The majority of fire safety requirements for US passenger trains consist of material fire performance test criteria designed to prevent the fire or retard its growth and spread. Based on test methods that evaluate fire proper-ties of individual materials. The FRA guidelines and similar requirements for other rail applications form a prescriptive set of design specifications for material selection. Federal Railways Administration 2000 requirements | | | Test method | Performance criteria | | Cushions, mattresses | | ASTM D-3675 | Is<= 25 | | ASTM E-662 | Ds (1.5) < 100
Ds (4) < 175 | | Fabrics | | 14CFR, appendix F,
Part I, (vertical test) | Flam time < 10 s
Burn length< 152 cm | | ASTM E-662 | Ds(4) < 200 | | Vehicle components | All except cellular foam, floor covering, light transmitting, plastics, and item addressed under categories 1 and 2 | ASTM E-162 | Is <= 35 | | ASTM E-662 | Ds(1.5) < 100, Ds(4) < 200 | | Flexible cellular foams | ASTM D-3675 | Is <= 25 | | ASTM E-662 | Ds(1.5) < 100, Ds(4) < 175 | | Floor covering | ASTM E648 | CRF> 5 kW/m2 | | ASTM E-662 | Ds(1.5) < 100, Ds(4) < 200 | | Lights transmitting plastics | ASTM E-162 | Is <= 100 | | ASTM E-662 | Ds(1.5) < 100, Ds(4) < 200 | | Elastomers, 16 | Average flame propagation, (vertical test) | Pass | | Wire and cable | Low voltage wire and cable: Wire insulation for control and other low voltage ie less than 100 V AC and150 V DC | NEMA WC3/ICEA S-19-1981, paragraph 6.19.6;
or UL44 and UL 83 | Pass | | ASTM E-662 | Ds(4) < 200 (flaming)
Ds(4) < 75 (non flaming) | | Power cable: Wire insulation for control and other high voltage ie more than 100 V AC and150 V DC | ANSI/IEEE Std 383 | Pass | | ASTM E-662 | Ds(4) < 200 (flaming)
Ds(4) < 75 (non flaming) | | Structural components | Flooring 20, Other 21 | ASTM E119 | Pass |
The Flooring Radiant Panel test or "Standard Test Method for Critical Radiant Flux of Floor Covering Systems Using a Radiant Heat Energy Source -ASTM E 648-" exposes a specimen placed horizontally to a radiant source that varies across a 1 m length from a maximum of 11 kW/m2 down to 1 kW/m2. After ignition by a small line burner at the high radiant flux end, the distance at which the burning floor material self extinguishes is determined. This point defines the critical radiant flux (CRF) necessary to support continued flame spread. The higher the CRF, the better is the fire performance of the floor covering.
|
|