Creating a user interface for a fire simulator

• Main Author: Hubert, Jashini
• Other Authors: Huang Shell Ying
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2021
• Subjects: Engineering::Computer science and engineering
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/148017
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Modelling of fire spread in buildings can be done using the Bayesian Network model, Dynamic Bayesian Network model, Epidemic fire spread models or Percolation process, among others. In this project, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Fire Dynamic Simulator – Smokeview (FDS-SMV) simulator was chosen to be the main focus. The NIST FDS-SMV simulator can be used to simulate the spread of fire in different environments. The simulator requires an input file with parameters which can be used to represent the elements within the environment. There can be many possible parameters within an input file depending on the type of environment that needs to be simulated, where some parameters are more commonly used than others. The more commonly used parameters was determined by looking through the sample input files provided by NIST and by reading through the FDS User Guide provided by NIST [1]. FdsWare is a desktop application that is created using Java and uses MySQL as the database, which is hosted on a local server. It can be used to fill in the more commonly used parameters using a Graphical User Interface (GUI) rather than typing out the entire input file manually, thus saving time. It is able to support multiple runs, which decreases the total number of lines written in the input file. The input file can be saved to the user’s system and be used to run in the FDS-SMV simulator. From the output files generated after the simulation has successfully completed, the Heat Release Rate (HRR) against time will be plotted for each run. This can then be used to find the optimum scenario in which the mean HRR would be the lowest. FdsWare would be especially useful when a simulation requires certain variables to be changed across various runs. For example, if the size and position of an obstruction needs to be changed across multiple runs, FdsWare is able to accept multiple values for the obstruction within one input file. It would then generate multiple input files and run each file one after another automatically in the FDS-SMV simulator. This is more ideal compared to the user creating multiple input files with different values in each file and then running the file one after another manually in the FDS-SMV simulator.