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PyroSim User Manual 2007.2

1. The output will be the percent obscuration per meter Sprinklers Sprinklers can spray water or fuel into the model To define a sprinkler 1 On the Devices menu click New Sprinkler This will display the Sprinkler dialog Fig ure 13 2 2 Select the desired options and define required input parameters as described below 3 Click OK to create the sprinkler 67 Devices Sprinker Name SPRK Spray Model Water Spray v Edit Dry Pipe None v New Activator Temperature Link Default Quantity Temperature 7 Trigger Only Once E Initially Activated Location m X 0 0 Orientation X 0 0 Rotation 0 0 Figure 13 2 Creating a new sprinkler The sprinkler properties are Parameter Description Sprinkler Name The name of the sprinkler Spray Model The spray model defines the particle type water and fuel are default options the flow rate and the jet stream shape Dry Pipe In 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 You can create a dry pipe and edit the delay Activator By default the sprinkler is activated by a temperature link with a response time index You can edit the activation tem perature and the response time index Alternately you can se lect a more general quantity to activate the sprinkle
2. arerioen ie a eiiie iasi e nee 13 Exporting FDS Models 1 5 2 id e ood ih deer 14 Import DXF E 14 4 Mesl s 5a e A n ebe AE sci eee ER E O O 17 Working with Mesh s dite ENEE NENNEN ene NEEN 17 L t ter 17 Nonuniform Meshes 25 2 rite hens e e ere t Ee io Heg 18 Using Multiple Meshes v 2 3 cians isis as DEENEN 19 2D View Drawing EE 22 Di Materials each festege EN 24 Solid Materials viciado 24 I quid Fuel aa in 25 D trag e Bais S 27 Reserved E 27 el ege CEET 28 7 Geometry Basic Concepts seen eene eene eene eene 35 ODS TUCUONS EP 35 Using Groups to Organize a Model AA 37 Organizing a Building Model by Floors 37 Adding a Background Image to a Floor eee 38 8 Tools for Creating Geometry sse eene eene eene eren 40 Obstructions and Hol s 42 2 b etuer sio besat lp 40 iv PyroSim User Manual Walls and Wall Holes deret iii eee sled anno aida as 41 Blocks and Block Holes 14 eee ree tite cue a ANEREN ANN 41 onu ENEE 42 TEE 42 9 Creating Complex Geometry 44 Curved Walls a a 44 Trusses and ROOfS 0 Ad ee ee 47 NIC re REIN 49 10 Working with Geometry Objects o oooooocococononononononononononnnonononononononononininonoss 51 Selecion P 51 COMERME eta aries alee ied Va eg 51 Be ee WE 51 Copy Paste ria rn da rra RES Elia 51 Double Click to Edil a ee 52 Resi
3. Figure 7 1 Obstruction dialog 35 Geometry Basic Concepts The user provides the Description name selects a group for the new obstruction see the follow ing section on grouping gives the geometry and assigns previously created surface properties Other options include The color If no color is specified then the surface colors are used Specifying a color for the obstruction overrides surface colors Unselecting the Sawtooth option is useful for smoothing the flow around an object such a as a curved wall that has been represented using many rectangular obstructions stair stepping When Sawtooth is not selected vorticity is prevented at the corners of the obstruction By default Sawtooth is selected Thicken ensures that if the obstruction is smaller than the grid dimension it will be made larger rather than collapsed to a plane Permit Holes allows holes to remove all or part of the obstruction from the model Obstructions can be created or removed during a simulation On the Activation Events tab the user can specify time or device based events that will cause the object to be removed or added to the simulation You must define the devices before they can be used for obstruction activation Le gt Obstruction Properties Specification Activation Events Standard Time Time s Event i Detectors Enabled Detector Follow La
4. Parameter Description Heat Release Heat Release Rate HRR The heat release rate per unit area of this burner Mass Loss Rate The mass loss rate per unit area of this burner Ramp Up Time At the beginning of the simulation this surface will not be burning This field allows you to describe how the heat re lease ramps up from ambient to the specified value Vents of this type should not be toggled deactivated or activated during the simulation The heat release rate for a burner surface is specified per unit area A surface with a 500 kW m heat release rate applied to a 2 0 m vent would result in a 1000 kW fire 28 Surfaces Parameter Description Extinguishing Coefficient Temperature This parameter governs the suppression of the fire by wa ter For more information see section 10 7 of the FDS users guide Surface Temperature The surface temperature of this burner The value TMPA rep resents ambient temperature Convective Heat Flux The heat flux per unit area at the surface Ramp Up Time Other This field allows you to describe how the temperature ramps up from ambient to the specified value Emissivity This parameter controls how the surface radiates heat Using a value of 1 0 makes this surface a black body Lower values increate the amount of radiated heat Particle injection options Parameter Description Emit Particles
5. Parameter Description Emissivity The emissivity of the thermocouple Location The coordinates of the device Orientation Not used Rotation Not used The output of the thermocouple is the temperature of the thermocouple itself which is usually close to the gas temperature but not always since radiation is included in the calculation of thermocouple temperature Flow Measurement The flow measurement device can be used to measure a flow quantity through an area To create a flow measuring device 1 On the Devices menu click New Flow Measuring Device The flow measurement device properties are Parameter Description Device Name The name of the flow measuring device Quantity The quantity to be measured Flow Direction Select the direction for the measurement as defined by the normal to the measurement plane Plane The axis normal to the measurement plane and the location of that plane on the axis Bounds The coordinates of the area normal to the axis The output will be the total flow through the defined area Heat Release Rate Device The heat release rate device measures the heat release rate within a volume To define a heat release rate device 1 On the Devices menu click New Heat Release Rate Device The heat release rate device properties are Parameter Description Device Name The name of the heat release rate device Bounds The coordinates of the volu
6. Select the Translate Objects tool By default handles will be positioned at the center of the selection A click anywhere on the grid will pin these handles to a new location such as a corner of the object Figure 10 1 Click and drag the intersection of the handles to translate in any direction click and drag one of the handles to constrain translation to the X or Y direction 52 Working with Geometry Objects Figure 10 1 Edit handles of a selected object Rotating Objects in 2D View Handles are used to rotate objects in the 2D and 3D Views To rotate an object follow these steps Using the Selection tool i select the object s to be rotated Select the Rotate Objects tool By default handles will be positioned at the center of the selection A click anywhere on the grid will pin these handles to a new location such as a corner of the object Figure 10 2 The location of the handles defines the center of rotation Click and drag the far dot of the handles to rotate Aligned objects only rotate in 90 degree increments Non aligned objects such as diagonal walls can be rotated any angle Figure 10 2 Rotate handles for selected objects Translate and Copy Dialog The Translate dialog can be used to both move an object and to create copies of an object each offset in space Figure 10 3 The Mode selects either the option to move only the selected object or to create copies of the object The Offse
7. 9 HUNDESHEAD 403 Poyntz Ave Suite B Manhattan KS 66502 6081 785 770 8511 www thunderheadeng com in collaboration with The RJA Group Inc One Pointe Drive Suite 210 Brea CA 92821 6315 PyroSim User Manual 2007 2 PyroSim User Manual Table of Contents Disclaimer ER IR pci te be SRM IUS EIE ER ES Te ed Debet ee ids X Acknowledgemients a ehe eoe cole e PUE eu ve D RENE S eng xi TL Getting Started EE 1 A RN 1 Internet Upgrade Install 2 eee reet ere eere entree tere ente eec 1 CD Install 1 2 1 6 te teo E HEEL Ue E eoo oe Pee do e Oo e edet be ioo 1 Purchase PyroSim Ei AAA eet gute ein 2 Installing a Ploating License iii eee eer eee 4 Additional FDS and Smokeview Documentation eese 6 System Requirements Au pee ep pee dte t ee Le Dee Edo ehe pese Eee pao 6 Contact Us iu ette eser eter tdi s A ek 6 2 PyroSim Basics eege reeL io vie ep dead 7 PyroSim re 7 Navigation TTT 7 3D VIEW infu e m HE re p Re et petat 8 2D E 10 Snapshots of Display deed esie eoe eee toe eee e tote oe bea 10 Preferences liado bebe lives eene tees one ee cep eb tre ie pene EE eee sinet eec thee e ERE cn 10 UR LCE EE 11 Ee 11 3 Working with Files ici A a 13 Creating a New PyroSim Model 1 eene emen 13 Saving a PyroSim Model e aE AE Hte tee ee Ree ee eee e dee 13 Open a Saved PyroSim Model seisoin iaee aaae n taa EEEa orba ES VEKA aS AVAE 13 Importing FDS Models
8. Enable this option to emit particles from the surface Particle Type Select a particle to emit To create a new particle click the Edit Particles button Number of Particles per Cell Controls the number of particles inserted per second A value of 1 will insert one particle per grid block per second Mass Flux For particles that have mass this option provides an alternate way to control the number of particles inserted per second Heater Cooler This surface type represents a radiative heat source The options are identical to the options for a burner without the heat release options If the surface temperature is less than the ambient temperature the surface will remove heat from the surrounding gases Supply This surface represents a vent that injects air into the simulation domain The parameters for supply surfaces are arranged in 4 groups air flow temperature species injection and particle injection Air flow options Parameter Description Specify Velocity Use a constant velocity to define air movement through the vent Specify Volume Flux 29 Surfaces Parameter Description Use a constant volume flux to define air movement through the vent Specify Mass Flux Use a constant mass flux to define air movement through the vent Specify Individual Species Define air movement through the vent using a table of extra species and their mass flux
9. Figure 9 3 45 Creating Complex Geometry Figure 9 3 A curved wall drawn with three different segment lengths Using extremely short line segments will probably not be of any benefit unless you also use very small grid cells Using Grid Blocks To create a curved wall section from grid blocks you can follow these steps 1 Create a grid This example uses a 50 0 ft x 50 0 ft grid with 1 ft grid cells 2 Click the 2D View tab and select the Draw a Block amp tool 3 Turn grid snapping on If snapping is off in the View menu click Snap to Grid 4 Click each grid cell along the curved wall to place the necessary blocks This technique forces you to convert the curve to blocks manually but the advantage is you know exactly what geometry will be generated for FDS If you have a high resolution grid it may be useful to drag the mouse and paint the curve rather than clicking individual grid blocks The example curved wall is shown in Figure 9 4 Figure 9 4 A curved wall drawn using grid blocks Rotating an Object To create curved objects using the rotation technique you must place an initial segment then perform a rotate copy operation about the center point of your desired curve This process is illustrated in the following steps 46 Creating Complex Geometry l Click the 2D View tab and select the Draw a Wall tool 2 Turn off grid snapping If snapping is on in the View menu click Snap to G
10. Rotate 55 Scale 54 Translate 53 Display Hide and show objects 56 Display problems 78 Double click 52 Drag 52 DXF File 14 E Exhaust 32 Export FDS model 14 F Fan 32 FDS4 Conversion 80 File Export FDS model 14 FDS Input data 13 14 Import DXF File 14 Import FDS model 13 New 13 Open 13 PyroSim psm 13 Save 13 Floors 37 Flow Measurement 65 G Gas Phase Device 64 Geometry 35 Curved Walls 44 Obstructions 35 Roofs 47 Rooms 42 Stairs 49 Trusses 47 Vents 42 Geometry Advanced 44 Groups 37 H Handles 52 Heat Detector Device 66 Heat Release Rate Device 65 Heater Cooler 29 85 Index Hide object 56 Holes Permit holes 36 Images 10 Import DXF File 14 Import FDS model 13 Inert 27 28 Isosurfaces 71 L Large models 78 Layer Zoning Device 66 Layered 32 Licensing Problems 78 Material properties 27 Materials 24 Memory problems 78 Mesh 17 Mirror 27 54 N Navigation 2D controls 10 3D orbit navigation 8 Roam Controls 8 Smokeview like Controls 8 Navigation view 7 New model 13 Nozzle 68 O Obscuration 66 Obstructions 40 Open 27 Open saved model 13 Out of memory error 78 Output Boundary quantities 70 Isosurfaces 71 Plot3D data 72 Slices 69 Solid Profiles 69 Statistics 73 Output controls 69 P Particles 60 Path Obscuration Device 66 Permit holes 36 Pictures 10 Plot3D Data
11. Select the objects you wish to export to PyroSim The ALL command will select everything 2 Export the selected objects to the 3D studio file format with the 3DSOUT command 3 In the 3D Studio File Export Options dialog select the following options For Derive 3D Studio Objects From select AutoCAD Object Type 14 Working with Files For Smoothing select Auto Smoothing and 30 degrees Then click OK to export the objects 4 Open a new drawing then import the objects using the 3DSIN command 5 The objects will be imported as polyface meshes Use the explode command on the meshes to create 3D faces 6 Save this new drawing as a DXF file DXF Import Dialog The following sections describe the major elements of the Import DXF dialog Layers If your DXF input file has been organized into layers you can control which layers are imported using the list on the left hand side of the Import DXF dialog All of the layers in the file will be initially selected but you can instruct PyroSim to ignore particular layers by deselecting them in the list As you select and deselect layers the 3D preview window will display the items that will be imported Deselecting a layer will have no effect on the imported background image Length Unit PyroSim will scale and orient the obstructions and background image generated from your DXF file based on your selection of a length unit It is very important that you specify the length unit because t
12. 72 Post Processing 77 Preferences 10 Purchase 2 R Reactions 57 Registration 2 Registration Problems 78 Replicate 53 Resize 52 Roam Controls 8 Roofs 47 Rooms 42 Rotate 53 55 S Safe Mode 78 Save model 13 Sawtooth 36 Scale 54 Selection of objects 51 Show object 56 Slices 69 Smoke Detector Device 67 Smokeview 77 Smokeview like navigation controls 8 Snapshots 10 Solid Phase Device 64 Solid Profiles 69 Sprinklers 67 Stairs 49 Statistics 73 Supply 29 Surface Types 28 Surfaces 27 Adiabatic 27 28 Burner 28 Exhaust 32 Fan 32 Heater Cooler 29 Inert 27 28 Layered 32 86 Index Mirror 27 Open 27 Supply 29 System Requirements 6 T Thermocouple 64 Thicken 36 Time history results 77 Tools Block tool 41 Translate 52 53 Troubleshooting 78 Large Models 78 Licensing Registration Problems 78 Memory problems 78 Safe Mode 78 Video display problems 78 Trusses 47 U Undo Redo 51 Units 11 V Vents 42 Video display problems 78 W Walls 41 Curved walls 44 87
13. Division Method Unform sl x Cells 50 Cell Size Ratio 1 00 Y Cells 10 Cell Size Ratio 1 00 Z Cells 10 Cell Size Ratio 1 00 Cell Size m 0 10 x 0 10 x 0 10 Number of cells For mesh 5000 New Rename Delete Figure 4 1 Defining properties of the new mesh The 3D View will now display the resulting mesh Nonuniform Meshes To create a second nonuniform mesh 1 On the Model menu click Edit Meshes 2 Click New 3 In the Min X box type 0 0 in the Min Y box type 1 0 and in the Min Z box type 0 0 4 In the Max X box type 1 0 in the Max Y box type 3 0 and in the Max Z box type 1 0 5 In the Division method box select Non Uniform 6 In the table enter the data shown in Table 4 1 7 Click OK Table 4 1 Non Uniform Mesh Parameters Dir X Y Z Num Cells Size X 10 0 1 Y 10 0 1 Y 5 0 2 Z 10 0 1 18 Meshes Edit Meshes MESH al Order Priority 2 ES C Specify Color 1 Synchronize time step for tighter connection between meshes Mesh Boundary m Minx 0 0 Min Y 10 Minz on Maxx 1 0 Max Y 3 0 MaxZ 1 0 Division Method Non uniform Dir X Y Z Num Cells Size E Insert Row 10 0 1 E Remove Row 10 0 1 A Move Up amp Move Down DEEG Ny lt e o N lo le D Copy Figure 4 2 Defining properties of the nonuniform mesh
14. Geometry Obstructions Obstructions are the fundamental geometric representation in FDS Obstructions are rectangular solids defined by two points Surface properties are assigned to each face of the obstruction Activation events can be defined to create or remove an obstruction during a simulation The geometry of an obstruction does not need to match the geometry of the grid used for the solution However the geometry can only be resolved to the grid At the time of analysis all faces of an obstruction are shifted to correspond to the nearest grid cell Thus some obstructions may become thicker in the analysis others may become thin and correspond to a single cell face which has the potential to introduce unwanted gaps into a model These ambiguities can be avoided by making all geometry correspond to the grid spacing In most cases the user will use the 2D View Obstruction Tool or the Wall Tool to rapidly sketch new obstructions To directly create an obstruction using a dialog l On the Model menu click New Obstruction or on the toolbar click f 2 Enter the obstruction data on the Specification tab Specification Activation Events Description Obstruction Group d Model E Specify Color 1 Y Sawtooth Thicken Y Permit Holes Texture Origin m Relative to object MinY 0 0 Minz 0 0 MaxX 1 0 MaxY 1 0 MaxZ 1 0 Surface Properties Single INERT y Multiple Min guer inert
