ... Section 10.3.2
530 Leakage path must have VENT2_ID defined ... Section 10.3.2
531 Leakage has no AREA ... Section 10.3.2

457
532 Can only have one HVAC input with TYPE_ID of Section 22.16
DUCT QUANTITY LIST ...
533 Can only have one HVAC input with TYPE_ID of Section 22.16
NODE QUANTITY LIST ...
534 Both nodes have the same ID ... Section 10.2.1
535 Two ducts with the same ID ... Section 10.2
536 Duct ... Node ... does not contain the duct in its duct list. Section 10.2.3
537 ... ductnode not located for duct Section 10.2.1
538 Fan not located ... Section 10.2.1
539 Aircoil not located ... Section 10.2.1
540 Two duct nodes with the same ID ... Section 10.2
541 VENT for ductnode has a DEVC_ID or CTRL_ID ... Section 10.2.3
542 Ductnode attached to VENT without SURF_ID HVAC ... Section 10.2.3
543 Cannot leak and specify flow or pyrolysis at the same time ... Section 10.3.2
544 Cannot specify custom leakage and zone leakage with the same Section 10.3.2
surface ...
545 Cannot find VENT_ID: ... for Ductnode: ... Section 10.2.3
546 Ductnode cannot be AMBIENT and have an assigned VENT_ID Section 10.2.3
547 Internal ductnode must have at least two attached ducts ... Section 10.2.3
548 External ductnode can only have one attached duct. Ductnode: ... Section 10.2.3
559 Duct ... not found. Ductnode: ... Ductnode ID: ... Section 10.2.3
550 Duct: ... does not contain Ductnode: ... Section 10.2.1
551 Problem with ductnode: ... FILTER ... not found Section 10.2.5
552 Ductnode must lie with a single pressure zone. Node: ... Section 10.2.3
553 Cannot specify fixed flows for all branches of internal Section 10.2.9
ductnode ...
554 Duct has no LENGTH and one node lacks an XYZ. Duct: ... Section 10.2.1
555 Problem with HVAC network. Insufficient LOSS definitions for Section 10.2.9
DUCTs and NODEs
556 Duct ... has N_CELLS=0 and is in a duct run with ducts that Section 10.2.8
have N_CELLS>0.
557 SPEC_ID ... is not explicitly specified for QUANTITY ... Section 22.16
558 Output QUANTITY ... requires a SPEC_ID Section 22.16
559 Output QUANTITY ... SPEC_ID ... not found Section 22.16
560 HVAC_SMV QUANTITY ... not appropriate for .hvac file. Section 22.16
561 HVAC_SMV QUANTITY ... not found Section 22.16
562 VENT ID ... used for localized leakage has SURF_ID HVAC. Section 10.3.2
563 VENT ID ... used for localized leakage has a DEVC_ID or CTRL_ID. Section 10.3.2
564 VENT: ... is used for HVAC and attached to a removable OBST. Section 10.2.3
565 REAC: ... FALLOFF-LINDEMANN reactions must have A_LOW_PR and Section 13.3.5
E_LOW_PR
566 REAC: ... FALLOFF-TROE reactions must have A_LOW_PR, E_LOW_PR, Section 13.3.5
A_TROE, T1_TROE, and T3_TROE.
567 REAC: ... Tracked species ... used in a finite rate reaction Section 13.3
without N_S defined is not a primitive species.

601 OBST ... MULT_ID ... not found. Section 7.6

602 OBST ... SHAPE requires RADIUS. Section 7.6.2

458
603 OBST ... SHAPE requires HEIGHT. Section 7.6.2
604 OBST ... BOX SHAPE requires LENGTH, WIDTH, HEIGHT. Section 7.6.2
605 SURF_ID ... does not exist. Section 7.2.1
606 SURF_ID_INTERIOR ... does not exist. Section 9.2.9
607 OBST ... needs a BULK_DENSITY if it is to BURN_AWAY. Section 9.2.9
608 MATL_ID ... not found. Section 8.4.5
609 MULT_ID ... not found on HOLE line ... Section 7.6
610 HOLE ... Cannot overlap HOLEs with a DEVC or CTRL_ID. Section 7.2.8
611 OBST ... has a BULK_DENSITY but zero volume. Section 9.2.9
612 OBST ... must have a volume to be assigned HT3D. Section 8.4.4
613 OBST ... and OBST ... cannot overlap in Mesh ... Section 7.2.4

701 problem with GEOM, local SURF_ID index ... out of bounds. Section 7.3.2
702 problem with GEOM, SURF_IDS not defined properly. Section 7.3.1
703 missing SURF_ID in &GEOM line ... Section 7.3.9
704 problem with GEOM, number of surfaces in SURF_ID field ... Section 7.3.9
705 could not read binary connectivity for GEOM ... Section 7.3.9
706 GEOM Expected ... Z values, found ... Section 7.3.6
707 GEOM IJK(1)and IJK(2)on &GEOM line needs to be at least 2. Section 7.3.6
708 GEOM At least 4 XB values ... required when using ZVALS. Section 7.3.6
709 For terrain GEOM, unconnected boundary edge at node number ... Section 7.3.6
710 For terrain GEOM, unconnected boundary edge at nodes ... Section 7.3.6
711 For terrain GEOM, same boundary vertex ... Section 7.3.6
712 For extruded Polygon GEOM, extrusion distance ... Section 7.3.6
713 For extruded Polygon GEOM, Number of POLY indexes ... Section 7.3.6
714 For extruded Polygon GEOM, Repeated vertex ... Section 7.3.6
715 For extruded Polygon GEOM, Vertices X, Y have same position. Section 7.3.6
716 problem with GEOM, the surface ID, is not defined. Section 7.3.2
717 problem with GEOM, vertex index out of bounds. Section 7.3.2
718 Out of [Link], FACE=, has vertex index I less than 1. Section 7.3.2
719 Out of [Link], FACE=, has vertex index I higher than ... Section 7.3.2
720 GEOM has currently unsupported BURN_AWAY feature ... Section 7.3.11
721 For extruded Polygon GEOM, Node I not in the plane of ... Section 7.3.6
722 GEOM Segments ... intersect in average POLY plane. Section 7.3.6
723 For extruded Polygon GEOM, Not enough valid vertices ... Section 7.3.6
724 For extruded Polygon GEOM, Could not triangulate polygon. Section 7.3.6
725 &GEOM, MOVE_ID is not recognized. Section 7.3.8
726 GEOM ID Unknown: Face normals are probably pointing in ... Section 7.3.2
727 GEOM ID=, Edge length too small at ... Section 7.3.3
728 GEOM ID=, Face area too small at ... Section 7.3.3
729 GEOM ID=, Geometry volume too small. Section 7.3.3
730 GEOM ID=, Open geometry at edge with nodes ... Section 7.3.3
731 GEOM ID=, Non manifold geometry in adjacent faces at edge ... Section 7.3.3
732 GEOM ID=, Opposite normals on triangles sharing edge with ... Section 7.3.3
733 GEOM ID=, Open geometry at edge with nodes ... Section 7.3.3
734 Mismatched mesh boundary location between meshes ... Section 7.3.2

801 VENT ... cannot use MULT_ID because it involves HVAC. Section 10.2

459
802 VENT ... needs an explicit ID because it involves HVAC. Section 10.2
803 VENT ... cannot use MULT_ID because it uses PBX, PBY or PBZ. Section 7.6
804 VENT ... should use PBX, PBY, PBZ or XB if it is PERIODIC. Section 7.4.2
805 VENT ... cannot use MULT_ID because it uses MB. Section 7.6
806 VENT ... must set MB to XMIN, XMAX, YMIN, YMAX, ZMIN, or ZMAX. Section 7.4.1
807 VENT ... cannot use MULT_ID because it uses DB. Section 7.6
808 VENT ... must set DB to XMIN, XMAX, YMIN, YMAX, ZMIN, or ZMAX. Section 7.4.1
809 VENT ... cannot be specified on a y boundary in a 2D calc. Section 6.3.2
810 VENT ... must be a plane. Section 7.4.1
811 VENT ... MULT_ID ... not found. Section 7.6
812 VENT ... SURF_ID ... not found. Section 7.4.1
813 VENT ... cannot be controlled by a device. Section 7.4.2
814 VENT ... requires center point XYZ. Section 7.4.2
815 VENT ... L_EDDY = 0 in Synthetic Eddy Method. Section 10.1.8
816 VENT ... VEL_RMS = 0 in Synthetic Eddy Method. Section 10.1.8
817 VENT ... Synthetic Eddy Method not permitted with HVAC. Section 10.1.8
818 VENT ... requires on orientation index, IOR. Section 7.4.4
819 VENT ... is OPEN, MIRROR OR PERIODIC ... exterior boundary. Section 7.4.2
820 VENT ... has no solid backing or an IOR is needed. Section 7.4.1
821 VENT ... cannot have normal component of UVW equal to 0. Section 10.2.7
822 VENT ... has the same ID as another VENT. Section 10.2

841 INIT ... has an unknown MULT_ID ... Section 7.6

842 INIT ... cannot have both MASS and VOLUME_FRACTION. Section 20.1
843 INIT ... requires a PART_ID. Section 15.5.3
844 INIT ... requires a SPEC_ID. Section 20.1
845 INIT ... cannot find SPEC_ID ... Section 20.1
846 INIT ... cannot have sum of specified mass fractions > 1. Section 20.1
847 INIT ... cannot use background species for MASS_FRACTION. Section 20.1
848 INIT ... cannot use N_PARTICLES and N_PARTICLES_PER_CELL. Section 15.5.3
849 INIT ... XB has no volume. Section 20.1
850 INIT ... cannot find PART_ID ... Section 15.5.3
851 INIT ... requires N_PARTICLES=1 for a PATH_RAMP. Section 15.5.3
852 INIT ... PATH_RAMP(N)not found. Section 15.5.3
853 INIT ... ORIENTATION_RAMP(N)not found. Section 15.5.3
854 INIT ... ORIENTATION_RAMP components must all be defined. Section 15.5.3
855 INIT ... DEVC_ID ... cannot use a SPATIAL_STATISTIC. Section 15.5.3
856 The INIT_ID for DEVC ... cannot be found. Section 15.4
857 INIT ... PARTicle class ... requires a density. Section 15.5.3
858 INIT ... PARTicle class ... requires a ... Section 15.5.3

871 LEAK_AREA specified twice for ZONE ... and ... Section 10.3.2
872 ZONE ... overlaps ZONE ... in MESH ... Section 10.3.1
873 ZONE ... meets ZONE ... at the boundary of MESH ... Section 10.3.1

881 DEVC ... has QUANTITY_RANGE(2)<= QUANTITY_RANGE(1). Section 22.2.3

882 DEVC ... MOVE_ID is not recognized. Section 22.2.5
883 DEVC ... must have coordinates given in terms of XBP. Section 22.2.5

460
884 DEVC ... components of ORIENTATION are all zero. Section 18.1
885 DEVC ... must have coordinates, even if not a point quantity. Section 18.1
886 DEVC ... must have either an output QUANTITY or PROP_ID. Section 18.1
887 DEVC ... must have an ORIENTATION. Section 22.10.12
888 DEVC ... TEMPORAL_STATISTIC is not recognized. Section 22.2.3
889 DEVC ... SPATIAL_STATISTIC is not recognized. Section 22.2.3
890 DEVC ... STATISTICS is not recognized. Section 22.2.3
891 DEVC ... HVAC outputs specified with no HVAC inputs. Section 10.2
892 DEVC ... or PROP ... must have a QUANTITY. Section 10.2
893 DEVC ... QUANTITY ... requires XB coordinates. Section 22.2.3
894 DEVC ... uses invalid solid phase SPATIAL_STATISTIC. Section 22.2.3
895 DEVC ... uses invalid gas phase SPATIAL_STATISTIC. Section 22.2.3
896 DEVC ... requires XB for SPATIAL_STATISTIC. Section 22.2.3
897 DEVC ... NODE 1 = NODE 2. Section 22.16
898 DEVC ... should not use XYZ or XB for an HVAC output QUANTITY. Section 22.16

901 CTRL ... must have a FUNCTION_TYPE. Section 18.4

902 CTRL ... PID controller must be given a TARGET_VALUE. Section 18.5.7
903 CTRL ... FUNCTION_TYPE not recognized. Section 18.4
904 CTRL ... FUNCTION_TYPE=EXTERNAL but no EXTERNAL_FILENAME given. Section 18.8
905 CTRL ... must have at least one input. Section 18.5
906 CTRL ... must have only one input. Section 18.5
907 CTRL ... cannot use a CONSTANT INPUT_ID. Section 18.5
908 CTRL ... must have at least two inputs. Section 18.5
909 CTRL ... must have only two inputs. Section 18.5
910 CTRL ... cannot use a control function as an input to itself. Section 18.5
911 CTRL ... can only specify one input as a constant value. Section 18.5.6
912 CTRL ... has no CONSTANT specified. Section 18.5.6
913 CTRL ... uses PERCENTILE and must have a DEVC as input. Section 18.5.8
914 CTRL ... is CUSTOM and must have a DEVC or math CTRL as input. Section 18.5.5
915 CTRL ... input ... is the ID for both a DEVC and a CTRL. Section 18.5
916 CTRL ... cannot locate INPUT_ID ... Section 18.5

