The fully integrated GUI for FDS fire simulation

Build FDS geometry, generate and align meshes, design fires, run and monitor simulations live, and explore results in the bespoke built-in 3-D results viewer, all in one professional Windows application. No text-file editing, no external viewers.

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7-day free trial · full functionality · no credit card · installs without admin rights · digitally signed

FireFlow Studio modelling workspace: a large multi-mesh warehouse model with 18 meshes and 700,928 cells, colour-grouped toolbar, model tree and live FDS code panel

The FireFlow Studio modelling workspace: 18 meshes, 700,928 cells, with the generated FDS input updating live.

FDS solver bundled · turnkey install
Bespoke results viewer · fully integrated
Built-in FEA thermal analysis
Offline licensing · no admin rights needed
Watch the walkthrough

See a model built from scratch, and the integrated workflow it unlocks

A full walkthrough of FireFlow Studio, from an empty project to finished results. Watch how one environment enhances the whole workflow and brings it together: geometry and meshing, boundary conditions and the fire, running FDS, then integrated post-processing and 3-D visualisation, without switching tools.

FireFlow Studio for FDS: full walkthrough video

Prefer YouTube? Watch the full walkthrough on YouTube.

Design a fire in seconds

See the Fire Builder in action

Choose a fuel and a t-squared growth curve, set the peak heat-release rate, and place the burner by clicking straight in the model. FireFlow Studio sizes the pad to your mesh, builds the reaction, ramp and surface, and drops in a grid-aligned burner that is ready to run.

FireFlow Studio for FDS: Fire Builder walkthrough

Prefer YouTube? Watch the Fire Builder demo on YouTube.

Everything in one place

From floor plan to flashover, without leaving the app

FireFlow Studio replaces the patchwork of text editors, spreadsheets and viewers with a single integrated environment for the complete FDS workflow. It is designed and built by a practising fire safety engineer, so every feature is optimised for the way consultancies actually work: faster model turnaround, cleaner reporting and fewer tool changes.

3-D geometry modelling

Draw obstructions, holes, vents, floors and roofs directly in a 3-D viewport. Trace over imported floor-plan underlays, use array & copy tools, and pull ready-made items from the built-in library.

Enhanced drawing tools

Go beyond boxes: draw walls, blocks, circles and arcs that FireFlow automatically voxelises to the mesh, for curved geometry without hand-crafting dozens of obstructions.

Meshing tools

Multi-mesh setup with visible mesh cells so you can verify obstruction alignment at a glance, mesh splitting for MPI, and a D* flame-resolution calculator to size your grid with confidence.

Fire Builder

Design fires with a guided wizard: heat release rate, growth ramps, surfaces and reactions, all validated as you type, with sensible defaults from fire-engineering practice.

Scenarios & batch runs

Set up multiple design-fire scenarios in one model, control which objects belong to each, and run the whole batch back-to-back, with no exporting or juggling of separate input decks.

Live simulation monitoring

Launch FDS in one click with MPI & OpenMP control, and watch progress, time-step health and device outputs in real time, with console and live metrics side by side.

Bespoke results viewer

A fully integrated 3-D results viewer with no external tools. Explore slices, boundary quantities, smoke and fire with real-time playback, draggable value highlighting and seamless multi-mesh rendering.

Plots & reporting

A plotting pane right inside the results viewer for quick checks on HRR and device outputs, then one-click CSV and PNG export straight into your fire-engineering report.

FEA thermal analysis

Built-in finite-element heat-transfer solver, live-coupled to the running FDS simulation, so you can assess structural element temperatures alongside the fire, in the same model.

Bespoke results viewer

Results, without leaving the studio

Simulation output opens straight into FireFlow's own 3-D results viewer, built for fire engineering, not adapted from a generic post-processor.

FireFlow Studio results viewer, annotated: scenario tabs, a solved FEA member, the section box, a gas-phase CFD temperature slice, three colour scales, live plots and boundary adiabatic surface temperature, all in one view

One integrated view: scenario tabs (1), a solved FEA member (2), the section box (3), a gas-phase CFD slice (4), three synchronised colour scales (5), live plots (6), and boundary adiabatic surface temperature (7).

FireFlow Studio results viewer: 3-D soot visibility in a large compartment fire showing the ceiling smoke layer, with the integrated HRR plot FireFlow Studio results viewer: 3-D soot visibility of a rising plume and ceiling jet coloured by visibility distance, with the HRR curve and CSV/PNG export
Built-in FEA thermal analysis

See the fire heat the structure live

A finite-element heat-transfer solver is built right in and couples to the running FDS simulation. Watch structural members warm through as the fire develops, then review them in place inside the 3-D results, one model, one application, with no export to a separate tool.