15. Including a description of the material is recommended The thermal properties tab for liquid fuels is identical to the thermal properties tab solid fuels see Section The Pyrolysis tab provides the following parameters Parameter Description Heat of Vaporization Heat yield when this liquid fuel is converted to gas This must be a positive number 25 Materials Parameter Description Endothermic Exothermic Specifies if the heat yield is endothermic or exothermic Fuel Vapor Yield The mass fraction of yield that will become fuel vapor Water Vapor Yield The mass fraction of yield that will become water vapor Residue Yield The mass fraction of yield that will become residue If there is only one material defined in PyroSim this option will not be available Residue The material that will be used to represent the residue If there is only one material defined in PyroSim this option will not be available 26 Chapter 6 Surfaces Surfaces are used to define the properties of solid objects and vents in your FDS model The surface can use previously defined materials in mixtures or layers By default all solid objects and vents are inert with a temperature that is fixed at the ambient temperature set in the Simulation Parameters dialog In addition to defining heat conduction in a solid surfaces can also be used to define a burner specify the ignition temperatur
16. Kevin McGrattan Bryan Klein Simo Hastikka and Jason Floyd Fire Dynam ics Simulator Version 5 User s Guide July 2007 NIST Building and Fire Research Laboratory Gaithersburg Maryland USA NIST Special Publication 1019 5 McGrattan et al 2007 Kevin McGrattan Simo Hastikka Jason Floyd Howard Baum and Ronald Rehm Fire Dynamics Simulator Version 5 Technical Reference Guide October 2007 NIST Building and Fire Research Laboratory Gaithersburg Maryland USA NIST Special Publication 1018 5 McGrattan 2004 Kevin McGrattan Fire Dynamics Simulator Version 4 Technical Reference Guide 2004 U S Government Printing Office Washington DC USA 20402 202 512 1800 NIST Special Publication 1018 84 Index Symbols 2D view 10 Drawing grid 22 Navigation controls 10 2D view drawing grid 22 3D orbit navigation 8 3D view 8 3D orbit navigation 8 Roam Controls 8 Smokeview like Controls 8 A Activation events 36 Adiabatic 27 28 Aspiration 63 Background image 38 Beam Detector 66 Block tool 41 Boundary conditions 27 Boundary quantities 70 Burner 28 Buy 2 C Color schemes 11 Contact Us 6 Context menu 51 Copy 53 54 54 55 Copy Paste 51 Curved Walls 44 D Devices 63 Aspiration 63 Flow Measurement 65 Gas Phase 64 Heat Detector 66 Heat Release Rate 65 Layer Zoning 66 Path Obscuration 66 Smoke Detector 67 Solid Phase 64 Thermocouple 64 Dialog Mirror 54
17. To save a new model 1 On the File menu click Save 2 Enter the file name and click the Save button Open a Saved PyroSim Model PyroSim model files have a psm extension To open a saved model 1 On the File menu click Open 2 Select the file and click the Open button A list of recently opened files is also available To open recent files on the File menu click Recent PyroSim Files then click the desired file PyroSim has an auto save feature which stores a copy of your current model every 10 minutes This file is automatically deleted if PyroSim exits normally but if PyroSim crashes you can recover your work by opening the autosave file It can be found either in the same directory as your most recent psm file or in the PyroSim installation directory if your model was unsaved For more information about opening files saved with previous versions of PyroSim please refer to Appendix A Importing FDS Models PyroSim allows you to import existing FDS input files When you import an FDS file PyroSim will create a new PyroSim model from the imported file During import PyroSim will check for the validity of each record If errors are detected you will be notified You may then make the required corrections and attempt to import the file again 13 Working with Files To import existing FDS models into PyroSim 1 On the File menu click Import then click FDS File 2 Select the FDS file and click Open Pyr
18. click New Path Obscuration Device The path obscuration device properties are Parameter Description Device Name The name of the path obscuration device Path The coordinates of the end points of a line along which the obscuration will be calculated The two endpoints must lie in the same mesh The output will be the percent obscuration along the path Heat Detector Device 66 Devices A heat detector measures the temperature at a location using a Response Time Index model To define a heat detector device 1 On the Devices menu click New Heat Detector The heat detector device properties are Parameter Description Device Name The name of the heat detector Link The link defines the activation temperature and the response time index Location The coordinates of the device Orientation Not used Rotation Not used The output will be the heat detector temperature Smoke Detector Device A smoke detector obscuration at a point with two characteristic fillin or lag times To define a smoke detector 1 On the Devices menu click New Smoke Detector The smoke detector device properties are Parameter Description Detector Name The name of the smoke detector Model Select the smoke detector type You can edit the smoke detec tor parameters to create a new type Location The coordinates of the device Orientation Not used Rotation Not used
19. customize the spray They can also be used in particle clouds and surface types that support particle injection By default PyroSim provides a water particle called Wat er that has all of the common properties of water To use a custom water droplet in your simulation you can modify the default water definition to suit your needs or you can create a new droplet type by clicking New Water droplets support the following Thermal Properties Parameter Description Initial Temperature The initial droplet temperature Density The droplet density Specific Heat The droplet specific heat 60 Particles Pyrolysis Parameter Description Melting Temperature The droplet melting freezing temperature Vaporization Temperature The droplet liquid boiling temperature Heat of Vaporization The droplet latent heat of vaporization Coloring Parameter Description Default Select to FDS to select a color for this particle Specify Select to choose a custom particle color By Droplet Property Select this option to choose one or more scalar quantities that will be used to color this particle in Smokeview Size Distribution Parameter Description Median Diameter Constant The median volumetric diameter of each droplet Use a constant diameter for each droplet Rosin Rammler Rather than use a constant diameter for each droplet allow ea
20. double click execute the file SETUPEX exe 3 You should now be able to run PyroSim and complete the registration process Video Display Problems PyroSim utilizes many advanced graphics card features in order to provide accelerated display of models in three dimensions If you have problems with display such as corruption of the image when you move the mouse go to File gt Preferences and turn off the fast hardware drawing options This will disable the image caching and force PyroSim to always re render the model This should correct any display problems at the expense of speed You can also turn off graphics acceleration by starting PyroSim in Safe Mode Select Run All Programs PyroSim and then PyroSim Safe Mode If you encounter this problem please let us know the make model of your video card and what video driver you are using That will help us improve the faster version to work on more com puters Memory for Large Models When running large models it is possible that an out of memory error will be encountered If this occurs you can increase the default Java heap size In our experience the maximum size can be specified to approximately 70 of physical memory To specify the memory you can either run from a command line or change the shortcut properties To run from a command line open a command window and then go to the PyroSim installation directory usually C Program Files PryoSim Execute PyroSim on the command line
21. entire image is 50 feet and we will place the origin of the model at the lower left corner of the room shown in the image The brightness of the image will be set to 50 The Configure Background Image dialog shown in Figure 9 2 illustrates these settings 44 Creating Complex Geometry Choose Port 8 Det Atos DOO y Figure 9 2 Background image settings for curved wall examples Using Wall Segments To create a curved wall section from wall segments you can follow these steps l Click the 2D View tab and select the Draw a Wall tool 2 Turn off grid snapping In the View menu click to clear the Snap to Grid option 3 Position the pointer at the beginning of the curve where you want to place the first wall seg ment 4 Click and drag the mouse to extend the wall segment across a portion of the curve Release when you have completed the first segment Shorter segments will produce smoother curves 5 Create the next segment using the end point of the first You can create as many segments as you need in this way until the curve is completed This is the fastest way to create smooth curves in PyroSim PyroSim will convert the curved walls to blocks before running the FDS simulation While smaller segments will make the wall look better in PyroSim placement of obstructions generated for FDS depends on the resolution of your grid Three different versions of a curved wall created with this technique are shown in
22. issues R File Conversion Warnings A Please review the following items in your updated model to verify proper conversion Record Action MATL CARPET_MATL Conductivity set to default of 0 1 W m K SURF CARPET Thickness set to default of 0 0010 m MATL CARPET_MATL Specific heat set to default of 1 0 kJ kg K SURF CARPET i Dropped Record s BURNING RATE MAX SURFACE DENSITY SURF GYPSUM BOARD Dropped Record s ALPHA EES SURF OAK Dropped Record s BURNING RATE MAX ALPHA SURF PINE Dropped Record s BURNING_RATE_MAX ALPHA MATL UPHOLSTERY_MATL Conductivity set to default of 0 1 Wj m K SURF UPHOLSTERY Thickness set to default of 0 0010 m SURF UPHOLSTERY Dropped Record s BURNING RATE MAX Save to File Copy to Clipboard Figure A 1 An example of the warning dialog shown after loading the FDS4 townhouse model 80 Opening FDS v4 and PyroSim v2006 Files In most cases the following records can be converted with no additional input Geometry Data walls holes triangles etc Textures Grids Floors e Particles Smoke Detectors Thermocouples Heat Detectors Boundary Quantity Output Plot3D Data sosurfaces Slices Unsupported Records Global Simulation Parameters The following items that can be set in the Simulation Parameters dialog of PyroSim 2006 are not supported in PyroSim 2007 and will be dropped Under the Simulator
23. on an item in this view a list of the functions PyroSim can perform on that item is shown To rearrange objects in the Navigation view make a selection and then drag the object s to the new location Ja M XX PyroSim C Thouse4 thouse4 psm File Edit Model Output FDS View Help Bel BG AAA P S Grids QR Grid 1 1 Sd Model de lp First Floor fp Second Floor j Floor f Floor L T 2nd Hope inet fj Master D New Obstruction di New Group EB add Floor Fitting Obstruction di Change Group Translate Mirror Scale Rotate Rasterize Wall to Grid of Cut ES Copy Paste 3 Delete Hide Object s Show Object s Filter Object s Show All Objects GC EI Second 8 Bedroot Bedroor i Bathrod E Master E Bedrooi EI Bedrool E dip Strair Master zs Z Furnitut F Bg Burner B Livingroom EI kitchen Flod El vent 1 El vent 2 El venta El Vent 4 Bg Vent 5 El vente Even El vets 4 Surfaces Ctri x Ctrl C Ctrl Delete Alt Shift F Alt Shift A LA Properties d View A Figure 2 1 Using the context menu in the Navigation View PyroSim Basics 3D View Use the 3D view to rapidly obtain a visual image of the model View navigation options include typical computer aided drawing CAD controls Smokeview like controls and game type con trols for walking through the view 3D Orbit Navigation To activate
24. the 3D Orbit Navigation controls select gt In this mode the controls are similar to those used in many computer aided drawing CAD programs To spin the 3D model select then left click on the model and move the mouse The model will spin as though you have selected a point on a sphere To zoom select or hold the ALT key and drag the mouse vertically Select amp then click and drag to define a zoom box To move the model select Y or hold the SHIFT key and drag to reposition the model in the window To change the focus of the view select an object s and then select ES to define a smaller viewing sphere around the selected objects Selecting will reset the view to include the entire model At any time selecting or typing CTRL r will reset the model Smokeview like Controls To use the Smokeview like controls select View gt Use Smokeview like Navigation In this mode Horizontal or vertical mouse movement results in scene rotation about the Z or X axis respec tively With the CTRL key depressed horizontal mouse movement results in scene translation from side to side along the X axis Vertical mouse movement results in scene translation into and out of the computer screen along the Y axis e With the ALT key depressed vertical mouse movement results in scene translation along the Z axis Horizontal mouse movement has no effect on the scene while the ALT key is depressed First Person Perspe
25. the first truss by clicking the desired blocks 8 Select the entire truss open the Model menu and click Copy Move 9 In the Translate dialog select Copy set Number of Copies to 4 set Offset to be 2 0 meters along the Y axis and click OK The trusses created in this example are shown in Figure 9 6 E PyroSim Untitled Jat File Edit Model Output FDS View Help BGH ima wx GDGSR e T EISES SECHS EES Z Reactions 3D view 2D View Record View A aan E Figure 9 6 Trusses created using the grid block tool and the replicate function You can quickly add a roof to the model using the New Triangle F tool The following steps show how to add a roof to the previous truss example using triangles l On the main toolbar click the New Triangle button 2 In the Triangle Properties dialog specify the following values for the three points Point1 0 0 8 2 7 4 Point2 5 0 8 2 10 0 and Point3 0 0 0 0 7 4 3 Click the OK button You should see a triangular roof section laying across some of the trusses we created in the previous example 4 Add the other three roof sections their coordinates are Point 1 Point 2 Point 3 0 0 0 0 7 4 5 0 8 2 10 0 5 0 0 0 10 0 48 Creating Complex Geometry Stairs Point 1 Point 2 Point 3 10 0 0 0 7 4 5 0 0 0 10 0 10 0 8 2 7 4 10 0 8 2 7 4 5 0 0 0 10 0 520 8
26. thickness direction will return to its default setting You can create vents using the Draw a Vent El tool Vents have general usage in FDS to describe 2D planar objects 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 1t is assumed that air is pushed out of or sucked into duct work within the wall You can also use vents 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 obstruc tion and then specifying a vent somewhere on one of the faces of the solid with the characteristics of the thermal and combustion properties of the fuel There are two reserved surface types that may be applied to a vent OPEN and MIRROR For more information on these types see the chapter on Surface Properties There is one exception to the rule that vents must be prescribed flush against a solid obstruction or external boundary A vent that is prescribed in the interior of the domain without any adjacent solid surface can act as a fan To create a vent in the 2D View you can follow these steps l Click the Draw a Vent amp button 2 Click the Tool Properties 57 button to set the vent properties 3 Position the mouse po
27. using a mem flag For example pyrosim mem1200 will request 1 2 GB of memory To edit the PyroSim shortcut properties right click on the PyroSim icon select the Shortcut tab and then edit the Target by adding a space and mem1200 to the end of the Target A typical Target will then read C Program Files PyroSim pyrosim exe mem500 Contacting Technical Support The PyroSim software is available for download at http www thunderheadeng com The same site provides PyroSim user manuals and example problems Please follow the examples to be come familiar with the software 78 Troubleshooting Questions and suggestions should be sent to support thunderheadeng com or by phone to 1 785 770 8511 Mail should be sent to Thunderhead Engineering 403 Poyntz Ave Suite B Manhattan KS 66502 6081 USA 79 Appendix A Opening FDS v4 and PyroSim v2006 Files Due to the differences between versions 4 and 5 of FDS it is not always possible to automatically convert legacy FDS input files and PyroSim 2006 PSM files to the new version However many conversions are possible and in many cases PyroSim can completely convert old input files to the new format PyroSim will begin the conversion process as a result of either of two actions 1 opening a PSM file saved with a version of PyroSim designed to work with version 4 of FDS and 2 importing an FDS input file designed to work with version 4 of FDS In many cases P
