Measurement & Computation of Fire Phenomena (MaCFP Working Group)
Background and Motivation
Background and Motivation
The general objective of the “IAFSS Working Group on Measurement and Computation of Fire Phenomena” (abbreviated as the “MaCFP Working Group”) is to establish a structured effort in the fire research community to make significant and systematic progress in fire modeling, based on a fundamental understanding of fire phenomena. This is to be achieved as a joint effort between experimentalists and modelers, identifying key research topics of interest as well as knowledge gaps, and thereby establishing a common framework for fire modeling research. The MaCFP Working Group is intended as an open, community-wide, international collaboration between fire scientists. It is also intended to be a regular series of workshops. Details on the content and outcomes of the first three MaCFP workshops (MaCFP-1 in 2017; MaCFP-2 in 2021; and MaCFP-3 in 2023) are presented below. Organization is ongoing for a fourth workshop, MaCFP-4, to be hosted as a pre-event to the 15th IAFSS Symposium in La Rochelle, France (June 2026, https://www.iafss2026.com/). The MaCFP Working Group is endorsed and supported by the International Association for Fire Safety Science (IAFSS, http://www.iafss.org).
The MaCFP initiative was started following discussions that took place in February 2014 at the 11th IAFSS Symposium (http://www.iafss.org/symposium/11th-symposium/), in particular during a pre-Symposium workshop entitled “Benchmarking/Data Sharing” with the participation of Prof. Assaad Masri (University of Sydney, Australia, and co-founding member of the TNF Workshop) as guest speaker. These discussions led to the formation of a Task Group of fire researchers (both modelers and experimentalists) on the topic of the experimental validation of CFD-based fire models. The Task Group produced a white paper (click here) and subsequently received the endorsement of IAFSS in March 2015. This was followed by a planning meeting in May 2015 during which a list of target experimental databases was produced, deemed suitable for validation of fire models. This list brought structure and focus to the MaCFP effort and essentially defined the bulk of the program of the first MaCFP workshop.
Objectives
Objectives
The central objective of the MaCFP Working Group is to develop a fundamental understanding of fire phenomena and to advance predictive fire modeling. The strategy is based on the study of elementary academic problems and a gradual move towards complexity and realism by following a building block approach to model development. The new MaCFP workshop series is intended to be complementary to both the existing Verification and Validation guides developed in support of the FDS fire modeling software (https://pages.nist.gov/fds-smv/) and the FM Fire Modeling Workshop series (https://fmglobal.github.io/firemodelingworkshop/).
The specific objectives of the MaCFP Working Group are to:
- Develop a digital archive of well-documented fire experiments that can be used as targets for CFD model validation;
- Develop a digital archive of well-documented CFD-based numerical simulations corresponding to the selected target experiments;
- Develop protocols for detailed comparisons between computational results and experimental measurements;
- Identify key research topics and knowledge gaps in computational and experimental fire research;
- Develop best practices in both computational and experimental fire research (including quality control and quantification of uncertainties);
- Establish a network between fire researchers and provide a community-wide forum for discussion and exchange of information.
The current list of target experiments identified by the MaCFP Working Group includes:
Five gas-phase categories:
- Category 1: Turbulent buoyant plumes;
- Category 2: Turbulent pool fires with gaseous fuel;
- Category 3: Turbulent pool fires with liquid fuel;
- Category 4: Turbulent wall fires;
- Category 5: Flame extinction.
One coupled gas- and condensed-phase category:
- Category 6: Fire Growth over Combustible Solids.
Two condensed-phase categories:
- Anaerobic pyrolysis of a non-charring solid (‘MaCFP-PMMA’);
- Anaerobic pyrolysis of a charring solid (‘pine wood’).
And one radiation category:
- Prediction of radiation fields in benchmark combustion systems.
These target experiments correspond to basic configurations (building blocks) with carefully-controlled conditions and quality instrumentation and diagnostics. They also correspond to available open databases. This list will be enhanced as the MaCFP Working Group makes progress and moves towards greater complexity and realism. The MaCFP repository provides an overview of key fire dynamics phenomena of interest to the MaCFP Working Group as well as the list of target experiments currently in the MaCFP repository that characterize these phenomena. For each phenomenon of interest, direct links are provided to relevant target experiments in the MaCFP repository.
