Titolo presentazione

Sicurezza Antincendio
sottotitolo
Introduction to CFD and FDS
Milano, XX mese 20XX
Prof. Marco Mehl
Prof. Marco Derudi
 Fire dynamics modeling

Modeling of fires dynamics and

consequences in confined environments
• Complex Geometry
obstacles, boundary conditions
(wall/atmosphere), terrain,
fire location

• Ventilation
natural/mechanical, critical velocity,
backlayering

• Smoke and pollutants dispersion

Marco Derudi, CMIC Dept. 2

 CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)

• At some point in time, the number of equations and

complexity of the zone model reach a point where it may be
better to use a CFD code
– For example:
• Very large buildings or tall atria
• Detailed wall heat transfer calculations
• Radiation transfer for flame spread
• Sprinkler suppression

• As we will see, just because we are using a CFD code

does not mean we have the right (correct) answer!

Marco Derudi, CMIC Dept. 3

 CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)

• Solve conservation equations over a large number of control

volumes
• Navier-Stokes equations
• Field equations
• The big problem…
– Combustion time scales down to 10-3 – 10-6 seconds
– Length scales down to 10-6 m
– But our problem dimensions are in 10’s of meters and minutes
– Computer resources not (yet) ready

Marco Derudi, CMIC Dept. 4

 Field models

Marco Derudi, CMIC Dept. 5

 Modeling approach

 NAVIER-STOKES equations
 Two-gas-layers
for low velocity fields,
assumption
thermally-driven fluids;
Moving interface
Energy, Species
 ODE system
 Turbulence modeling: LES
 User-defined heat
 PDE systems – numerical
source / combustion
solution
products input
 SUBMODELS for combustion,
 Geometrical and
radiation, soot formation
physical limitations
(elongated spaces)  Meshing strategies:
interaction with graphical
software
APPROXIMATION vs ACCURACY
Marco Derudi, CMIC Dept. 6
 Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS)
Marco Derudi, CMIC Dept.
FDS
 NAVIER-STOKES equations
for low velocity fields,
thermally-driven fluids;
Energy, Species
 Turbulence modeling: LES
 PDE systems – numerical
solution
 SUBMODELS for combustion,
radiation, soot formation
 Geometry and grid: interaction
with graphical tools &
software (Blender &
BlenderFDS)
7
 LES – Large Eddy Simulation

Marco Derudi, CMIC Dept. 8

 Fire Dynamic Simulator (FDS)

https://pages.nist.gov/fds-smv/downloads.html

Marco Derudi, CMIC Dept. 9

 Discretization

• Discretization = divide the

area of interest (domain) into
many control volumes
• Type of discretization can
have a big impact on how
the equations are solved
• Solving conservation
equations only at a limited
number of points

Marco Derudi, CMIC Dept. 10

 Computational grid (mesh)

Marco Derudi, CMIC Dept. 11

 Graphical pre-processor (BlenderFDS)

Oprimal Grid Size Ma and Quintiere (2003)

2
 .
5
Q
max( x,  y,  z )     
  c pT g 
 

Marco Derudi, CMIC Dept. 12

 FDS – Structured grid

Marco Derudi, CMIC Dept. 13

 CFD – Unstructured grid

Marco Derudi, CMIC Dept. 14

 Closure models

Closure model = a simplification to

allow solution of the conservation
equations
– Discretization not small enough
for all fire physics
– Models sub-grid scale physics
– Computationally expensive
• Radiation transfer
– Radiation properties
• Combustion
– Soot production
• Turbulence
– This is the big one!

Marco Derudi, CMIC Dept. 15

 Turbulence models

• Model Reynolds “apparent” stresses

• κ-ε turbulence model
– Strategy is to solve time averaged Navier-Stokes
equations
– Conservation equations for turbulent kinetic energy,
κ, and dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy, ε
– Very common in current codes
– There are a number of well documented problems
with this model
• Unfortunately many of them are not related to fire
issues

Marco Derudi, CMIC Dept. 16

 More detailed turbulence models

Large eddy simulation

– FDS (Fire Dynamics Simulator) uses Large eddy simulation
– Solve a simplified form of Navier Stokes equations (Ma<0.3)
– Solves large eddies directly
– Only model turbulence on scales less than grid
• Artificial fluid viscosity to dissipate remaining energy
• Things tend to be more uniform at this scale, thus
(somewhat) easier to model correctly
Direct numerical simulation (give a few years)
– Grid (discretization) fine enough to calculate important flow
features
– 2D calculations and low Re number 3D

Marco Derudi, CMIC Dept. 17

 Finite volume radiation transfer

• Integrations for each direction and for all wavelengths

– Computationally expensive

Marco Derudi, CMIC Dept. 18

 Computational domain extends beyond the room of interest

Marco Derudi, CMIC Dept. 19

 FDS validation

Steckler et al, NBS

 Steckler Room Fire Tests Publications, 1982
(2.8 x 2.8 x 2.18 m3)

HRR

overprediction underprediction

Marco Derudi, CMIC Dept. 20

 FDS vs CFAST

 ENCLOSURE FIRES
Steckler et al, NBS
Publications, 1982 A

C
 TUNNEL FIRES

Marco Derudi, CMIC Dept. 21

 Competent use of CFD models

• Characterization of Fire
– Heat source versus combustion source
– Fire plume temperature and flame height
• Grid design and solution convergence
• 2D versus 3D solution
• See Manuals and Best Practice Guidelines available
• See Online repositories and forums…

Marco Derudi, CMIC Dept. 22

 Summary on CFD

Conservation equations based on first principles:

– Offers a universal modeling tool
Developed for wide range of problems including:
– indoor air movement, smoke movement, flame
spread, fire resistance furnace, atmospheric
dispersion
More complex than simple engineering correlations and
zone models:
– Increased chance for misuse
– Input becoming much easier – so it is possible to
run CFD codes with no knowledge of CFD!

Marco Derudi, CMIC Dept. 23

 Summary on CFD

Powerful tool if in right hands

Requires significant education

Requires proper simulation of physical and chemical

processes with appropriate initial and boundary conditions

Still solving conservation equations at a limited number of

points

Realistic treatment of fire source is important Validation!

Marco Derudi, CMIC Dept. 24

 Using fire models

“Given” a scenario
Complexity depends on model being used
– Geometry
– Develop input data set
• room dimensions
• door, window, other vent locations
Physics and chemistry
– material properties
– fuel characteristics
Most importantly, the (input) fire

Marco Derudi, CMIC Dept. 25

 Looking at the results

Do the predictions make sense?

Anything with flame temperature greater than 1300oC should be
examined closely
Compare the predictions of flame, flame height, and plume
entrainment with empirical correlations

There is no One answer:

– The user must give a range of likely answers;
– This means for every problem, the user must do sensitivity
analyses involving many runs.
Rule of thumb:
– Zone model, most simple problems: 15-30 runs;
– Zone model, more complicated 30-100 runs;
– Probably fewer, but still many for CFD.

Marco Derudi, CMIC Dept. 26

 How good are your results?

Uncertainty Analysis
– Single point representation of a distribution
– Accounting for “unknown randomness”

Sensitivity Analysis
– How much does the result change when an input
parameter value is changed?
– Ideally, check all “assumed” input parameters, but
practically difficult
– What are the significant assumed input parameter
values?

Marco Derudi, CMIC Dept. 27