28. 2 L080 Notice that the coordinates for each roof section were given in counter clockwise order if you are looking down from above the model The ordering of the coordinates determines the direction in which the width of the triangle extends For triangle width PyroSim uses a left hand rule This means the width of each roof section will extend upward The result of adding all four roof triangles is shown in Figure 9 7 E PyroSim Untitled Woe Elle Edit Model Output FDS View Help Bebe CS BEX BARAKA t 88 ID IC how al Floors FEBR XEXe44 B 4 Surfaces 49 ADIABATIC INERT MIRROR OPEN 3X Reactions D gt 30 view 2D View Record View Figure 9 7 A roof created with the triangle tool You can create simple stairways by placing the initial stair then using the translate copy opera tion This section will present a simple example to illustrate the approach We will create a 10 step stairway Each step will have a 7 inch rise 0 58 feet and a 10 inch 0 83 feet run The stairway itself will be 24 inches 2 0 feet wide To keep things as simple as possible we will construct the stairway in an empty model 1 On the Model menu click New Obstruction 2 In the Obstruction Properties dialog specify the min point as 0 0 0 0 0 0 and the max pointas 2 0 0 83 0 58 3 On the Model menu click Copy Move 49
29. 4 Select a floor to display Modeling Hint If your model has floors we recommend creating corresponding floor groups Floor 1 Floor 2 etc Then as the building is drawn make sure that the objects are placed in the matching group This will help organize your model Adding a Background Image to a Floor Each floor can have an associated background image To add a background image to a floor go to the 2D or 3D View select a specific floor then select the Configure Background Image tool alternately select the Define Floor Locations tool E and then in the Background Image column select the Edit button This will display the Configure Background Image dialog You will be guided through the following steps Choose a background image file Valid image formats are bmp dxf gif jpg png tga and tif Specify the Anchor Point for the image by clicking on the image The Anchor Point is a point on the image at which the coordinates are specified in the model coordinate system The model coordinates of the anchor point are not required to be at the origin Set the model scale Select the Choose Point A button then select the first point that will be used to define a length Select the Choose Point B button and select the second point to define a length Input the Distance between points A and B Use the sliding scale to change the image brightness Select OK to close the Configure Background Image dialog 38 Geometry Ba
30. 4 4 An velocity Plot3D data shown in Smokeview eee 73 vii PyroSim User Manual 14 5 An example of an isosurface shown in Smokeview eese 73 15 1 The FDS simulation dialog eee eene eene nette eene ntn t innen 75 16 1 Defining the grid boundaries o occccccccnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnninnnoss TI A 1 An example of the warning dialog shown after loading the FDS4 townhouse model viii List of Tables 4 1 Non Uniform Mesh Parameters ix Disclaimer Thunderhead Engineering makes no warranty expressed or implied to users of PyroSim and accepts no responsibility for its use Users of PyroSim assume sole responsibility under Federal law for determining the appropriateness of its use in any particular application for any conclu sions drawn from the results of its use and for any actions taken or not taken as a result of anal yses performed using these tools Users are warned that PyroSim is intended for use only by those competent in the fields of fluid dynamics thermodynamics combustion and heat transfer and is intended only to supplement the informed 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
31. 48 9 7 A roof created with the triangle tool 49 9 8 A stairway created with the replicate tool ooocococncnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnos 50 10 1 Edit handles of a selected object 20 0 negano an ieee iie 53 10 2 Rotate handles for selected objects eee 53 10 3 The translate dialog being used to make offset copies of an object 54 10 4 The mirror dialog being used to make a mirrored copy of an object 54 10 5 The scale dialog being used to scale an object sssse 55 10 6 The rotate dialog being used to rotate an Object eese 55 LT T te Le EE 57 11 2 Fuel panel of the Edit Reactions dialog for an ethanol re 58 11 3 Fire Suppression panel of the Edit Reactions dialog These are the FDS5 default A EE 59 11 4 Byproducts panel of the Edit Reactions dialog for an ethanol fire 59 11 5 Soot panel of the Edit Reactions dialog for an ethanol fire These are the FDS5 de Fault Values AE TEL 59 13 1 Creating an aspirator sampler esee e ene e e ne nere 64 13 2 Creating a new sprinkler ici Eod Eget eco beet cto Likes 68 14 1 An example of a slice plane shown in Smokeview eee 70 14 2 An example of a boundary quantity shown in Smokeview eere 71 14 3 An example of an isosurface shown in Smokeview eee 72 1
32. Configuration You will also need to add the PyroSim licenseDir property for each of the client comput ers Use the same network share or mapped drive path that was used in the Server properties file After the Server copy has been authorized with the network license key the client copies will run and decrement the license count based on the license data in the shared network folder If all of the licensed copies are in use a message will appear showing the number of users waiting for a license PyroSim will automatically check for an available license at one minute intervals Getting Started Additional FDS and Smokeview Documentation In preparing this manual we have liberally used descriptions from the FDS User s Guide Mc Grattan et al 2007 The FDS Users Guide the FDS Technical Reference and the Smokeview Users Guide have been included with PyroSim Updated documentation and executables for FDS and Smokeview may be available at http fire nist gov fds System Requirements PyroSim runs on the Microsoft Windows operating system You should have at least 256 MB of system RAM and a graphics card that supports OpenGL 1 1 or later A system with at lease 512 MB and a graphics card with at least 64 MB of graphics memory is recommended Contact Us Thunderhead Engineering 403 Poyntz Avenue Suite B Manhattan KS 66502 6081 USA Sales Information sales thunderheadeng com Product Support support thunderheadeng com Pho
33. Creating Complex Geometry 4 In the Translate dialog select Copy set the Number of Copies to 9 set the Offsetto 0 0 0 83 0 58 and click OK The stairway generated in this example is shown in Figure 9 8 E PyroSim Untitled e n E3 File Edit Model Output FDS View Help pe ma CYt BOX uas kA D E 88 0 T how An Floors M EE eta D E Obstruction 1 E Obstruction 2 EI Obstruction 3 3 Obstruction 4 E Obstruction 5 Obstruction 6 Obstruction 7 EH Obstruction s 3 Obstruction 9 Surfaces d ADIABATIC 6 INERT d MIRROR OPEN ME Reactions 3D View 2D View Record View Figure 9 8 A stairway created with the replicate tool 50 Chapter 10 Working with Geometry Objects Selection PyroSim relies heavily on the idea of selected objects For almost all operations the user first selects an object s and then changes the selected object s The Selection Tool k is used to select objects A left mouse click on an object in any view will select it Holding Ctrl while clicking will toggle the item in the selection adding previously unselected items and removing previously selected items Holding Alt while clicking an object in the 3D View or the 2D View will select the entire group that the object belongs to n the Navigation View a range of objects can be selected by clicking the first object then holding Shift while clicking the la
34. Edge EEN 9 2 3 Interior view of model looking at roof and bleachers eee 10 2 4 Th preferences dialog iieri Irene ENER ENEE 11 4 1 Defining properties of the new mech 18 4 2 Defining properties of the nonuniform mech 19 4 3 3D display of first and second Mesh oooccnnnnncnnnnnnnnnnnnnononononononononononononononononananinonos 19 4 4 Correct and incorrect mesh alignment sees 22 6 1 The Edit Surtaces dialog et teret ure en petes eene 27 6 2 A simulation demonstrating affect of the normal axis on the direction of tangential Veloci Vo initio eec dados 31 7 1 Obstruction dialog hna antracita 35 7 2 Defining obstruction activation events c 0oocococononocononanonono nono no nono no nono no conoce enn 36 7 3 Defining floors in a model oi ini diana e 37 LA Selecta floor to display 1 eie ere ee ree reete dee 38 7 5 Display of background image eese 39 9 1 Background image used for all curved wall examples ococcccnonononononononononinononenenenes 44 9 2 Background image settings for curved wall examples eese 45 9 3 A curved wall drawn with three different segment lengths 000 0000 ee eeeeeeeeeee 46 9 4 A curved wall drawn using grid blocks ee 46 9 5 A curved wall drawn using the rotate technique ooocccccoccnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnns 47 9 6 Trusses created using the grid block tool and the replicate function
35. Edit Reactions dialog for an ethanol fire These are the FDS5 default values 39 Chapter 12 Particles PyroSim supports four types of particles massless tracers water droplets fuel droplets and a generic particle that provides the same options as water droplets Massless Tracers Massless tracer particles can be used to track air flow within a simulation They can be used with the particle injection feature of the Burner Heater Cooler Blower and Layered surface types They can also be used in particle clouds By default PyroSim provides a black massless tracer particle called Tracer To use a custom tracer particle in your simulation you can modify the parameters of this default particle to suit your needs or you can create a new particle To create a new massless tracer particle 1 On the Model menu click Edit Particles 2 Click New 3 In the Particle Type box select Massless Tracer 4 Click OK You can now edit the particle properties Parameter Description Duration The amount of time a droplet of this type will remain in the simulation Insertion Interval The amount of time between droplet insertions Sampling Factor Sampling factor for the particle output file A value of 1 us es the FDS default value for this property Set to an integer greater than 1 to reduce the size of particle output Water Droplets Water droplets can be used with sprinkler spray models and nozzles to
36. NE 6 PLASTICA 4 puma SHEET METAL a stanchion 4 STEEL UPHOLSTERY VINYL SIDING R Reactions t CH 3D View 2D View Record View Figure 2 2 Exterior view of model PyroSim Basics K PyroSim C McKinney build psm Ey File Edit Model Output FDS View Help ACH Sa wi BEX BARRA p E D show Al Floors MEDR pkt A amp A EH dee gt 6 Ers ADIABATIC CARPET CEILING TILE COMBUSTIBLE CEILING 4 CONCRETE 4 ETHANOL FIRE BRICK GYPSUM BOARD 49 HEPTANE INERT KEROSENE MARINITE 8 8 METHANOL TTE Tre m MIRROR E PINE 4 PLASTICA PMMA SHEET METAL stanchion 4 STEEL 49 UPHOLSTERY 45 VINYL SIDING R Reactions D 3D View 2D View Record View II Figure 2 3 Interior view of model looking at roof and bleachers 2D View The 2D view provides a projected 2D view of the model The 2D view controls are similar to those in the 3D View The 2D model viewing direction can be changed by selecting top front or side views The default 2D View is the top view To zoom select or hold the ALT key and drag the mouse vertically Select amp then click and drag to define a zoom box To move the model select or hold the SHIFT key and drag to reposition the model in the window To change the focus select an object s and then sele
37. PyroSim installation the installer will simply update your version of PyroSim and leave your license unchanged Before installing PyroSim please ensure that your account has administrator privileges In addi tion both the user and system must have read write privileges to the installation directory typ ically C Program Files PyroSim To install PyroSim from the internet 1 Go to the PyroSim web site at http www pyrosim com 2 Follow the instructions to download a trial version 3 Once you have downloaded the setup program double click on setup exe 4 Follow the steps in the installer to complete the installation process CD Install If you have a PyroSim CD you can follow these steps to install the software on your computer You may also want to read the previous section on upgrading from the internet to ensure that you have the most up to date version of the software Getting Started Before installing PyroSim please ensure that your account has administrator privileges In addi tion both the user and system must have read write privileges to the installation directory typ ically C Program Files PyroSim To install PyroSim from a CD 1 Insert the PyroSim CD into your CD ROM drive 2 The installation program should start automatically If it does not you can launch it manually Open the Start menu and click Run type D setup exe where D is the drive letter of your CD ROM then click OK 3 Foll
38. Remove Now and click Yes in the following dialog Getting Started 3 The Confirmation Code box will now contain a number This number can be used by Thun derhead to verify that your license has been terminated Retain this code and contact Thun derhead for a replacement license for the next computer PyroSim will exit when you close the Remove License dialog Updating PyroSim To update your copy of PyroSim simply run the installer for the updated version Your applica tion files will removed and replaced with an updated version and your license will remain intact If you purchased a perpetual license for PyroSim and your maintenance period has expired new versions of PyroSim will not function with your old license and it will be necessary to reinstall the old version of PyroSim or purchase an updated license Installing a Floating License A floating network license allows multiple users to run PyroSim using a single license This feature is only available for users who purchased the floating license feature The procedure to install a floating license has the following steps 1 Install PyroSim on the Server machine 2 Create a network share for the license folder 3 Authorize the Server copy of PyroSim 4 Install PyroSim on the Client computers 5 Configure Client machines to refer to the network share Server Installation Install a copy of PyroSim on the network server This will provide a location for the license fi
39. Sim installation directory An example property line will be similar to the following PyroSim licenseDir servername sharename Change servername and sharename to match your configuration You will need to escape colons and backslashes with an additional backslash the example above is fora UNC sharename servername sharename Note The PyroSim application must be closed when editing the PyroSim props file The properties file will not exist if PyroSim has not been run for the first time You may create a PyroSim props text file manually or run PyroSim once and quit to create the file Server Authorization After you have set the network license folder in the properties file run PyroSim on the server and go to the registration window Help Register You should be presented with a site code Email the displayed site code to support thunderheadeng com and a matching Site Key will be generated for the number of purchased floating licenses You may close PyroSim while waiting for the return key via email After you receive the key return to the registration window and enter the new Site Key You may check the information in He1p About to verify your license and support duration Client Installation Install a copy of PyroSim on each of the client computers that will access the floating PyroSim licenses You do not need to reinstall PyroSim if the client computer already has a trial copy of PyroSim installed Client
40. Soot tab you can define the fraction of the atoms in the soot that are hydrogen Hydro gen Fraction SOOT_H_FRACTION and the parameters that control visibility See Chapter 12 of the Fire Dynamics Simulator User s Guide McGrattan et al 2007 The default values are shown in Figure 11 5 Figure 11 2 Fuel Fire Suppression Byproducts Soot Species Carbon atoms 2 0 Hydrogen atoms Oxygen atoms 1 0 Nitrogen atoms v Other atoms 0 0 Fuel Stream New Ambient Oxygen Mass Fraction 0 23 Add From Library Mass Fraction of Fuel in Burner 1 0 Upper limit on flame heat release rate 200 0 Figure 11 2 Fuel panel of the Edit Reactions dialog for an ethanol fire 58 Reactions 7 Predict CO production ETHANOL VAPOR Critical Flame Temperature 1427 0 e Energy Released Specify release per unit mass oxygen fo kale Specify heat of combustion 267804 ie 7 Energy is Ideal does not account For yields of CO Hy or Soot CO Yield Y ER H Yield Y 5 0 0 Soot Yield Y 8 08 03 Hydrogen Fraction 0 1 Visibility cC Emp Y Maximum Visibility Visibility Factor C Mass Extinction Coefficient kt Figure 11 5 Soot panel of the
41. You can click or type Ctrl R to reset the model The resulting meshes are displayed below m K PyroSim Untitled 3 a E De Edit Model Devices Output FDS View Help i E Joa QYSt Rae DOR RES DE BOO sow apen v EN Oke OO uy D E Z Reacti i Materials a m Surfaces B ADIABATIC f INERT Cf MIRROR Boren Se Devices amp Model 3D View 2D View Record View Figure 4 3 3D display of first and second mesh Using Multiple Meshes The term multiple meshes means that the computational domain consists of more than one rectangular mesh usually connected although this is not required In each mesh the governing 19 Meshes equations can be solved with a time step based on the flow speed within that particular mesh Some reasons for using multiple meshes include Multiple meshes are required for parallel processing of FDS If the geometry of the problem has corridors such as shown in Figure 4 3 using multiple meshes can significantly reduce the number of cells and the solution time Because each mesh can have different time steps this technique can save CPU time by requir ing relatively coarse meshes to be updated only when necessary Coarse meshes are best used in regions where temporal and spatial gradients of key quantities are small or unimportant Meshes can overlap abut or not touch at all In the last case essentially two separate calculations
