FireDOC Search

Author
Peacock, R. D. | Braun, E.
Title
Fire Tests of Amtrak Passenger Rail Vehicle Interiors. Final Report. 1978-1983.
Coporate
National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
Sponsor
Department of Transportation, Washington, DC
Report
NBS TN 1193
May 1984
115 p.
Distribution
Available from National Technical Information Service
Keywords
calorimeters | flame spread | large scale fire tests | interior finishes | passenger vehicles | railroads | smoke | transportation
Abstract
A series of fire tests was conducted to assess the burning behavior of the interior of passenger rail vehicles. Three types of tests were performed: (1) small-scale laboratory tests to study the flammability and smoke generation characteristics of the individual materials, (2) full-scale calorimeter tests on the seats to determine the rate of heat release from burning seat assemblies, and (3) full-scale tests on mock-ups of the interior of the cars to investigate the potential for fire hard in the fully furnished vehicles. A comparison of the results of the selected small-scale laboratory tests with the full-scale mock-up tests shows that while the small-scale vehicle interior, and the interaction of materials during the full-scale mock-up tests are critically important in predicting the optential for fire inside the vehicle.