A railway component is approved against the requirement set for its application and the hazard level of the vehicle programme. The sets recycle a stable bench of instruments, so a railway fire laboratory is recognisable: smoke and toxicity at its centre, flammability and heat release around them.
The railway bench
The NBS smoke chamber (ISO 5659-2) supplies the smoke density values most interior sets require. The same chamber's gases feed FTIR toxicity analysis for the CIT index. The oxygen index tester provides the flammability floor test. Heat release enters through the cone calorimeter for the sets that require it, and complete seats follow the EN 16989 furniture calorimeter route described in our blog. Cables follow the cable sets with the bunched cable rig and smoke measurements.
Start from the set, not the instrument
Bring the R-set number and hazard level from your customer's specification; the tests and limits follow from it. Our EN 45545-2 explainer sets out how the sets and levels work.