Meets railway standards
Flame-retardant thermoplastic elastomers for applications in the railway industry
Our supplier, KRAIBURG TPE, is expanding its product portfolio in the field of flame retardancy with innovative materials that comply with DIN EN 45545-2 for web applications in addition to UL 94 V0.
KRAIBURG TPE has extensive experience in developing TPEs with halogen-free flame retardants. For two-component applications with polypropylene, a second product line was recently introduced that meets the V0 flame retardancy rating at a wall thickness of 1.5 mm in accordance with UL Standard 94.
This series is currently the only TPE material on the market that complies with DIN EN 45545-2 for railway applications. The specially developed materials meet the R22 and R23 requirements for hazard levels HL1–3 at wall thicknesses of up to 3 mm.
In particular, this enables the implementation of sealing applications in both the interior and exterior of rail vehicles, regardless of their type or operating class.
UL94 V0-listed materials are self-extinguishing in the event of a fire and do not produce burning droplets. The new TPE materials meet this requirement—without the use of halogen-containing flame retardants. As a result, they also comply with the limit values for bromine, chlorine, and total halogens specified in IEC 61249-2-21.
For those affected, this means greater safety in the event of a fire due to less disorienting smoke development and lower smoke toxicity. Chlorine- and bromine-free flame retardants also minimize the potential risk of secondary damage caused by corrosive smoke gases, such as those produced when halogen-containing materials burn. Furthermore, the corrosiveness of these gases can even have a negative impact on the preservation of properties and the economic usability of end-of-life materials, such as when recycling retired rail vehicles.
The first applications in the rail industry have already been implemented: TPE compounds from the FR2 series are used as sealing materials in cable glands and cable glands. The materials in this flame-retardant series are manufactured at all three of KRAIBURG TPE’s production sites in Germany, Malaysia, and the United States.
