Fire Safety of Road Vehicles - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Fire Safety of Road Vehicles

Status and Trends

F

ire safety road vehicles Japan, September 2014

Presentation given

at Tokyo

September 2014 Slide2

Fire

Safety of Road Vehicles

Flammability requirements

for automotive worldwide very low

(MVSS 302). No

major regulatory

changes foreseen

Trends automotive: Compact systems with more plastics, electromobility requires higher fire safety for cabling, electrical/electronic parts, batteries Battery fires may be an issue. Requirements for large batteries in electric vehicles developed by Underwriters Laboratories as UL Subject 2580 Consequences: higher fire safety requirements (UL94 V0 or 5V for electrical parts and batteries) in automotive

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ire safety road vehicles Japan, September 2014Slide3

Fire Safety of

Buses

Busses EU very low fire safety

(MVSS 302 + vertical curtain + drip tests)

A series of

bus fire catastroph

es

in Europe (Germany, Nordic countries), USA, China and India has sensitized public opinion to improve fire safetyStudies made on fire safety of materials and components meeting new European railway requirements show that bus fires can be avoided or dramatically reduced

Medium term adjustment of fire safety in buses to stringent European railway requirements under discussion

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ire safety road vehicles Japan, September 2014Slide4

Bus fires statistical review Norway/Sweden

1.0 - 1.5 % of buses

in Norway and Sweden are involved in

a fire incident

every year

Largest risk of severe fire starting in engine compartment

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ire safety road vehicles Japan, September 2014Slide5

Bus fire Hannover, Germany, November 2008

A German tour

bus caught fire

on a German highway

killing 20 people

Fire broke out in the bathroom of the bus due to

electrical malfunction

When the door was opened, flames

shot out and quickly engulfed the busThe fire propagated so quickly because the

materials’ fire safety level was too low

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ire safety road vehicles Japan, September 2014Slide6

Also ISO 3795, DIN 75200

Car interior

Bunsen burner 38 mm flame

Horizontal flame propagation max. 100 mm/min or less

What are the fire safety tests for buses used in Europe?

International

Flammability Test

for

Road Vehicles to FMVSS 302

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ire safety road vehicles Japan, September 2014Slide7

EU

Flammability Tests for Buses to EU Directive 95/28/EC

Interior materials

Horizontal

to ISO 3795

Curtains

Vertical to ISO 6940Ceiling Drip test to NF P 92-505

Bus fire safety India, September 2014

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ire safety road vehicles Japan, September 2014Slide8

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ire safety road vehicles Japan, September 2014Slide9

Fire safety of

busesNew developments

Following several catastrophic bus fires, the

current fire safety requirements are perceived as too low

This is evidenced by a

Swedish study

(SP) on fire safety in buses

As a consequence, on international level, UNECE initiated a revision of the regulation No. 118, Burning behaviour of materials in busesSweden and Norway proposed more stringent tests for buses; they are already used for European high speed railways and internationally for ships (IMO FTP Code)Fire safety road vehicles Japan, September 2014Slide10

Fire safety of buses

Fire safety in buses

2006 Study made and published by

SP Technical Research Institute of Swedenon behalf of the Swedish Road Administration and

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration

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ire safety road vehicles Japan, September 2014Slide11

Background and objectives SP study

Most

public transport

applications, except buses, have

high fire safety

requirements

that give a satisfactory level of safety

Test methods to evaluate ignition, fire spread, smoke and toxic gases have been developed within ISO and are already used for high speed trains in Europe and internationally for passenger ships (IMO)The study objective is to show that established test methods for ships and trains are suitable for improving the fire safety levels of materials and components used in buses

Fire safety road vehicles Japan, September 2014Slide12

Conclusions SP Study

The existing fire safety requirements

do not guarantee a satisfactory fire safety level on

buses

Reason

:

test method and criteria (FMVSS 302) do not properly discriminate between materials with

high or low fire safety performance

Consequence: fire safety performance of the interior materials and furnishings of certain bus types may be unacceptably low

An acceptable fire safety level can be reached when using the ISO tests for flame spread of surface linings and floorings, as well as the smoke and toxic gas production

tests

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ire safety road vehicles Japan, September 2014Slide13

World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations

United Nations Economic and Social Council

ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE

INLAND TRANSPORT COMMITTEEWorld Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations

