LAUSR

Abstract Systems in the built environment are getting bigger and more complex. Fire safety engineers are required to analyse these structures to ensure acceptable levels of safety. Computational limitations mean that the calculation domain must be curtailed. This ignores the two-way coupling between the total system and a fire. Coupled hybrid modelling (coupling of fire dynamics sub-models with a range of computational costs) expands the domain and analyses this two-way coupling within a reasonable timeframe. This article presents a literature review of this modelling paradigm and has application for those investigating and expanding the method. Over the last quarter of a century, researchers have investigated coupled hybrid modelling but work has been in disconnected streams. There has been no review of coupled hybrid modelling for fire safety engineering. It is unclear where the knowledge gaps are and where future work should be focused. This review demonstrates that the method is numerically feasible and can reduce wall clock time for total system analysis. This review reveals that there is limited validation and a host of unresolved questions (including sub-model choice, interface modelling, domain decomposition and coupling method). This review draws attention to the lack of collaboration which has led to obsolete models and parallel working. This article shows that coupled hybrid modelling has potential but effort is being squandered. This review is a stepping-stone towards a standardised coupled hybrid framework. This review highlights where future collaborative research should be directed.