A review of fire growth and fully developed fires in railcars. (17th April 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lattimer, Brian Y.; McKinnon, Mark
• Is Part Of: Fire and materials. Volume 42:Number 6(2018)
• Page Start: 603
• Page End: 619
• Publication Date: 2018-04-17
• Subjects: fire growth -- fully developed fires -- heat release rate -- modeling -- railcar; Fire-testing -- Periodicals; Fire -- Periodicals; Materials -- Periodicals; 620.11217
• DOI: 10.1002/fam.2514
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0308-0501

Abstract

Summary: A literature review was performed to assess the state of knowledge of the effects of railcar interior finish materials on fire growth and fully developed fires from railcars. An overview is provided on standards and requirements currently used to regulate interior finish materials. Following this review, an overview of experimental and computational research is provided on railcar interior finish flammability and its impact on fire growth. A survey of the research on fully developed fires and the potential heat release rates of railcars is then presented. This includes scaling laws, experimental research, and model development. Future research recommendations are then presented.