FDS Beta Test Update

["Kevin McGrattan" <kevin.mcgrattan@nist.gov>]

All

It has been a very productive summer for us preparing a new version of FDS for release.  Our thanks to all of you who have 
contributed to the beta testing.  You've done a great job.  In fact, too good.  Some of the algorithms that are not used as much for 
day to day fire protection engineering have been exercised far more than they normally would.  In particular, a number of you have 
identified problems related to evaporating droplets.  Originally, the algorithm describing the mass and energy transfer between 
droplets and hot gases and/or hot walls was designed for sprinkler applications, but has evolved over the years to encompass fuel 
droplets and vegetation.  Thus, some of the basic assumptions have to be re-evaluated.

There are various other problems besides droplets that we are working out.  We hope to be ready for an official release by the end 
of August.  In the meantime, we'd still like to hear from many of you who have not participated in the beta testing.  So far, most 
of our feedback is coming from Europe and Asia.  We do appreciate that it takes time and money to run calculations that are not 
necessarily tied to a billable project, and we do appreciate the fact that the changes in the input file make it difficult to just 
re-run an older FDS case, but we really need to know now, not later, if there is some fundamental problem with the new version.  A 
big factor in our delayed release is that we had to rewrite many of the algorithms (and corresponding inputs) based on past bug 
reports.  We'd like to never again have to make such a dramatic change to the inputs, and we think that the overall structure of the 
code is much better than before.

So let's go USA!  What do you think?  Don't be shy -- let us know if we're moving in the right direction.

For those of you who've submitted questions or bug reports, have the issues been resolved?  We'd like to move solved issues off the 
"Open" list.  We'd like every Group Discussion and Issue Tracking thread to end with some statement of resolution, or a statement 
saying that the issue cannot be resolved now but that we're keeping it open.

Finally, another reminder to submit clearly identified bugs to the Issue Tracker, and general discussion and questions to the Group 
Discussion.

Thanks

Kevin

Kevin McGrattan
National Institute of Standards and Technology
100 Bureau Drive, Mail Stop 8663
Gaithersburg MD 20899
Phone: 301 975 2712
Fax:       301 975 4052