News

The aim of the paper is to carry out a comparison with and without platform screen doors in terms of evacuation conditions during a fire event. This way, it is possible to quantify and compare visibility, temperature, CO concentration and other variables in the evacuation routes. Read More...

This paper outlines a method for using Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) for modeling smoke dispersal analyses (SDA) in urban and suburban areas, setting up wind parameters and determining wind effects on exhausting tunnel smoke from underground ventilation shafts. Read More...

Pathfinder 2018.3 will include basic monte carlo simulation tools to automate multiple simulations where the initial positions and properties of occupants are randomized. This post demonstrates this capability. Read More...

FEMTC 2018 event registration and hotel reservation links are online. Accepted presentations are now listed on the webpage and there will be a NIST NFRL tour option available on day 3. Read More...

Leakage refers to the air that escapes through small gaps as a compartment is pressurized by a fire. Pressure zones can be used to model this effect. Read More...

PyroSim version 2018.2 will support complex stoichiometry in the user interface. Previously, PyroSim supported the FDS single-fuel, "simple chemistry" combustion model but complex stoichiometry required some manual input by the user. This post demonstrates how the new user interface capability can be used to represent multiple fuels and other complex reactions. If you would like to test this beta version, contact support@thunderheadeng.com.  Read More...

Human reaction to a fire situation in buildings depends on the characteristics of each individual, of the building and the actual emergency situation. To minimize the consequences of an emergency fire situation in a building, it is important to have a safe, orderly and rapid evacuation. For this purpose, the occupants should be trained to respond in an appropriate way. Therefore, it is necessary to assess whether simulacrums or fire drills are effective or not. Read More...

As of Pathfinder 2018.2, Behaviors can now dynamically change from one to another throughout the simulation. The new Change Behavior step allows the user to define a progression to one of the other Behaviors defined in the model. Read More...

Thunderhead Engineering is hosting the 4th Fire and Evacuation Modeling Technical Conference (FEMTC) on October 1-3, 2018 in Gaithersburg, MD. We have planned two and a half days of technical presentations on fire and evacuation modeling. Read More...

This release includes bug fixes and improves boundary vent visualization in Results. Read More...