Reason Mag Q1 2014 Seite 24

Hinweis: Dies ist eine maschinenlesbare No-Flash Ansicht.
Klicken Sie hier um zur Online-Version zu gelangen.

Inhalt

The software integrates key physi cal models relating to uid mechanics heat transfer combustion and multiphase ows The model is the rst to incorporate the complex relationship between re and water when a re suppression system is activated It can predict the impact a re suppression system will have on a re s fuel source and on the re s growth allow ing FM Global to make more accurate re protection recommendations The software takes advantage of advances in mathematics modeling and computing including modern object ori ented code structure multi physics model ing approaches unstructured meshing and parallel computing The software can create accurate and robust simulations in the areas of re growth material ammability and re suppression The project was launched in 2008 by FM Global s Dr Sergey Dorofeev research area director re hazards and protection He saw modeling as an important comple ment to the large scale re testing research FM Global has always done Modeling allows FM Global to design better large scale sprinkler protection tests Simulating multiple scenarios using differ ent protection schemes water supply pres sures and sprinkler con gurations sizes and locations would point FM Global research ers toward the optimum protection con gurations for various stored commodities Large scale tests could then be performed to validate the protection concept Modeling also addresses some of the limitations of large scale tests such as applying the test results to variations in the storage scenarios It can be used for example to simulate a test with a taller storage rack or a scenario where the re starts in a different location These simulations greatly expand the applicability of the knowledge gained through large scale re tests The result is fewer large scale tests transferrable data and more reliable re pro tection recommendations helping FM Global clients reduce risk Fire modeling won t replace re test ing explains Dorofeev It will allow us to develop a better test learn more from the test results and apply those results to a wider range of re scenarios But developing such a model was a daunting task Fire itself and the interaction of water and re are so complex Dorofeev expected it would take decades to create an effective model He set a ve year stra tegic goal of developing FM Global s re model with a level of predictive capabilities that would allow FM Global to reduce its reliance on large scale re testing in re protection engineering With this practical ve year goal he began assembling a team of researchers to do the work In research ve years is an eternity explains Dr Karl Meredith the technical team leader in re modeling who joined FM Global as a senior research scientist to work on this project Researchers usu ally work on grants that last six months or a year It was impressive that FM Global had the foresight into the effort that would be involved and dedicated the resources needed for this kind of effort Professionally it was exciting to come here and work on a project like this Dorofeev also wanted to tap the knowledge expertise and enthusiasm of the academic world and embraced an open source modeling framework This allowed researchers from around the world to con tribute as well as bene t from the research being done He coordinated his team s efforts with the work already being performed at the University of Maryland USA Kingston University in London U K the University of Edinburgh in Scotland Ghent Univer sity in Belgium and Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts USA Indus try and governmental labs including San dia National Laboratories in New Mexico USA and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee USA also contributed to the project We decided to create the model open source so we could leverage our effort and develop the science Dorofeev said We needed to understand the physics of the phe nomena involved use prior knowledge and study the key ingredients that needed to be in the models By making it open source we could turn to universities and industry for their insights It gives everyone a chance to contribute and certainly gets everyone excited about working on it The open source effort has led to the annual Open Source Fire Modeling Work shop in Norwood Mass USA The event brings leading re modeling researchers and scientists together for two days of work shops and presentations Last year attendees came from ve countries and included rep resentatives from Shell Research the U S Federal Aviation Administration and eight universities Attendees participate in work shops detailing the latest research being done at FM Global and advances made in re modeling around the world Rack Storage Protection The re modeling Dorofeev envisioned would require an unprecedented amount Fire modeling won t replace fire testing It will allow us to develop a better test learn more from the test results and apply those results to a wider range of fire scenarios Dr Sergey Dorofeev RESEARCH AREA DIRECTOR FIRE HAZARDS AND PROTECTION 24 Reason ISSUE 1 2014 theSCIENCE