MaCFP Repository
MaCFP Repository
The MaCFP repository is hosted on GitHub (https://github.com/MaCFP). The repository contains:
- An overview of key fire dynamics phenomena of interest and a summary of the MaCFP benchmark cases that address each relevant phenomenon;
- A description of each selected target experiment (organized according to the categories (1)-(5) mentioned above), including a description of the experimental configuration and a description of measured quantities and measurement uncertainties (if known);
- An electronic copy of experimental data organized in simple comma-delimited ASCII files;
- An electronic copy of computational results submitted by the different modeling groups that participated to the MaCFP Workshops, also organized in simple comma-delimited ASCII files;
- Protocols to perform comparisons between experimental data and simulation results based on (provided) MATLAB- or Python-based post-processing tools.
The repository was created by Dr. Randy McDermott and is managed by Drs. Randy McDermott and Isaac Leventon (National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA).
Condensed Phase Phenomena Subgroup
Condensed Phase Phenomena Subgroup
Historically, the fire modeling community has organized into two distinct groups: those who study combustion and heat transport in the gas phase, and those who study thermal decomposition and pyrolysis in the condensed phase. The early discussions of the MaCFP Working Group have focused on gas phase phenomena, but quantitatively predicting fire growth requires coupled modeling and simulation of both gas and condensed phase processes. Following discussions that took place in April of 2016, it was proposed that the MaCFP be expanded to include a subgroup dedicated to the predictive modeling of condensed phase phenomena. A committee was formed to produce a white paper and organize a planning meeting during the first MaCFP workshop. The purpose of the Condensed Phase Phenomena subgroup is to facilitate data sharing and model development to improve computational predictions of thermal decomposition and pyrolysis in fire scenarios. Specific objectives of the subgroup are to:
- Develop standard data set formats for experimental data on pyrolysis;
- Develop requirements for data set quality and establishing a data review committee;
- Incorporate compliant data into the existing MaCFP data repository;
- Create a database of pyrolysis property sets;
- Develop minimum requirements for numerical pyrolysis models;
- Organize a pyrolysis modeling discussion group.
At MaCFP-2 and MaCFP-3, the Condensed Phase Phenomena Subgroup organized a pyrolysis model calibration and validation exercise on a non-charring reference material (cast, black poly(methyl methacrylate), i.e., ‘MaCFP-PMMA’). At MaCFP-3, the condensed phase working group also helped to coordinate a first detailed study of a coupled case (condensed- and gas-phase) corresponding to upward flame spread over MaCFP-PMMA. At MaCFP-4, a new pyrolysis model calibration and validation exercise will be organized on a charring material (pine wood).
Radiation Heat Transfer Subgroup
Radiation Heat Transfer Subgroup
A new MaCFP subgroup focusing on radiative heat transfer phenomena was introduced at the MaCFP-3 workshop. The purpose of the radiation subgroup is to facilitate data sharing and model development to improve experimental investigations and computational simulations of radiative heat transfer in fire science. Specific objectives of the group are to: build up a radiative heat transfer community; define, generate and share benchmark data for validation; develop tools for data exchanges; and integrate and collect data into the MaCFP data repository.
The motivation for a dedicated radiation subgroup arises from the need to devote time and attention to radiation problems which feature significantly different governing equations and, consequently, different data and numerical implementations compared to the problems of combustion, turbulence and solid pyrolysis.
MaCFP Workshops
MaCFP Workshops
First MaCFP Workshop (MaCFP-1, June 2017)
First MaCFP Workshop (MaCFP-1, June 2017)
The first MaCFP workshop was held (in person) June 10–11 2017 as a pre-event to the 12th IAFSS Symposium. The workshop included a general discussion on the MaCFP effort as well as presentations of a first suite of experimental-computational comparisons corresponding to the initial list of target experiments. The workshop was structured into two sessions: a session organized by the “gas phase subgroup” of the MaCFP Working Group and focused on CFD model validation (June 10), and a session organized by the “condensed phase subgroup” and focused on a review of the main issues associated with pyrolysis measurements and modeling for fire applications (June 11). The workshop served as a first technical meeting for the gas phase subgroup and a planning meeting for the condensed phase subgroup. The program of the workshop as well as copies of the presentations can be found at First MaCFP Workshop – International Association for Fire Safety Science (iafss.org) and https://github.com/MaCFP/macfp-db/releases/tag/macfp-1.0 ; the proceedings that report on the content and main outcomes of the workshop were published in the Fire Safety Journal and can be found at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0379711218301814.
