Published works

The Wildland Urban Interface Fire Dynamics Simulator (WFDS) is a physics-based fire model developed by the US Forest Department and to simulate fire spread in landscapes. It is an extension of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) building fire model Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS). Currently both models have the capability to model surface fire as well as crown fire. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses are important for further advancement. This study shows that for quantitative analysis, grid convergence is not elusive and the grid converged solution agrees well with the experimental result involving ignition of a Douglas fir tree. The WFDS model is also capable of qualitatively predicting propagation of surface fire to the forest canopy.