Predictions of Railcar Heat Release Rates
Published: 19 April, 2010
The design of tunnel ventilation and other fire safety systems for rail tunnels and stations depend upon knowledge of the heat and smoke production rate from the rail car. This process involves the determination of material fire properties of the railcar materials, predicting the fire growth based upon the size of the initiating fire, and determining the heat and smoke generation rate history of the car. This paper discusses a methodology that can be used to predict railcar heat release rates and discusses the key concepts that impact the results.