931 DEVC ... is a smoke detector and must have a PROP_ID. Section 18.3.5
932 DEVC ... is a smoke detector and requires a smoke source. Section 18.3.5
933 DEVC ... must have a PROP_ID. Section 18.3.1
934 DEVC ... PROP ... needs an ACTIVATION_TEMPERATURE. Section 18.3.1
935 DEVC ... is a THERMOCOUPLE and cannot use SPATIAL_STATISTIC. Section 22.10.8
936 DEVC ... must have a MATL_ID. Section 22.2.2
937 DEVC ... is partially outside of the domain. Section 22.10.7
938 DEVC ... CTRL_ID ... does not exist. Section 18.6.1
939 DEVC ... CTRL_ID ... is a logic only function ... Section 18.6.1
940 DEVC ... must use QUANTITY='DENSITY'and a SPEC_ID. Section 18.3.7
941 DEVC ... must be listed after all of its inputs. Section 18.3.7
942 DEVC ... is a FED detector and requires an activity. Section 22.10.18
943 DEVC ... is a PATCH and needs a DEVC_ID to control it. Section 18.3.3

951 PROF ... requires an orientation index, IOR. Section 22.3

461
952 PROF ... is not valid. Section 22.3
953 PROF ... requires a PART_ID. Section 22.3

961 CELL_CENTERED not allowed with AGL_SLICE. Section 22.10.20

962 BNDF ... CPUA_Z, MPUA_Z, and AMPUA_Z require liquid droplets. Section 22.9.1

1001 SPEC_ID ... for AERO. VOL. FRAC. must be a tracked species. Section 22.10.23
1002 SPEC_ID ... for AERO. VOL. FRAC. cannot be a lumped species. Section 22.10.23
1003 SPEC_ID ... for AERO. VOL. FRAC. is not an AEROSOL. Section 22.10.23
1004 SPEC_ID ... is not explicitly specified for QUANTITY ... Section 22.12
1005 Output QUANTITY ... requires a DUCT_ID. Section 22.16
1006 CELL_L used for output QUANTITY ... is outside of DUCT_ID ... Section 22.16
1007 SPEC_ID ... for FILTER LOADING is not a tracked species. Section 22.16
1008 SPEC_ID ... for EQUIL. VAP. FRAC. is not a tracked species. Section 22.16
1009 SPEC_ID ... for EQUIL. VAP. FRAC. is not an evap. species. Section 22.16
1010 REAC ... MIXTURE FRACTION requires reaction A + B -> C. Section 22.12
1011 HRRPUV REAC requires a REAC_ID. Section 22.12
1012 REAC_ID ... not found for HRRPUV REAC. Section 22.12
1013 Output QUANTITY2 ... requires a SPEC_ID. Section 22.12
1014 Output QUANTITY2 ... is not appropriate for SLCF. Section 22.12
1015 Output QUANTITY ... requires a QUANTITY2. Section 22.12
1016 Output QUANTITY ... requires a SPEC_ID. Section 22.12
1017 Output QUANTITY ... SPEC_ID ... not found. Section 22.12
1018 Output QUANTITY ... requires a MATL_ID. Section 22.12
1019 Output QUANTITY ... MATL_ID ... not found. Section 22.12
1020 Output QUANTITY ... requires a PART_ID. Section 22.12
1021 Output QUANTITY ... PART_ID ... not found. Section 22.12
1022 Output QUANTITY ... requires a DUCT_ID. Section 22.16
1023 Output QUANTITY ... DUCT_ID ... not found. Section 22.16
1024 Output QUANTITY ... requires a positive CELL_L. Section 22.16
1025 Output QUANTITY ... DUCT_ID ... requires pos. CELL_L. Section 22.16
1026 Output QUANTITY ... DUCT_ID ... requires HVAC_MASS_TRAN. Section 22.16
1027 Output QUANTITY ... requires a NODE_ID' Section 22.16
1028 Output QUANTITY ... NODE_ID ... not found. Section 22.16
1029 HUMIDITY requires SPEC_ID WATER VAPOR. Section 12.1.1
1030 DIFFUSIVITY requires a tracked SPEC_ID when using DNS. Section 12.1.3
1031 BACKGROUND species inappropriate for deposition. Section 13.4
1032 SPEC_ID ... for SURF. DEP. is not an aerosol species. Section 13.4
1033 SPEC_ID ... for SURF. DEP. is not an aerosol tracked species. Section 13.4
1034 QUANTITY ... requires liquid droplets. Section 22.13
1035 QUANTITY ... is not appropriate for SLCF. Section 22.12
1036 QUANTITY ... is not appropriate for DEVC. Section 22.12
1037 QUANTITY ... is not a particle output QUANTITY. Section 22.15
1038 QUANTITY ... is not appropriate for BNDF. Section 22.13
1039 QUANTITY ... is not appropriate for isosurface. Section 22.12
1040 QUANTITY ... is not appropriate for gas phase. Section 22.12
1041 QUANTITY ... is not appropriate for Plot3D. Section 22.12
1042 QUANTITY ... not found. Section 22.12

462
1043 PROP_ID ... not found. Section 22.12
1044 Cannot set EXTERNAL_FILE=T for a RAMP used for an output clock ... Section 18.8
1045 QUANTITY ... requires a PART_ID for particles with mass. Section 22.7

1051 RESTART initial time equals T_END. Section 5.6

463
 Part III

FDS and Smokeview Development Tools

465
Chapter 25

The FDS and Smokeview Repositories

For those interested in obtaining the FDS and Smokeview source codes, either for development work or
simply to compile on a particular platform, it is strongly suggested that you download onto your com-
puter the FDS and Smokeview repositories. All project documents are maintained using the online utility
GitHub, a free service that supports software development for open source applications. GitHub uses Git
version control software. Under this system, a centralized repository containing all project files resides on a
GitHub server. Anyone can obtain a copy of the repository or retrieve a specific revision of the repository.
However, only the FDS and Smokeview developers can commit changes directly to the repository. Others
must submit a “pull request.” Detailed instructions for checking out the FDS repository can be found at
[Link]
Both FDS and Smokeview live within a GitHub organization called “firemodels”. The current loca-
tion of the organization is [Link] The repositories that are used by the FDS and
Smokeview projects are listed below along with a brief description:

fds FDS source code, verification and validation tests, wikis, and documentation
smv Smokeview source code, integration tests, and documentation
exp Experimental data repository for FDS validation
fig Figures used by various manuals
out FDS output results for validation
bot Firebot (continuous integration system) source
fds-smv Web page html source

The wiki pages in the fds repository are particularly useful in describing the details of how you go about
working with the repository assets.

467
Chapter 26

Compiling FDS

If a compiled version of FDS exists for the machine on which the calculation is to be run and no changes
have been made to the original source code, there is no need to re-compile the code. For example, the file
[Link] is the compiled program for a Windows-based PC; thus PC users do not need a Fortran compiler
and do not need to compile the source code. For computers for which an executable has not been compiled,
you must compile the code. A Fortran 2018 compliant compiler is required.

26.1 FDS Source Code

Table 26.1 lists the files that make up the FDS source code. Files with the “.f90” suffix contain free-form
Fortran 90 instructions conforming to the ANSI and ISO standards (2018 edition). A makefile is available
in the Build directory of the FDS GitHub repository that contains platform specific options for compilation.
Note the following:

• The source code consists entirely of Fortran statements organized into 32 files. Some compilers have a
standard optimization level, plus various degrees of “aggressive” optimization. Be cautious in using the
highest levels of optimization.

• To compile FDS, you need a Fortran compiler (2018 or greater) and MPI libraries.

• To compile routines for the ULMAT and UGLMAT pressure solvers, Intel Math Kernel Libraries (MKL)
are required.

• To compile routines for the HYPRE (iterative linear solvers), the HYPRE Library [78] from Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory is required.

• To compile routines for the CVODE (finite-rate chemistry), the Sundials Library [25] from Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory is required.

469
 Table 26.1: FDS source code files

File Name Description

ccib.f90 Complex geometry physics routines
chem.f90 Finite-rate chemistry routines
cons.f90 Global arrays and constants
ctrl.f90 Definitions and routines for control functions
data.f90 Data for output quantities and thermo-physical properties
devc.f90 Derived type definitions and constants for devices
divg.f90 Compute the flow divergence
dump.f90 Output data dumps into files
fire.f90 Combustion routines
func.f90 Global functions and subroutines
geom.f90 Complex computational geometry engine
gsmv.f90 Complex geometry visualization routines
hvac.f90 Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning
imkl.f90 Bindings for the Intel MKL library
init.f90 Initialize variables and Poisson solver
main.f90 Main program
mass.f90 Mass equation(s) and thermal boundary conditions
mesh.f90 Arrays and constants associated with each mesh
part.f90 Lagrangian particle transport and sprinkler activation
pois.f90 Poisson (pressure) solver
prec.f90 Specification of numerical precision
pres.f90 Spatial discretization of pressure (Poisson) equation
prop.f90 Gas and liquid property data
radi.f90 Radiation solver
rcal.f90 Functions needed for radiation solver, including RadCal
read.f90 Read input parameters
smvv.f90 Routines for computing and outputting 3D smoke and isosurfaces
soot.f90 Soot agglomeration and aerosol deposition
turb.f90 Turbulence models and manufactured solutions
type.f90 Derived type definitions
vege.f90 Experimental vegetation model
velo.f90 Momentum equations
wall.f90 Wall boundary conditions

470
Chapter 27

Output File Formats

The output from the code consists of the file [Link], plus various data files that are described below.
Most of these output files are written out by the subroutines within dump.f90, and can easily be modified to
accommodate various plotting packages.

27.1 Diagnostic Output (.out)

The file [Link] contains diagnostic output, including an accounting of various important quantities, in-
cluding CPU usage. Typically, diagnostic information is printed out every 100 time steps as follows:

Time Step 137431 December 27, 2015 00:29:49

Step Size: 0.563E-01 s, Total Time: 1800.04 s
Pressure Iterations: 1
Maximum Velocity Error: 0.30E-01 on Mesh 1 at ( 0 44 3)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Max CFL number: 0.94E+00 at ( 1, 46, 1)
Max divergence: 0.13E+00 at ( 66, 12, 1)
Min divergence: -0.20E+00 at ( 66, 13, 1)
Max VN number: 0.51E+00 at ( 1, 25, 18)
No. of Lagrangian Particles: 27

The Time Step indicates the total number of iterations. The date and time indicate the current wall clock
time. The STEP SIZE indicates the size of the numerical time step. The Total Time indicates the total
simulation time calculated up to that point. The Pressure Iterations are the number of iterations of the
pressure solver for the corrector (second) half of the time step. The pressure solver iterations are designed
to minimize the error in the normal component of velocity at solid walls or the interface of two meshes.
The Maximum Velocity Error indicates this error and in which grid cell it occurs. Max/Min divergence
is the max/min value of the function ∇ · u and is used as a diagnostic when the flow is incompressible (i.e.,
no heating); Max CFL number is the maximum value of the CFL number, the primary time step constraint;
Max VN number is the maximum value of the Von Neumann number, the secondary time step constraint.
The No. of Lagrangian Particles refers to the number of particles in the current mesh.
Following the completion of a successful run, a summary of the CPU usage per subroutine is listed in
the file called CHID_cpu.csv (Section 27.6). This is useful in determining where most of the computational
effort is being placed.

471
27.2 Heat Release Rate and Related Quantities (_hrr.csv)
The heat release rate of the fire, mass production rate of gas species, and zonal background pressures are
automatically written into a comma-delimited spreadsheet file called CHID_hrr.csv every DT_HRR s. Details
of the integrated energy quantities (columns with units of kW) can be found in Section 22.10.1. The produc-
tion rate (kg/s) of the tracked gas species are labeled MLR_XXX for “Mass Loss Rate.” A positive value means
that this particular gas species is being generated at a boundary or by a particle; a negative value indicates
depletion. The background pressure (Pa) of each pressure zone is discussed in Section 10.3.

27.3 Device Output Data (_devc.csv)

The output of devices (link temperatures, smoke obscuration, thermocouples, etc.) specified in the input file
under the namelist group DEVC is output in comma-delimited format to a file called CHID_devc.csv.
If the number of device columns exceeds DEVC_COLUMN_LIMIT, the file will automatically be split into
smaller files.