42. ace The default value Air Gap represents an air gap Exposed will allow the surface to transfer heat into the space behind the wall and Insulated prevents any heat loss from the back of the material Gap Temperature The temperature of air in the air gap This option is only available when the Air Gap backing type is selected Temperature Ramp This field allows you to describe how the temperature ramps up from ambient to the specified value Material Layers Thickness The thickness of this material layer Material Composition Within a layer row you can specify multiple materials based on mass fraction For example to specify a layer that is just brick type 1 0 BRICK assuming you have created a material called BRICK To specify a layer of wet brick you could enter 0 95 BRICK 0 05 WATER Each material is separated by a semi colon Edit Click to specify the materials in this layer using an alternate table UI 32 Surfaces The reaction used to model a given surface can either be taken from the material specifications or given explicitly by the surface Manually specifying the parameters will produce a surface similar to a burner You can edit this behavior using the reaction options Parameter Description Governed by Material This surface s reaction will be controlled by the materials that 1t is constructed from Governed Manually Override the defa
43. an adiabatic solid INERT This surface remains fixed at the ambient temperature Heat transfer does occur from gases to INERT surfaces This is the default surface in PyroSim 27 Surfaces MIRROR This surface is used only for vents on the exterior grid boundary A MIRROR is a no flux free slip boundary that reverses flow It is intended to be applied to an entire grid boundary to sym metrically double the size of the domain OPEN This surface is used only for vents on the exterior grid boundary OPEN denotes a passive opening to the outside and is often used to model open doors and windows Surface Types PyroSim aids the user by organizing the surface options into logical types such as a burner to define a simple fire or a layered surface to represent a solid heat conducting wall The available surface types are described below Adiabatic This surface type is identical to the built in ADIABATIC surface type It allows you to customize the description color and texture of the adiabatic surface described in Section Inert This surface type is identical to the built in INERT surface type It allows you to customize the description color and texture of the inert surface described in Section Burner This surface type represents a fire with a known heat release rate or mass fuel loss rate Parameters for burner fires are arranged in two groups heat release and particle injection Heat release options
44. 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 As described in the FDS 5 User Guide McGrattan et al 2007 the following rules of thumb should also be followed when setting up a multiple mesh calculation Mesh Alignment 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 Figure 4 4 Mesh Priority In general the meshes should be entered from finest to coarsest FDS assumes that a mesh with higher priority has precedence over a mesh with a lower priority if the two meshes abut or overlap Mesh Boundaries Avoid putting mesh boundaries where critical action is expected especially fire Sometimes fire spread from mesh to mesh cannot be avoided but if at all possible try to keep mesh in terfaces relatively free of complicating phenomena since the exchange of information across mesh boundaries is not as accurate as cell to cell exchanges within one mesh Data Exchange Information from other meshes is received only at the exterior boundary of a given mesh This means that a mesh that is completely embedded within another receives information at its exterior boundary but the larger mesh receives n
45. at this is not necessarily the same unit as your PyroSim model PyroSim will automatically convert from the DXF unit to the model length unit The Entities tab provides the following options Import LINEs Select this option to convert LINE entities in your DXF file to wall objects in your PyroSim model The height and width of the imported walls is set by the corresponding entries in the General tab Import LWPOLYLINEs Select this option to convert LWPOLYLINE entities in your DXF file to wall objects in your PyroSim model The height and width of the imported walls is set by the corresponding entries in the General tab Import 3DFACEs Beta Select this option to convert 3DFACE entities in your DXF file to convex polygon objects in your PyroSim model Models with many faces require a large amount of memory If you reach the memory limit you can break the AutoCAD model into parts These parts can then be separately imported and merged in PyroSim Using these options PyroSim will create 3D solid geometry suitable for use with FDS from the entities defined in your DXF file Once these entities have been imported you can use PyroSim to edit the resulting objects 16 Chapter 4 Meshes Working with Meshes All FDS calculations are performed within computational meshes Every object in the simulation e g obstructions and vents must conform to the mesh When an object s location doesn t exactly conform to a mesh the object is aut
46. be pasted into the model when the objects are pasted Copy Paste from Text Files Copy paste can also be performed to and from text files For example the user can select an object in PyroSim open a text file and paste the object The text FDS representations of the object and dependent properties will be pasted Alternatively the user can copy the text from an FDS file and paste into PyroSim the 3D View 2D View or Navigation View The object will be added to the PyroSim model An error message will be received if the pasted object depends on data that is not available in the PyroSim model The user will then need to paste that information such as surface properties first before pasting the geometric object Double Click to Edit Double clicking on an object opens the appropriate dialog for editing the object properties Resize an Object When an object is selected in either the 2D or 3D Views handles are displayed on the corners of the object The user can click on any of the handle dots to resize the object Selecting a dot at the end of a handle restricts motion to the corresponding axis selecting the dot at the intersection of the handles allows motion in both directions The handles behave the same in 2D and 3D Translating Dragging Objects in 2D View Handles are used to translate drag objects in the 2D View To translate an object follow these steps Using the Selection tool k select the object s to be dragged
47. being badly affected by the mesh boundary If so try to move the mesh boundaries away from areas of activity 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 21 Meshes This is the ideal kind of mesh to mesh alignment This is allowed so long as there are an integral number of fine cells abutting each coarse cell This is allowed but of ques tionable value PyroSim will warn if meshes overlap This is no longer allowed in FDS 5 1 and higher Py roSim will warn against this mesh alignment Figure 4 4 Correct and incorrect mesh alignment 2D View Drawing Grid If you create a solution mesh before creating any geometric objects then that mesh will be used by default when drawing objects in the 2D View However you can also define a separate drawing grid or sketch grid in the 2D View This can be useful if the geometry of your model will extend beyond the bounds of the solution mesh or if you want your objects to be defined using a finer geometric resolution than will be used for the solution The 2D View drawing grid has several options that you can modify 22 Meshes To view the sketch grid on the View menu highlight Select Grid and click sketch grid To specify the size of the cells in the Sketch Grid 1 On the Vie
48. ch to be sized according to a combination of Rosin Ramm ler and log normal Distribution gamma The width of the distribution The larger the value of gamma the narrower the droplet size is distributed about the median value Minimum Diameter Maximum Diameter Droplets smaller than the minimum diameter are assumed to evaporate in a single time step Droplets larger than the maximum diameter are assumed to break up in a single time step Injection Parameter Description Droplets per Second The number of sprinkler droplets inserted every second per active sprinkler This parameter only affects sprinkler droplets Duration The amount of time a water droplet will remain in the simula Insertion Interval tion The amount of time between droplet insertions Sampling Factor Sampling factor for the particle output file A value of 1 us es the FDS default value for this property Set to an integer greater than 1 to reduce the size of particle output 61 Particles Fuel Droplets Fuel droplets can be used with sprinkler spray models and nozzles to customize the spray They can also be used in particle clouds and surface types that support particle injection Fuel droplets are initially burning and do not require an ignition source By default PyroSim provides a fuel droplet type called Fue1 To use a custom fuel droplet you can modify the default fuel definition t
49. ct E Selecting will reset the display to include the entire model At any time selecting e or typing CTRL r will reset the model Snapshots of Display Images of the current display can be saved to a file by opening the File menu and clicking Snap shot The user can specify the file name image type png jpg tif bmp and the resolution A good choice is the Portable Network Graphics png type and Medium resolution Preferences Several options for running of PyroSim can be set in the Preferences dialog Figure 2 4 These preferences will be recalled the next time PyroSim is started 10 PyroSim Basics The Format FDS file for easy reading option is used to control the format of the FDS input file written by PyroSim By default the file is formatted to be easily readable However this means that some precision is lost The full precision can be obtained by unselecting this option The FDS Execution options allow you to specify the FDS and Smokeview executables that are used by PyroSim The Run Smokeview when FDS simulation completes option is used to automatically show results after running an FDS simulation The Hardware Drawing Options give control over the amount of graphics card hardware ac celeration used when drawing the model If there are display problems the user should disable the two Hardware acceleration options r Preferences El FDS File Format Format FDS file for easy readi
50. ct fires for post acci dent investigation and assist in firefighter training FDS is a powerful fire simulator which was developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology NIST McGrattan et al 2007 FDS simulates fire scenarios using an optimized approach based on computational fluid dynamics This approach is very flexible and can be applied to fires ranging from stove tops to oil storage tanks It can also model situations that do not include a fire such as ventilation in buildings FDS and the Smokeview visualization program are both closely integrated into PyroSim The PyroSim interface provides immediate input feedback and ensures the correct format for the FDS input file You can work in either metric or English units and you can switch between the two at any time In addition PyroSim offers high level 2D and 3D geometry creation features such as diagonal walls background images for sketching object grouping flexible display options as well as copying and replication of obstructions The PyroSim 2007 interface for which this manual is written supports Version 5 of the Fire Dynamics Simulator PyroSim 2006 which supports Version 4 of the Fire Dynamics Simulator is still available as it is anticipated that both versions will be in use during a transition period Internet Upgrade Install You can download PyroSim from the internet by going to http www pyrosim com to obtain the free trial If you already have a
51. ctive Roam Controls To use controls that present the view from the perspective of a person moving through the model select X on the toolbar You can move your eyes to look around in the model with separate controls to move your body This mode can take some experimentation but once mastered it can provide unique views of the model In Roam mode PyroSim Basics e To look around the 3D model left click on the model and move the mouse You are looking with your eyes in the direction of the mouse With the CTRL key depressed vertical mouse motion moves you forward or backward into the model Horizontal mouse motion moves you to the left or right With the ALT key depressed vertical mouse motion moves you up or down relative to the model the Scroll Wheel increases or decreases your field of view If you do not have a Scroll Wheel use the Zoom tool Figure 2 2 shows the view of a model from outside and Figure 2 3 shows the view after going into the model and looking up towards the roof PyroSim model by John McKinney 3X PyroSim C McKinney build psm cle File Edit Model Output FDS View Help ACH ech wt REX BBEARK S Fs i E show All Floors JE k eX 4 Q B de Bl cloning Surfaces 49 ADIABATIC 4 CARPET CEILING TILE COMBUSTIBLE CEILIN CONCRETE 28 ETHANOL 4 FIRE BRICK GYPSUM BOARD 49 HEPTANE INERT KEROSENE MARINITE 4 METHANOL 49 MIRROR oak open PI
52. e deta 69 MIU EE 69 Boundary Quantities i11 etie RE en e text Ho pete METRE REESEN Gb ee a 70 Isosurfaces ees eb e e E o ERE UR ee e SEE E 71 Plot3D Dala EE 72 ell REL 73 15 Running the Simulation ee eene eren 75 PyroSim User Manual Resuming a Simulation unit ii 75 Parallel EX cutiom silicio dE Ee dE ied 76 16 Post ProC sSIng ii a ed TI launching SmokeVieW cipal slo e Leer eb pe elasticas TI Time History Results dee Ee eee oe tete tite TI 17 Troubleshooting AA derer e tee ee tee er YE LE el ere e dee eee P ade ere ee ee E aii 78 Licensing Registration Problems AAA 78 Video Display Problems doctrina ideada eae ee en oe cag eh Ae 78 Memory for Large Models ee ae eiii 78 Contacting Technical Support eiecti ce AEN 78 A Opening FDS v4 and PyroSim v2006 Files ooooooocnccccnnccnonococccccnnnnnnnnnnnnnos 80 Global Simulation Parameters 0 0 0 0 eee eeeececececececececececececeeeceeeeeceseseceeeeeseeeeeees 81 Sprinklers and Pipes 5 dre dere E en HER e EE FEE NEEN NEEN 81 EE 82 lag LEE 82 Referentes ti E AA NA 84 A ee EE ee E 85 vi List of Figures 1 1 Register from the help men 3 1 2 Li cense Expired Click Register 1 2 eiio ii ERES Leber Decree erede 3 L3 Registration dialog ip t eee ee eit tee E eerie ee 3 2 1 Using the context menu in the Navigation View sssse ee eeeereeerererererererseses 7 2 2 Exterior view of model tede dete epe dct I eee
53. e for an object give a vent an supply velocity and set the many other properties supported by FDS To create modify and delete surfaces you can use the Edit Surfaces dialog To open the surface manager dialog on the Model menu click Edit Surface Properties The dialog shown in Figure 6 1 shows the dialog being used to edit an upholstery surface e Edit Surfaces E ADIABATIC Surface ID UPHOLSTERY proe Description CARPET xe GYPSUM BOARD Color EE tetue Emm INERT MIRROR Surface Type Layered v OPEN SPRUCE Material Layers Reaction Species Injection Particle Injection LPHOLSTERY 1 mn Initial Internal Temperature TMPA EG Backing Air Gap Default w Gap Temperature TMPA ec Temperature Ramp Default aj 1 0 s Material Layers Thickness m Material Composition Edit 3 Insert Row 1 0 0010 1 0 UPHOLSTERY_MATL Edit OI 3 E Remove Row 4 Move Up Y Move Down IM IB Copy New gesam Paste Add From Library 8 Rename de cut Delete Apply OK Cancel Figure 6 1 The Edit Surfaces dialog Reserved Surfaces There are four fundamental or reserved surface types ADIABATIC INERT MIRROR and OPEN These surfaces cannot be changed and are present in every analysis ADIABATIC This surface remains fixed at the ambient temperature There is no heat transfer radiative or convective from the gas to
54. e of the form CxHyO NyOtheryw Vo O2 Veo CO vg o H20 vco CO Vsoot Soot VN N2 Vother Other Figure 11 1 Reaction equation The user specifies the chemical formula of the fuel along with the yields of CO soot and H2 and the amount of hydrogen in the soot For completeness you can specify the N2 content of the fuel and the presence of other species To edit a reaction 1 On the Model menu click Edit Reactions 2 On the Fuel tab enter the number of atoms in the reaction equation The input for an ethanol reaction as defined in the ethanol_pan fdsexample distributed with FDS5 is shown in Fig ure 11 2 The fuel is defined by 2 carbon atoms 6 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom 57 Reactions 3 If desired change the default values for the Ambient Oxygen Mass Fraction Y_02_INFTY the Mass Fraction of Fuel in Burner Y_F_INLET and the Upper limit of flame heat release rate HRRPUA_SHEET 4 On the Fire Suppression tab you can enable fire suppression and then enter val ues for the Limiting Oxygen Index X_02_LL and the Critical Flame Temperature CRITICAL_FLAME_TEMPERATURE The default values are shown in Figure 11 3 5 On the Byproducts tab you can select either Specify release per unit mass oxygen EPUMOJ2 or specify heat of combustion HEAT OF COMBUSTION You can also specify the CO yield H2 yield and Soot yield The values used for the ethanol pan fire are shown in Figure 11 4 6 On the
