Table of Contents
Libraries of material, or other model data, can reduce errors and speed the creation of new models. The user can import data from the library into a new model. This section describes how to manage PyroSim libraries.
You can create and manage your own libraries for data that you commonly use. A library is a single file that can contain several categories of objects, such as Materials, Gas-phase Reactions, and Surfaces. To manage your library:
On the Model menu, click Edit Libraries.
Select the Category that you want to manage and move selected items from the Current Model into the Library, Figure 19.1.
Click Save Current Library and save the library in a location and with a name that you can access in the future..
Close the PyroSim Libraries dialog.
After you have saved your library, you can load it into a new model and copy data from the library to your model.
PyroSim includes a library of reaction and material data that has been gathered from the verification analyses provided with FDS. Each of these reactions and materials has a reference in the Description that documents the source of the data. This library is presently quite limited. NIST is supporting the development of an engineering guide that will document the standard test methods used to obtain material properties.
To import data from the PyroSim database:
On the Model menu, click Edit Libraries....
Click Load Library and open the property library.fds file that is found in the C:\Program Files\PyroSim 2008\samples folder.
In the Category box, select Gas-phase Reactions and copy appropriate reactions into your model.
In the Category box, select Materials and copy the appropriate materials into your model.
Close the PyroSim Libraries dialog.
First, a caution. Version 4 of FDS provided a database that included several common materials and reactions. In version 5, the FDS developers made a conscious choice to remove material and reaction data. Many of the materials in FDS 4 were simply examples, and they were worried that users were applying them without using their own test or lab data as validation. In this section, we describe how to import the FDS 4 database, however, it is your responsibility to verify that this data is correct and applicable to your simulation.
You can convert the old FDS 4 materials and reactions for use in PyroSim 2007. To import FDS 4 data:
On the File menu, click Import and select FDS File....
In the Open dialog, browse to Program Files/PyroSim 2007/fds folder and open the database4.data file.
You will receive conversion warning messages depending on what is converted and what properties are defined. Because of the change in material and reaction models between FDS 4 and FDS 5, you should review these carefully and edit the imported data appropriately for use with FDS 5. You can save the warnings to a file for future reference.
Click OK to close the File Conversion Warnings dialog.
The imported materials and reactions are now available for use in PyroSim 2007. It is your responsibility to verify these values.