Working Party on General Safety Provisions

ECE

/TRANS/WP.29/GRSG

/GenevaFire safety road vehicles Japan, September 2014Slide14

Amendment of Regulation No. 118

Proposal Norway and Sweden from the SP study

L

ateral flame

spread to ISO 5658-2

on transport products in vertical configuration

(also used for ships according to IMO FTP-Code)

The following materials shall undergo the test :

Ceiling lining materials

Side and rear walls, including separation walls, lining materials

(c) Thermal and/or acoustic function materials

(d) Interior lining of luggage-racks, heating and ventilation pipes materials

Test result satisfactory if average value of CFE*

>

20 kW/m

2

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ire safety road vehicles Japan, September 2014Slide15

Amendment of Regulation No. 118

Proposal Norway and Sweden from the SP study

Smoke

generation and toxicity to ISO 5659-2

of smoke gases from a burning material

(also used for ships according to IMO FTP-Code)

The

following materials shall undergo the test:

Ceiling lining materials

Side and rear walls, including separation walls, lining materials(c) Thermal and/or acoustic function materials

(d) Interior lining of luggage-racks, heating and ventilation pipes materials

(e) Interior lining of the floor materials

Result for smoke opacity satisfactory if the average value of the maximum smoke density (

Dm

) for materials (a) to (d)

<

200 and

<

500 for material (e)

Materials for interior lining of floors tested at 25 kW/m

2

, + pilot flame

(b) All other materials at 50 kW/m

2

, no pilot flame

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ire safety road vehicles Japan, September 2014Slide16

Amendment of Regulation No. 118

Proposal Norway and Sweden from the SP study

Lateral

flame spread (floorings

) to

ISO

9239-1

on transport products in horizontal configuration

Test result satisfactory, if average value of CHF

>

4.5 kW/m

2

(CHF = critical heat flux)

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ire safety road vehicles Japan, September 2014Slide17

Amendment of Regulation No. 118

Proposal Norway and Sweden from the SP study

Test

to determine the

fire behaviour of

seats

(Annex C to EN 45545-2

Fire protection of railway vehicles)

The complete seats shall undergo the test.

Result satisfactory if MARHE

<

50 kW.(MAHRE = Maximum Average Rate of Heat Emission)

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ire safety road vehicles Japan, September 2014Slide18

Flammability test for wire and cable in buses

Newly introduced into ECE R 118

ISO 6722:2006 Road vehicles - 60 V and 600 V single-core cables - Dimensions, test methods and requirements

Paragraph 12:

Resistance to flame propagation

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ire safety road vehicles Japan, September 2014Slide19

Amendment of Regulation No. 118

Conclusions

With

the 01 series of amendments (date of entry into force 9 December 2010) the test to determine the capability of materials to repel fuel or lubricant and

tests for electric cables

were added. It becomes mandatory on 9th of December 2012 for new bus types and component types and on 9th of December 2015 for first registrations

.

With the 02 series of amendments (date of entry into force 26 July 2012) the requirements for material installed in a vertical position with regard to the vertical burning rate were extended and the possibility to use the tests of the railway standard was introduced. These requirements become mandatory on 26th of July 2016 for new component types, 26th of July 2017 for new vehicle types and on 26th of July 2020 for first registrations. Fire safety road vehicles Japan, September 2014Slide20

School buses in the USA

Basically,

MVSS 302 is required

for all school busesIn many US States higher fire safety

requirements are prescribed for school buses

In

Nevada

for instance, as of January 2016 any new school bus must meet additional requirements to either: - ASTM E1537 Fire Testing of Upholstered Furniture (propane burner and heat release measurement by oxygen consumption) ; or - The School Bus Seat Upholstery Fire Block Test - In the engine compartment UL 94 V0 has to be met for molded parts, HF-1 for foams and VTM-0 for thin filmsSome states

also use the vertical Bunsen burner test to FAR-25-853B used for aircraft interior materials

Fire safety road vehicles Japan, September 2014Slide21

Fire safety in buses

Conclusions and outlook

Following catastrophic fires, the

fire safety in buses is perceived as currently being too low

The amendment of the

UNECE Regulation 118 has set higher fire safety

levels in buses; this is a step in the right direction

In the USA, some states have higher fire safety requirements for seating in school busesBasically more efforts must be made for further improving the fire safety levels of buses’ interiors (tests on seating)

Fire safety road vehicles Japan, September 2014