Fire modelling

Fire modelling is used primarily to predict the spread of smoke and heat from fires. We pioneered the original development and application of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to create fire models that can, when expertly used, be powerful design and safety tools.

CFD models solve the fundamental equations describing the fluid flow and heat transfer phenomena associated with fires. They predict smoke and heat movement in buildings of any design and, with the advent of performance-based codes, are increasingly used in fire safety engineering.

Over many years we have developed and validated a number of computer modelling tools, including JASMINE and CRISP, and use these and others to assess and improve the fire safety of building designs.

JASMINE – has been applied to numerous fire scenarios and, having been rigorously validated against fire experiments, is the most extensively validated CFD package for fire simulation available.

CRISP – is used in fire risk assessment and can simulate entire fire scenarios – fire growth, smoke movement, detection, suppression, human behaviour and evacuation. As it includes detailed, state-of-the-art algorithms for human behaviour, it can also be used in a stand-alone ‘people’ mode for predicting human responses in fire, including escape from buildings.

Other CFD packages – to ensurewe offer you the best possible fire modelling services, we also use other CFD packages such as:

• SOFIE – we initiated the development of the benchmark SOFIE CFD code.
• FDS – developed at the US NIST laboratory for fire applications.
• CFX – a commercially available, general purpose CFD package that we use to extend our specialist fire modelling capability.