27.4 Control Output Data

Data associated with particular control functions specified in the input file under the namelist group CTRL is
output in comma delimited format in a file called CHID_ctrl.csv. The format of the file is as follows:

s , status , status , ... , status

Time , ID(1) , ID(2) , ... , ID(N_CTRL)
T(1) , -001 , 001 , ... , -001
.
.

where N_CTRL is the number of controllers, ID(I) is the user-defined ID of the Ith control function, and
plus or minus 1’s represent the state -1 = F and +1 = T of the Ith control function at the particular time.
The files can be imported into Microsoft Excel or almost any other spreadsheet program. If the number
of control columns exceeds CTRL_COLUMN_LIMIT, the file will automatically be split into smaller files. The
frequency of output is controlled by either DT_CTRL or RAMP_CTRL on the DUMP line.

27.5 Device and Control Log File

Each time a device or control function changes its logical state, an event is recorded in a comma delimited
format in a file called CHID_devc_ctrl_log.csv. A row is created for each state change. The format of the
file is as follows:

Time (s) , Type , ID , State , Value , Units

T(1) , Type(1) , ID(1) , State(1), Val(1), Units(1)
.
.

where for the Ith state change T(I) is the time of the state change, Type(I) is type of the item that changed
state (either DEVC or CTRL), ID(I) is the ID of item, State(I) is the logical state of the item after the state
change (T for true or F for false), Val(I) is item value at the state change, and Units(I) are the units
associated with the value. No Value is written for a logical control function (e.g. a FUNCTION_TYPE or ALL,
ANY, ONLY, AT_LEAST, X_OF_N, KILL, or RESTART). For FUNCTION_TYPEs of DEADBAND and CUSTOM the input

472
value to the function is written. No Units value is written for a control function. If the device or control
function does not have an ID defined, then the number of the device or control function is written (i.e, if the
item was the 5th device in the input file, then 5 would be written).

27.6 CPU Usage Data

The file called CHID_cpu.csv records the amount of CPU time for each of the MPI processes.

Rank,MAIN,DIVG, ... , Total T_USED (s)

0, 2.052E+00, 1.058E+01, ... , 5.143+01
1, 2.432E+00, 1.062E+01, ... , 5.123+01
.
.

where Rank is the number of the MPI process (starting at 0), MAIN, DIVG, and so on, are major routines, and
'Total T_USED (s)' is the total CPU time consumed by that particular MPI process. Typically, the total
time is similar. The time spent in MAIN is essentially overhead – time spent not working on the calculation.
If you want to know if your work load is balanced, take a look at the time spent in MAIN. It should be similar
for all MPI processes. If one of the MPI processes has a noticeably smaller value for MAIN, then that process
is working on the core routines while the other processes sit idle in MAIN.
The CHID_cpu.csv file is printed out at the end of the simulation. To force it to be printed out period-
ically during the simulation, set DT_CPU or RAMP_CPU on the DUMP line. The latter parameter allows you to
write out the files at specified times.

27.7 Time Step Data

The file called CHID_steps.csv records data on the size of time steps and the amount of elapsed CPU time.

Time Step,Wall Time,Step Size,Simulation Time,CPU Time

1,2020-04-29T10:23:13.631-04:00, 0.100E+00, 0.10000, 0.23438
.
.

where Time Step is the current time step, Wall Time is the date and time for the indicated time step, Step
Size is the size of the current time step in seconds, Simulation Time is the current time of the simulation in
seconds, and CPU Time is the elapsed CPU time since starting FDS. Note that the first time step will include
time spent reading the input file and initializing FDS.

27.8 Gas Mass Data

The total mass of the various gas species at any instant in time is reported in the comma delimited file
CHID_mass.csv. The file consists of several columns, the first column containing the time in seconds, the
second contains the total mass of all the gas species in the computational domain in units of kg, the next
lines contain the total mass of the individual species.
You must specifically ask that this file be generated, as it can potentially cost a fair amount of CPU time
to generate. Set MASS_FILE=T on the DUMP line to create this output file.

473
27.9 Slice Files (.sf)
The slice files defined under the namelist group SLCF are named CHID_M_N.sf where M is the mesh index
and N is the quantity index. The files are unformatted and written from dump.f90 with the following lines:

WRITE(LUSF) QUANTITY
WRITE(LUSF) SHORT_NAME
WRITE(LUSF) UNITS
WRITE(LUSF) I1,I2,J1,J2,K1,K2
WRITE(LUSF) TIME
WRITE(LUSF) (((QQ(I,J,K),I=I1,I2),J=J1,J2),K=K1,K2)
.
.
WRITE(LUSF) TIME
WRITE(LUSF) (((QQ(I,J,K),I=I1,I2),J=J1,J2),K=K1,K2)

QUANTITY, SHORT_NAME and UNITS are character strings of length 30. The sextuplet (I1,I2,J1,J2,K1,K2)
denotes the bounding mesh cell nodes. The sextuplet indices correspond to mesh cell nodes, or corners, thus
the entire mesh would be represented by the sextuplet (0,IBAR,0,JBAR,0,KBAR).
There is a short Fortran 90 program provided, called fds2ascii.f90, that can convert slice files into
text files that can be read into a variety of graphics packages. The program combines multiple slice files
corresponding to the same “slice” of the computational domain, time-averages the data, and writes the values
into one file, consisting of a line of numbers for each node. Each line contains the physical coordinates of
the node, and the time-averaged quantities corresponding to that node. In particular, the graphics package
Tecplot reads this file and produces contour, streamline and/or vector plots. See Section 22.11 for more
details about the program fds2ascii.

27.10 Plot3D Data (.xyz,.q)

Quantities over the entire mesh can be output in a format used by the graphics package Plot3D. The Plot3D
data sets are single precision (32 bit reals), whole and unformatted. Note that there is blanking, that is,
blocked out data points are not plotted. If the statement WRITE_XYZ=T is included on the DUMP line, then the
mesh data is written out to a file called CHID_M.xyz

WRITE(LU13) IBAR+1,JBAR+1,KBAR+1
WRITE(LU13) (((X(I),I=0,IBAR),J=0,JBAR),K=0,KBAR), &
(((Y(J),I=0,IBAR),J=0,JBAR),K=0,KBAR), &
(((Z(K),I=0,IBAR),J=0,JBAR),K=0,KBAR), &
(((IBLK(I,J,K),I=0,IBAR),J=0,JBAR),K=0,KBAR)

where X, Y and Z are the coordinates of the cell corners, and IBLK is an indicator of whether or not the cell
is blocked. If the point (X,Y,Z) is completely embedded within a solid region, then IBLK is 0. Otherwise,
IBLK is 1. Normally, the mesh file is not dumped.
The flow variables are written to a file called CHID_M_<time>.q, where M is the mesh number and <time>
is the number of seconds when the data is output. The file is written with the lines

WRITE(LU14) IBAR+1,JBAR+1,KBAR+1
WRITE(LU14) ZERO,ZERO,ZERO,ZERO
WRITE(LU14) ((((QQ(I,J,K,N),I=0,IBAR),J=0,JBAR),K=0,KBAR),N=1,5)

The five channels N=1,5 are by default the temperature (◦ C), the u, v and w components of the velocity

474
(m/s), and the heat release rate per unit volume (kW/m3 ). Alternate variables can be specified with the input
parameter PLOT3D_QUANTITY(1:5) on the DUMP line. Note that the data is interpolated at cell corners, thus
the dimensions of the Plot3D data sets are one larger than the dimensions of the computational mesh.
Smokeview can display the Plot3D data. In addition, the Plot3D data sets can be read into some other
graphics programs that accept the data format. This particular format is very convenient, and recognized by
a number of graphics packages.

27.11 Boundary Files (.bf)

The boundary files defined under the namelist group BNDF are named CHID_M_N.bf where M is the mesh
index and N is the quantity index. The files are unformatted and written from dump.f90 with the following
lines:

WRITE(LUBF) QUANTITY
WRITE(LUBF) SHORT_NAME
WRITE(LUBF) UNITS
WRITE(LUBF) N_PATCH
WRITE(LUBF) I1,I2,J1,J2,K1,K2,IOR,OBST_INDEX,NM
WRITE(LUBF) I1,I2,J1,J2,K1,K2,IOR,OBST_INDEX,NM
.
.
WRITE(LUBF) TIME_1
WRITE(LUBF) (((QQ(I,J,K),I=11,I2),J=J1,J2),K=K1,K2)
WRITE(LUBF) (((QQ(I,J,K),I=11,I2),J=J1,J2),K=K1,K2)
.
.
WRITE(LUBF) TIME_2
WRITE(LUBF) (((QQ(I,J,K),I=11,I2),J=J1,J2),K=K1,K2)
WRITE(LUBF) (((QQ(I,J,K),I=11,I2),J=J1,J2),K=K1,K2)
.
.

QUANTITY, SHORT_NAME and UNITS are character strings of length 30. N_PATCH is the number of planes (or
“patches”) that correspond to solid surfaces. The sextuplet (I1,I2,J1,J2,K1,K2) defines the cell indices of
each patch. For example, a patch on the lower x boundary of the domain that spans cells 2 through 5 in the y
direction and 7 through 10 in the z direction would have patch indices (0,0,1,5,6,10). Note that the boundary
patches are 2-D; thus, one pair of cell indices is the same. IOR is an integer indicating the orientation of
the patch (±1, ±2, ±3). OBST_INDEX refers to the solid obstruction (OBST) to which the patch is affixed. Its
value is 0 if the patch is affixed to an external boundary. NM is the number of the mesh within which the
obstruction lies. It may be different than the mesh containing the boundary data; that is, NM is not necessarily
equal to the mesh index M in the file name. TIME_N and QQ are four-byte reals.

27.12 Particle Data (.prt5)

Coordinates and specified quantities related to tracer particles, sprinkler droplets, and other Lagrangian
particles are written to a FORTRAN unformatted (binary) file called CHID_M.prt5 where M is the mesh
index. Note that the format of this file has changed from previous versions (4 and below). The file consists
of some header material, followed by particle data output every DT_PART seconds. The time increment DT_
PART is specified on the DUMP line. It is T_END/NFRAMES by default. The header materials is written by the
following FORTRAN code in the file called dump.f90.

475
WRITE(LUPF) ONE_INTEGER ! Integer 1 to check Endian-ness
WRITE(LUPF) NINT(VERSION*100.) ! FDS version number
WRITE(LUPF) N_PART ! Number of PARTicle classes
DO N=1,N_PART
PC => PARTICLE_CLASS(N)
WRITE(LUPF) PC%N_QUANTITIES,ZERO_INTEGER ! ZERO_INTEGER is a place holder
DO NN=1,PC%N_QUANTITIES
WRITE(LUPF) CDATA(PC%QUANTITIES_INDEX(NN)) ! 30 character output quantity
WRITE(LUPF) UDATA(PC%QUANTITIES_INDEX(NN)) ! 30 character output units
ENDDO
ENDDO

Note that the initial printout of the number 1 is used by Smokeview to determine the Endian-ness of the
file. The Endian-ness has to do with the particular way real numbers are written into a binary file. The
version number is used to distinguish new versus old file formats. The parameter N_PART is not the number
of particles, but rather the number of particle classes corresponding to the PART namelist groups in the input
file. Every DT_PART seconds the coordinates of the particles and droplets are output as 4 byte reals (by
default):

WRITE(LUPF) REAL(T,FB) ! Write out the time T as a 4 byte real

DO N=1,N_PART
WRITE(LUPF) NPLIM ! Number of particles in the PART class
WRITE(LUPF) (XP(I),I=1,NPLIM),(YP(I),I=1,NPLIM),(ZP(I),I=1,NPLIM)
WRITE(LUPF) (TA(I),I=1,NPLIM) ! Integer "tag" for each particle
IF (PC%N_QUANTITIES > 0) WRITE(LUPF) ((QP(I,NN),I=1,NPLIM),NN=1,PC%N_QUANTITIES)
ENDDO

The particle “tag” is used by Smokeview to keep track of individual particles and droplets for the purpose
of drawing streamlines. It is also useful when parsing the file. The quantity data, QP(I,NN), is used by
Smokeview to color the particles and droplets. Note that it is now possible with the new format to color the
particles and droplets with several different quantities.

27.13 Profile Files

The profile files defined under the namelist group PROF are named CHID_prof_N.csv and are written out
formatted. These files are written out from dump.f90 with the following line:

WRITE(LU_PROF) T,NWP+1,(X_S(I),I=0,NWP),(Q(I),I=0,NWP)

After the time T, the number of node points is given and then the node coordinates. These are written out at
every time step because the wall thickness and the local solid phase mesh may change over time due to the
solid phase reactions. Array Q contains the values of the output quantity, which may be wall temperature,
density or component density.

