SBIR-STTR Award

This SBIR project will develop an integrated fire modeling software package for use in building design and accident analysis. Modeling fires using a rigorous, scientific approach makes it possible to predict the course of an evolving fire and its impact on the building occupants, contents, and structure. The software will help designers implement new fire safety codes and standards that allow the use of Performance-Based design as an alternative to Rule-Based design. Performance-based design and post-accident analysis offer the potential to reduce injury, loss of life, property damage, and the overall cost of constructing and maintaining buildings through advanced technology. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) computer program. FDS is research-oriented software with text-based input that is difficult to use for large-scale commercial applications. This project will integrate the FDS computation engine with an interactive, graphical interface for model setup and visualization, making the power of FDS accessible to a broader fire safety community and facilitating responsible engineering solutions. Potential markets include investigators performing post-accident analyses, architects and fire protection engineers designing the next generation of buildings, and local, state, and national authorities having jurisdiction (fire safety regulators). Applications also exist for wind-driven fire analysis, including tank-farm incidents and wildland fires. In addition to software sales, there is also an opportunity to provide training in performance-based design and analysis

This Small Business Innovation Research project will develop an integrated fire modeling software package for use in building design and accident analysis. This will increase public safety by providing widespread access to state-of-the-art fire simulation. Modeling fires using a rigorous scientific approach makes it possible to predict the course of an evolving fire and its impact on the building occupants, contents, and structure. The software will help designers implement new fire safety codes and standards that allow the use of Performance-Based design as an alternative to Rule-Based design. Performance-based design and post-accident analysis offer the potential to reduce injury, loss of life, property damage, and the overall cost of constructing and maintaining buildings through advanced technology. This project will accelerate the introduction of new fire simulation technology into the fire safety industry. In the United States, the total cost of fires is over $100 billion annually, with a loss of more than 4,000 lives. Driven by the availability of the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) from NIST and new performance-based fire safety standards, the fire safety industry is responding to these costs by adopting greater use of fire simulation. As a result, there is an emerging market for fire simulation software that is powerful, yet easy to use. The potential market includes fire safety engineers (design), companies involved in accident review and litigation, Authorities Having Jurisdiction (regulation), and fire service personnel (suppression and investigation).