This electronic flyer highlights our capabilities and activities in the area of Fire Research and Testing Services for the Transportation Industry. Please sign our guestbook. For additional information, e-mail fire.info@swri.org, Southwest Research Institute.

Fire Research and Testing Services for the                   Transportation Industry

Southwest Research Institute® (SwRI®) is recognized worldwide as a center of excellence for fire research and testing in support of the road, rail and air transportation industries. Multidisciplinary teams of scientists and engineers solve problems for clients requesting evaluation of materials and products for these industries. Highly trained staff members operate equipment as required by pertinent protocols. More than 50,000 square feet of laboratory space and a 1,600-acre remote site are available to conduct standard and nonstandard tests.

Road

  • Indoor facility (40 x 60 ft) with overhead crane and calibrated fueling system to support fire resistance testing of nonmetallic fuel tanks (ECE R34 Annex 5)
  • Remote site for testing pressurized fuel systems and pool fire testing
    • Water and electrical power
    • 30 x 40 ft storage building
    • 500-gallon propane storage tank with two 40-gallon/hr vaporizers
    • 30 x 30 ft pool fire containment pan
  • Steel bunker (20 x 20 ft) equipped with remote-controlled burner system for testing compressed fuel gas containers
  • Large rollover rig and support A-frame for turning and support of fuel tanks
  • Accessible temperature and pressure data collection terminals
  • Portable Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer for gas analysis
  • Thermal imaging, high-speed and digital cameras for test documentation
     

Radiant heat exposure test of a propane fuel tank

Cone calorimeter test in progress

Rail

  • Large horizontal furnace (12 x 17 ft) for full-scale rail car testing
  • Two chambers for measuring smoke density according to ASTM E662
  • Radiant panel for evaluating products according to ASTM E162
  • Cone calorimeter with quick-response ultra-sensitive gas purity analyzer for measuring material heat release rates
  • Toxicity evaluations
    • FTIR
    • Gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy (GC-MS)
    • Wet chemistry analysis
    • Gas detector tubes (Dräger)

Air

  • Vertical furnace (12 x 14 ft) for evaluation of aircraft walkways and flexible closures according to NFPA 415
  • Horizontal furnace (5 x 5 ft) for testing bumpers
  • Variety of small-scale test methods to evaluate flammability, and smoke density and toxicity of passenger aircraft interior materials

NBS smoke chamber

FTIR spectrometer for gas analysis in fire effluents
 
For more information about Fire Technology Services visit fire.swri.org.
 
This flyer was originally published in February 2010. For more information about Fire Research and Testing Services for the Transportation Industry, contact fire.info@swri.org, Phone (210) 522-2311, Fire Technology Department, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Division, Southwest Research Institute, P.O. Drawer 28510, San Antonio, Texas 78228-0510.

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