27.14 3-D Smoke Files (.s3d)

3-D smoke files contain alpha values used by Smokeview to draw semi-transparent planes representing
smoke and fire. FDS outputs 3-D smoke data at fixed time intervals. A pseudo-code representation of the
3-D smoke file is given by:

WRITE(LU_SMOKE3D) ONE,VERSION,0,NX-1,0,NY-1,0,NZ-1

476
 .
.
WRITE(LU_SMOKE3D_SIZE,*) TIME,NCHARS_IN,NCHARS_OUT
WRITE(LU_SMOKE3D) TIME
WRITE(LU_SMOKE3D) NCHARS_IN,NCHARS_OUT
IF (NCHARS_OUT > 0) WRITE(LU_SMOKE3D)(BUFFER_OUT(I),I=1,NCHARS_OUT)

The first ONE is an endian flag. Smokeview uses this number to determine whether the computer creating the
3-D smoke file and the computer viewing the 3-D smoke file use the same or different byte swap (endian)
conventions for storing floating point numbers. The opacity data is converted from 4 byte floating point
numbers to one byte integers then compressed using run-length encoding (RLE). The compressed data is
contained in BUFFER_OUT. Run-length encoding is a compression scheme where repeated “runs” of data
are replaced with a number (number of repeats), and the value repeated. Four or more consecutive iden-
tical characters are represented by #nc where # is a special character denoting the beginning of a repeated
sequence, n is the number of repeats and c is the character repeated. n can be up to 254 (255 is used to
represent the special character). Characters not repeated four or more times are listed as is. For example,
the character string aaaaaabbbbbcc is encoded as #6a#5bcc.

27.15 Iso-surface Triangulation Files (.iso)

Iso-surface files (.iso) are used to store one or more surfaces where the specified QUANTITY is a specified
value. FDS outputs iso-surface data at fixed time intervals. These surfaces are defined in terms of vertices
and triangles. A vertex consists of an (x, y, z) coordinate. A triangle consists of 3 connected vertices. These
files are written out from smvv.f90 using lines equivalent to the following:

! header

WRITE(LU_ISO) ONE
WRITE(LU_ISO) VERSION
WRITE(LU_ISO) NISO_LEVELS
IF (NISO_LEVELS>0) WRITE(LU_ISO) (ISO_LEVELS(I),I=1,NISO_LEVELS)
WRITE(LU_ISO) ZERO
WRITE(LU_ISO) ZERO, ZERO

! Write for each STIME

WRITE(LU_ISO) STIME, ZERO

WRITE(LU_ISO) N_VERT, N_FACE
IF (N_VERT_D>0) WRITE(LU_ISO) (Xvert(I),Yvert(I),Zvert(I),I=1,N_VERT)
IF (N_FACE_D>0) WRITE(LU_ISO) (FACE1(I),FACE2(I),FACE3(I),I=1,N_FACE)
IF (N_FACE_D>0) WRITE(LU_ISO) (ISO_LEVEL_INDICES(I),I=1,N_FACE)

where:

• ONE Integer set to 1. Smokeview uses this number to determine whether the computer creating the
geometry file and the computer viewing the geometry file use the same or different byte swap (endian)
conventions for storing floating point numbers.

• VERSION currently has value 1 and indicates the version number of this file format.

• NISO_LEVELS The number of iso-surface levels (values) defined at the beginning of the file.

• ISO_LEVELS Floating point values for iso-surface levels of QUANTITY stored at the beginning of the file.

477
 • STIME is the FDS simulation time.

• N_VERT, N_FACE are the number of vertices and triangles in the iso-surface.

• Xvert, Yvert, Zvert are the vertex coordinates.

• FACE1, FACE2, FACE3 are the vertex indices for each triangle. The indices are numbered relative to
how vertices were written out earlier.

• LEVEL_INDICES are the iso-surface level indices for each triangle (points to ISO_LEVELS).

• ZERO Integer set to 0, left for compatibility and future use.

Data files associated with coloring iso-surfaces by a second QUANTITY2 are described in section 27.17

27.16 Geometry Boundary, Unstructured Slice Files (.gcf,.gsf)

Immersed geometry surfaces and unstructured slices are stored using a file format described in this section.
These surfaces are defined in terms of vertices and triangles. Surface polygonal patches (CFACEs) resulting
from geometry triangulation intersection with the FDS grid are divided in triangles and used to plot geometry
and boundary data (.gcf). Unstructured slices (.gsf) derive from the &SLCF namelist when the slice
crosses geometries, and are also split in triangles. Data files associated with these slices are described in
section 27.17. These files are written out from dump.f90 using lines equivalent to the following:

WRITE(LU_GEOM) ONE
WRITE(LU_GEOM) VERSION
WRITE(LU_GEOM) ZERO, ZERO, ONE
WRITE(LU_GEOM) STIME
WRITE(LU_GEOM) N_VERT, N_FACE, ZERO
IF (N_VERT>0 .AND. N_FACE>0) THEN
WRITE(LU_GEOM) (Xvert(I),Yvert(I),Zvert(I),I=1,N_VERT)
WRITE(LU_GEOM) (FACE1(I),FACE2(I),FACE3(I),I=1,N_FACE)
WRITE(LU_GEOM) (LOCATION(I),I=1,N_FACE)
IF ( ".gcf" ) THEN
WRITE(LU_GEOM) (SURF_IND(I),I=1,N_FACE)
WRITE(LU_GEOM) (GEOM_IND(I),I=1,N_FACE)
ENDIF
ENDIF

where:

• ONE Integer set to 1.

• VERSION currently has value 2 and indicates the version number of this file format.

• STIME is the initial FDS simulation time.

• N_VERT, N_FACE are the number of vertices and faces.

• Xvert, Yvert, Zvert are the vertex coordinates.

• FACE1, FACE2, FACE3 are the vertex indices for each triangle. The indices are numbered relative to
how vertices were written out earlier.

• LOCATION Integers that define which edges of the triangles belong to polygonal patches boundaries.

478
 • SURF_IND are the SURF indices for each triangle. Only written in .gcf files.
• GEOM_IND are the geometry indices for each triangle, for geometries listed in the input file sequence.
Only written in .gcf files.
• ZERO Integer set to 0. Entry left for future use.

27.17 Isosurface, Geometry and Unstructured Slice Data Files

(.viso,.be)
Isosurface, geometry boundary and unstructured slice data files contain a description of data values com-
puted by FDS on triangulations stemming either from isosurfaces (.viso) or geometry boundary/unstruc-
tured slice (.be) files. This files are analogous to boundary files. The data written out to an unstructured
data file must correspond to the triangulation written out in the corresponding geometry file (.iso for
.viso; .gcf,.gsf for .be). These data files are written out from dump.f90 with lines equivalent to the
following:

WRITE(FUNIT_DATA) ONE
WRITE(FUNIT_DATA) FILETYPE
WRITE(FUNIT_DATA) STIME
WRITE(FUNIT_DATA) ZERO, ZERO, N_VERT_VALS, N_FACE_VALS
IF (N_VERT_VALS>0) WRITE(FUNIT_DATA) (ValVert(I), I=1,N_VERT_VALS)
IF (N_FACE_VALS>0) WRITE(FUNIT_DATA) (ValFace(I), I=1,N_FACE_VALS)

• ONE has the value 1.

• FYLETYPE currently has value 1 for isosurface and 2 for geometry.
• STIME is the FDS simulation time.
• N_VERT_VALS, N_FACE_VALS is the number of data values written out for vertices and faces.
• ValVert, ValFace vertex and face data. Currently both geometry and isosurface files export either face
or node data in a single file.
• ZERO Integer set to 0, left for compatibility and future use.

27.18 Terrain Data Files (.ter)

For simulations involving outdoor terrain, files of the form CHID_M.ter are created for each mesh, M, with
some terrain cutting through. The write statements are:

WRITE(LU_TERRAIN(NM)) REAL(ZS_MIN-1._EB,FB)
WRITE(LU_TERRAIN(NM)) M%IBP1,M%JBP1
WRITE(LU_TERRAIN(NM)) (M%XPLT(I),I=0,M%IBAR)
WRITE(LU_TERRAIN(NM)) (M%YPLT(J),J=0,M%JBAR)
WRITE(LU_TERRAIN(NM)) ((Z_TERRAIN(I,J),J=0,M%JBAR),I=0,M%IBAR)

NM is the mesh number, M is a pointer to the variables of the mesh NM, ZS_MIN is the lowest z value of the
entire domain, IBP1 and JBP1 are the number of horizontal grid cells in the mesh plus 1, XPLT and YPLT are
the four byte (FB) coordinates, and Z_TERRAIN(I,J) is the elevation at the point with indices (I,J). All
real numbers are four bytes. The elevations are defined at cell corners.

479
27.19 FDS GEOM I/O binary format (.bingeom)
The binary format for geometries read by FDS as described in section 7.3.9 is the following. Binary files
read by the FDS released pre-compiled bundles must have little endian endianness.

WRITE(LU_BINGEOM) GEOM_TYPE
WRITE(LU_BINGEOM) N_VERTS,N_FACES,N_SURF_ID,N_VOLUS
WRITE(LU_BINGEOM) VERTS(1:3*N_VERTS)
WRITE(LU_BINGEOM) FACES(1:3*N_FACES)
WRITE(LU_BINGEOM) SURFS(1:N_FACES)
WRITE(LU_BINGEOM) VOLUS(1:4*N_VOLUS)

where:

• GEOM_TYPE Integer equal to 1 for CAD geometries, and 2 for terrains (top surfaces only). All FDS
analytical geometries, including extruded POLYs, are written to binary as general CAD geometries.

• N_VERTS,N_FACES,N_SURF_ID,N_VOLUS number of vertices, triangles, surface types and volumes on

the geometry.

• VERTS one dimensional array with x, y, z positions of the N_VERTS vertices.

• FACES one dimensional array with the n1 , n2 , n3 node connectivities of the N_FACES triangles.

• SURFS one dimensional array with SURF_IDs of the N_FACES triangles.

• VOLUS one dimensional array with n1 , n2 , n3 , n4 node connectivities of the N_VOLUS tetrahedrons. This
array is currently unused in FDS and left for 3D solid heat transfer in the future.

27.20 Unstructured Geometry (.ge,.ge2)

Immersed geometric objects are stored for SMV reading using a file format with .ge extension described
below. These objects are defined in terms of vertices and triangles. A vertex is represented as an (x, y, z)
coordinate (three floating point values). A triangle is represented as three vertex (integer) indices. Tetrahe-
dron volumes option in the following are not used by FDS, and left as an option for future functionality. An
associated file format used to store data on the geometric object is described in the next section. These files
are written out from dump.f90,geom.f90 using lines equivalent to the following:

WRITE(LU_GEOM) ONE
WRITE(LU_GEOM) VERSION
WRITE(LU_GEOM) N_FLOATS, N_INTS, FIRST_FRAME_STATIC
IF (N_FLOATS>0) WRITE(LU_GEOM) (FLOAT_HEADER(I),I=1,N_FLOATS)
IF (N_INTS>0) WRITE(LU_GEOM) (INT_HEADER(I),I=1,N_INTS)

WRITE(LU_GEOM) STIME
WRITE(LU_GEOM) N_VERT, N_FACE, N_VOL
IF (N_VERT>0) WRITE(LU_GEOM)(Xvert(I),Yvert(I),Zvert(I),I=1,N_VERT)
IF (N_FACE>0) THEN
WRITE(LU_GEOM) (FACE1(I),FACE2(I),FACE3(I),I=1,N_FACE)
WRITE(LU_GEOM) (SURF_IND(I),I=1,N_FACE)
WRITE(LU_GEOM) (Xtext(I),Ytext(I),I=1,3*N_FACE)
ENDIF
IF (N_VOL>0) THEN

480
 WRITE(LU_GEOM) (VOL1(I),VOL2(I),VOL3(I),VOL4(I),I=1,N_VOL)
WRITE(LU_GEOM) (MATL(I),I=1,N_VOL)
ENDIF

• ONE has the value 1.

• VERSION currently has value 2 and indicates the version number of this file format.

• N_FLOATS, N_INTS, FIRST_FRAME_STATIC The number of floating point and integer data items stored
at the beginning of the file. FIRST_FRAME_STATIC for future use is currently set to 1.

• FLOAT_HEADER, INT_HEADER Floating point and integer data stored at the beginning of the file.

• STIME is the FDS initial simulation time.

• N_VERT, N_FACE, N_VOL are the number of vertices, faces and volumes.

• Xvert, Yvert, Zvert are the vertex coordinates.