55. el Note however that in PyroSim 2007 the water pressure is specified per sprinkler rather than per pipe Because of this PyroSim will not convert the dry pipe pressure specified in the pipe record and a warning will be issued Reactions To convert reaction data into a form useable by version 5 of FDS PyroSim 2007 must reverse en gineer the fuel molecule composition based on stoichiometric coefficients To accomplish this PyroSim uses the equations given in section 4 4 2 of the users guide for version 4 of FDS The result is then checked to ensure that the total molecular weight is the same as the specified molec ular weight If this check succeeds no warning will be issued If the test fails PyroSim will is sue a Converted stoichiometry warning and you must manually update reaction data to ensure accurate simulation results Surfaces Some surface properties are converted with no additional input or warnings including surface names colors and textures The different surface types however undergo more complicated conversions The following describes how PyroSim 2006 surface types are converted to Surfaces and Materials in PyroSim 2007 Inert and Adiabatic converted directly Burner Fire converted to a Burner Surface Fan Wind converted to a Supply surface if the air flow is negative an Exhaust surface oth erwise Flammable Solid of Fixed Temperature or Heat Flux converted to a Heater Cooler surface Th
56. ensitive to numerical errors in the solver during species transport and will sometimes report artificially low values 74 Chapter 15 Running the Simulation Once you have created a fire model you can run the simulation from within PyroSim On the FDS menu click Run FDS This will launch the FDS Simulation dialog shown in Figure 15 1 This dialog can be minimized and you can continue using PyroSim and even run additional simulations while a simulation is running 4 3 FDS Simulation roomfire4 data Quay Fire Dynamics Simulator FDS Building and Fire Research Laboratory National Institute of Standards and Technology NIST NIST Fire Dynamics Simulator Compilation Date March 10 2006 Version Number 4 07 Job TITLE ATF Room Fire Test Job ID string roomfire4 Iteration 1 Simulation Time 0 10 s Iteration 2 Simulation Time 0 20 s Iteration SR Simulation Time 0 31 s I EN EA Progress 1 89s 900 0s Time Elapsed 0 00 21 Time Remaining 2 27 40 Run smokeview when finished Figure 15 1 The FDS simulation dialog You can save the simulation log at any time by clicking Save Log This log will be saved as a text file You can also run Smokeview while the simulation is in progress by clicking Run Smokeview For details on how to use Smokeview please consult the Smokeview users guide Smokeview will run automatically when the simulation is finished Clicking S
57. ermally Thick Thin Flammable Solid converted to a Layered Surface with one single step reacting Material Flammable Solid Constant HRR of Fixed Temperature or Heat Flux converted to a burner Thermally Thick Thin Flammable Solid Constant HRR converted to a Layered Surface with one non reacting Material The reaction is controlled at the surface Non Flammable Solid of Fixed Temperature or Heat Flux converted to a Heater Cooler Thermally Thick Thin Non Flammable Solid converted to a Layered Surface with one non reacting Material Liquid Fuel converted to a Layered Surface with one Liquid Fuel Material 82 Opening FDS v4 and PyroSim v2006 Files Charring Fuel converted to a Layered Surface with one layer The layer is composed of a water and a virgin material The virgin material undergoes one reaction where half of it is converted to fuel and the other half is converted to the charring material specified in the original surface This ratio may need to be adjusted after conversion Liquid Thermoplastic converted to a Layered Surface with one Liquid Fuel Material Charring Thermoplastic converted to a Layered Surface with one single step reacting Ma terial Thermally Thin Surfaces Unlike PyroSim 2006 PyroSim 2007 requires that every layered surface specify a thick ness Delta for each layer and that materials specify density Rho specific heat and conductivity C In PyroSim 2006
58. es This method requires a model that includes extra non reactive species Flux data is speci fied on the Species Injection tab Tangential Velocity The tangential velocity of the air flow The first parameter is the velocity in the x or y direction and the second parameter is in the y or z direction depending on the normal direction of the vent An example of tangential velocity is shown in Fig ure 6 2 Slip Factor Ramp Up Time The slip factor affects the calculation of velocity at the walls To specify a no slip boundary condition use 1 To specify a free slip boundary condition use 1 Values between 1 and 1 represent partial slip conditions At the beginning of the simulation vents with this surface will not be blowing This parameter controls the time it takes to ramp the air flow up to the specified amount Wind Profile The default wind profile is constant Top Hat to model wind conditions outdoors there are two additional options parabolic and atmospheric Parabolic produces wind with a parabolic profile whose maximum is the specified velocity Atmospheric produces a wind profile of the form u u0 z z0Y p Atmospheric Profile Exponent The term p in the atmospheric profile equation This option is only available when atmospheric profile is selected Atmospheric Profile Origin The term z0 in the atmospheric profile equation This option is only available when atmospheric profile is
59. evices Parameter Description Flowrate The gas flow rate Location The coordinates of the aspiration detection system Orientation Not used Rotation Not used Aspirator Name Aspiration Detector Bypass Flow Rate 0 0 kgls Input Samplers Enabled Sampler Transfer Delay s Flowrate kg s Aspiration Sampler 1 15 0 5 0E 02 lAspiration Sampler 2 30 0 5 0E 02 J Location m X 0 0 Y o z 0 0 Orientation X 0 0 Y 0 0 z 208 Rotation 0 0 ina Figure 13 1 Creating an aspirator sampler The output of the aspiration detection system will be the combined obscuration At this time PyroSim does not support a setpoint for an aspiration detection alarm Gas and Solid Phase Devices Simple gas phase and solid phase devices can be used to measure parameters in the gas or solid phase To define a meassurement device 1 2 3i 4 5 On the Devices menu click New Gas phase Device or New Solid phase Device Enter the Name of the device Select the Quantity to be measured Enter the Location of the device Click OK to create the device Thermocouple To create a thermocouple 1 On the Devices menu click New Thermocouple The thermocouple properties are Parameter Description Device Name The name of the thermocouple Bead Diameter The bead diameter of the thermocouple 64 Devices
60. f fuel vapor at a solid or liquid surface In an FDS fire simulation there is only be one gaseous fuel that acts as a surrogate for all the potential fuel sources The reaction is defined using the Edit Reactions dialog in PyroSim The PyroSim interface supports only the mixture fraction model to account for the evolution of the fuel gas from its surface of origin through the combustion process The alternative provided in FDSS is the finite rate approach where all of the individual gas species involved in the com bustion process are defined and tracked individually This finite rate approach is recommended only for Direct Numerical Simulation The mixture fraction model is the most frequently used approach Mixture Fraction Combustion In FDS there are two ways of designating a fire the first is to specify a Heat Release Rate Per Unit Area HRRPUA as part of a surface the other is to specify a HEAT_OF_REACTION along with other thermal parameters as part of a material In both cases the mixture fraction combustion model is used The heat release rate approach is the simplest way to specify a fire All that needs to be done is create a burner surface with the desired heat release rate see Chapter 6 Surfaces If no other reaction is specified propane will be used as the surrogate fuel If a reaction is specified that reaction will be used to calculate the combustion products In the mixture fraction model the reaction is assumed to b
61. his information cannot be inferred from the DXF file and it will control the location and size of all imported geometry To specify the length unit 1 In the Import DXF dialog click the Units list 2 Click the unit of length used in your DXF file The 3D preview window will be automatically updated to reflect the selected length unit Settings The DXF Import Preferences dialog allows you to control what information PyroSim will ex tract from the DXF file To access this dialog click the Settings button in the Import DXF dialog The General tab provides the following options Import Colors Select this option to apply the color of an imported DXF entity to the corre sponding PyroSim geometry object s Import Empty Layers Select this option to create groups in PyroSim for layers that don t contain any importable entities 15 Working with Files Import Background Image Select this option to create a 2D image of the imported DXF file and add this image to the current model as a Floor The position and visibility of the background image can be edited later using the Configure Background Image dialog Default Wall Width Edit this value to control the width of walls generated from 2D DXF entities Default Wall Height Edit this value to control the height of walls generated from 2D DXF entities The length unit used to control wall width and height will be the same as specified in the Import DXF dialog Note th
62. ickly draw rectangular ob structions angled walls grid blocks vents and rooms Several of these tools have an analog that creates holes instead of solid obstructions All geometry creation tools are located on the toolbar at the left side of the 2D View Some of these tools allow you to create and edit objects that are not constrained to the FDS grid In these cases PyroSim will automatically convert the shapes to grid based blocks when the FDS input file is created You can also preview these bocks by clicking View then selecting Preview as Blocks All of the geometry tools in this chapter are fully supported by the undo redo system If you change your mind about the placement of an object you have just created just click Edit then click Undo Most objects can be edited with the Selection k tool This tool is located in the toolbar above the 2D and 3D views Once you have activated the Selection tool click on the object you would like to modify Blue nodes or handles will appear on the object where it can be modified By dragging these handles you can quickly make changes to the existing object You can edit the settings for any tool by clicking the Tool Properties 57 button located at the bottom of the toolbar Options such as initial surface type color sawtooth and depth can all be edited in the Tool Properties dialog Obstructions and Holes You can create simple rectangular obstructions with the Draw an Obstruction 4 tool Objec
63. iggers the activation setpoint is defined when the activation event is selected For example on the Activation Events tab of an obstruction Aspiration Detection Systems An aspiration detection system groups together a series of soot measurement devices An aspi ration 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 To define the soot meassurement devices 1 On the Devices menu click New Aspirator Sampler 2 Enter the Name and Location of the sampler 3 Click OK to create the sampler To define the aspiration detection system 1 On the Devices menu click New Aspirator 2 Give the Name and select which Aspirator Samplers will be included For each sampler provide the data described below 3 Click OK to create the aspirator detector Supply the following information for the aspiration detection system Figure 13 1 Parameter Description Aspirator Name The name of the aspiration detection system Bypass Flow Rate The flow rate of any air drawn into the system from outside the computational domain Transfer Delay The transport time from the sampling location to the central detector 63 D
64. inter at one corner of the desired vent then press and hold the left mouse button 42 Tools for Creating Geometry 4 Drag the mouse to the opposite corner of the desired vent 5 Release the mouse button The new vent will lie in the plane parallel to the viewing plane For example if you are using the Top View when you draw the vent the vent will lie in the Z plane 43 Chapter 9 Creating Complex Geometry This chapter provides guidance on using the geometry tools available in PyroSim to create several geometric shapes that often appear in building models The ability to sketch in different planes copy replicate drag scale and rotate objects can greatly simplify the tasks of geometry creation Curved Walls To create curved walls in PyroSim you can use any of the following techniques Draw the wall using several straight wall segments Draw the wall using individual grid blocks Rotate a single object to produce the desired arc In all of the following examples we will use a background image as a pattern to draw against While this is not required it makes creating curved surfaces much easier and one of the strengths of PyroSim is that it allows you to sketch geometry directly on top of building design images The background image we will be using is shown in Figure 9 1 Figure 9 1 Background image used for all curved wall examples For simplicity we will assume that horizontal distance across the
65. k Cancel Rotate Objects Mode Move Copy Rotation Axis OX OY Oz Angle Gi 10 0 v Base Point Ft x 2 87500 z 50000 Figure 10 6 The rotate dialog being used to rotate an object 55 Working with Geometry Objects Display Only Selected Objects Often it is desirable to turn off the display of selected objects for example to hide a roof of a building in order to visualize the interior In any of the views right click on a selection to obtain the following options Hide object s This turns off the display of the selected object s Show object s This turns on the display of the selected object s Filter object s This turns off the display of all objects except the selection s Show all objects Turns on the display of all objects 56 Chapter 11 Reactions This chapter provides an overview of how to specify combustion the reaction of fuel vapor and oxygen using PyroSim A more detailed discussion of this topic is provided in the Fire Dynamics Simulator User s Guide McGrattan et al 2007 and the Fire Dynamics Simulator Technical Reference Guide McGrattan et al 2007 As described in the Fire Dynamics Simulator User s Guide McGrattan et al 2007 a common source of confusion in FDS is the distinction between gas phase combustion and solid phase pyrolysis The former refers to the reaction of fuel vapor and oxygen the latter the generation o
66. k the Register button on the notification dialog The first technique is shown in Figure 1 1 and the second is shown in Figure 1 2 The Register dialog is shown in Figure 1 3 Getting Started DS View Help y 1 oe ae TA Remove License a Ls i About cai Figure 1 1 Register from the help menu Access Denied AUTHORIZATION NOT PRESENT THIS PROGRAM HAS ALREADY HAD ITS TRIAL PERIOD Figure 1 2 License Expired Click Register e Register Current License Node Locked Time Limited Days used 5 Days licensed 30 Support Ends May 2006 Site Code 2198 36EB E7E2 69C0 60 Site Key Figure 1 3 Registration dialog To register your copy 1 Purchase a license to use the software if necessary 2 Give us your site code by email or phone we will respond with your site key 3 Enter your site key into the registration dialog shown in Figure 1 3 To help prevent errors when sending Thunderhead the site code and when entering the site key the Register dialog provides copy and paste buttons The Copy E button will copy the site code to the clipboard to allow you to easily paste it in to an email When you have a site key you can copy the key and use the Paste button to insert the key into the dialog Transferring a License To transfer you license to another computer you can use the Remove License dialog On the Help menu click Remove License 2 Click
67. les and security drivers for access by computers on the network Note In order for the floating license system to work properly the license folder will require read write permission for users accessing PyroSim The PyroSim installer automatically creates a folder with appropriate permissions in the following default locations Windows 2000 XP C Documents and Settings All Users Applica tion Data PyroSim license Windows Vista C ProgramData PyroSim license You may use another folder as the license folder if desired You must copy all files from the default folder to your chosen license folder Create a network share for the PyroSim license folder on the server The users running PyroSim as well as the local System account will require full access to this folder and its network share Getting Started this is a restriction of the security vendor and can be avoided by running the license server in a true client server mode over UDP contact support thunderheadeng com for more details You may want to create a user group for accounts that will have access to PyroSim and grant that group full control to the directory Edit the PyroSim props configuration file on the Server installation to specify the license directory This is set by adding a line with a property named PyroSim licenseDir to the end of the file The property may be set to a UNC share name or mapped drive letter path that refers to the network share for the Pyro