Second MaCFP Workshop (MaCFP-2, April 2021)
Second MaCFP Workshop (MaCFP-2, April 2021)
The second MaCFP workshop was held (online) on April 22-23 2021 as a pre-event to the 13th IAFSS Symposium. The workshop included presentations of a suite of experimental-computational comparisons corresponding to Cases 1, 3 and 5 from the current list of target experiments (corresponding to a Helium plume experiment, three methanol pool fire experiments, and an ethylene-oxygen-nitrogen buoyant diffusion flame experiment). The workshop was structured into two sessions: a session organized by the “gas phase subgroup” of the MaCFP Working Group and focused on CFD model validation (April 22), and a session organized by the “condensed phase subgroup” and focused on pyrolysis measurements and modeling for fire applications (April 23). The program of the workshop as well as copies of the presentations can be found at https://github.com/MaCFP/macfp-db/releases/tag/macfp-2.0; the proceedings that report on the content and main outcomes of the workshop are available online at https://github.com/MaCFP/macfp-db/releases/tag/macfp-2.0 and at the following link: https://github.com/user-attachments/files/18370197/MaCFP-2_Proceedings_GasPhase.pdf.
Third MaCFP Workshop (MaCFP-3, October 2023)
Third MaCFP Workshop (MaCFP-3, October 2023)
The MaCFP-3 Workshop was held on October 22, 2023, as a pre-event to the 14th IAFSS Symposium, which was hosted in Tsukuba, Japan. At this workshop, new experimental measurements and numerical simulations focused on separate condensed- and gas-phase phenomena were presented and the Working Group coordinated its first attempt to model coupled condensed/gas phase cases: flame spread over MaCFP-PMMA. In addition, a new Subgroup focusing on Radiation Heat Transfer Phenomena was launched. The Radiation Subgroup is focused on creating new benchmark problems for fire-related radiation phenomena in both the gas- and the condensed-phase, using these cases to improve the radiation submodels used in fire models.
The program of the workshop as well as copies of the presentations can be found at https://github.com/MaCFP/macfp-db/releases/tag/macfp-3.0. The MaCFP-3 Proceedings document is in review by the members of the MaCFP Organizing Committees. A final draft copy will be made publicly available in Spring 2025.
Call for Participation
Call for Participation
The MaCFP Working Group is inviting the members of the entire fire research community to participate in the upcoming fourth MaCFP workshop (MaCFP-4). MaCFP-4 will be held in June 2026 as a pre-event to the 15th IAFSS Symposium in La Rochelle, France (https://www.iafss2026.com). Suggestions on the selection of new target experiments or possible extensions of the domain of activities for the MaCFP Working group are welcome anytime.
Members of the MaCFP Working Group
Members of the MaCFP Working Group
The Gas Phase Phenomena Subgroup is led by:
- Randy McDermott (National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA)
- Bart Merci (Co-Chair) (Ghent University, Belgium)
- Arnaud Trouvé (Co-Chair) (University of Maryland, USA)
- Yi Wang (FM, USA)
The Condensed Phase Phenomena subgroup is led by:
- Morgan Bruns (Virginia Military Institute, USA)
- Isaac Leventon (National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA)
- Stanislav Stoliarov (University of Maryland, USA)
The Radiation Phenomena subgroup is led by:
- Fabian Brännström (University of Wuppertal, Germany)
- Simo Hostikka (Aalto University, Finland)
The target audience of the MaCFP Working Group is the experimental and computational fire research community. The workshops are fully open and participation is encouraged through proper advertisement, for instance by communicating in reputable outlets like the IAFSS Newsletter, Fire Safety Journal and Fire Technology.
