Mining Publication: Flammability of Noise Abatement Materials Used in Cabs of Mobile Mining Equipment

Experiments were undertaken to evaluate the flammability of typical noise abatement materials used to line the cab interior of mobile mining equipment. The experiments were conducted using three different experimental configurations: (1) a ventilated tunnel test, (2) a full-size cab test where the interior surfaces were lined with the sample materials and then ignited near the floor using a methane-air burner, (3) standard ASTM E-162 tests using a radiant panel test apparatus. This paper describes the tests and presents the results obtained for 15 to 20 different materials of various chemical compositions and thicknesses. With one exception, materials that did not exhibit flame spread in the tunnel test also performed well in the full-scale cab test. All materials that had passed only a small-scale flammability test, such as SAE J369, failed dramatically in all three of the above test configurations. With one exception, all materials that performed well in the full-scale cab test had flame spread indices < 25, based upon the ASTM E-162 results. The lone exception had an ASTM E-162 flame spread index of 68. With regard to samples that failed the full-scale cab test, the carbon monoxide levels within the cab reached lethal concentrations in the range of 1.8% to 3.8% within 2 minutes from ignition of the sample—dramatically illustrating the severe fire environment that can result within the cab space.