68. line Oxffffff Colors Custom grid 0x4d4d66 Colors Custom group highlight 0xffff00 Colors Custom heatDetector 0xff0000 Colors Custom obst 0xff0000 Colors Custom obst highlight 0xb2b200 Colors Custom origin2D 0x737373 Colors Custom smokeDetector 0xff00 Colors Custom snap point 0xff00 Colors Custom snapto grid 0x404040 Colors Custom snapto points 0xc0c0c0 Colors Custom sprk 0xff Colors Custom text 0xffffff Colors Custom thcp Oxffff00 Colors Custom tool 0xff00 Colors Custom tool guides 0x7c00 4 Save the edited PyroSim props file 5 Restart PyroSim 12 Chapter 3 Working with Files Several files are used when performing a fire analysis using PyroSim These include the PyroSim model file the FDS input file and FDS output files This section describes how to load and save files in the formats supported by PyroSim Creating a New PyroSim Model When PyroSim is started it begins with an empty model You can close the current model and create a new empty model by opening the File menu and clicking New PyroSim always has one and only one active model Saving a PyroSim Model The PyroSim model file psm is stored in a binary format that represents a PyroSim model The PyroSim model contains all the information needed to write an FDS input file as well as addi tional information such as obstruction grouping floor heights background images and textures This format is ideal for sharing your models with other PyroSim users
69. ll be examined by this solid profile To generate solid profile output for the top of an ob ject this value will be Z This parameter prevents any ambi guity that might result from a point that lies on two adjoining faces QUANTITY The quantity that will be measured in this solid profile Note The surface to be measured must be heat conducting If the surface on the specified face is not heat conducting FDS will issue an error and exit before running the simulation Slices Slices or slice planes measure gas phase data e g pressure velocity temperature on an ax is aligned plane This data can then be animated and displayed using Smokeview Figure 14 1 69 Output Controls A untitled Que Smokeview 5 0 0 Beta Sep 6 2007 temp Frame 343 Time s4 A 7 Figure 14 1 An example of a slice plane shown in Smokeview To generate animated slice planes on the Output menu click Slices Each slice plane requires the following parameters Parameter Description XYZ Plane The axis X Y or Z along which to place the slice plane Plane Value The value along the specified axis where the plane will be placed Gas Phase Quantity The quantity that this plane will measure This list includes built in options such as temperature as well as dynamic op tions such as those based on particles Use Vector Setting this option to YES will cause FDS to generate addi tional flow vector da
70. me within which to calculate the heat release rate 65 Devices The output will be the total heat release rate within the volume Layer Zoning Device There is often the 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 referred 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 FDS uses an algorithm based on integration along a line to estimate the layer height and the average upper and lower layer temperatures To define a layer zoning device 1 On the Devices menu click New Layer Zoning Device The layer zoning device properties are Parameter Description Device Name The name of the layer zoning device Checkboxes Checkboxes to select the output from the device layer height upper temperature lower temperature Path The coordinates of the end points of a line along which the layer height will be calculated The two endpoints must lie in the same mesh The output will be the quantities selected Path Obscuration Beam Detector Device A beam detector measures the total obscuration between points To define a beam detector de vice 1 On the Devices menu
71. n at The temperature at which the given reaction rate will occur A Pre exponential Factor parameter shown in equation E Activation Energy parameter shown in equation Mass Fraction Exponent parameter shown in equation Exponent parameter shown in equation Value parameter shown in equation On the Byproducts tab Parameter Description Heat of Reaction Heat yield of this reaction This must be a positive number Endothermic Exothermic Specifies if the heat yield is endothermic or exothermic Fuel Vapor Yield The mass fraction of yield that will become fuel vapor Water Vapor Yield The mass fraction of yield that will become water vapor Residue Yield The mass fraction of yield that will become residue If there is only one material defined in PyroSim this option will not be available Residue The material that will be used to represent the residue If there is only one material defined in PyroSim this option will not be available Liquid Fuels Examples of liquid fuels include kerosene and ethanol To create a liquid fuel 1 In the Edit Materials dialog click New 2 In the Material Name box type the name of the new material 3 In the Material Type box select Liquid Fuel 4 Click OK After following these steps a default solid material will be created Text entered in the Descrip tion box will not affect the simulation but will preserved in the FDS input file using the FYI field of the material
72. ne and Fax 1 785 770 8511 Chapter 2 PyroSim Basics PyroSim Interface PyroSim provides four editors for your fire model the 3D View 2D View Navigation View and the Record View These all represent your current model If an object is added removed or selected in one view the other views will simultaneously reflect the change Each view is briefly described below Navigation View This view lists many of the important records in the model It allows you to organize your model geometry into groups such as room or sofa Locating and modifying records is often faster and easier in this view 3D View This view shows a 3D representation of your current fire model You can explore the model using different view controls You can also control the appearance of the model with options like smooth shading textures and object outlines Geometric features can also be changed 2D View This view is useful for quickly sketching geometry such as walls and furniture You can choose from three viewing planes and perform many useful geometric manipulations Record View This view gives a preview of the PDS input file that will be generated for the simulation It also provides a way to add custom records that will not be processed by PyroSim but will be sent to FDS Navigation View The navigation view is a tree like view on the left side of the PyroSim main window An example of this view in use is shown in Figure 2 1 When you right click
73. ng FDS Execution FDS 5 Location C Program Files PyroSim 2007 Fds FdsS exe Parallel FDS 5 Location C Program Files PyroSim 2007 fds fdsS_mpi exe Smokeview Location Program Files PyroSim 2007 Fds smokeview exe Run Smokeview when FDS simulation completes Hardware Drawing Options Hardware accelerated drawing uncheck if there are display problems Hardware accelerated vertex buffers available on most hardware j Cancel Figure 2 4 The preferences dialog Units Models can be created in either English or Metric units To select a system of units on the View menu click Units then click the desired unit PyroSim will automatically convert your previous input values into the unit system you select The Record View will always display values in the appropriate FDS units regardless of what unit system you choose to work in Color Schemes To select a Default Black Background White Background or Custom color scheme on the View menu click Color Scheme The custom color scheme is defined in the PyroSim props file in the PyroSim installation directory usually C Program Files PyroSim To define a custom color scheme 1 Close PyroSim 2 Edit the PyroSim props file 11 PyroSim Basics 3 Change the following default colors to the colors you wish Colors Custom axis 0xffff00 Colors Custom axis box 0x404040 Colors Custom axis text Oxffffff Colors Custom background 0x0 Colors Custom boundary
74. ng Groups to Organize a Model A key concept is the organization of the model into hierarchical groups of objects The Model 1s the base group Groups can be nested inside other groups which allows the user to work with thousands of objects in an organized way When an action is performed on a group that action will be propagated to all objects in the group Organizing a Building Model by Floors By default a new model has one floor 3 m 9 84 feet high To define the floors in your model go to the 2D or 3D View and select the Define Floor Locations tool ES This will display the Manage Floors dialog In this example two floors have been created with each being 10 feet tall Name Floor Location m Ceiling Location m Background Image E Remove Row 1 Floor 1 0 0 10 0 Ea 2 Floor 2 10 0 20 0 Remove Droe Rel e 2 Paste Figure 7 3 Defining floors in a model Once the floors have been defined the user can filter the display to show either a single floor or all floors 37 Geometry Basic Concepts Ye Pyrosim Untitled llek File Edit Model Devices Output FDS View Help D e Hlut M XEARRR IA Qee Beenen ss All Floors Floor 2 10 lt z lt 20 Floor 1 0 lt z lt 10 E an De ARA E croup n amp amp amp wgmameett 0 2 5 478 10 gt 20 View Record View Figure 7
75. nt or linear speedup 76 Chapter 16 Post Processing PyroSim supports post processing in two ways Launching of Smokeview from within PyroSim and Time history plots of output data Launching Smokeview By default if you run FDS from within PyroSim Smokeview will be launched at the end of the FDS run Alternately you can select FDS gt Run Smokeview and a new window will open From here the standard Smokeview controls accessed by a right click on the image are used to display results Time History Results Time history results are saved for heat detectors thermocouples and other fire output A quick display of these results can be obtained by selecting FDS gt Plot Time History Results Open the desired data file for display A typical heat detector plot is shown in Figure 16 1 The user can export the image to a file R Time History Plots 13 Export 4500 40 00 sw TEMP C Dm 2500 moo Atrium time s 4000 Son op 7000 Figure 16 1 Defining the grid boundaries 77 Chapter 17 Troubleshooting Licensing Registration Problems On a few machines a licensing error occurs when first running PyroSim If you receive a message such as NETWORK Network drivers appears to not be serving this directory or INIT_NOT_SUCCEEDED please perform the following steps 1 Go to the installation directory C Program Files PyroSim 2 In this directory
76. o 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 20 Meshes Boundary Obstructions If a planar obstruction is close to where two meshes abut make sure that each mesh sees the obstruction If the obstruction is even a millimeter outside of one of the meshes that mesh may not account for it in which case information is not transferred properly between meshes Parallel Calculation In a parallel calculation it is recommended that the time steps in all meshes to be the same This is the default setting in PyroSim and FDS 5 and provides a tighter connection between meshes This option is selected by the Synchronize time step for tighter connection between meshes checkbox on the Edit Meshes dialog Trial and Error 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
77. o suit your needs or you can create a new droplet type by clicking New The parameters for fuel droplets are identical to the options for water droplets with one exception Fuel droplets have a Heat of Combustion pyrolysis option This option lets you specify the heat of combustion of the liquid fuel Global Parameters There are two global options relating to particles in the Simulation Parameters dialog The first option Droplets Disappear at Floor can be used to prevent droplets from gathering on the floor of the simulation area The default value for this option is ON The second option Max Particles per Mesh can be used to set an upper limit on the number of particles allowed in any simulation mesh 62 Chapter 13 Devices Devices are used to record entities in the model or to represent more complex sensors such as smoke detectors sprinklers and thermocouples You can make time history plots of device output in PyroSim by opening the CHID_devc csv file Devices can be moved copied rotated and scaled using the tools described in Chapter 10 Work ing with Geometry Objects Most often the user will simply select one or more devices right click to display the context menu and click Copy Move By copying a single device along a line and then copying the line in the normal direction it is possible to quickly define an array of devices After a device is defined it can be used to activate an object The value that tr
78. oSim supports file import for versions 4 and 5 of FDS For more information about opening files compatible with version 4 of FDS please refer to Appendix A Exporting FDS Models PyroSim also allows you to explicitly export the current model to an FDS input file You can manually edit the file to take advantage of advanced FDS features or to easily transfer the input file to a different machine or special version of FDS To export an EDS file 1 On the File menu click Export then click FDS File 2 Enter the file name and click Save The file exported by PyroSim will be compatible with version 5 of FDS Import DXF Files To import DXF geometry into your PyroSim model you can use the Import DXF dialog 1 On the File menu click Import then click Import DXF 2 Select a DXF or zipped DXF file to import 3 Specify units layers and other settings 4 Click OK Convert Solid Geometry PyroSim will only generate FDS geometry for lines polylines and faces Other entities present in the DXF file will be ignored In particular any 3D solid geometry in a DXF input file will not be imported To transfer a 3D solid AutoCAD model into PyroSim you must first decompose the solid entities into 3D faces You can do this using the explode command in AutoCAD Some solid AutoCAD geometry cannot be readily decomposed with the explode command In this case you can use the following procedure to decompose the solid object into faces 1
79. oad balancing PyroSim s support for parallel execution is restricted to a single machine and is only beneficial on machines that have dual core or multiple CPUs To launch a parallel simulation in PyroSim on the FDS menu click Run Parallel FDS To resume a parallel simulation on the FDS menu click Resume Parallel FDS The process to resume a parallel simulation is identical to resuming single processor simulation described above Before running a parallel simulation you may want to take into account some guidelines e Use at least as many grids as available processors or cores If there are 4 available processors and only two grids the additional two processors will not be used Do not overlap grids Since information is exchanged between grids at the edges it is ideal to organize grids in such a way that they touch but do not overlap It is not recommended to embed a fine grid within a coarse grid in an attempt to improve localized grid resolution Because information is exchanged at grid boundaries the outer grid will not receive any data from the inner grid Donotallow a fire source to cross grid boundaries When a fire source crosses grid boundaries it is not possible to maintain the same level of simulation accuracy For a detailed list of suggestions and information about running FDS in parallel please consult section 6 3 2 of the FDS Users Guide This is also referred to as a linear performance improveme
80. omatically repositioned during the simulation Any object that extends beyond the boundary of the physical domain is cut off at the boundary There is no penalty for defining objects outside of the domain but these objects do not appear in Smokeview To achieve optimal simulation accuracy it is important to use mesh cells that are approximately the same size in all three directions FDS uses a Poisson solver based on Fast Fourier Transforms FFTs A side effect of this ap proach is that optimal mesh divisions are constrained to the form 2 u 3 v 5 w where u v and w are integers For example 64 2 6 72 243 3 2 and 108 242 3 3 are good mesh dimensions However 37 99 and 109 are not In addition using a prime number of cells along an axis may cause undesirable results PyroSim warns when the number of divisions is not optimal Uniform Meshes This example illustrates creating a multiple mesh model To create the first mesh 1 On the Model menu click Edit Meshes 2 Click New 3 In the Max X box type 5 0 in the Max Y box type 1 0 and in the Max Z box type 1 0 4 In the X Cells box type 50 in the Y Cells box type 10 and in the Z Cells box type 10 5 Click OK 17 Meshes F Edit Meshes MESH Order j Priority 12 O Specify Color v Synchronize time step for tighter connection between meshes Mesh Boundary m Minx 0 0 MinY 0 0 Minz 0 0 Maxx 5 MaxY 1 MaxZ 1
