igus takes a decisive step for ideal fire protection

July 12, 2018 5:55 pm

The igustribo-SLS powder surpasses fire safety standards by a factor of five. 3D print material iglidur I3 passes the FMVSS 302 fire test for vehicle interiors.

To prevent fires effectively in the vehicle interior, suitable materials and appropriate constructive measures are essential. igus has taken a decisive step here for ideal fire protection with the 3D print material iglidur I3. It is not only extremely abrasion-resistant and thus an all-rounder for all types of wearing parts, but has also passed the fire test in accordance with FMVSS 302. In the tests, the calorific value measured was around five times lower than the maximum permissible limit.

As revealed by appropriate investigations, fires in the vehicle interior are mainly caused due to the careless handling of matches and cigarettes. Therefore, the materials required here should have a low ignitability and flame propagation speed. This is to ensure that due to an impeded combustion and low flame spread, enough time is given to stop a vehicle even at high speed and leave it in time. The tribo-polymer material for selective laser sintering, the iglidur I3 SLS powder, is also used as a robust material in vehicle interiors and has now passed the fire test in accordance with FMVSS 302.

iglidur I3 stands out in the international test procedure
Introduced as the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 302 in the US, the test procedure describes the fire resistance requirements of materials used in the passenger compartment of motor vehicles, such as cars and lorries. Procedure: A horizontally arranged specimen (plate) with an average thickness of 2.02 mm was blasted with a Bunsen burner at a flame height of 38 mm. Thereafter, the propagation speed of the flames was determined. The maximum permissible value here is 4 inches/min or 102 mm/min. The tested iglidur I3 had an average burn rate of only 18.8 mm/min and therefore meets the requirements by more than a factor of five.

For more details, visit www.igus.in