Contact Information
Contact Information
For more information and/or to take a first step to get involved, please contact one of the IAFSS MaCFP Working Group Co-Chairs:
- Bart Merci (bart.merci@ugent.be)
- Arnaud Trouvé (atrouve@umd.edu)
Additional Information
Additional Information
Initial MaCFP white paper (August 2014): click here
Call for Participation in the second MaCFP workshop, published in Fire Safety Journal (Click Here) and Fire Technology (Click Here).
MaCFP repository on GitHub: https://github.com/MaCFP
Information on MaCFP-1: Program and Presentations (https://iafss.org/first-macfp-workshop/ and https://github.com/MaCFP/macfp-db/releases/tag/macfp-1.0); Proceedings (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0379711218301814).
Information on MaCFP-2: Program and Presentations (https://iafss.org/second-macfp-workshop/ and https://github.com/MaCFP/macfp-db/releases/tag/macfp-2.0); Proceedings (https://github.com/user-attachments/files/18370197/MaCFP-2_Proceedings_GasPhase.pdf)
Information on MaCFP-3: Program and Presentations (https://iafss.org/third-macfp-workshop/ and https://github.com/MaCFP/macfp-db/releases/tag/macfp-3.0).
How to Join
How to Join
- Become a working group member: contact the IAFSS MaCFP Working Group Co-Chairs, Bart Merci (bart.merci@ugent.be) or Arnaud Trouvé (atrouve@umd.edu)
- Register and participate in the next MaCFP workshop (MaCFP-4 in June 2026)!
Dr Natalia Flores-Quiroz is a researcher with experience in fire safety engineering. She worked for five years as a fire safety engineer in the mining industry before joining academia. She holds a MSc in fire safety from Ghent University, and her PhD focused on Fire investigations in Informal Settlements. Currently she is a lecturer at Stellenbosch University, where her main research areas are reconstruction of incidents in low-income settlements (i.e., informal settlements, refugee camps) and wildland urban interface (WUI) fires.
Bronwyn Forrest is a 3rd year PhD student at the University of Waterloo, conducting multi-disciplinary research investigating human physiological response to fire exposure. Bronwyn graduated in 2017 with a BSc. Honours Kinesiology and in 2020 with a MASc. Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering (Heat Release Rate in Ventilation-Limited Furniture Fires) before merging her two degrees in her PhD research. As a senior graduate student in the Fire Research Group, Bronwyn spear-heads large-scale fire experiments, mentors junior graduate and undergraduate students, and has recently set-up a new ‘human exposure lab’ at the Fire Research Facility where she leads new research in that area. Since her induction into the world of fire science, Bronwyn has grown more and more passionate about the multi-faceted nature of emerging fire safety challenges. Through innovative research, she hopes to make meaningful contributions that help shape changes to fire safety over the course of her career.
Dr. (HDR) Eric Guillaume has worked in fire sciences since 1998. He formerly led the fire behaviour department of SNCF (French Railway), then changed company in 2005 to join LNE (The French National Laboratory for Testing and Metrology) as head of Fire safety studies department, and later as head of research for whole testing activities of LNE. Nowadays (since 2015), he works for Efectis France, first as Technical Director and more recently as General Manager of the company, leading one of the most important fire testing and fire safety engineering companies in Europe (With approx. 180 people and 28 M€ turnover)
Dr. Albert Simeoni is Professor and the Department Head of Fire Protection Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). He is the WPI site director of the Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center (WIRC), an Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) of the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the United States. Dr. Simeoni has served IAFSS by being chair or co-chair of the Wildland Fire track (2014, 2020 and 2023), Co-chair of the Awards Committee for the Best Thesis Awards (2023), Associate-Editor of Fire Safety Journal (2010-2015), member of the Editorial Board of Fire Safety Journal (since 2016), and Contributing Editor of Fire Safety Science News (since 2011).