81. ool can be edited in the Tool Properties 5 dialog This tool operates on the currently selected grid To select a grid click View click Select Grid then select the grid you would like to work with This tool is generally more useful when the Snap to Grid option is selected To enable grid snapping click View then select Snap to Grid When grid snapping is disabled this tool will create many small overlapping obstructions You can create block holes using the Draw a Block Hole tool The hole version of this tool is identical to the solid version except it will create holes rather than solid geometry 41 Tools for Creating Geometry Rooms Vents The Draw a Room amp tool gives you a fast way to define the four walls of a room This tool is only available in the Top View To create a room using the Draw a Room tool l Click the Draw a Room button Click the Tool Properties 57 button to set the properties 3 Position the mouse pointer at one corner of the desired room then press and hold the left mouse button 4 Drag the mouse to the opposite corner of the desired room 5 Release the mouse button By default the Draw a Room tool expects you to define two inner corners of the room and the thickness of the walls will extend outward You can press the SHIFT key while creating the room to make the thickness of the walls extend inward If you release the SHIFT key before you have completed the room the
82. option to scale only the selected object or to create multiple scaled copies of the object The Scale values define the scale factors in the X Y and Z directions The Base Point defines the point about which the scaling will be performed The Use Center button can be used to fill the Base Point data with the center coordinates of the selected objects 54 Working with Geometry Objects To preview the changes without applying them click Preview To apply the changes and close the dialog click OK To cancel the changes instead click Cancel Scale Objects Mode X 1 00000 Y 1 00000 Z 1 00000 Base Point Ft X 2 87500 Y 9 62500 z 50000 Figure 10 5 The scale dialog being used to scale an object Rotate and Copy Dialog The Rotate dialog can be used to rotate an object Figure 10 6 The Mode selects either the option to rotate only the selected object or to create multiple rotated copies of the object The Rotation values allow the user to select the Axis about which the rotation will be made and the angle is the rotation angle counter clockwise is positive The Base Point defines the point about which the rotation will be performed The Use Center button can be used to fill the Base Point data with the center coordinates of the selected objects To preview the changes without applying them click Preview To apply the changes and close the dialog click OK To cancel the changes instead clic
83. ow the steps in the installer to complete the installation process Purchase PyroSim To enable PyroSim beyond the 30 day trial you must purchase a license A full list of purchasing options can be found at the PyroSim web site You can purchase PyroSim online or by phone Online Purchase You can purchase PyroSim online with our secure order form at https www thunderheadeng com pyrosim buy php The order form is encrypted and Thunderhead Engineering will not retain your credit card num ber Once the online transaction has been processed you will receive an order number You can then email or phone Thunderhead Engineering with your order number and site code s and we will respond with your site key s Email is often more convenient because it helps to avoid communication errors in the site code and site key For contact information please refer to the Contact Us section later in this chapter Phone Purchase Simply call Thunderhead and we will be happy to help you with the purchase For contact infor mation please refer to the Contact Us section later in this chapter Software Registration When you purchase a license you will receive a key that enables the software You must enter this key in the Register dialog This dialog also contains your site code which is necessary to generate the site key To access the Register dialog from within PyroSim open the Help menu and click Register If your 30 day trial has expired you can clic
84. r By de fault the sprinkler is initially not active and is triggered only once Location The coordinates of the sprinkler Orientation The components of the direction vector Rotation Normally not used for a sprinkler It could be used to rotate a spray pattern that varies with latitude circumferentially Nozzle Nozzles are very much like sprinklers only they do not activate based on the standard RTI model The can be set to activate by devices 68 Chapter 14 Output Controls In this chapter we describe the simulation output options available in PyroSim Each of these options is located in the Output menu Solid Profiles Solid profiles measure quantities e g temperature density as they extend into solid objects The output file for this measurement device will be named CHID_prof_n where CHID is the job ID and n is the index of the solid profile This output file contains the data necessary to create an animated 2D chart of the quantity as it extends into the object over time PyroSim does not currently support displaying this output file To generate solid profile output on the Output menu click Solid Profiles Each solid profile requires the following parameters Parameter Description ID The name of this solid profile entry X Y Z The coordinates of a point on the face that will be examined by this solid profile ORIENT The direction of the face that wi
85. rid 3 Create an initial wall segment somewhere on the curve 4 In the Model menu click Rotate 5 Select the Copy mode 6 Specify the necessary parameters for the rotation operation In this example the Number of Copies is 15 the Angle is 6 0 degrees and the Base Point is x 32 0 feet y 1 6 5 feet 7 Click Preview to verify that the settings are correct then click OK The curve for this example is shown in Figure 9 5 Rotate Objects Mode O More Copy Number of Copies 15 Rotation As Ange Th 6 00000 Figure 9 5 A curved wall drawn using the rotate technique If we would have created 60 copies instead of 15 this procedure would have created a cylinder While complicated the rotation approach is the most effective at creating complex symmetrical geometry Trusses and Roofs You can create trusses by drawing a single truss out of grid blocks then replicating that truss as many times as needed The following steps show how to create the trusses for an example roof 1 Create a grid This example uses a 10 0m x 10 0m x 10 0m grid with 0 2 meter grid cells 2 Click the 2D View tab 3 On the toolbar click the Front View button 4 On the toolbar select the Draw a Block F tool 5 On the toolbar click the Tool Properties 57 button and set Max Y to 0 2 meters 47 Creating Complex Geometry 6 Turn grid snapping on If snapping is off in the View menu click Snap to Grid 7 Create
86. rovides an alternate way to control the number of particles inserted per second 31 Surfaces Exhaust Exhaust surfaces can be used to remove gas from the simulation domain The specification of their air movement parameters is identical to that of a supply surface but instead of the velocity or flux driving air into the domain they are pulling air out Fan A fan is a special type of surface that more accurately simulates a fan than a supply surface Fans must be attached to a thin obstruction that separates two pressure zones For more information about fans please refer to section 8 3 2 of the FDS users guide Layered Layered surfaces are composed of one or more material definitions Materials include solid and liquid substances such as concrete pine and ethanol For more information about materials and how they can be specified in PyroSim please refer to Chapter 5 This type of surface is ideal for walls and other objects that are composed of real world materials This surface type can also be used to inject extra non reactive species into the simulation Layered surfaces have four groups of options material layers reaction species injection and particle injection The material layers group contains the following options Parameter Description Initial Internal Temperature The initial temperature within this surface Backing The backing of a surface is the boundary condition behind the surf
87. s flux into the do main Background Species Ramp This field allows you to describe how the injection rate ramps up from zero to the specified value Species This value cannot be edited It displays the name of one of the species selected in the Edit Extra Species dialog Mass Fraction Mass Flux The mass fraction of an extra species to inject This option is only available if Inject by Mass Fraction is selected The mass flux of an extra species to inject This option is only available if Inject by Mass Flux is selected Ramp Up Type This field allows you to describe the function used to ramp up the injection rate from zero to the specified value 33 Surfaces Parameter Description Ramp Value The time it takes to achieve the specified injection rate The particle injection parameters for layered surfaces are identical to those for burners 34 Chapter 7 Geometry Basic Concepts PyroSim provides tools to help the user rapidly create model geometry The 2D View is the fastest way to create a building model The user can organize the model by floors import a background image for each floor and then sketch the walls of the building on top of the background image PyroSim includes support for diagonal walls More complex geometry such as curved walls and domes can be created using the Block Tool or Wall Tool as described in the chapter on Creating Complex
88. safety All results should be evaluated by an informed user Throughout this document the mention of computer hardware or commercial software does not constitute endorsement by Thunderhead Engineering nor does it indicate that the products are necessarily those best suited for the intended purpose Acknowledgements We thank Kevin McGrattan Simo Hostikka Jason Floyd Bryan Klein and Glenn Forney in the Building and Fire Research Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland They are the primary authors of the Fire Dynamics Simulator and Smokeview without which PyroSim would not exist They have been gracious in their responses to our many questions Development of PyroSim was originally supported by the National Science Foundation under Grants DMI 0232401 and DMI 0349759 Any opinions findings and conclusions or recom mendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation xi Chapter 1 Getting Started Introduction PyroSim is an interactive graphical user interface or front end for the Fire Dynamics Simula tor FDS FDS models can predict smoke temperature carbon monoxide and other substances during fires The results of these simulations have been used to ensure the safety of buildings before construction evaluate safety options of existing buildings reconstru
89. selected 30 Surfaces untitled Cuy Smokeview 5 0 0 Beta Sep 6 2007 635 545 455 365 275 185 95 0 0 00 gt X Frame 43 Time 9 8 Figure 6 2 A simulation demonstrating affect of the normal axis on the direction of tangential velocity The temperature of the air injected by supply vents can be controlled using the following options Parameter Description Surface Temperature The temperature of the injected air The value TMPA repre sents ambient temperature Convective Heat Flux The heat flux per unit area at the surface Ramp Up Time This field allows you to describe how the temperature ramps up from ambient to the specified value Other Emissivity This parameter is not used for supply surfaces The species injection options are available if the Specify Mass Flux of Individual Species op tion in the Air Flow group is selected and there are extra non reactive species present in the simulation Particle injection options Parameter Description Emit Particles Enable this option to emit particles from the surface Particle Type Select a particle to emit To create a new particle click the Edit Particles button Number of Particles per Cell Controls the number of particles inserted per second A value of 1 will insert one particle per grid block per second Mass Flux For particles that have mass this option p
90. sic Concepts SE Configure Background Image for Floor 7 El 1 Choose image file C Tower tower JPG 2 Set Anchor Point The Anchor Point is a reference point that determines where to place the image in the model To set it make sure the button Choose Anchor Point is selected below and click on the image at the desired anchor location Then enter the coordinates for the corresponding point in the model Choose Anchor Point Model X ft 0 0 Model Y ft 0 0 3 Set Scale The Scale determines how big the image will appear in the model To set the scale find two points in the image that are a known distance apart and use the buttons Choose Point A and Choose Point B to set the two points Then specify their separation in model coordinates below Choose Pont A Use Anchor Dist A to B ft w Image Position 541 067 757 513 Image Brightness Opacity Figure 7 5 Display of background image Now in the 2D View when the user displays a specific floor the background image will be displayed In the 3D View all background images will be displayed To turn off the background images go to the 2D or 3D View and toggle View gt Show Background Images 39 Chapter 8 Tools for Creating Geometry PyroSim is designed to help you interactively create complex geometry The 2D View provides a collection of geometry creation tools These tools allow you to qu
91. st object Inthe 2D View multiple objects can be selected with a click drag motion to define a selection box Once objects have been selected the user can modify the object using the menus Selection can be made in any of the views using the Selection tool Multiple objects can be selected using the Ctrl key or click and drag to define a box In the Navigation View the Shift key can be used to select a consecutive list of objects Context Menus A right click on a selection displays a context menu This menu includes the most common op tions for working with the object The user may also right click on individual objects for imme diate display of the context menu Undo Redo All geometric changes to the model can be undone and redone using the Undo 2 and Redo buttons as well as Ctrl Z and Ctrl Y respectively Copy Paste Select an object to copy then either use Ctrl C or Edit 2 Copy to copy Alternately right click on an object to display the context menu with Copy Either use Ctrl V or Edit gt Paste to paste a copy of the object Alternately right click on an object to display the context menu with Paste Copy Paste from Other Models By running two instances of PyroSim you can copy objects from one model and paste them into a second model If the copied objects rely on other properties such as surfaces that are not 51 Working with Geometry Objects included in the second model these properties will
92. t Solid 4 Click OK After following these steps a default solid material will be created Text entered in the Descrip tion box will not affect the simulation but will preserved in the FDS input file using the FYI field of the material Including a description of the material is recommended The Thermal Properties tab provides the following options Parameter Description Density The material s density Specific Heat The material s specific heat Specific heat can be specified as a function of temperature Conductivity The material s heat conductivity Conductivity can be speci fied as a function of temperature Emissivity The material s emissivity A value of 1 0 indicates that this material will radiate no energy Lower values indicate that the material will radiate more energy Absorption Coefficient This coefficient refers to the depth over which thermal radia tion can be absorbed The Pyrolysis tab provides options to set the heat of combustion and add reactions that will be used to govern how the material burns Each material can have a maximum of 10 reactions To add a reaction click Add This will open a dialog to edit the new reaction It provides the following options On the Rate tab Parameter Description Achieve reaction rate of The reaction rate at a given temperature 24 Materials Parameter Descriptio
93. t parameters indicate the increment to move or offset the copies To preview the changes without applying them click Preview To apply the changes and close the dialog click OK To cancel the changes instead click Cancel 53 Working with Geometry Objects Translate t3 Mode O Move Copy Number of Copies 3 Translate x m z Offset Ft 0 0 0 0 0 0 Selected Border Min 2 75000 9 50000 0 0 Maxi 3 00000 9 75000 1 00000 Figure 10 3 The translate dialog being used to make offset copies of an object Mirror and Copy Dialog The Mirror dialog can be used to mirror an object about a plane or planes Figure 10 4 The Mode selects either the option to mirror only the selected object or to create a mirrored copy of the object The Mirror Plane s define planes normal to the X Y and Z axes about which the object will be mirrored The Use Center button can be used to fill the Mirror Plane data with the center coordinates of the selected objects To preview the changes without applying them click Preview To apply the changes and close the dialog click OK To cancel the changes instead click Cancel Mirror Mode Move O Copy Mirror Plane ft X 2 87500 ae ae Figure 10 4 The mirror dialog being used to make a mirrored copy of an object Scale and Copy Dialog The Scale dialog can be used to change the size of an object Figure 10 5 The Mode selects either the
