Written on 13.08.2012 - Technology
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Flame-retardant TPEs for railroad applications.

Custom compounder Müller Kunststoffe has developed a range of halogen free, flame-retardant TPE compounds suitable for applications in the rail industry.

The Lifoflex Flam compounds are halogen and antimony free, therefore they do not produce corrosive and toxic gases such as hydrochloric acid or aromatic bromine in case of fire. They conform to UL94 V0 and European directives 2011/65/EU (RoHS) and 2003/11/EC at various wall thicknesses.

The Lifoflex Flam series 700 has been especially designed for applications inside of railway vehicles (profiles, cable grommets, connectors, electrical insulation). The compounds had been tested along DIN 5510-2:2009-05, a preventive fire protection test in railway vehicles, and received the following classifications:

Flammability S3
Drip Formation ST2
Smoke Formation SR2

The DIN EN ISO 5659-2 fume toxicity test yielded an FED classification of 0.14 (max. permissible: ≤ 1) for the tested material (tzul = 30min).

The TPE grades are available in hardnesses ranging from 40 to 90 Shore A. They offer good adhesion to thermoplastics such as PP and PE for overmoulding and co-extrusion applications. Grades can also be combined with additional compounding technologies, such as colour, antistatic or electrical conductivity, while maintaining their RoHS compliance.

Applications for Lifoflex Flam TPE compounds include; cords, connectors, electrical insulation, railway vehicles, cavity wall sockets as well as miscellaneous gasket profiles.

Christian Berg, chemical engineer at Müller Kunststoffe, presented a paper on electrically conductive and flame retardant TPE compounds at the TPE Forum taking place during DKT 2012 in Nuremberg.