Group standard PV 3357

Issue 2019-04
Class. No.: 55311

Descriptors: absorption material, burner, burning chamber, composite material, edge flame exposure, flame
exposure, flammability, individual material, insulating material, surface flame exposure

Sound Insulation Materials

Behavior on Flame Exposure with a Burner; Surface and Edge Flame
Exposure Test

Preface
This Test Specification (PV) applies to sample tests and production tests.

Previous issues
PV 3357: 1998-06, 2000-12

Changes
The following changes have been made to PV 3357: 2000-12:
– Standard changed to new layout
– Technical responsibility updated
– Standard restructured
– Section 1 "Scope" changed
– Section "Composite materials" and section "Individual materials" deleted
– Section 2 "Equipment": Recommendation for a separate burning chamber in a fume hood add-
ed; characteristics of the devices updated
– Section 2.5 "Fume hood" added
– Section 3 "Specimen" revised
– Section "Scope of testing" deleted
– Section 5 "Test procedure" revised
– Section 5.3 "Flame exposure, specimen clamped vertically with burner tilted at 45°" added
– Section 8 "Requirements and evaluation" updated and reference to TL 1011 added

Always use the latest version of this standard.

This electronically generated standard is authentic and valid without signature. A comma is used as the decimal sign. Page 1 of 9
The English translation is believed to be accurate. In case of discrepancies, the German version controls.

Technical responsibility The Standards department

GQL-P/1 Bianca Mühe Tel.: +49 5361 9 192365
GQL-P/1 Eckart Herrmann Tel.: +49 5361 9 26163 K-ILI/5 Stefanie Peyer K-ILI
GQL-P Denis Eschwey Tel.: +49 5361 9 47597 Tel.: +49 5361 9 41184 Uwe Wiesner
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be provided to third parties or reproduced without the prior consent of one of the Volkswagen Group’s Standards
departments.
© Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft VWNORM-2018-11
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– All figures updated

– Other editorial changes
– Section "Applicable documents" updated

1 Scope
The flammability of materials used primarily for sound insulation and absorption parts must be tes-
ted.
Surface and edge flame exposure tests are performed on specimens made up of composite mate-
rials and specimens of individual materials.

2 Equipment

2.1 General information

A separate burning chamber in a fume hood is recommended in order to ensure a steady flame
and the ventilation of exhaust fumes.
Other setups that enable the burn test to be performed without disturbance are also permissible.

2.2 Burner
The burner used for this test must be a Bunsen burner equipped with a gas stopcock for regulating
the gas supply and a controller for air regulation.
The burner tube must have an inside diameter of 9,5 +1,5
-0 mm and a length of (90 ±6) mm. There is
no flame stabilizer at the end of the burner tube.

2.3 Fuel
Commercially available propane or an equivalent gas is used as the fuel.
The flame temperature at the tip must be (1 000 ±100) °C. The measurement must be taken with a
digital thermometer.

2.4 Specimen holder

The holder for the specimen must be designed in such a way that the specimen as per section 3
can be fixed in place one time with a surface positioned horizontally over the flame, and one time
with an edge positioned vertically over the flame, without impeding flame propagation on the speci-
men.

2.5 Fume hood

The volumetric airflow rate (m3/h) must be noted in the test records provided in table A.1 and
table A.2.

3 Specimen
The dimensions of the specimens are ideally 230 mm × 200 mm. The thickness should not exceed
25 mm. For specimens from an ASSY component, smaller sections may be used.
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For evaluation of surface flame exposure, at least one specimen each from surfaces with the
smallest and with the largest thickness of the component being evaluatedmust be tested. Likewise,
for evaluation of edge flame exposure, at least one specimen each with the smallest and with the
largest thickness of the component being evaluated must be tested.
At least one specimen with a pressed edge, and one specimen with open cut edges must be
flame-tested. Deviations must be indicated in the drawing. Tests must be carried out in both direc-
tions of the component (depending on the installation position in the vehicle, the vehicle's direction
of travel corresponds to the length of the component and the width corresponds to the width of the
vehicle). The material thicknesses are measured in the central area of the test surface and must be
indicated in the test record.

Sample sheets
Testing of sample sheets is permissible, provided these have the same material structure, the
same material properties, and the same production parameters as the component to be manufac-
tured subsequently. The minimum size of the sample sheets is 230 mm × 200 mm.
The use of sample sheets must be indicated in the test record.

