Evaluation of passenger train car materials in the cone calorimeter

Flame Resistance Performance of Silicone Pad for Application in Railway Industry

“…In addition, studies in the United States and Europe have evaluated the fire safety of floor assemblies in railway vehicles, providing guidelines for design modifications and optimal fire safety design [26,27]. Specifically, for interior and exterior materials, the heat release rate, smoke generation rate, and fire performance have been measured and analyzed using a cone calorimeter, considering the materials and finishes used for various types of passenger trains [28,29].…”

A review of fire growth and fully developed fires in railcars

“…The NIST researchers were able to demonstrate that cone calorimeter tests may provide an approach to screen materials prior to testing according to FRA guidelines to reduce the required experimental effort. 6,7 In response to the decision of the FRA to make fire safety guidelines for interior furnishing mandatory, a 3-part study was conducted by NIST researchers to reassess the FRA guidelines of the time and to provide recommendations for future requirements. The heat release rate of a wide range of passenger railcar interior materials was measured and compared with the results of ASTM E162 tests (standard test in FRA guidelines), and it was concluded that the cone calorimeter provided an equal or better classification of the heat release rate of the material in all but 1 case.…”

“…A review of the state of international regulations and testing concepts for passenger rail circa 1994 concluded that mathematical modeling to assess fire hazard in passenger railcars supported by evaluation of the heat release rate of materials was a more credible and cost‐effective method to predict the fire behavior in a railcar than the prescriptive guidelines advocated by the FRA at the time. The NIST researchers were able to demonstrate that cone calorimeter tests may provide an approach to screen materials prior to testing according to FRA guidelines to reduce the required experimental effort …”

Characterization of thermal decomposition behavior of commercial flame-retardant ethylene–propylene–diene monomer (EPDM) rubber

“…Fire safety of passenger trains, especially for those generally operating underground or inside the tunnels such as metro trains where the escape and rescue of numerous passengers are considerably difficult in case of fire, is of significant concern [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. The floor coverings and seats are generally the major fixed flammable materials in the carriage interior of the metro trains in China (the portable flammable materials such as the luggage from the passengers are not taken into consideration under present study), and the seats in some metro train carriages are made of non-combustible stainless steel in China.…”

“…Ethylene-propylene-diene monomer (EPDM) rubber is a type of synthetic rubber, which has been widely used as floor coverings in the metro train and other passenger train carriages [1,2,4,7,10]. This polymer presents numerous advantages and excellent performances such as prominent electric insulation, outstanding elasticity, high abrasive resistance, remarkable slipperiness resistance, excellent resistance to aging owing to heat, light, oxygen and ozone.…”