An accident on a passenger ferry may lead to evacuation using lifeboats or liferafts, a process that can be both complex and hazardous. This paper investigates the level of safety for passengers during evacuation based on field study and interview data. In the analysis, the eight goals of Universal Design (UD) were tailored and used to explore what ship and interior characteristics influence evacuation performance and the demands placed on the crew and passengers, and whether all passengers have equal chances of completing evacuation safely. Results suggest that while a ship may fulfil regulation, completing an evacuation may pose challenges for passengers with varying abilities, for example, when attempting to perceive emergency information or move through the ship. In addition, it was found that an evacuation may present the crew with challenges and difficult trade-offs that are not always accounted for in the ship’s design, equipment and safety organization. It is concluded that the use of a UD approach in ship design, based on a truthful representation of passenger demographics, could enhance passenger safety and provide for evacuation on equal terms.

Under certain conditions dust explosions occur in the alimentary industry. Following ATEX and other guidelines have not eliminated accidents. Therefore, more knowledge is needed. The current work delivers experimental results describing phase transitions and decomposition of dusts. Dusts from wheat flour, chili powder, corn starch, milk powder, cocoa powder, and by-product of grain are investigated. The temperature of pyrolisation has been identified using TGA to be in the range [250°C, 600°C] in air and [300°C, 450°C] in nitrogen. It was found that the compositions of the pyrolysis gases depend on temperature. Carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane, and hydrogen were the main contributors to the pyrolysis gases. The distributions are described with a polynomial or Gaussian fit. The current paper proposes coefficients for Gaussian polynomials expressing the concentration for the four primary pyrolysis gases. 

As material age, the durability, strength, and other mechanical properties are impacted. The lifespan of a material generally decreases when exposed to weathering conditions such as wind, temperature, humidity, and light. It is important to have knowledge of how materials age and how the material properties are affected. Regarding materials´ fire behaviour and the effect of ageing on these properties, the knowledge is limited. The research questions of the current work are: Are the fire properties of composite materials affected by ageing? And if so, how is it affected? The study is on material at Technology Readiness Level 9 (TRL). In this study, three composite fibre laminates developed for marine applications were exposed to accelerated ageing. Two different ageing conditions were selected, thermal ageing with an increased temperature of 90°C and moisture ageing in a moderately increased temperature of 40°C and a relative humidity of 90%. Samples were collected after one, two and four weeks of ageing. The reaction-to-fire properties after ageing was evaluated using the ISO 5660–1 cone calorimeter and the EN ISO 5659–2 smoke chamber with FTIR gas analysis. The test results showed that the fire behaviour was affected. Two of the composite laminates, both phenolic/basalt composites, showed a deteriorated fire behaviour from the thermal ageing and the third composite laminate, a PFA/glass fibre composite, showed an improved fire behaviour both for thermal and moisture ageing. The smoke toxicity was affected by the accelerated ageing, especially for the PFA/glass fibre composite that showed a higher production of CO and HCN, both for the thermal aged and the moisture aged samples. © 2021, The Author(s).

The market for lightweight fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composites is growing. This is seen within advanced applications for e.g. aeronautics, modern ship vessels and railway vehicles. FRPs are often used to save weight, but the downside is that they are ignitable, which implies a potential higher fire risk. It is thus important to thoroughly characterise the material properties of FRPs, including the fire performance, in order to ensure a high safety level. Fire performance testing is made with newly produced materials to show the conformance to required standard test. However, the impact of ageing on the fire performance of materials and products is not mandatory information and hardly ever known. This is still an overlooked matter that is important to address for combustible materials in transport applications, where the requirements of personal safety are especially high. Accelerated ageing is a method to expose materials and products to various environmental parameters for a simulation of long-term usage. Within a few days, weeks or months the damage and degradation of the materials can occur, which normally would be after years in normal climate and after normal usage. Fire performance testing of test samples subjected to accelerated ageing would potentially give important information on the long-term safety of the end-use application of FRPs. The objective of this paper is twofold. One is to find out if the industry, society and research need to deal with the effect of ageing on materials in relation to fire safety as this is not dealt with in fire regulations. And further to identify the state-of-the-art of accelerated ageing methods relevant for Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) materials. In summary, the findings in the literature were limited of reported ageing effects of FRPs, with respect to the fire behaviour. An important conclusion is that there is a major lack of knowledge regarding material aging and fire behaviour, especially for FRPs. However, the identified ageing studies showed that both fire and mechanical properties were affected by ageing. The accelerated ageing methods described in literature was not consequently applied. The ageing methods were special designed for each study and application of material. All methods need a proper validation applying real time ageing. 

When materials are tested and classified before entering the market, they are mainly tested as newly produced. However, it is known that material properties change with time and when exposed to temperature, humidity, wind and light. As a result, it is important to have knowledge of how material age and which parameters are affected in order to retain safety. Studies show how the mechanical properties change when the materials age. But not much can be found in literature about the ageing effect on fire properties. In the present study, accelerated ageing testing was made with a composite material of phenolic resin and basalt fibres. Selected ageing methods applied were thermal ageing at 90 C and moisture ageing at 40 C and 90 % Relative Humidity. Samples were collected from ageing chambers after one, two and four weeks. To investigate the ageing effect on the fire properties of the composite, fire testing was conducted using cone calorimetry according to ISO 5660-1. The test results showed that ageing does matter. There was an impact on the material and the fire properties were affected. The ignition time decreased for the aged samples and the heat release rate slightly increased. Also, the smoke production increased with ageing. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.