• FACE1, FACE2, FACE3 are the vertex indices for each face (triangle). The indices range from 1 to to
N_VERT.

• SURF_IND are the SURF indices for each face.

• Xtext, Ytext are the texture coordinates.

• VOL1, VOL2, VOL3, VOL4 are the vertex indices for each volume (tetrahedron). The indices are num-
bered from 1 to N_VERT. Not used currently.

• MATL are the MATL indices for each volume. Not used by FDS currently.

The .ge2 geometry files contain the actual geometry index as read in the .fds input file, written as:

IF (N_FACE>0) THEN
WRITE(LU_GEOM2) N_FACE
WRITE(LU_GEOM2) (GEOM_IDS(I), I=1,N_FACES)
ENDIF

This information allows for complete area and boundary condition information per geometry in SMV.

27.21 FDS HVAC I/O binary format

The HVAC outputs under the namelist group HVAC are written out unformatted to the file [Link]. These
files are written out from dump.f90 with the following lines:

WRITE(LU_HVAC) N_NODE_OUT, N_NODE_QUANTITY, N_DUCT_OUT, N_DUCT_QUANTITY

WRITE(LU_HVAC) DUCT_CELL(1:N_DUCT_OUT)

WRITE(LU_HVAC) TIME
DO N=1,N_NODE_OUT
WRITE(LU_HVAC) OUTVAL_N(1:N_NODE_QUANTITY)
ENDDO
DO N=1,N_DUCT_OUT
IF (DUCT(N)%N_CELLS > 0) THEN

481
 DO N=1,DUCT(N)%N_CELLS
WRITE(LU_HVAC) OUTVAL_D(1:N_DUCT_QUANTITY)
ENDDO
ELSE
WRITE(LU_HVAC) OUTVAL_D(1:N_DUCT_QUANTITY)
ENDIF
ENDDO

where DUCT_CELL is the number of mass transport cells for a duct (if a duct doesn’t have mass transport,
then the value 1 is written), and the second block of output is written for each DT_HVAC output interval.

27.22 File Extension Glossary

Table 27.1 provides a quick reference to file extensions used by FDS and Smokeview.

482
 Table 27.1: File Extension Reference Table

File extension Short Description Reference

.be Data values for .gcf,.gsf,.iso files Section 27.17
.bf Boundary files Section 27.11
.bingeom Binary geometry files Section 27.19
.bnd Min/Max Bound files Smokeview User’s Guide [2]
.fds FDS input files FDS User’s Guide Part II
.gbf Geometry boundary files To be deprecated
.gcf CFACE geometry files Section 27.16
.ge Geometry vertices and faces Section 27.20
.ge2 Geometry face properties Section 27.20
.gsf Unstructured slice files Section 27.16
.ini Smokeview configuration files Smokeview User’s Guide [2]
.iso Isosurface files Section 27.15
.out FDS output log files Section 27.1
.[Link] Global bounds of all particle files
.prt5 Particle files Section 27.12
.q Plot3D files Section 27.10
.restart FDS restart files Section 5.6
.s3d 3D smoke files Section 27.14
.sf Slice files Section 27.9
.sinfo Slice parameter files Smokeview User’s Guide [2]
.smv Smokeview files Smokeview User’s Guide [2]
.ssf Smokeview script files Smokeview User’s Guide [2]
.stop If present, stops a simulation gracefully Section 5.6
.sz Size files for Smokeview memory allocation
.ter Terrain data files Section 27.18
.xyz Plot3D mesh files Section 27.10
_devc.csv Device files Section 27.3
_git.txt Git revision
_hrr.csv Heat Release Rate files Section 27.2

483
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491
Appendix A

Predefined Species

This appendix lists all predefined species in FDS. If a species name ends in ’p’ or ’m’, this indicates the
positive or negative charge state of that species. If a species ends in ’s’, this indicates the excited state of
that species. This is typically written with a ’*’ as in CH∗ . A ’Y in the Liquid column indicates that liquid
properties are predefined, and a ’Y’ in the Gibbs column indicates that Gibbs energy data is predefined. Two
tables are given, one containing species commonly of interest in fire, common toxic species, and reference
species; and a second table containing all species.

493
 Table A.1: Pre-defined gas and liquid species [97, 98, 99, 100, 9, 101, 102, 103]
Species Chemical Temp. Range ∆Hf σ ε/k Liquid Gibbs Pr RadCal
Formula (K) (kJ/mol) (Å) (K) Surrogate
LJ AIR Air 200 -20000 -0.13 3.711 78.60 Y 0.71
ARGON Ar 200 -20000 0.00 3.542 93.30 Y Y 0.67
SOOT C 200 -6000 0.00 3.798 71.40 Y 0.71 SOOT
JP-10 C10H16 200 -6000 -86.86 4.892 231.60 Y 0.71 N-HEPTANE
N-DECANE C10H22 200 -1500 -249.70 4.892 231.60 Y 0.71 N-HEPTANE
NAPTHALENE C10H8 200 -6000 150.58 5.698 480.00 Y 0.71 TOLUENE
JET-A C12H23 273 -6000 -249.66 4.892 231.60 Y 0.71 N-HEPTANE
DODECANE C12H26 288 -1500 -187.80 4.892 231.60 Y 0.71 N-HEPTANE
ACETYLENE C2H2 200 -6000 228.20 4.033 231.80 Y 0.78 ETHELYNE
ACROLEIN C2H3CHO 298 -3000 -74.47 5.176 357.00 Y Y 0.71 MMA
ETHYLENE C2H4 200 -6000 52.50 4.163 224.70 Y Y 0.83 ETHELYNE
ETHANOL C2H5OH 200 -6000 -234.95 4.530 362.60 Y Y 0.84 METHANOL
ETHANE C2H6 200 -6000 -83.85 4.443 215.70 Y Y 0.84 ETHANE
PROPYLENE C3H6 90 -6000 20.00 4.678 289.90 Y Y 0.82 PROPYLENE
ACETONE C3H6O 200 -6000 -217.15 4.600 560.20 Y Y 0.87 MMA
PROPANE C3H8 90 -6000 -104.68 5.118 237.10 Y Y 0.73 PROPANE
ISOPROPANOL C3H8O 190 -6000 -272.70 4.549 576.70 Y Y 0.71 METHANOL
PROPANOL C3H8O 200 -6000 -255.20 4.549 576.70 Y 0.71 METHANOL
ISOBUTANE C4H10 200 -6000 -134.99 5.287 330.10 Y 0.83 PROPANE
BUTANE C4H10 200 -6000 -125.79 4.687 531.40 Y Y 0.83 PROPANE

494
N-PENTANE C5H12 200 -6000 -146.76 5.784 341.10 Y Y 0.79 N-HEPTANE
CYCLOPENTENE C5H6 200 -6000 134.30 5.180 357.00 Y 0.71
CYCLOHEXANE C6H12 200 -6000 -123.30 6.182 297.10 Y 0.71
N-HEXANE C6H14 200 -6000 -166.92 5.949 399.30 Y Y 0.79 N-HEPTANE
BENZENE C6H6 200 -6000 82.88 5.439 412.30 Y 1.50 TOLUENE
N-HEPTANE C7H16 200 -6000 -187.78 4.701 205.78 Y Y 0.83 N-HEPTANE
TOLUENE C7H8 178 -6000 50.17 5.698 480.00 Y Y 0.71 TOLUENE
N-OCTANE C8H18 200 -6000 -208.75 4.892 231.60 Y Y 0.64 N-HEPTANE
DIFLUROMETHANE CH2F2 200 -6000 -452.30 4.080 318.00 Y 0.71
CHLOROFLUORMETHANE CH2FCl 200 -6000 -265.70 4.480 318.00 Y 0.71
METHYL ETHER CH3OCH3 200 -6000 -184.11 4.307 395.00 Y 0.72 METHANOL
METHANOL CH3OH 200 -6000 -200.94 3.626 481.80 Y 0.95 METHANOL
METHANE CH4 200 -6000 -74.60 3.758 148.60 Y Y 0.70 METHANE
CHLOROFORM CHCl3 200 -6000 -102.70 5.389 340.20 Y 0.73
DIFLUROCHLOROMETHANE CHF2Cl 200 -6000 -482.80 4.680 261.00 Y 0.72
FLUOROFORM CHF3 200 -6000 -693.30 4.330 240.00 Y 0.72
CHLORINE CI2 200 -6000 468.39 4.217 316.00 Y Y 0.75
CARBON MONOXIDE CO 200 -20000 -110.54 3.690 91.70 Y Y 0.73 CARBON MONOXIDE
CARBON DIOXIDE CO2 200 -20000 -393.51 3.941 195.20 Y 0.75 CARBON DIOXIDE
HYDROGEN H2 200 -20000 0.00 2.827 59.70 Y Y 0.69
WATER VAPOR H2O 273 -600 -241.83 2.641 809.10 Y Y 1.00 WATER VAPOR
HYDROGEN PEROXIDE H2O2 200 -6000 -135.88 4.196 289.30 Y Y 0.71
HYDROGEN SULFIDE H2S 200 -6000 -20.60 3.623 301.10 Y Y 0.70
 Table A.1: Optional gas and liquid species (continued).
Species Formula Temp. Range ∆Hf σ ε/k Liquid Gibbs Pr RadCal
(K) (kJ/mol) (Å) (K) Surrogate
FORMALDEHYDE HCHO 200 -6000 -108.58 3.590 498.00 Y Y 0.71 METHANOL
HYDROGEN CHLORIDE HCl 200 -6000 -92.31 3.339 344.70 Y Y 0.75
HYDROGEN CYANIDE HCN 200 -6000 133.08 3.638 569.40 Y Y 0.70
HELIUM He 200 -20000 0.00 2.551 10.22 Y Y 0.68
HYDROGEN FLUORIDE HF 200 -20000 -273.30 3.148 330.00 Y Y 0.71
MERCURY Hg 200 -20000 61.38 2.969 750.00 Y 0.67
MERCURYp Hg 298 -20000 1074.64 2.969 750.00 Y 0.67
HYDROGEN IODIDE HI 200 -6000 26.36 4.211 288.70 Y 0.69
IODINE I 200 -20000 106.76 4.320 210.70 Y 0.67
NITROGEN N2 200 -20000 0.00 3.798 71.40 Y Y 0.71
NITROUS OXIDE N2O 182 -6000 81.60 3.828 232.40 Y Y 0.74
NEON Ne 200 -20000 0.00 2.820 32.80 Y 0.67
AMMONIA NH3 200 -6000 -45.94 2.900 558.30 Y Y 0.87
NITRIC OXIDE NO 110 -20000 91.27 3.492 116.70 Y Y 0.74
NITROGEN DIOXIDE NO2 290 -6000 34.19 3.922 204.88 Y Y 6.10
OXYGEN O2 60 -20000 0.00 3.467 106.70 Y Y 0.71
OZONE O3 200 -6000 141.80 3.875 208.40 Y 1.48
SULFUR HEXAFLUORIDE SF6 200 -6000 -1219.40 5.128 222.10 Y 0.77
SULFUR DIOXIDE SO2 200 -6000 -296.81 4.112 335.40 Y Y 0.91
URANIUM HEXAFLUORIDE UF6 200 -20000 -2148.64 5.967 236.80 Y 0.71

