Integrated manufacturing of REciclable multi-material COmposites for the TRANSport sector

Steel?Steel Composite metal foam (S?S CMF) is a novel metal matrix composite material characterized by its high strength?to?weight ratio and unique mechanical and thermal properties. It is made up of hollow stainless?steel spheres, embedded in stainless steel matrix using powder metallurgy, with 65?70% air in the structure. This significant air presence found in S?S CMF makes it effective as an insulating material. S?S CMF is being explored for use in tank cars carrying hazardous materials (HAZMAT) as a potential partial replacement for conventional carbon steel and thermal insulating material currently being used in these tank cars. In this study, S?S CMF material has been numerically and experimentally evaluated for its thermal protection performance under the 49 Code of Federal Regulation Part 179 Appendix B requirements for tank cars carrying HAZMAT. Experimental studies were conducted in scaled?down jet fire condition while the numerical studies were conducted using Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS), which is a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to simulate fire?driven fluid flow. Based on experimental and modeling results, as well as uncertainty studies, 13?15mm thick S?S CMF ranging in density of about 2.5 g/cc tested as novel structural/insulating material has met the acceptance criterion for small?scale simulated torch fire testing. Further success is anticipated in future full?scale evaluation of 122×122cm samples. The outstanding fire resistance and thermal protection of S?S CMF is attributed to the substantial volume of air trapped within the material, which correlates to its total density.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

» Author: Nigel Amoafo-Yeboah, Afsaneh Rabiei

» Publication Date: 25/05/2023

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