Technical Reference for CFAST: An Engineering Tool for Estimating Fire and Smoke Transport.
Technical Reference for CFAST: An Engineering Tool for
Estimating Fire and Smoke Transport.
(2097 K)
Jones, W. W.; Forney, G. P.; Peacock, R. D.; Reneke, P.
A.
NIST TN 1431; 190 p. March 2000.
Available from:
Government Printing Office, Washington,
DC 20401-0003.
Telephone: 202-512-1800.
Website:
http://www.gpo.gov
Order number: PB2000-100842
Keywords:
computer models; predictive models; computer programs;
evacuation; fire models; fire research; hazard
assessment; toxicity; CFAST
Abstract:
CFAST is a zone model capable of predicting the
environment in a multi-compartment structure subjected
to a fire. It calculates the time evolving distribution
of smoke and fire gases and the temperature throughout a
building during a user-specified fire. This report
describes the equations which constitute the model, the
physical basis for these equations, data which are used
by the model, and details of the operation of the
computer program implementing the model. The means by
which one can add new phenomena are detailed, as are the
variables and structure of the model. A set of
comparisons between the model and a range of real-scale
fire experiments is presented. In general, the CFAST
model compares favorably with the experiments examined
in this report. Although differences between the model
and the experiments were clear, they can be explained by
limitations of the model and of the experiments.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899