Fire test on ignition of post crash vehicle fire (USA)

3.2.3

Fire test involving minivan, 1999 (USA)

Two fire tests involving a minivan were conducted in the NIST large fire research facility in December 1999 using calorimetry. In the first test, paper was ignited in the passenger compartment with its window closed. The fire extinguished itself due to the lack of oxygen. The second test was conducted using 2 litres of gasoline in the passenger compartment with the windows open. The measured heat release rate is shown in Figure 3.22, the peak HRR for this test was 2.4 MW (Stroup et al 2001).

Figure 3.22: HRR Minivan (reproduced from (Stroup et al 2001))

3.2.4

Fire test on ignition of post crash vehicle fire (USA)

A series of fire tests to examine the ignition mechanism of post crash vehicle fires were carried out by General Motors. A summary of these fire tests are tabulated in Table 3.5 and the details covered in this section are mainly referenced from Part 3, Part 4, Part 6, Part 7 Part 9, Part 10, Part 12 and Part 13 of “Evaluation of Motor Vehicle Fire Initiation and Propagation” by General Motors.

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Summary of post crash vehicle fire test

Test Vehicle

description

Ignition mechanism Ignition

location Time of extinguishment after ignition Source Part 3 1996 Dodge Caravan Sport

An electrical igniter was used to ignite the battery and power distribution centre housing Engine compartment 11 minutes (Santrock 2000) Part 4 1996 Plymouth Voyager

Gasoline pool under test vehicle by allowing gasoline flow out of a hole in the filler tube and a hand-held propane torch to ignite gasoline Under body of vehicle 215 seconds (Santrock 2001) Part 6 1997 Chevrolet Camaro

Gasoline pool under test vehicle by using a gasoline delivery system to deliver liquid gasoline under the test vehicle and a hand-held propane torch to ignite gasoline Under body of vehicle 210 seconds (Santrock 2001a) Part 7 1997 Chevrolet Camaro

A propane torch installed in engine compartment so that flames can impinged on the HVAC module of the dash panel

Engine compartment

16 minutes (Santrock 2002)

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Test Vehicle

description

Ignition mechanism Ignition

location Time of extinguishment after ignition Source Part 9 1998 Ford Explorer

Gasoline was pumped

continuously during test from an external reservoir onto the ground under the test vehicle. A propane torch was used to ignite the gasoline

Rear under body of

vehicle 170 seconds (Santrock 2002a)

Part 10 1998 Ford Explorer

Gasoline was pumped

continuously during test from an external reservoir onto the ground under the test vehicle. A propane torch was used to ignite the gasoline Mid -Under body of vehicle 250 seconds (Santrock 2002b) Part 12 1998 Honda Accord

Gasoline was pumped

continuously during test from an external reservoir onto the top of the fuel tank. Liquid gasoline flowed to onto the floor under the test vehicle. A propane torch was used to ignite the gasoline Under body of vehicle 155 seconds (Santrock 2003)

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Test Vehicle

description

Ignition mechanism Ignition

location Time of extinguishment after ignition Source Part 13 1998 Honda Accord

Power steering fluid aerosol was sprayed from a hand- held oil mister through a flame of a propane torch toward the windshield washer fluid reservoir of the test vehicle and ignited methanol vapour in the windshield washer fluid reservoir.

Engine compartment

27 minutes (Santrock 2003a)

Table 3.5: A summary of fire tests carried out by General Motors

The crash tested vehicles were prepared at the General Motors Technical Centre in Warren and transported to the Factory Mutual Test Center in West Gloucester for the fire test. During the tests, measurements on temperature, heat flux, gaseous combustion products, and heat release rate of the vehicles were recorded using thermocouples, flame thermometers, fire products collector and FITR gas analysis. The test vehicle was placed in a fluid containment pan and the fire products collector was above the test vehicle. Figure 3.23 illustrates the experimental setup for the test.

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Figure 3.23: Experimental setup for the fire test (reproduced from Santrock (2000))

The intent of the test was to allow the flames to spread into the passenger compartment sufficiently so that the fire path could be determined while allowing physical evidence to be preserved. This physical evidence would be lost if the test allowed the vehicle to burn completely. Therefore, certain criteria were established to determine the appropriate time to extinguish the fire.

The measured heat release rate and photographs for each of these fire tests are shown in Figure 3.24 to Figure 3.31.

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Figure 3.24: HRR and photograph for Test Part 3 (reproduced from Santrock (2000))

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Figure 3.26: HRR and photograph for Test Part 6 (reproduced from Santrock (2001a))

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Figure 3.28: HRR and photograph for Test Part 9 (reproduced from Santrock (2002a))

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Figure 3.30: HRR and photograph for Test Part 12 (reproduced from Santrock (2003))

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3.2.5

Fire test involving motor scooters, 2005 (Taipei)

There were a series of fire tests conducted on motor scooters using a 10 MW large-scale fire products collectors in Taiwan. The heat release rate for the 125 cc motorcycle was estimated to be 1.22 MW (Figure 3.33) (Chen et al. 2005).

Figure 3.32: Scooter used for the fire test (reproduced from Chen et al. (2005))