495
XENON Xe 300 -20000 0.00 4.047 231.00 Y 0.67
ISOOCTANE C8H18 200 -6000 -224.01 4.892 231.60 Y Y 0.64 N-HEPTANE

Table A.2: Pre-defined gas and liquid species [97, 98, 99, 100, 9, 101, 102, 103]
Species Chemical Temp. Range ∆Hf σ ε/k Liquid Gibbs Pr RadCal
Formula (K) (kJ/mol) (Å) (K) Surrogate
SODIUM HYDROXIDE2 (NaOH)2 298 -4000 -607.66 4.840 1279.00 Y 0.71
LJ AIR Air 200 -20000 -0.13 3.711 78.60 Y 0.71
ALUMINUM Al 200 -20000 330.00 2.655 2750.00 Y 0.67
ALUMINUMm Al 298 -20000 281.09 2.655 2750.00 Y 0.67
ALUMINUMp Al 298 -20000 913.02 2.655 2750.00 Y 0.67
DIALUMINUM Al2 200 -6000 501.30 2.940 2750.00 Y 0.70
ALUMINUM OXIDE Al2O3 200 -6000 -546.89 3.186 557.49 Y 1.00 SOOT
ALUMINUM MONOCHLORIDE AlCl 200 -6000 -51.01 3.578 932.00 Y 0.70
ALUMINUM MONOCHLORIDEp AlCl 298 -6000 861.85 3.578 932.00 Y 0.70
ALUMINUM CHLORIDE AlCl3 200 -6000 -584.68 5.127 472.00 Y 0.73
ALUMINUM MONOFLUORIDE AlF 200 -6000 -264.06 3.148 556.00 Y 0.70
ALUMINUM MONOFLUORIDEp AlF 298 -6000 692.23 3.148 556.00 Y 0.70
ALUMINUM FLUORIDE AlF3 200 -6000 -1209.28 4.198 1846.00 Y 0.73
ALUMINUM NITRIDE AlN 200 -6000 438.83 3.369 2682.00 Y 0.70
 Table A.2: Optional gas and liquid species (continued).
Species Formula Temp. Range ∆Hf σ ε/k Liquid Gibbs Pr RadCal
(K) (kJ/mol) (Å) (K) Surrogate
ALUMINUM MONOXIDE AlO 200 -20000 67.32 3.204 542.00 Y 0.69
ALUMINUM SULFIDE AlS 200 -6000 232.68 3.730 1526.00 Y 0.70
ARGON Ar 200 -20000 0.00 3.542 93.30 Y Y 0.67
ARGONp Ar 298 -20000 1526.78 3.542 93.30 Y 0.67
BORON B 200 -20000 575.60 2.265 3331.00 Y 0.67
BORONm B 298 -20000 542.63 2.265 3331.00 Y 0.67
BORONp B 298 -20000 1382.32 2.265 3331.00 Y 0.67
BORON DIMER B2 200 -6000 857.37 2.420 3331.00 Y 0.70
DIBORANE B2H6 200 -6000 36.60 4.821 213.20 Y 0.72
DIBORON TRIOXIDE B2O3 200 -6000 -835.38 4.158 2092.00 Y 0.62
BORON TRIBROMIDE BBr3 200 -6000 -205.30 5.439 430.00 Y 0.73
BORON MONOCHLORIDE BCl 200 -6000 183.17 3.318 10126.00 Y 0.69
BORON MONOCHLORIDEp BCl 298 -6000 1234.28 3.318 10126.00 Y 0.69
DICHLOROBORON BCl2 200 -6000 -60.88 4.222 682.00 Y 0.71
DICHLOROBORONp BCl2 298 -6000 672.32 4.222 682.00 Y 0.71
BORON CHLORIDE BCl3 200 -6000 -404.50 5.127 337.70 Y 0.72
BERYLLIUM ATOM Be 200 -20000 324.00 2.618 3603.00 Y 0.67
BERYLLIUM ATOMp Be 298 -20000 1229.70 2.618 3603.00 Y 0.67
BERYLLIUM ATOMpp Be 298 -20000 2993.00 2.618 3603.00 Y 0.67
BERYLLIUM Be2 200 -6000 637.54 2.891 2.89 Y 0.71

496
BERYLLIUM DIBROMIDE BeBr2 200 -6000 -234.06 4.235 936.00 Y 0.71
BERYLLIUM MONOCHLORIDE BeCl 200 -6000 56.69 3.554 1067.00 Y 0.70
BERYLLIUM CHLORIDE BeCl2 200 -6000 -361.54 4.190 936.00 Y 0.72
BERYLLIUM MONOFLUORIDE BeF 200 -6000 -170.62 3.124 637.00 Y 0.69
BERYLLIUM FLUORIDE BeF2 200 -6000 -796.59 3.452 1266.00 Y 0.70
BERYLLIUM DIIODIDE BeI2 200 -6000 -64.76 4.955 1019.00 Y 0.71
BORON FLUORIDE BF 200 -6000 -106.93 2.888 612.00 Y 0.69
BERYLLIUM FLUORIDEm BF2 298 -6000 -733.80 3.452 1266.00 Y 0.68
BERYLLIUM FLUORIDEp BF2 298 -6000 322.59 3.452 1266.00 Y 0.68
DIFLUOROBORYL RADICAL BF2 200 -6000 -499.43 3.543 3999.00 Y 0.71
BORON FLUORIDE BF3 200 -6000 -1136.00 4.198 186.30 Y 0.72
BORON MONOXIDE BO 200 -20000 20.41 2.944 566.00 Y 0.69
BORON MONOXIDEm BO 298 -6000 -277.79 2.944 566.00 Y 0.69
BROMINE ATOM Br 200 -20000 111.87 3.672 236.60 Y 0.67
BROMINE ATOMm Br 298 -20000 -219.00 3.672 236.60 Y 0.67
BROMINE ATOMp Br 298 -20000 1257.93 3.672 236.60 Y 0.67
BROMINE Br2 200 -6000 30.91 4.296 507.90 Y 0.70
BROMINE MONOFLUORIDE BrF 200 -6000 -58.85 3.826 239.00 Y 0.70
BORON TRIFLUORIDE BrF3 200 -6000 -255.60 4.366 481.70 Y 0.71
BORON MONOXIDE BrO 200 -6000 125.80 3.882 233.00 Y 0.71
CARBON ATOM C 200 -20000 716.68 3.385 30.60 Y 0.67
CARBON ATOMm C 298 -20000 588.31 3.385 30.60 Y 0.67
CARBON ATOMp C 298 -20000 1809.44 3.385 30.60 Y 0.67
 Table A.2: Optional gas and liquid species (continued).
Species Formula Temp. Range ∆Hf σ ε/k Liquid Gibbs Pr RadCal
(K) (kJ/mol) (Å) (K) Surrogate
SOOT C 200 -6000 0.00 3.798 71.40 Y 0.71 SOOT
JP-10 C10H16 200 -6000 -86.86 4.892 231.60 Y 0.71 N-HEPTANE
N-DECANE C10H22 200 -1500 -249.70 4.892 231.60 Y 0.71 N-HEPTANE
NAPTHALENE C10H8 200 -6000 150.58 5.698 480.00 Y 0.71 TOLUENE
JET-A C12H23 273 -6000 -249.66 4.892 231.60 Y 0.71 N-HEPTANE
DODECANE C12H26 288 -1500 -187.80 4.892 231.60 Y 0.71 N-HEPTANE
DICARBON C2 200 -20000 830.46 3.913 78.80 Y 0.71
DICARBONm C2 298 -6000 480.77 3.913 78.80 Y 0.71
DICARBONp C2 298 -20000 2004.78 3.913 78.80 Y 0.71
ETHYNYL RADICAL C2H 200 -6000 566.20 4.100 209.00 Y 0.71
ACETYLENE C2H2 200 -6000 228.20 4.033 231.80 Y 0.78 ETHELYNE
VINYL RADICAL C2H3 200 -6000 299.69 4.100 209.00 Y 0.71
ACROLEIN C2H3CHO 298 -3000 -74.47 5.176 357.00 Y Y 0.71 MMA
ETHYLENE C2H4 200 -6000 52.50 4.163 224.70 Y Y 0.83 ETHELYNE
ETHYL RADICAL C2H5 200 -6000 118.66 4.302 252.30 Y 0.71
ETHANOL C2H5OH 200 -6000 -234.95 4.530 362.60 Y Y 0.84 METHANOL
ETHANE C2H6 200 -6000 -83.85 4.443 215.70 Y Y 0.84 ETHANE
CYANONGEN C2N2 200 -6000 309.10 4.361 3486.00 Y 0.72
CYCLOPROPENYLIDENE C3H2 298 -5000 25.34 3.970 436.00 Y 0.71
1-PROPENYL C3H3 200 -6000 450.00 4.760 252.00 Y 0.71

497
CYCLOPROPENE C3H4 200 -6000 277.10 4.760 252.00 Y 0.71
ALLENE C3H4 200 -6000 190.92 4.760 252.00 Y 0.71
PROPYNE C3H4 200 -6000 184.90 4.761 251.80 Y 0.71
ALLYL RADICAL C3H5 200 -6000 163.59 4.982 266.80 Y 0.71
CYCLOPROPANE C3H6 200 -6000 53.30 4.807 248.90 Y 0.72
PROPYLENE C3H6 90 -6000 20.00 4.678 289.90 Y Y 0.82 PROPYLENE
ACETONE C3H6O 200 -6000 -217.15 4.600 560.20 Y Y 0.87 MMA
PROPYL RADICAL C3H7 200 -6000 100.50 4.982 266.80 Y 0.71
ISOPROPYL RADICAL C3H7 200 -6000 93.30 4.982 266.80 Y 0.71
PROPANE C3H8 90 -6000 -104.68 5.118 237.10 Y Y 0.73 PROPANE
ISOPROPANOL C3H8O 190 -6000 -272.70 4.549 576.70 Y Y 0.71 METHANOL
PROPANOL C3H8O 200 -6000 -255.20 4.549 576.70 Y 0.71 METHANOL
ISOBUTANE C4H10 200 -6000 -134.99 5.287 330.10 Y 0.83 PROPANE
BUTANE C4H10 200 -6000 -125.79 4.687 531.40 Y Y 0.83 PROPANE
BUTADIYNE C4H2 200 -6000 450.00 5.180 357.00 Y 0.71
i-C4H3 C4H3 298 -3000 498.75 5.180 357.00 Y 0.71
n-C4H3 C4H3 298 -3000 531.81 5.180 357.00 Y 0.71
CYCLOBUTADIENE C4H4 200 -6000 385.00 5.180 357.00 Y 0.71
i-C4H5 C4H5 298 -3000 323.86 5.180 357.00 Y 0.71
n-C4H5 C4H5 298 -3000 357.33 5.180 357.00 Y 0.71
1-BUTYNE C4H6 200 -6000 165.20 5.180 357.00 Y 0.71
2-BUTYNE C4H6 200 -6000 145.70 5.180 357.00 Y 0.71
BUTADIENE C4H6 200 -6000 110.00 5.180 357.00 Y 0.71
 Table A.2: Optional gas and liquid species (continued).
Species Formula Temp. Range ∆Hf σ ε/k Liquid Gibbs Pr RadCal
(K) (kJ/mol) (Å) (K) Surrogate
CYCLOBUTENE C4H6 200 -6000 156.70 5.180 357.00 Y 0.71
C4H7 C4H7 298 -3000 184.40 5.176 357.00 Y 0.71
1-BUTENE C4H8 200 -6000 -0.54 5.176 357.00 Y 0.71
N-PENTANE C5H12 200 -6000 -146.76 5.784 341.10 Y Y 0.79 N-HEPTANE
PYRYLIUM C5H4O 298 -3000 45.81 5.290 464.80 Y 0.71
CYCLOPENTADIENIDE C5H5 200 -6000 265.68 5.180 357.00 Y 0.71
PENTANOL C5H4OH 298 -6000 80.12 5.290 464.80 Y 0.71
PYRYLIUM C5H5O 298 -3000 40.57 5.290 464.80 Y 0.71
CYCLOPENTENE C5H6 200 -6000 134.30 5.180 357.00 Y 0.71
CYCLOHEXANE C6H12 200 -6000 -123.30 6.182 297.10 Y 0.71
N-HEXANE C6H14 200 -6000 -166.92 5.949 399.30 Y Y 0.79 N-HEPTANE
TRIACETYLENE C6H2 200 -6000 670.00 5.180 357.00 Y 0.71 PROPYLENE
C6H3 C6H3 298 -3000 730.99 5.180 357.00 Y 0.71
BENZYNE C6H4 298 -3000 443.53 5.290 464.80 Y Y 0.71
BUTALENE C6H4 298 -3000 516.76 5.349 412.30 Y 0.71
PHENYL C6H5 200 -6000 337.20 5.290 464.80 Y 0.71
PHENOLATE C6H5O 200 -6000 47.70 5.290 464.80 Y 0.71
PHENOL C6H5OH 200 -6000 -96.40 5.290 464.80 Y 0.71
BENZENE C6H6 200 -6000 82.88 5.439 412.30 Y 1.50 TOLUENE
N-HEPTANE C7H16 200 -6000 -187.78 4.701 205.78 Y Y 0.83 N-HEPTANE