94. ta for this slice plane Slice files may be viewed in Smokeview by selecting Load Unload gt Slice file To view the vector representation select Load Unload gt Vector slices Boundary Quantities Boundary quantities provide a way to visualize output quantities e g temperature on the walls of every obstruction in the simulation This data can be animated and visualized in Smokeview Figure 14 2 Since the data applies to all surfaces in the simulation no geometric data needs to be specified 70 Output Controls Tuntited COS Smokeview 5 0 0 Beta Sep 6 2007 Figure 14 2 An example of a boundary quantity shown in Smokeview To generate boundary quantity data on the Output menu click Boundary Quantities In the Animated Boundary Quantities dialog you can select each quantity you would like to be available for visualization To view boundary data in Smokeview e g wall temperature right click to open the menu then select Load Unload gt Boundary File gt WALL_TEMPERATURE Isosurfaces Isosurfaces are used to plot the three dimensional contour of gas phase quantities This data can be animated and visualized in Smokeview Figure 14 3 71 Output Controls m untitled JEJE Smokeview 5 0 0 Beta Sep 6 2007 Figure 14 3 An example of an isosurface shown in Smokeview To generate isosurface data on the Output menu click Isosurfaces In
95. tab Incompressible Calculation excludes heat Under the Environment tab External Temperature Under the Particles tab Droplet Insert Interval Under the Particles tab Max Particles per Second All other simulation parameters will be converted to PyroSim 2007 without warnings Note In PyroSim 2007 it is possible to specify both the particle insertion interval and the particle insertion rate on a per particle basis These options are available in the Edit Particles dialog in the Injection tab PyroSim does not automatically apply the global data to these fields Sprinklers and Pipes All correctly specified sprinkler parameters are converted without warnings If a sprinkler has been assigned a massless particle however that sprinkler will be assigned a particle with param eters from the make file and a warning will be issued 81 Opening FDS v4 and PyroSim v2006 Files For FDS 4 sprinkler make files PyroSim has a robust built in parser that can handle both simple and complex spray patterns The only requirement is that referenced make files must exist in the fds folder in the PyroSim install directory PyroSim 2007 ships with the make files provided by NIST for FDS 4 If a file uses another make file place it in this directory before importing or opening the file If there is a dry pipe delay greater than zero PyroSim 2007 will create a single dry pipe with that delay and attach it to all the sprinklers in the mod
96. tch HD Yes Yes Quantity Output Devices Enabled Device Comparison Value Unit Latch HER greater than Jon Yes Custom Figure 7 2 Defining obstruction activation events To configure a time based activation event enter a time in the table and select an activation or deactivation event In this context activating the object will make it appear in the simulation domain and deactivating the object will remove it Time events can be useful to augment the fire simulation with phenomenon that can otherwise not be modeled For example if you know the time at which a window breaks you can cause a pane of glass to be initially present and at a prescribed time remove that pane of glass from the simulation 36 Geometry Basic Concepts If a model contains detector devices or scalar quantity output devices additional options will be available By checking the Enabled box for a detector the activation state of the obstruction will track the activation state of the device Scalar quantity output devices function in a similar way but you must specify a Value trigger for activation The custom option will only be selected if you have imported a model that defines a control function for the current object that is more complicated than those that can be represented by this dialog PyroSim will still write the correct control function to the FDS input file but you will not be able to edit it via the user interface Usi
97. the Animated Isosur faces dialog you can select each quantity you would like to be available for visualization Then you must enter values at which to display that quantity in the Contour Values column If you enter more than one contour value each value must be separated by the semi colon character Once you have finished typing the value press enter To view isosurface data in Smokeview right click to open the menu then select Load Un load gt Isosurface File TEMPERATURE Plot3D Data Plot3D is standard file format and can be used to display 2D contours vector plots and isosur faces in Smokeview Figure 14 4 72 Output Controls fe Cuy Smokeview 5 0 0 Beta plot3d_0004_01 q plot3d 0008 02 q Plot3d aa DAA 9 BK A E a e eie ET TED c ANA Passe se 215 eco epp PED Bod4 8 a a pe ere ee e N Figure 14 4 An velocity Plot3D data shown in Smokeview By default Plot3D data will be generated for the following quantities Heat Release Rate per Unit Volume HRRPUV Temperature U Velocity V Velocity and W Velocity To change the Plot3D output quantities on the Output menu click Plot3D Data In the Plot 3D Static Data Dumps dialog select the output quantities to generate Since FDS supports a maximum of five Plot3D output quantities you must remove some existing quantities to add new ones Statistics Statistics output is an extension of the devices system Yo
98. there were a number of ways for thermally thin sur faces to either specify or omit these parameters These surfaces allowed any one or more of C Delta and Rho to be specified in addition to C Delta Rho PyroSim 2007 will make a best effort calculation of missing parameters For instance if C Delta Rho is specified along with two of the parameters the third will be calculated however if more than one parameter is missing PyroSim will use defaults for up to two of the parameters and calculate the third missing one The default thickness for thermally thin surfaces is set to Imm In all cases where a default number has been assumed due to a missing parameter a warning will be shown for the parameter Where is the Surface Database PyroSim 2007 does not currently ship with a surface database but users can still make their own In fact many different objects can now be put into a database including ma terials and surfaces extra species reactions particles and several more As common surface descriptions and other of these object properties become available from reliable sources in a format supported by version 5 of FDS PyroSim will again ship with a pre filled database 83 References McGrattan and Forney 2005 Kevin McGrattan and Glenn Forney Fire Dynamics Simulator Version 4 User s Guide 2005 U S Government Printing Office Washington DC USA 20402 202 512 1800 NIST Special Publication 1019 McGrattan et al 2007
99. top will cause PyroSim to create a stop file that signals FDS to stop the simulation but also write out a checkpoint file that can be used to resume the simulation later There is often a significant delay between the time when you click the Stop button and when the simulation actually terminates This is because FDS checks for the stop file at the same rate that 1t updates the progress information To immediately terminate the current simulation you can click Kill or close the dialog You will not be able to resume the current simulation Resuming a Simulation To resume a partially completed simulation on the FDS menu click Resume Simulation This will cause an additional RESTART flag to be written to the FDS input file When FDS detects this flag it will automatically attempt to reload the previous execution state from the hard disk 75 Running the Simulation and resume where it left off If FDS is unable to load the previous execution state it will exit with an error Parallel Execution PyroSim includes support to launch a parallel simulation using MPI When running a simulation in parallel all of the computation within each of the grids can take place independently Assum ing a simulation executes in seconds using only one processor the best possible performance improvement using n processors and n grids is a reduction to t n seconds In reality this is not generally possible due to communications overhead and l
100. ts created with this tool will be directly translated into FDS obstruction records To create objects with this tool follow these steps l Click the Draw an Obstruction 4 button 2 Click the Tool Properties 57 button to set the obstruction properties Define the Min Z and Max Z coordinates and Surface Property for the obstruction 3 Position the mouse pointer where you want to begin creating the obstruction then press and hold the left mouse button The mouse coordinates are displayed in the lower left corner of the view to help you accurately place the object 4 Drag the mouse to the opposite corner of your desired obstruction 5 Release the mouse button You can create simple rectangular holes with the Draw a Hole amp tool The hole version of this tool is identical to the obstruction version except it will create FDS hole records 40 Tools for Creating Geometry Walls and Wall Holes You can create walls in PyroSim using the Draw a Wall tool This tool is only available in the Top View 3 Walls can be rotated freely in the top view and are not constrained by the FDS grid To create a wall using the wall tool l Click the Draw a Wall button 2 Click the Tool Properties 57 button to set the wall properties 3 Position the mouse pointer where you want to begin creating the wall then press and hold the left mouse button The mouse coordinates are displayed in the lower left corner of the view to help
101. u can insert a statistics gathering device and it will output data about the minimum maximum and average value of a particular quantity in one or more grids This data can then be viewed in a 2D chart using PyroSim Figure 14 5 L amp Time History Plots Jon Export GRID_MAX_TEMPERATURE 3x00 295000 200 E o gon 00 200 400 em am 1000 1200 Time 3 Figure 14 5 An example of an isosurface shown in Smokeview 73 Output Controls To generate statistics data for one or more grids on the Output menu click Statistics then click New The following options are available Parameter Description Quantity The quantity that will be measured This value is set when you create the statistics entry and cannot be modified Mean Select this option to output the average value of the measured quantity over time in a grid Minimum Select this option to output the minimum value of the mea sured quantity over time in a grid Maximum Select this option to output the maximum value of the mea sured quantity over time in a grid Recording Grids Select each grid for which you would like to output this statis tical data The output file for measurement devices will be named CHID_devc csv where CHID is the job ID Note When using statistics data it is important to consider nuances of FDS s numerical solver For instance the minimum statistic is s
102. ult reaction behavior for this surface and specify the following parameters Heat Release Rate The heat release rate per unit area of this surface Mass Loss Rate The mass loss rate per unit area of this surface Ramp Up Time This field allows you to describe how the heat release ramps up from ambient to the specified value Extinguishing Coefficient This parameter governs the suppression of the fire by wa ter For more information see section 10 7 of the FDS users guide Burn Immediately Select this option to create a surface that is initially burning Ignite at Select this option to create a surface that will begin burning at a specified temperature Heat of Vaporization Heat yield when this fuel is converted to gas Allow burn away Surfaces of this type can be removed from the simulation af ter expending all available fuel You can inject extra non reactive species into the simulation using the species injection options To use these options you must first specify extra species using the Edit Extra Species dialog You can edit the following extra species options Parameter Description Inject by Mass Fraction Select this option to specify species injection using mass frac tions Inject by Mass Flux Select this option to specify species injection using mass flux Mass Flux of Background Species The background species default ATR mas
103. w menu click Set Sketch Grid Spacing 2 Enter the distance you want between each point on the sketch grid and click OK To toggle the grid display on the View menu click Show Grid To toggle the Snap to Points on the View menu click Show Snap to Points To toggle cursor snapping to grid points on the View menu click Snap to Grid Modeling Hint In FDS the spatial resolution of the solution is defined by the solution mesh es not the Sketch Grid Using the solution mesh for 2D View drawing ensures that the model ge ometry matches the FDS solution geometry and is the recommended approach Some users cre ate all model objects using mesh dimensions While this leads to a blocky appearance it does represent the true solution geometry and ensures there will be no unexpected gaps in the model 23 Chapter 5 Materials To simulate a surface made of heat conducting solids or a fuel you must specify a material that describes certain thermal properties and pyrolysis behavior PyroSim offers two categories of materials solid materials and liquid fuels To create a new material you can use the Edit Materials dialog On the Model menu click Edit Materials Solid Materials Examples of solid materials include brick gypsum board and upholstery To create a solid ma terial 1 In the Edit Materials dialog click New 2 In the Material Name box type the name of the new material 3 In the Material Type box selec
104. you accurately place the object 4 Drag the mouse to the end point of the wall 5 Release the mouse button Walls have an associated thickness property When you create a wall you are positioning either the two internal or two external corners not the centerline To toggle the direction that the width of the wall extends press the SHIFT key while creating the wall If you release the SHIFT key before you have completed the wall the thickness direction will return to its default setting PyroSim will automatically convert walls into grid based FDS objects when required If you have created a diagonal wall and want to preview the obstructions that will be created for FDS make sure there is a grid around the wall and click View then select Preview as Blocks You can create holes in the same manner as walls using the Draw a Wall Hole tool The hole version of this tool is identical to the solid version except it will create holes rather than solid geometry Blocks and Block Holes You can fill individual grid blocks using the Draw a Block F tool To create blocks using this tool simply click a grid cell you would like to fill You can also click and drag the mouse across the grid to paint grid blocks The obstructions created with this tool will be the size of the grid cells shown in the current view The depth of the cells will not necessarily be the depth of a cell in the current grid however The depth and other options for this t
105. yroSim 2007 can import records intended for version 4 of FDS that PyroSim 2006 could not This is because PyroSim 2007 supports a broader range of FDS features than the previous version Examples of previously unsupported version 4 features that can now be imported include solid phase thermocouples and extra species The process for converting PSM files and FDS input files is identical PyroSim first loads the data into a form designed to work with version 4 of FDS then applies conversion logic to pro duce the corresponding data structures designed to work with version 5 of FDS When PyroSim encounters a record that cannot be automatically converted a warning message is generated Each warning contains information about the source of the problematic record and the action taken Some records are simply dropped and others are converted to default values If a record is encountered that cannot be converted but contained only default values and would not have affected the simulation that record is dropped without issuing a warning Great care was taken to ensure that PyroSim generates these warnings whenever they contain important information but not so often that they distract from important issues When in question PyroSim will err on the side of caution and generate a warning message An example of this warning dialog is shown in Figure A 1 Ifno warning dialog appears PyroSim was able to convert the input file without encountering any compatibility
106. z an Object u s eese Ede NEEN 52 Translating Dragging Objects in 2D View sss 52 Rotating Objects in 2D View ci deter et e e derit erred 53 Translate and Copy Dialog doors ret dore dee taria ed 53 Mirror and Copy Dialog AAA 54 Scale and Copy Dialog sssrin tre nnar otii tete Ier e eee i ale eoe sedes e Ugo to epo ae bi 54 Rotate and Copy Dialog eee m ae Re e eite 55 Display Only Selected Objects eret NEE Eee P Lege et cs 56 Tel Reactions tes 57 Mixture Fraction Combustion sa esser ae NEE ena SANAE A E Eia E ER ENAERE NES 57 12 Particles A EE dee O E a E 60 Massless Tracers ER TERT TE E TU T 60 Water Droplets gs eee ee oe YER Rete de ease ete eee 60 Fuel Droplets 1 5 e ote et edi egeta e etes get e eae Fe goo Pee debe ee mede Pre decdda 62 Global Parameters EE 62 EN du Ec 63 Aspiration Detection Systems c 0ooococonononocononononono nono nononono nono nonono nono no nono no nono nononanononanos 63 Gas and Solid Phase Devices esses enne en enhn enne enne 64 Thermocouple srao eme eek eme tte eee eee eese EE 64 Flow Measurement cationes 65 Heat Release Rate Device nrerin EAA EE TAS EER E E 65 layer Zoning Device 3 toi bte egene i 66 Path Obscuration Beam Detector Device ocooonnnccococoncncnnconnnnnnconnnonnnonnnnonccnnnnnnioss 66 Heat Detector Device iio Ce Zeen 66 Smoke Detector DEVICE cicle ee s Me EOD Mee dd Maas 67 ei UNN 67 Nozzle EN 68 IERT EE 69 SO Profil A ee Feeds x

PyroSim User Manual 2007.2

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