4 Pretreatment of the specimens

Before testing, the specimens must be conditioned in the VW 50554 – 23/50-2 standard atmos-
phere for at least 24 h. Deviations are subject to special agreement.

5 Test procedure
Surface and edge flame exposure tests are performed on specimens made up of composite mate-
rials and specimens of individual materials.
Unless otherwise specified, this PV applies to the flammability of both sides of a component. In ad-
dition, a destroyed specimen with an open cut surface is tested. Components made of cotton non-
wovens must additionally be tested with half the total structure (half the thickness) in both a hori-
zontal and vertical specimen arrangement.
The support frame and the specimen holders must be cooled to room temperature VW 50554 – 2
before to the respective burn test.
A ventilation system for the flame exposure equipment may extract the exhaust fumes produced.
However, it must not disturb the burner flame or impede the formation of flames on the specimen,
or contribute to the enlargement or propagation of the flame on the specimen.
Unless otherwise specified, both sides of the specimen are exposed to flame in the surface flame
exposure test. However, this is not necessary if the material structure is symmetrical. If only one
side is flame-tested, it must be carried out on the visible side in the engine compartment or vehicle
interior.
A steel ruler must be used to set the required distances and/or flame heights.
If a pocket of embers is present, the specimen is blown on with a hairdryer or blower after complet-
ing the respective flame exposure period.
The specimen must be positioned within 5 s in such a way that the flame-tested surface/edge is
facing the hairdryer/blower. In the area of the airflow blowing toward the specimen, the airflow
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speed is (7 ±1) m/s (checked with a rotating vane anemometer, e.g., testo 4171)). The cold airflow
is limited to 10 s.
Short-term flame exposure:
After a flame exposure period of 1 s, 5 s or 15 s, the gas supply is interrupted and the 1st speci-
men is evaluated in line with the test record.
The burner and a 2nd specimen are then brought into position and the test is continued with the
long-term flame exposure of this new specimen.
Long-term flame exposure:
After a flame exposure period of 5 min, the gas supply is interrupted and the 2nd specimen is eval-
uated in line with the test record. Short-term and long-term flame exposure must be regarded as a
single test according to the scope of testing.

5.1 Flame exposure, specimen clamped horizontally

See figure 1.
A blazing, yellow flame with a flame height of 60 mm is set at the burner in the vertical position. No
air is admixed in the burner tube. Before the test, the burner must have been burning for at least
1 min after adjusting the flame height; it may be necessary to readjust the flame height.
The clamped specimen is fixed in place horizontally in the holder. The burner is positioned under-
neath the specimen in such a way that the flame meets with the test surface at the intersection of
the specimen's diagonals (center of the specimen surface). The distance between the top edge of
the burner and the specimen surface is 50 mm. The specimen is then flame-tested as per sec-
tion section 5.

Legend
1 Specimen
2 Specimen support
3 Burner with flame
Figure 1 – Specimen clamped horizontally

1) testo 417 is the product designation of manufacturer Testo SE & Co. KGaA.
This information is only intended for informational purposes for the users of this in-house standard. This does not signify an en-
dorsement of the mentioned product by the Volkswagen Group. Equivalent products may be used if it can be verified that they lead
to the same results.
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5.2 Flame exposure, specimen clamped vertically

A blazing, yellow flame with a flame height of 40 mm is set at the burner in the vertical position. No
air is admixed in the burner tube. The burner must have been burning for at least 1 min after ad-
justing the flame height; it may be necessary to readjust the flame height.
The specimen is fixed in place vertically in the holder. The burner is then placed in a vertical posi-
tion underneath the edge of the specimen in such way that the flame reaches the edge being tes-
ted. The distance between the top edge of the burner and the bottom edge of the specimen is
30 mm; see figure 2.
For an open cut edge, the burner must be set up in such a way that the cut edge being tested is
positioned centrally over the burner; see figure 3.
The specimen is then flame-tested as per section section 5.

