FSEG NEWS

(A) Research News
(B) Software News
(D) News Archive

(A) Research News: back

This section lists all news concerning FSEG staff and their research activities.

[01/01/2009] FSEG RATED ‘WORLD LEADING’ BY PEERS IN RAE 2008

The results of the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE2008) confirm that the Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) of the University of Greenwich is one of the top research groups in the UK in the area of Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering (UoA 28).   FSEG was part of the Centre for Numerical Modelling and Process Analysis (CNMPA) submission to UoA 28.  RAE2008 rated 70% of the submission in the highest two research quality categories, with 30% rated as ‘world leading’ and 40% rated as ‘internationally excellent’.

In the most respected RAE 2008 league table compiled by the Times Higher Education (18th December 2008), the CNMPA submission produced a grade point average of 2.95, placing CNMPA 4th out of the 33 submissions from 32 institutions.  Its 4th place meant that the group was placed higher than 12 of the research intensive Russell Group Universities.   With 30% of its submission rated at the highest quality rating of ‘world leading’, the quality of the CNMPA work was equal to that of Imperial and Sheffield, the top two rated universities.  The average volume of work classified as ‘world leading’ for the area of Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering by the assessment panel was only 17%.

CNMPA SCORE PROFILE:
The work of CNMPA was judged as:

Category 4* - World Leading – 30%
Category 3* - Internationally Excellent – 40%
Category 2* - Recognised Internationally – 25%
Category 1* - Recognised Nationally – 5%
Unclassified – Quality that falls short of National Recognised – 0%

See Press Release for further details.

[14/10/2008] FSEG STAFF AWARDED SFPE BONO AWARD FOR 2008

Hui Xie, Lazaros Filippidis, Dr Steven Gwynne, Prof Ed Galea, Darren Blackshields and Dr Peter Lawrence from FSEG  have won the 2008 Jack Bono Engineering Communication Award from the US based Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE). The award was made for their recent research paper entitled:

"Signage Legibility Distances as a Function of Observation Angle"

The paper was published in the SFPE Journal of Fire Protection Engineering in 2007 (Vol 17, No.1, pages 41-64). SFPE press release can be found at:http://www.sfpe.org/upload/081014_--_bono_award_2008.pdf

FSEG press release can be found at: http://fseg.gre.ac.uk/fire/fseg_press_releases.asp
 

From left to right, Mr Dave Evans SFPE Executive Director, Prof Ed Galea and Dr Steve Gwynne, two of the Bono award winners following the award paper presentation by Prof Ed Galea at the SFPE annual meeting Charlotte NC, 14 October 2008.

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(B) Software News: back

This section lists all news concerning FSEG software products.

[01/09/2004] SMARTFIRE VERSION 4.0 IS NOW AVAILABLE.

• New Scenario Designer tool provides a semi-automated graphical environment for the import of CAD (DXF) drawings for the creation of SMARTFIRE modelling scenarios from building floor plans.
• A Parallel Computing capability has been introduced into SMARTFIRE (using MPI) that makes use of networked PC workstation clusters with domain decomposition to speed up the solution process.
• A semi-automatic Link to the EXODUS evacuation modelling software enabling coupling of fire field model data with evacuation analysis has been developed.
• An Interactive Visualizer has been added to the SMARTFIRE CFD Engine. This tool allows a 2D visualisation plane to be viewed within the context of the geometry and the whole scene can be rotated, zoomed or shifted under mouse control.
• A new Post Processing Visualisation and Animation Package (named SMARTFIRE “DataView”) has been developed and is included with SMARTFIRE.
• New Data Output Formats supported for third part post processing packages. MayaVi (freeware) supported for "snapshot" saves AND incremental saves. TecPlot (commercial) supported for "snapshot" saves. Ensight-6 and -Gold (commercial) supported for "snapshot" saves.
• Porosity Objects (for faces and volumes) have been added to enable more realistic handling of partial blockages.