498
TOLUENE C7H8 178 -6000 50.17 5.698 480.00 Y Y 0.71 TOLUENE
N-OCTANE C8H18 200 -6000 -208.75 4.892 231.60 Y Y 0.64 N-HEPTANE
ISO-OCTANE C8H18 200 -6000 -224.01 4.892 231.60 Y Y 0.64 N-HEPTANE
CARBON TETRABROMIDE CBr4 200 -6000 79.50 6.120 442.00 Y 0.73
CHLOROMETHYLIDYNE CCl 200 -6000 432.61 4.065 157.80 Y 0.70
DICHLOROMETHYLENE CCl2 200 -6000 222.94 4.692 213.00 Y 0.71
TRICHLOROMETHYL RADICAL CCl3 200 -6000 71.13 5.320 268.00 Y 0.71
CARBON TETRACHLORIDE CCl4 200 -6000 -95.60 5.947 322.70 Y 0.73
CADMIUM Cd 200 -20000 111.80 2.606 1227.00 Y 0.67
FLUOROMETHYLIDYNE CF 200 -6000 242.30 3.635 94.20 Y 0.69
FLUOROMETHYLIDYNEp CF 298 -6000 1145.56 3.635 94.20 Y 0.69
DIFLUOROMETHYLENE CF2 200 -6000 -186.60 3.977 108.00 Y 0.71
DIFLUOROMETHYLENEp CF2 298 -6000 949.34 3.977 108.00 Y 0.71
DICHLORODIFLUOROMETHANE CF2Cl2 200 -6000 -490.80 5.250 253.00 Y 0.73
TRIFLUOROMETHYL RADICAL CF3 200 -6000 -467.40 4.320 121.00 Y 0.72
TRIFLUOROMETHYL RADICALp CF3 298 -6000 423.62 4.320 121.00 Y 0.72
BROMOTRIFLUORMETHANE CF3Br 200 -6000 -648.80 5.010 235.00 Y 0.73
CHLOROTRIFLUORMETHANE CF3Cl 200 -6000 -704.20 4.960 188.00 Y 0.73
TETRAFLUOROMETHANE CF4 200 -6000 -933.12 4.662 134.00 Y 0.72
TRICHLOROMONOFLUROMETHANE CFCl3 200 -6000 -283.70 5.440 334.00 Y 0.73
METHYLIDYNE CH 200 -20000 597.37 3.370 68.60 Y 0.69
METHYLIDYNEp CH 298 -20000 1630.57 3.370 68.60 Y 0.69
METHYLENE CH2 200 -6000 390.36 3.800 144.00 Y 0.71
 Table A.2: Optional gas and liquid species (continued).
Species Formula Temp. Range ∆Hf σ ε/k Liquid Gibbs Pr RadCal
(K) (kJ/mol) (Å) (K) Surrogate
METHYLENEs CH2 200 -3500 429.89 3.800 144.00 Y 0.71
VYNILOXY RADICAL CH2CHO 298 -5000 25.34 3.970 436.00 Y 0.71
METHYLENE CHLORIDE CH2Cl2 200 -6000 -95.00 4.898 356.30 Y 0.72
BROMOCHLOROMETHANE CH2ClBr 200 -6000 -45.00 4.880 410.00 Y 0.72
KETENE CH2CO 200 -6000 -49.58 3.970 436.00 Y 0.71
DIFLUROMETHANE CH2F2 200 -6000 -452.30 4.080 318.00 Y 0.71
CHLOROFLUORMETHANE CH2FCl 200 -6000 -265.70 4.480 318.00 Y 0.71
DIIODOMETHANE CH2I2 200 -6000 117.57 5.160 449.20 Y 0.72
HYDROXYMETHYL RADICAL CH2OH 200 -6000 -17.80 3.690 417.00 Y 0.71
HYDROXYMETHYL RADICALp CH2OH 298 -6000 716.40 3.690 417.00 Y 0.71
METHYL RADICAL CH3 200 -6000 146.66 3.800 144.00 Y 0.71
MEHTYL BROMIDE CH3Br 200 -6000 -37.74 4.118 449.20 Y 0.71
NEOPENTANE CH3C(CH3)2CH3 200 -6000 -167.92 6.464 193.40 Y 0.71 PROPANE
CYCLOPROPYL CH3CCH2 298 -6000 253.55 4.982 266.80 Y 0.71
ETHANAL CH3CHO 200 -6000 -166.19 3.970 436.00 Y 0.71
CHLOROMETHANE CH3Cl 200 -6000 -81.87 4.182 350.00 Y 0.71
METHYL FLUORIDE CH3F 200 -6000 -237.70 3.730 333.00 Y 0.70
IODOMETHANE CH3I 200 -6000 13.77 4.230 519.00 Y 0.71
METHOXY RADICAL CH3O 200 -6000 13.00 3.690 417.00 Y 0.71
METHYL ETHER CH3OCH3 200 -6000 -184.11 4.307 395.00 Y 0.72 METHANOL

499
METHANOL CH3OH 200 -6000 -200.94 3.626 481.80 Y 0.95 METHANOL
METHANE CH4 200 -6000 -74.60 3.758 148.60 Y Y 0.70 METHANE
TRIBROMOMETHANE CHBr3 200 -6000 16.74 5.330 559.00 Y 0.73
BROMODICHLOROMETHANE CHCl2Br 200 -6000 -45.00 5.250 427.00 Y 0.73
CHLOROFORM CHCl3 200 -6000 -102.70 5.389 340.20 Y 0.73
DIFLUROCHLOROMETHANE CHF2Cl 200 -6000 -482.80 4.680 261.00 Y 0.72
FLUOROFORM CHF3 200 -6000 -693.30 4.330 240.00 Y 0.72
CHFClBr CHFClBr 200 -6000 -230.00 5.130 345.00 Y 0.71
CHLORINE CI2 200 -6000 468.39 4.217 316.00 Y Y 0.75
CHLORINE ATOM Cl 200 -20000 121.30 3.613 130.80 Y 0.67
CHLORINE ATOMm Cl 298 -20000 -233.96 3.613 130.80 Y 0.67
CHLORINE ATOMp Cl 298 -20000 1378.80 3.613 130.80 Y 0.67
CHLORINE Cl2 200 -6000 0.00 4.217 316.00 Y 0.70
CYANOGEN CHLORIDE ClCN 200 -6000 134.20 4.047 338.70 Y 0.71
CHLORINE FLUORIDE ClF 200 -6000 -55.70 3.668 203.40 Y 0.70
CHLORINE TRIFLUORIDE ClF3 200 -6000 -164.60 4.288 335.70 Y 0.73
MONOCHLORINE MONOXIDE ClO 200 -6000 101.62 3.842 184.00 Y 0.69
CYANO RADICAL CN 200 -20000 438.68 3.856 75.00 Y 0.69
CYANO RADICALm CN 298 -6000 63.89 3.856 75.00 Y 0.69
CYANO RADICALp CN 298 -20000 1798.89 3.856 75.00 Y 0.69
CARBON MONOXIDE CO 200 -20000 -110.54 3.690 91.70 Y Y 0.73 CARBON MONOXIDE
CARBON MONOXIDEp CO 298 -20000 1247.79 3.690 91.70 Y 0.73 CARBON MONOXIDE
CARBON DIOXIDE CO2 200 -20000 -393.51 3.941 195.20 Y 0.75 CARBON DIOXIDE
 Table A.2: Optional gas and liquid species (continued).
Species Formula Temp. Range ∆Hf σ ε/k Liquid Gibbs Pr RadCal
(K) (kJ/mol) (Å) (K) Surrogate
CARBON DIOXIDEp CO2 298 -20000 944.69 3.941 195.20 Y 0.75 CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBONYL SULFIDE COS 200 -6000 -141.70 4.130 336.00 Y 0.71
CARBON MONOPHOSPHIDE CP 200 -6000 520.16 4.400 227.00 Y 0.69
CARBON MONOSULFIDE CS 200 -6000 278.55 4.216 199.40 Y 0.69
CARBON DISULFIDE CS2 200 -6000 116.70 4.483 467.00 Y 7.15
FLUORINE ATOM F 200 -20000 79.38 2.980 112.60 Y 0.67
FLUORINE ATOMm F 298 -20000 -255.09 2.980 112.60 Y 0.67
FLUORINE ATOMp F 298 -20000 1766.82 2.980 112.60 Y 0.67
FLUORINE F2 200 -6000 0.00 3.357 112.60 Y 0.68
CYANONGEN FLUROIDE FCN 200 -6000 34.33 3.578 168.00 Y 0.71
HYDROGEN ATOM H 200 -20000 218.00 2.708 37.00 Y 0.67
HYDROGEN ATOMm H 298 -20000 139.03 2.708 37.00 Y 0.67
HYDROGEN ATOMp H 298 -20000 1536.25 2.708 37.00 Y 0.67
HYDROGEN H2 200 -20000 0.00 2.827 59.70 Y Y 0.69
HYDROGENm H2 298 -6000 235.17 2.827 59.70 Y 0.69
HYDROGENp H2 298 -20000 1494.67 2.827 59.70 Y 0.69
PROPADIENONE H2C4O 298 -4000 228.43 5.180 357.00 Y 0.71
METHYLENE-AMIDOGEN H2CN 298 -6000 247.33 3.630 569.00 Y 0.71
WATER VAPOR H2O 273 -600 -241.83 2.641 809.10 Y Y 1.00 WATER VAPOR
WATER VAPORp H2O 298 -20000 981.60 2.641 809.10 Y 1.00 WATER VAPOR

500
HYDROGEN PEROXIDE H2O2 200 -6000 -135.88 4.196 289.30 Y Y 0.71
HYDROGEN SULFIDE H2S 200 -6000 -20.60 3.623 301.10 Y Y 0.70
OXONIUM H3O 298 -20000 598.00 3.150 106.20 Y 0.71
HYDROGEN BROMIDE HBr 200 -6000 -36.29 3.353 449.00 Y Y 0.69
KETENYL RADICAL HCCO 200 -6000 176.57 2.500 150.00 Y 0.71
ETHYNOL HCCOH 298 -5000 153.92 3.970 436.00 Y 0.71
FORMALDEHYDE HCHO 200 -6000 -108.58 3.590 498.00 Y Y 0.71 METHANOL
HYDROGEN CHLORIDE HCl 200 -6000 -92.31 3.339 344.70 Y Y 0.75
HYDROGEN CYANIDE HCN 200 -6000 133.08 3.638 569.40 Y Y 0.70
HCNN HCNN 298 -5000 462.12 2.500 150.00 Y 0.71
FULMINIC ACID HCNO 298 -5000 171.04 3.828 232.40 Y 0.71
FORMYL RADICAL HCO 200 -6000 42.40 3.590 498.00 Y 0.71
FORMYL RADICALp HCO 298 -20000 833.03 3.590 498.00 Y 0.71
FORMIC ACID HCOOH 200 -6000 -378.57 3.970 436.00 Y 0.71
HELIUM He 200 -20000 0.00 2.551 10.22 Y Y 0.68
HELIUMp He 298 -20000 2378.52 2.551 10.22 Y 0.68
HYDROGEN FLUORIDE HF 200 -20000 -273.30 3.148 330.00 Y Y 0.71
MERCURY Hg 200 -20000 61.38 2.969 750.00 Y 0.67
MERCURYp Hg 298 -20000 1074.64 2.969 750.00 Y 0.67
MERCURIC BROMIDE HgBr2 200 -6000 -91.31 5.088 686.20 Y 0.73
HYDROGEN IODIDE HI 200 -6000 26.36 4.211 288.70 Y 0.69
ISOCYANIC ACID HNCO 200 -6000 -118.06 3.828 232.40 Y 0.71
NITROSYL HYDRIDE HNO 200 -6000 102.03 3.495 116.70 Y 0.71
 Table A.2: Optional gas and liquid species (continued).
Species Formula Temp. Range ∆Hf σ ε/k Liquid Gibbs Pr RadCal
(K) (kJ/mol) (Å) (K) Surrogate
NITROUS ACID HNO2 200 -6000 -78.45 3.828 232.40 Y 0.71
NITRIC ACID HNO3 200 -6000 -133.91 4.175 378.40 Y 0.71
HYDROPEROXY RADICAL HO2 200 -6000 12.02 3.020 106.50 Y 0.71
HYDROPEROXY RADICALm HO2 298 -6000 -97.92 3.020 106.50 Y 0.71
CYANIC ACID HOCN 298 -5000 -11.80 3.828 232.40 Y 0.71
IODINE I 200 -20000 106.76 4.320 210.70 Y 0.67
IODINEm I 298 -20000 -194.60 4.320 210.70 Y 0.67
IODINEp I 298 -20000 1121.35 4.320 210.70 Y 0.67
IODINE2 I2 200 -6000 62.42 5.160 474.20 Y 0.70
KRYPTONm K 298 -20000 34.42 3.655 178.90 Y 1.43
KRYPTONp K 298 -20000 514.01 3.655 178.90 Y 1.43
KRYPTON Kr 200 -20000 0.00 3.655 178.90 Y 0.67
LITHIUM Li 200 -20000 159.30 2.850 1899.00 Y 0.67
LITHIUMm Li 298 -20000 93.47 2.850 1899.00 Y 0.67
LITHIUMp Li 298 -20000 685.72 2.850 1899.00 Y 0.67
LITHIUM DIMER Li2 200 -6000 215.90 3.200 1899.00 Y 0.70
LITHIUM DIMERp Li2 298 -6000 721.61 3.200 1899.00 Y 0.70
LITHIUM OXIDE Li2O 200 -6000 -167.34 3.561 1827.00 Y 0.71
LITHIUM OXIDEp Li2O 298 -6000 439.10 3.561 1827.00 Y 0.71
LITHIUM BROMIDE LiBr 200 -6000 -151.16 3.748 1815.00 Y 0.70

