Third Party Tools

The links and information below are provided as a convieniece to the user community. Anyone who has a tool that can be used to help users of FDS is welcome to submit information and links to the webmaster for inclusion in this list. Any mention of computer hardware, software or services here does not constitute endorsement by NIST, nor does it indicate that the products are necessarily those best suited for the intended purpose. The descriptions below were submitted by the third party providers.

FDS Graphical User Interface (GUI)

Pyrosim - Thunderhead Engineering

PyroSim is a graphical user interface for version 5 of FDS and Smokeview. Some of PyroSim's key features include interactive geometry creation, import of FDS input files, and integrated execution of FDS and Smokeview. PyroSim 2007 can convert FDS4 input files to FDS5, run multi-CPU simulations with a single click, and take advantage of previously unsupported FDS features including smoke layer height calculation and extra species.

AspireSDS (ASPIRE Smoke Detection Simulation) - Xtralis

Xtralis AspireSDS (ASPIRE Smoke Detection Simulation) provides a Windows based graphical interface for users to set most of the parameters required in FDS modelling, including geometry and environmental conditions, fuel and fire configurations, and various fire detection technologies. Parameters for the FDS simulation can be specified through several tabbed groups: Simulation Setup, Geometry Setup, Materials and Reaction Setup, Device and Control Setup, Output Setup and Advance Setup. AspireSDS also provides a unique data converter for importing Xtralis VESDA and ICAM aspirating smoke detection (ASD) layout and performance parameters into FDS.
See this screencast for example usage of this tool.

CAD File Conversion Tools

3dsolid2fds ( AutoCAD ) - J. Dimyadi

3dsolid2fds is a software utility add-on for use in AutoCAD environment to easily and quickly convert the geometry of 3DSOLID objects to the formatted &OBST lines for FDS.
Where objects are constructed on separate layers such as walls, doors, furnitures, etc., 3dsolid2fds would pick up the layer name and use it as SURF_ID on each &OBST line. This is handy for later material specification in the FDS input file.

Spreadsheet and Text Editor Tools

FDS v5 MESH Size Calculator ( Web Service ) - K. Overholt

This free, online tool allows a user to easily generate a MESH line for input into FDS. It finds the optimal (Poisson-friendly) MESH division numbers and returns a complete mesh line to be pasted into an FDS input file. It works by calculating cell sizes of different resolutions that will accurately resolve your fire simulation based on the total heat release rate.

FDS 5 Syntax File ( vim/gvim ) - J. Skaggs

Syntax highlighting file for Vim/gvim text editor. (See original Group Message for more information.)

Video and Image Tools

VideoEncoderGui - 'Veg' (Win32) - VTT

VideoEncoderGui (later Veg) is a graphical front-end written in Java for two video encoder applications, MEncoder and Windows Media Encoder. It is primarily intended for encoding image sequences produced e.g. with FDS to video files to use in PowerPoint presentations or as standalone video files. (Description from 'About' on Veg website)

Post-Processing and Reporting Tools

FDS Reporter (Win32) - SITIS Soft

FDS Reporter is an 'advanced post-processing tool, developed for Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) users who wish ease and to comfortably make text report.'