Brian J. Meacham, PhD, PE (CT&MA), EUR ING, CEng (UK), FIFireE, FSFPE, is the Managing Principal of Meacham Associates. He develops risk-informed performance-based solutions to complex building and infrastructure challenges, provides peer-review services, and undertakes building and fire regulatory system studies. He also conducts research in these areas as well as in sustainable and fire resilient built environments and fire safety technologies. Brian has authored more than 300 publications, given more than 300 presentations and has been awarded more than $4M in research funding. His prior positions include Associate Professor of Fire Protection Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Principal at Arup, Technical Director and Research Director at SFPE, and fire safety engineer in Europe and the USA. Brian is Chair of the ICC Performance Code Committee, Chair of the NFPA Technical Committee on Fire Risk Assessment Methods, Immediate Past Chair of the International Association for Fire Safety Science (IAFSS), a Past President of the SFPE, and a past Chair of the Inter-jurisdictional Regulatory Collaboration Committee (IRCC). He is a licensed Professional Engineer in CT and MA, a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Fire Engineers (UK), a registered European Engineer (EUR ING), a Fellow of the SFPE, and a Fulbright Global Scholar.
Kazunori Harada is a professor of architecture & architectural engineering at Kyoto University, Japan. He has a career in fire research for over 35 years. He has authored 14 IAFSS symposium papers. His expertise covers the fire resistance of construction materials, smoke movement and control, burning of combustibles in open and compartment, performance-based code & design of buildings and so on. He serves as a vice president of AOAFST, Asia-Oceania Association of Fire Science and Technology. He also serves as the Convenor of ISO/TC92/SC4 WG9, calculation methods for fire safety engineering (FSE), which develops calculation standards concerning FSE.
Enrico Ronchi is an Associate Professor at Lund University, Sweden. His research and education activities are focused on evacuation and human behaviour in case of building fires and wildfires. His work has been published in over 150 publications (including >90 peer-reviewed journal papers). He is currently Associate Editor for the journals Fire Technology and Safety Science and member of the editorial board of the Fire Safety Journal.
Jennifer Wen is currently Professor of Energy Resilience in the School of Mechanical Engineering Sciences, University of Surrey as Professor. Previously, Jennifer held positions at Computational Dynamics Limited (founding vendor of STAR-CCM), British Gas plc, South Bank University, Kingston University London, and University of Warwick. She is a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and Vice-Chair for Research for the International Association for Fire Safety Science. Jennifer is also a member and sub-task leader of the European Safety Panel on Hydrogen Safety (EHSP) established by the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (now Clean Hydrogen Partnership) of the European Commission. She is an Associate Editor for the Proceedings of the Combustion Institute.
Dr Wojciech Węgrzyński is with ITB, that is the Polish Building Research Institute in Warsaw. He currently holds the position of the Deputy Head of Fire Research Department and the Professor of the Institute, and a Director at SFPE Europe. He is the Author of 40 peer-reviewed papers published in all of the primary FSE journals. His main area of interest is the fundamentals of compartment fire dynamics and standardized fire testing, and also: use of computational fluid dynamics in fire, wind and fire interaction and evaluation of the effects of the spread of smoke in buildings. His research is focused on the impact of the architectural context of the building on the smoke control performance, as well as finding solutions to make the smoke exhaust systems cheaper and more efficient. Member of the Sub-committee for Research of the IAFSS. 2018 NFPA Harry C. Bigglestone Award Recipient; 2019 Jack Watts Award Recipient; 2020 SFPE 5 Under 35 Award Recipient. Member of Editorial Board of ‘Fire Technology. Hosts a fire podcast at 
Dr. Shuna Ni is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. She received her Ph.D. degree at Texas A&M University in 2018 and her Master’s degree at Tongji University in 2013. Dr. Ni’s research focuses on fire forensics, structural fire engineering, WUI fire resilience, fire safety of tall mass-timber buildings and fire-related multiple hazards. Her research has been funded by National Science Foundation, National Institute of Justice, Fire Protection Research Foundation, University Transportation Centers under the Department of Transportation, Grand Challenges Grants Program at the University of Maryland and industrial partners.
Brian Lattimer, Ph.D. is a Professor in Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech where he performs experimental and computational research on fire safety and disaster resilience. He has nearly 30 years of experience in fire related research. His research areas include material behavior in fires, fire dynamics, suppression agents, heat transfer from fires to surfaces, structural response during fire, and firefighting technology.
