Fire-retardant interior parts for buses

Due to several tourist bus accidents in France and Germany during 2016/2017 involving
numerous deaths, European road safety authorities have decided to tighten the requirements on interior fire arrest and toxicity for buses. Already the current regulations are extremely difficult to meet with available technology and materials and even tighter rules are expected from 2023. Current solutions to meet the recently introduced fire regulations require the addition of environmentally detrimental additives, at the same time as materials with high density are used and the thickness of the structures is increased.
The present project aims to reverse that trend by providing new sustainable lightweight
technologies for bus interior materials that meet the expected fire regulations as well as
manufacturers’ and end-users’ requirements regarding processability, cost, environmental
impact and performance. Apart from avoiding environmentally hazardous additives, the aimed solutions will allow for thinner and lighter structures.
RISE SICOMP is leading this collaboration with Volvo Buses, Andrénplast and RISE Safety.
The partners evaluate the potential of halogen-free fire retardants for the currently used plastic material, as well as alternative (biobased) materials with good fire performance. The most promising solution(s) will be advanced to higher technology readiness to allow for industrial implementation shortly after the project end.