Bench scale fuel fire test for materials of rechargeable energy storage system housings

The automotive sector increasingly demands safety technologies such as flame-retarded materials used for electric vehicles. Suitable materials are needed for the fire protection of a Rechargeable Energy Storage System (REESS) - including battery, housing and control electronics - against an external source of damage such as a fuel fire outside the car, and also against internal technical failure of the REESS such as an internal fire and (in the worst case) thermal-runaway of the entire battery system. To meet the requirements, the flame retardancy of the REESS housing materials is of great importance. Here we report the flame retardancy behavior of thermoplastic and thermoset composites in the event of an external fire, investigated by a bench-scale fuel fire test which simulates the fire treatment of the UNECE-R100-8E at component level.