AIRCRAFTFIRE · Fire risks assessment and increase of passenger survivability

The project aims for the increase of passenger survivability in the case of fire aboard aircraft focused on the next generation of aircraft. The composite materials and other combustible materials are increasingly used in order to reduce the weight of the aircraft or to higher the passenger comfort, but they raise the fire load significantly. Although these materials have passed the certification tests, it is necessary to study and assess fire risks for relevant areas, specific zones of the aircraft and the entire aircraft. Existing and validated simulation tools will be adapted in the project. Today the simulation of fire propagation and evacuation in aeronautics suffers from lacking data of material properties and fire behavior. Relevant data necessary for the proposed advanced simulation as far as not available will be gained by experiments. Beside the provision of physical and chemical data a sound analysis of existing data bases maintained by aviation authority, airline and aircraft manufacturer in order to identify and classify the relevant fire related scenarios for in-flight and post-crash fires will provide the second basis for the improved simulation. The project will analyze the sensing capacities and deployment of the relevant sensors aboard aircraft and make use of advanced sensor data fusion to increase the overall performances. This together with the results of the simulation of fire propagation will allow recommending improvements for the aircraft operation in case of fire related incidents. Together with the result of the advanced evacuation simulation the results of the project will directly influence the design of the next generation of aircraft with respect to fire prevention and fire management. The consortium composed of aircraft manufacturer, aviation authority, research establishments and universities will undertake the necessary efforts to make the gained knowledge available to all relevant parties to achieve the project objectives.