Fire design approach for modern vehicles with combustion or electrical engine

Abstract

Due to climate changes and environmental considerations, the current transportation changes to modern vehicles with different vehicles models and engine types. Especially vehicles with alternative types of drive, such as electrical vehicles, are increasing. This raises the question of whether modern vehicles, such as electric vehicles, lead to an increased fire risk as well as an increased heat release rate (HRR). In this article, a new fire design approach for modern vehicles is presented to evaluate the fire risk of electric vehicles compared to vehicles with combustion engines with respect to the fire resistance of the structural elements in open car parks. For this purpose, HRRs of different vehicles are analyzed and an approximated approach for modern vehicles is derived. The methodology can be used for performance-based design, where the HRR plays a fundamental role. Furthermore, modeling approaches of the vehicle dimensions are presented, which are based on statistical data of the German Federal Motor Transport Authority. The vehicle dimensions are used to determine the fire spread time between vehicles using a parameter study. Based on the statistical data analyses and the parameter studies, this article provides a new fire design approach for modern vehicles in fire.