Improved SMARTFIRE features include:

• Gaseous combustion model now has partial oxygen sensitivity added. Formerly the Gaseous combustion model did not use the oxygen concentration to limit the rate of combustion. The model is not yet capable of handling fire extinction but this feature and other enhancements are currently being researched.
• The multiple ray radiation model has been optimised so that it performs faster when there are only very minor changes in temperature.
• The automated meshing system has been enhanced with more powerful quality assessment and adjustment routines. The user can now choose to check the quality and the system will much more selectively choose to add cells only where they are actually needed (and be beneficial) rather than the former approach of a brute force increase of the directional cell budget to try and fix the problematic cells.
• Multiple planar-visualisation windows are now fully supported by the SMARTFIRE CFD Engine, including image saves.
• Three solution optimisation strategies have been included in the SMARTFIRE CFD Engine.
• Monitor points now have enhanced handling so that multiple monitor points can be defined.
• Many of the objects available in the Case Specification Environment now have temporal or solution controlled activation/de-activation. This means that, for example, a thin plate object (representing a closed door or window) can be removed from a simulation at a particular time OR if a particular solution condition is detected. This is a very powerful feature that enables such research as secondary ignition of fire sources, opening and closing of vents, baffles, doors and windows, and the activation or deactivation of fans or inlets.

[10/03/2004] buildingEXODUS V4.0 and vrEXODUS V4.0 ARE NOW AVAILABLE!

• New features designed to extend the capabilities of the software in the area of non-emergency circulation applications.
      
• New features to determine the Visibility Catchment Area associated with signage.
      
• New behavioural features to include congestion avoidance and exit selection.
      
• A link to the SMARTFIRE CFD fire simulation software.
      
• Extending the toxicity models within EXODUS to include the impact of irritant fire gases.
      
• Numerous improvements to the user interface e.g. editable toolbars.

A list of modifications found in version 4.0 is provided below.

NEW FEATURES

New features and improved functionality has been added to all buildingEXODUS modes.

User Interface

-        Navigation window
-        Data output and status window
-        Improved and editable toolbar
-        Right mouse click menu

Geometry Mode

-        Minimising boundary lines
-        Target points

Population Mode

-        Population selection box
-        Itinerary selection control
-        Naming of itineraries
-        Assignation of populations to source nodes
-        Range substitute for attributes relating to the current population

Scenario Mode

-        Data file link to the SMARTFIRE CFD fire simulation software
-        Updated link to CFAST V5.0.

Behaviour and Simulation

-        Source nodes, enabling the user to dynamically generate individuals during the simulation
-        Redirection nodes, enabling the user to influence the route adopted by an individual
-        Direction nodes, restricting the access of evacuees
-        Compartment zones, enabling the control of the response of whole areas of the geometry
-        Irritant model, representing the impact of irritant products upon the population
-        Metered internal door flow, allowing one person at a time to use an access point
-        New gate unit flow rate
-        Signage and visibility catchment areas, allowing information to be relayed to the evacuees through the provision of signs
-        Local familiarity with all main exits
-        Avoid congestion during general movement, causing the population to distribute themselves more naturally during movement
-        Maximum simulation time, allowing the simulation to be ended at a pre-determined point
-        Avoidance of exit congestion, enabling evacuees to determine exit selection according to the levels of congestion evident at particular exits
-        Maintenance the angle of movement, minimising erratic movement of the evacuating population.

Data and Statistics Collection

-        Census lines, enabling a variety of data to be collected in a more flexible manner
-        Additional run time statistics for census regions
-        Additional information on internal doors
-        Optimum exit statistic

buildingEXODUS output to vrEXODUS

-        Ability to select regions for output to vrEXODUS

With the release of maritimeEXODUS V4.0, maritimeEXODUS maintains its full compliance with the IMO requirements as set out in MSC circular 1033 and in addition, maritimeEXODUS incorporates several new  features. 

NEW FEATURES:

New Behavioural and Geometrical Features:
The release of version 4.0 of maritimeEXODUS incorporates a number of significant fundamental new capabilities.  These concern the representation of:
-    Water Tight Doors,
-    Hatches,
-    60 Degree Stairs and
-    Vertical Ladders. 

These additions not only allow the geometrical representation of these features but also include performance and behavioural additions associated with “trained” crew and “naïve” passengers under conditions of heel and trim. Associated with these new capabilities are data-sets derived from experimental trials commissioned by the UK MoD specifically for the development of these features.  These new capabilities allow maritimeEXODUS to more accurately address scenarios associated with naval vessels and off-shore facilities.   Finally, the vrEXODUS software has also been enhanced to better represent these new capabilities.

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