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According to the Swedish research institute IVF, the electronics industry is focusing too much on chemistry and lacks an overall view on fire prevention. A project is set up to find out more about what happens when electronic equipment is the cause of fires. Today, tests simply check the flame-retardant action of different materials.
"The electronics industry is concentrating too much on different flame-retardant materials and the properties of materials instead of trying to find out how to achieve fire safety on the whole," says Carl Gunnar Bergendal at the Swedish engineering industry's industrial research institute IVF.
Today, electronic designers use flame-retardant materials as a standard method for creating fire safe products, but these materials are no guarantee that fires will not happen.
During the last year, IVF and the Swedish National Testing and Research Institute SP have been looking at ways to improve electronics fire safety within the collaborative project Firesel. They conclude that today's standardised fire safety requirements are old-fashioned and inadequate.
According to IVF and SP, fire safety should be function-based. Requirements should deal with the whole product and take into account how it works and the conditions under which it will be used.
SP and IVF intend to set up an international research programme for electronics fire safety studies. Their aim is to redefine fire safety and to demonstrate more efficient and environmentally friendly ways to increase fire safety.
Today, electronic designers use flame-retardant materials as a standard method for creating fire safe products, but these materials are no guarantee that fires will not happen.
During the last year, IVF and the Swedish National Testing and Research Institute SP have been looking at ways to improve electronics fire safety within the collaborative project Firesel. They conclude that today's standardised fire safety requirements are old-fashioned and inadequate.
According to IVF and SP, fire safety should be function-based. Requirements should deal with the whole product and take into account how it works and the conditions under which it will be used.
SP and IVF intend to set up an international research programme for electronics fire safety studies. Their aim is to redefine fire safety and to demonstrate more efficient and environmentally friendly ways to increase fire safety.
Gittan Cedervall