501
LITHIUM CHLORIDE LiCl 200 -6000 -193.78 3.078 1919.00 Y 0.70
LITHIUM FLUORIDE LiF 200 -6000 -340.94 3.278 2305.00 Y 0.70
LITHIUM IODIDE LiI 200 -6000 -85.27 4.180 1726.00 Y 0.71
LITHIUM MONOXIDE LiO 200 -6000 72.91 3.334 450.00 Y 0.69
MAGNESIUM Mg 200 -20000 147.10 2.926 1614.00 Y 0.67
MAGNESIUMp Mg 298 -20000 891.05 2.926 1614.00 Y 0.67
MAGNEISUM DIMER Mg2 200 -6000 286.51 3.301 1614.00 Y 0.71
MAGNESIUM MONOCHLORIDE MgCl 200 -6000 -54.70 3.759 714.00 Y 0.70
MAGNESIUM MONOCHLORIDEp MgCl 298 -20000 646.34 3.759 714.00 Y 0.70
MAGNESIUM CHLORIDE MgCl2 200 -6000 -399.17 34.000 1988.00 Y 0.72
MAGNESIUM MONOFLUORIDE MgF 200 -6000 -232.27 4.340 1988.00 Y 0.70
MAGNESIUM MONOFLUORIDEp MgF 298 -20000 516.87 4.340 1988.00 Y 0.70
MAGNESIUM FLUORIDE MgF2 200 -6000 -735.50 3.329 426.00 Y 0.72
MAGNESIUM FLUORIDEp MgF2 298 -20000 582.69 3.623 2964.00 Y 0.71
NITROGEN ATOM N 200 -20000 472.68 3.298 71.40 Y 0.71
NITROGEN ATOMm N 298 -20000 473.54 3.298 71.40 Y 0.71
NITROGEN ATOMp N 298 -20000 1882.13 3.298 71.40 Y 0.71
NITROGEN N2 200 -20000 0.00 3.798 71.40 Y Y 0.71
NITROGENm N2 298 -20000 148.18 3.798 71.40 Y 0.71
NITROGENp N2 298 -20000 1509.51 3.798 71.40 Y 0.71
DIIMIDE N2H2 200 -6000 211.86 3.798 71.40 Y 0.71
HYDRAZINYL RADICAL N2H3 298 -5000 153.92 3.900 200.00 Y 0.71
HYDRAZINE N2H4 200 -6000 95.18 4.230 205.00 Y 0.71
 Table A.2: Optional gas and liquid species (continued).
Species Formula Temp. Range ∆Hf σ ε/k Liquid Gibbs Pr RadCal
(K) (kJ/mol) (Å) (K) Surrogate
NITROUS OXIDE N2O 182 -6000 81.60 3.828 232.40 Y Y 0.74
NITROUS OXIDEp N2O 298 -6000 1332.96 3.828 232.40 Y 0.74
SODIUM Na 200 -20000 107.50 3.567 1357.00 Y 0.67
SODIUMm Na 298 -20000 48.45 3.567 1357.00 Y 0.67
SODIUMp Na 298 -20000 609.54 3.567 1357.00 Y 0.67
DISODIUM Na2 200 -6000 142.34 4.156 1375.00 Y 0.70
DISODIUM OXIDE Na2O 200 -6000 -16.56 4.358 1827.00 Y 0.71
DISODIUM OXIDEp Na2O 298 -6000 520.83 4.358 1827.00 Y 0.71
DISODIUM PEROXIDE Na2O2 200 -6000 -123.93 4.530 1208.00 Y 0.71
SODIUM BROMIDE NaBr 200 -6000 -145.93 4.226 1963.00 Y 0.71
SODIUM CHLORIDE NaCl 200 -6000 -181.54 4.186 1898.00 Y 0.70
SODIUM CYANIDE NaCN 200 -6000 94.27 4.395 2088.00 Y 0.71
SODIUM FLUORIDE NaF 200 -6000 -295.16 3.756 2333.00 Y 0.70
SODIUM HYDRIDE NaH 200 -6000 140.84 3.542 93.30 Y 0.71
SODIUM BICARBONATE NaHCO3 298 -3000 -937.30 4.530 1257.00 Y 0.71
SODIUM IODIDE NaI 200 -6000 -90.64 4.658 1856.00 Y 0.70
SODIUM OXIDE NaO 200 -6000 106.51 3.812 383.00 Y 0.70
SODIUM SUPEROXIDE NaO2 298 -3000 106.52 3.812 383.00 Y 0.71
SODIUM HYDROXIDE NaOH 200 -6000 -191.00 3.804 1962.00 Y 0.71
SODIUM HYDROXIDEp NaOH 298 -20000 683.86 3.804 1962.00 Y 0.71

502
ISOCYANATO RADICAL NCO 200 -6000 131.85 3.828 232.40 Y 0.71
NEON Ne 200 -20000 0.00 2.820 32.80 Y 0.67
NEONp Ne 298 -20000 2086.97 2.820 32.80 Y 0.67
NITROGEN TRIFLUORIDE NF3 200 -6000 -131.70 4.154 175.00 Y 0.72
IMIDOGEN NH 200 -20000 357.03 3.312 65.30 Y 0.69
IMIDOGENp NH 298 -20000 1665.79 3.312 65.30 Y 0.69
DINOTROGEN MONOHYDRIDE NH2 200 -6000 189.13 2.650 80.00 Y 0.71
AMMONIA NH3 200 -6000 -45.94 2.900 558.30 Y Y 0.87
NNH NNH 250 -4000 245.07 3.798 71.40 Y 0.71
NITRIC OXIDE NO 110 -20000 91.27 3.492 116.70 Y Y 0.74
NITRIC OXIDEp NO 298 -20000 990.81 3.492 116.70 Y 0.74
NITROGEN DIOXIDE NO2 290 -6000 34.19 3.922 204.88 Y Y 6.10
NITROGEN DIOXIDEm NO2 298 -6000 -200.04 3.922 204.88 Y 6.10
NITRATE RADICAL NO3 200 -6000 71.13 4.175 378.40 Y 0.71
NITRATE RADICALm NO3 298 -6000 -310.78 4.175 378.40 Y 0.71
NITROSYL CHLORIDE NOCl 200 -6000 52.70 4.112 395.30 Y 1.42
OXYGEN ATOM O 200 -20000 249.18 3.050 106.60 Y 0.67
OXYGEN ATOMm O 298 -20000 101.85 3.050 106.60 Y 0.67
OXYGEN ATOMp O 298 -20000 1568.79 3.050 106.60 Y 0.67
OXYGEN O2 60 -20000 0.00 3.467 106.70 Y Y 0.71
OXYGENm O2 298 -6000 -48.03 3.467 186.70 Y 0.71
OXYGENp O2 298 -20000 1171.83 3.467 186.70 Y 0.71
OZONE O3 200 -6000 141.80 3.875 208.40 Y 1.48
 Table A.2: Optional gas and liquid species (continued).
Species Formula Temp. Range ∆Hf σ ε/k Liquid Gibbs Pr RadCal
(K) (kJ/mol) (Å) (K) Surrogate
HYDROXYL RADICAL OH 200 -20000 37.28 3.147 79.80 Y 0.69
HYDROXYL RADICALm OH 298 -6000 -145.26 3.147 79.80 Y 0.69
HYDROXYL RADICALp OH 298 -20000 1299.21 3.147 79.80 Y 0.69
PHOSPHORUS P 200 -20000 316.50 4.115 653.00 Y 0.67
PHOSPHORUSm P 298 -20000 238.83 4.115 653.00 Y 0.67
PHOSPHORUSp P 298 -20000 1336.45 4.115 653.00 Y 0.67
PHOSPHORUS DIMER P2 200 -6000 144.00 4.887 653.00 Y 0.70
TETRAPHOSPHORUS P4 200 -6000 58.90 5.455 711.00 Y 0.73
PHOSPHORUS CHLORIDE PCl 200 -6000 134.62 4.552 454.00 Y 0.71
PHOSPHORUS TRICHLORIDE PCl3 200 -6000 -289.50 5.240 419.00 Y 0.73
PHOSPHORUS MONOFLUORIDE PF 200 -6000 -47.94 4.120 271.00 Y 0.69
PHOSPHORUS MONOFLUORIDEm PF 298 -20000 -164.05 4.120 271.00 Y 0.69
PHOSPHORUS MONOFLUORIDEp PF 298 -20000 901.52 4.120 271.00 Y 0.69
PHOSPHORUS TRIFLUORIDE PF3 200 -6000 -957.40 4.360 203.30 Y 0.72
PHOSPHINE PH3 200 -6000 5.44 3.981 251.50 Y 0.70
PHOSPHORUS MONONITRIDE PN 200 -6000 171.49 4.432 216.00 Y 0.69
PHOSPHORUS MONOXIDE PO 200 -6000 -27.86 4.177 264.00 Y 0.69
PHOSPHORUS MONOXIDEm PO 298 -6000 -140.07 4.177 264.00 Y 0.69
PHOSPHORUS MONOSULFIDE PS 200 -6000 150.43 4.730 744.00 Y 0.70
SULFUR S 200 -20000 277.17 3.839 847.00 Y 0.69

503
SULFURm S 298 -20000 70.37 3.839 847.00 Y 0.69
SULFURp S 298 -20000 1282.50 3.839 847.00 Y 0.69
SULFUR DIMER S2 200 -6000 128.60 4.519 847.00 Y 0.69
SULFUR DIMERm S2 298 -6000 -37.13 4.519 847.00 Y 0.69
DIFLUORODISULFANE S2F2 200 -6000 -401.41 4.702 205.60 Y 0.71
SULFUR HEXAFLUORIDE SF6 200 -6000 -1219.40 5.128 222.10 Y 0.77
SULFUR HEXAFLUORIDEm SF6 298 -20000 -1341.88 5.128 222.10 Y 0.77
SILICON Si 200 -20000 450.00 2.910 3036.00 Y 0.67
SILICONm Si 298 -20000 308.82 2.910 3036.00 Y 0.67
SILICONp Si 298 -20000 1242.51 2.910 3036.00 Y 0.67
SILICON DIMER Si2 200 -6000 580.20 3.280 3036.00 Y 0.70
CLOROSIYLIDYNE SiCl 200 -6000 142.36 3.748 980.00 Y 0.71
SILICON TETRACHLORIDE SiCl4 200 -6000 -662.20 5.977 390.20 Y 0.74
SILICON FLUORIDE SiF 200 -6000 -25.23 3.318 585.00 Y 0.70
SILICON TETRAFLUORIDE SiF4 200 -6000 -1615.78 4.888 171.90 Y 0.73
SILANE SiH4 200 -6000 34.70 4.084 287.60 Y 0.71
SILICON MONOXIDE SiO 200 -6000 -98.84 3.374 569.00 Y 0.69
SILICON DIOXIDE SiO2 200 -6000 -322.07 3.706 2954.00 Y 0.72
SILILCON MONOSULFIDE SiS 200 -6000 108.19 3.900 1432.00 Y 0.70
STANNIC MONOBROMIDE SnBr 200 -6000 75.64 6.388 563.70 Y 0.71
STANNIC BROMIDE SnBr4 200 -6000 -324.22 6.388 563.70 Y 0.74
TIN(IV)CHLORIDE SnCl4 200 -6000 -478.47 6.202 420.00 Y 0.74
SULFUR MONOXIDE SO 200 -6000 4.76 3.993 301.00 Y 0.50
 Table A.2: Optional gas and liquid species (continued).
Species Formula Temp. Range ∆Hf σ ε/k Liquid Gibbs Pr RadCal
(K) (kJ/mol) (Å) (K) Surrogate
SULFUR MONOXIDEm SO 298 -6000 -105.97 3.993 301.00 Y 0.50
SULFUR DIOXIDE SO2 200 -6000 -296.81 4.112 335.40 Y Y 0.91
SULFUR DIOXIDEm SO2 298 -6000 -408.61 4.112 335.40 Y 0.91
URANIUM HEXAFLUORIDEm UF6 298 -20000 -2691.31 5.967 236.80 Y 0.71
URANIUM HEXAFLUORIDE UF6 200 -20000 -2148.64 5.967 236.80 Y 0.71
XENON Xe 300 -20000 0.00 4.047 231.00 Y 0.67
XENONp Xe 298 -20000 1176.55 4.047 231.00 Y 0.67
ZINC Zn 200 -20000 130.40 2.891 2.89 Y 0.67
ZINCp Zn 298 -20000 1043.00 2.891 2.89 Y 0.67

504