CFD Case Studies

Station nightclub structural fire incident

The FlogoCFD system was tested by performing a simulation of the Station Nightclub structural fire incident, which took place at 211 Cowesett Avenue, West Warwick, Rhode Island on the night of Feb. 20, 2003. The specific event is considered to be a benchmark simulation scenario as it was one of the most lethal and well-studied fire accidents.

During the performance of a band on a platform, pyrotechnics were used and ignited by accident the polyurethane foam insulation lining of the walls and the ceiling of the platform. The materials with relatively low ignition energy and high flame propagation speed enabled the fire spread quickly along the walls and ceiling area over the dance floor. Smoke was visible in the exit doorways in a little more than one minute, and flames were observed breaking through a portion of the roof in less than five minutes. No Sprinkler devices were installed.

CFD model generation from IFC (BIM)

The CFD model is extracted by the BIM model of the building. The model contains:

  • Rooms/spaces
  • Walls and building elements (doors, windows etc.)
  • HVAC components
  • Fire protection systems (sprinklers)
  • Building element IDs and properties. They are enhanced with the required properties (eg, flammability, HRR, operating state) for fire simulation.

BIM model of the nightclub (3D view)

BIM model of the nightclub

Generated IFC model

Numerical Model Generation

  • Model export to CFD Modeling Tool (FIDES-WinTUBE)
  • Model simplifications for CFD simulations
  • Model and scenario data import into WinTUBE
  • Numerical mesh generation and imposition of suitable boundary conditions
  • The model is ready for CFD simulation

FIDES-Modeler model generation

FIDES-WinTUBE Numerical surface mesh

Numerical mesh

Total Simulation Time: 350 sec

dT: 0.01 sec

Materials:

  • Polyurethane Foam
  • Carpets
  • Gypsum plaster boards
  • Wood for furniture

Indoor fire simulation - Temperature evolution

Evaluation of the results/metrics to estimate the risk related to human safety criteria

Critical time levels, d. H. when the capacity limits are exceeded, overloading, etc. occurs

Graphical Representation of regions where tenability criteria are exceeded

Graphical representation of regions in which the admissible criteria have been exceeded d. H.

T> 60oC, T> 120oC, VIS<2.5m at H = 1.70

Comparison with accident reports (NIST) and other numerical methods:

FlogoCFD

NIST

Smartfire

Total HRR at t=150sec

~50MW

~50MW

~50MW

Temperature & Visibility evolution

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