Composites Evolution bioresin prepreg meets stringent HL3 requirements of rail industry fire standard

Composites Evolution’s Evopreg PFC502 prepreg has completed an extensive series of tests to demonstrate compliance with the Hazard Level 3 (HL3) requirements of rail industry fire standard EN45545-2.

HL3 represents the most stringent requirement of EN45545-2, allowing materials to be used on trains that pass through tunnels where no tunnels where no side evacuation is possible, such as in many underground metro systems.

Evopreg PFC502 prepregs can be supplied with a wide range of reinforcement fibres and fabric constructions.

They can be consolidated by vacuum bagging, press moulding or autoclave, and are designed for applications including rail interiors, aircraft interiors, marine, offshore and construction.

Brendon Weager, Technical Director at Composites Evolution, said: “We’re greatly encouraged by this set of test results. We had already performed extensive testing to demonstrate compliance against the fire requirements of aircraft passenger interiors, so we were confident of achieving a good level of performance.”

“However, we now have the hard date to demonstrate our materials can also meet the demands of the rail sector whilst enabling new composite design possibilities.”