Live, while it runs

A live view of any selected member

Pick a beam, column or slab and watch its temperature field evolve in real time as FDS marches, driven by the adiabatic surface temperature on its fire-exposed faces.

  • Live-coupled to FDS: the thermal solve tracks the fire as it runs, marching forward with the solver.
  • Any member, on demand: switch the selected object and its 3-D field and temperature-through-depth plot update live.
  • True cross-sections: members solve as solids on their real profile, I-sections, channels and drawn shapes, with a section box to cut into the core.
  • Runs in the background: the analysis uses spare cores and keeps the app responsive; stop or re-mesh at any time.
FireFlow Studio Live FEA: a fire-thermal analysis running alongside FDS, showing a selected steel beam's temperature field and its temperature-through-depth plot while the simulation is in progress
FireFlow Studio results viewer: solved FEA members rendered in place inside the fire model, alongside temperature slices, adiabatic surface temperature and smoke, with per-scenario tabs and shared colour scales
Solved members sit in place inside the fire model, temperature slices, adiabatic surface temperature and the heated beams together, across scenario tabs.
FireFlow Studio 3-D FEA member: a solid beam coloured by temperature with a draggable section box and a temperature-through-depth profile plot
Every member is a solid 3-D field: orbit it, section it, and read the temperature straight through the depth.
Workflow

Build. Simulate. Analyse.

One file, one application, the whole study, designed around how fire engineers actually work.

Build the model

Start from a room-fire template or a blank domain. Model geometry in 3-D, set up meshes with visible cells, place devices and slices, and design the fire with the Fire Builder. Continuous validation flags problems before FDS ever runs.

Run & monitor

Run the bundled FDS directly from the app, whether single cases or full scenario batches. Watch simulation progress, device readings and live thermal coupling as the solver marches, and stop or requeue runs without touching a console.

View results

Open results in the integrated viewer: play back 3-D smoke and slice data in real time, create 2-D slices from 3-D data on the fly, highlight threshold values on the scale, and present with light/dark themes and custom backgrounds.

Transparency

Who builds FireFlow Studio

FireFlow Studio is developed by Dirk van der Walt, a practising fire safety engineer based in Queensland, Australia.

He is also a director of a fire engineering consultancy and a practicing fire safety engineer delivering projects across Australia. You are entitled to know that before you buy, so it is stated here, not buried in fine print. The consultancy is a separate business that takes no part in developing, selling or supporting FireFlow Studio.

Our promise:

  • No telemetry, no analytics, no usage tracking, no automatic crash reporting.
  • Licence activation is fully offline. Your key is verified on your own machine. No account, no licence server.
  • The application's only outbound connection is an optional check of GitHub's public API for the latest NIST FDS release. It sends nothing about you or your models.
  • Bug reports are never sent automatically. Report a Problem composes the message in your own email client. Including your current model is a tick box you can see and untick, and you send it yourself.
Pricing

Try it free, then license per seat

Simple perpetual licensing with offline activation: no account, no always-on connection, suitable for corporate and secure networks. The current price is an introductory launch price.

Free trial

$0 / 7 days
Download the trial
Perpetual licence

Professional

Introductory price
$449.99 AUD · per seat
  • Perpetual licence: pay once, use it forever
  • One year of updates & support included
  • Offline activation key delivered by email
  • In-app bug reporting & support
  • Signed installer with a verified publisher (EV)
Buy a licence

After the first year the software keeps working; renew annually for continued updates & support.

Download

Get FireFlow Studio

FireFlow Studio 1.2.2 for Windows

One installer, everything included: the application and the FDS solver. Installs per-user, no administrator rights required. Your 7-day trial starts on first launch; activate a licence key any time from Help ▸ Licence. Evaluating on a real project and need longer? Email us for a 30-day extended trial — no questions asked.

🔒 EV code signed Digitally signed with an Extended Validation certificate. Windows verifies the publisher, Van der Walt Investments Pty Ltd, and confirms the installer is genuine and unaltered, so it installs with no "Unknown publisher" warning. Check the SHA-256 below against your download for extra peace of mind.

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SHA-256 49564355c6dd5bb809df6ce5fba6b65f73ad1ad271945d1b6e1ea2361b23259a

System requirements

  • Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit
  • 8 GB RAM minimum (16 GB+ recommended for large models)
  • GPU with OpenGL 3.2+ for 3-D visualisation
  • ~1.5 GB disk space
  • No administrator rights needed