ABSTRACT
The recent emergence of performance-based regulations for fire safety and the increased complexity of building design have led to a dramatic increase in the use of computer modeling of smoke and heat movement in buildings. To apply these programs correctly, the user must sufficiently understand the basis of the models to assess the accuracy and validity of the results. This chapter will provide a general discussion on the types of computer models used in fire safety engineering design. The main part of the chapter will deal with the so-called two-zone models, since this is the model type most frequently used in fire safety engineering design for smoke and heat movement. A more general discussion will then be given on the so-called CFD models, which allow much more detailed modeling of enclosure fires at the cost of complexity and economy. A vast number of computer programs for this purpose exist, and many such programs are available at little or no cost on the Internet; a final section of the chapter gives a list of Internet addresses where programs are available.