Yu Wang is a professor at the State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC). He got joint Ph.D. from USTC and the City University of Hong Kong in 2016 and had working experience at the University of Edinburgh, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and National University of Singapore before returning to China in 2020. His primary research areas are high-rise building fire and large outdoor fire. Yu has published over 50 SCI journal papers, and is currently an Associate Editor in Fire Technology and Editorial Board Member in Fire Safety Journal. He initiated the first English fire course at USTC, Introduction of Fire Dynamics, reported by China News and People’s Daily Online (over 260,000 audiences). In recent years, he has received SFPE Global 5 Under 35 Award, Youth May Fourth Medal (Anhui Province), Young Faculty Career Award (USTCAF), and some Best Paper/Presentation/Poster/Image Awards in IAFSS or AOSFST.
ROGAUME Thomas is an Professor at the University of Poitiers – Pprime Institute (UPR3346 CNRS), FRANCE.
Prof. Yuji Nakamura is Full Professor in Department of Mechanical Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology (TUT), appointed as Affiliate Full Professor in Center for Fire Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science (since 2014). He currently serves the Head of Energy Conversion Laboratory and appointed as Department Chair since 2024. Prof. Nakamura has made professional service in Fire Science Community served as Management Committee of IAFSS during 2021-2023, worked as Co-chair of LOC in the most recent IAFSS symposium at Tsukuba, acting Associate Editor of Fire Technology since 2014 and board member of Fire Safety Journal since 2017.
Dr Felix Wiesner is an Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia and study the role of engineered timber in fire safety. I work in the Faculty of Forestry as part of the Wood Science department. My research focus has mostly been experimental, considering fire dynamics in timber compartments and the structural fire capacity of engineered timber products. In addition, I am interested in the performance of timber in exterior building or infrastructure setting. This closely interfaces with wildfire considerations for the wildland urban interface (WUI), especially when it comes to smouldering.
Arnaud Trouvé is Professor and Chair in the Department of Fire Protection Engineering at the University of Maryland in College Park, USA. He joined the Faculty in 2001 with a Ph.D. (1989) and Engineering Degree (1985) from École Centrale of Paris, France, and with previous experience as a combustion research engineer. Professor Trouvé’s research interests include fire modeling and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD); application of data assimilation to fire and combustion; and physical modeling of combustion- and fire-related phenomena, including compartment fires, wildland fires and explosions. Professor Trouvé is a Fellow of the Combustion Institute and the recipient of the 2017 FORUM Sjölin Award. He has served on the editorial boards of the Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, Combustion and Flame, and Fire Technology, and is currently on the editorial boards of Combustion Theory and Modelling and the Fire Safety Journal. Professor Trouvé is also a past Chair of the US Eastern States Section of the Combustion Institute (ESSCI) and a past Member of the Executive Board of the International Association for Fire Safety Science (IAFSS). He is a co-Chair of a recent initiative endorsed by IAFSS and called the “IAFSS Working Group on Measurement and Computation of Fire Phenomena” (the MaCFP Working Group) and the past Chair of a new network of leading higher-education institutions and research laboratories in fire safety engineering called the International Fire Safety Consortium (IFSC).
Dr Xinyan Huang is an Associate Professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Deputy Director of the Research Centre for Fire Safety Engineering. He received his PhD from Imperial College London, MSc from UC San Diego, and BEng from Southeast University, and was a Postdoc at UC Berkeley. Dr Huang is a Combustion Scientist and a Fire Safety Engineer who has co-authored over 200 journal papers. He is an Associate Editor of Fire Technology and International Journal of Wildland Fire, an editorial member of J. Building Engineering, Fire Safety J. and Fire and Materials, a Chartered Building Services and Fire Engineer, a committee member for HK Fire Safety Code, and a Fire Expert for HK High Court. He receives the NSFC Excellent Young Scientists Fund, Bernard Lewis Fellowship and Sugden Best Paper Award from Combustion Institute, “5 under 35” and Bono Award from the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE).