An International Survey of Computer Models for Fire and Smoke

At the request of the Forum for International Cooperation on Fire Research, a worldwide survey was conducted of operational computer programs relevant to fire protection. A total of 62 programs, from 10 countries, were identified, and include compartment fire models, fire-sprinkler interaction models, and submodels for fire endurance, building evacuation, thermal detector actuation, fire spread on a wall, and smoke movement. These are listed, plus 12 additional models, including models from three additional coun tries. Then a general discussion is provided of the difficulties in achieving an accurate model of a growing fire in an enclosure, and of assessing the accuracy of a given model.