Figure 2 – Specimen clamped vertically Figure 3 – Specimen with an open cut

edge, clamped vertically

5.3 Flame exposure, specimen clamped vertically with burner tilted at 45°
See figure 4.
If, during the burn tests, it is perceived that burning substance is dropping off of the specimen, but
this cannot be confirmed with 100% certainty, a repeat test is required. For this purpose, the burner
is positioned at a 45° angle to the specimen such that the burning substance can drop onto the
wadding positioned underneath the flame-testing area.
Wadding made of 100% commercially available cotton must be used.
The flame height must be adjusted such that the flame penetrates 10 mm into the specimen.
The wadding is opened (wadded) manually; its dimensions must be
(50 ±1) mm × (50 ±1) mm × ≤ 6 mm.
The wadding is positioned at a distance of ≤ 140 mm between the bottom edge of the burn speci-
men and the top edge of the wadding, centrally underneath the specimen being flame-tested.
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Legend
1 Wadding (≤ 0,08 g)
2 Cylinder to prevent extent of combustion
Figure 4 – Specimen clamped vertically with burner tilted at 45°

6 Evaluation
A test record as per table A.1 and table A.2 must be documented for the respective burn progres-
sion of the specimen.
Particular observations during the test, such as the formation of smoke, glowing combustion, burn-
through forming a hole, dropping off of a burning substance, continued burning of dropped-off sub-
stance, etc., must be indicated in the test record.

7 Definitions
The burning time in the sense of this PV refers to the time difference between igniting the speci-
men (not the start of flame exposure) and extinguishing the specimen.
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8 Requirements and evaluation

The result of the burn tests on the composite material (i.e., specimen sampled from the compo-
nent) specified in drawing contributes to the decision on a material release.
Deviations from the test procedure and the flame exposure periods must be indicated in the draw-
ing.
After turning off the ignition flame, the fire on the specimen must extinguish within 5 s. The size of
any damaged area must not exceed 150 mm. Exceptions are materials where the material retracts
and melts due to heat (e.g., nonwoven absorption materials).
Burning dropped material and ignition of the wadding are impermissible.
Re-ignition during the hairdryer test is not permissible; there must not be a perceptible flame. Nei-
ther the size nor the burn duration of the visible flame is significant here.
Brightening of the pocket of embers without a visible flame is permissible.
Each individual result is evaluated. If only one test yields not-OK (NOK) results, the entire test is
considered not passed.
The requirements concerning the flammability of non-metallic materials are defined in Technical
Supply Specification TL 1011.

9 Applicable documents
The following documents cited are necessary to the application of this document:
Some of the cited documents are translations from the German original. The translations of Ger-
man terms in such documents may differ from those used in this standard, resulting in terminologi-
cal inconsistency.
Standards whose titles are given in German may be available only in German. Editions in other
languages may be available from the institution issuing the standard.

TL 1011 Flammability of Non-Metallic Materials; Flammability, Materials Require-

ments
VW 50554 Standard Atmospheres and Room Temperatures; Requirements on
Standard Atmospheres
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Appendix A (normative) Test records

A.1 Test record for PV 3357: Horizontal specimen arrangement (surface flame
exposure test)

Table A.1
Supplier: Test date:
Signature:

Specimen designation
Drawing number
Test direction
Specimen characteristics (dimensions, thickness)
Flame-exposure period (seconds/minutes)
Fume hood volumetric airflow rate (m3/h)

Characteristics Flame exposure

Body-in-white side Engine side
Ignition of the specimen within the flame exposure peri- Yes/No
od
Specimen ignited after s/min
Specimen extinguished after s/min
Total burning time s/min
Burning time after end of flame exposure s/min
Damaged area (diameter ∅)
Glowing combustion of the specimen after end of flame Yes/No
exposure
Hairdryer test Yes/No
Hairdryer test OK/NOK
Formation of smoke during the flame exposure period Yes/No
Formation of smoke after the flame exposure period Yes/No
Burn-through of a hole Yes/No
Burn-through after a flame exposure period of s/min
Dropping, burning substance Yes/No
Ignition of the wadding Yes/No

Other notes
(particular observations)
Evaluation of the burn test:
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A.2 Test record for PV 3357: Vertical specimen arrangement (edge flame exposure
test)

Table A.2
Supplier: Test date:
Signature:

Specimen designation
Drawing number
Test direction
Specimen characteristics (dimensions, thickness)
Flame-exposure period (seconds/minutes)
Fume hood volumetric airflow rate (m3/h)

Characteristics Flame exposure

Overall setup, Open edge
closed edge
Ignition of the specimen within the flame exposure peri- Yes/No
od
Specimen ignited after s/min
Specimen extinguished after s/min
Total burning time s/min
Burning time after end of flame exposure s/min
Damaged area (h × w)
Glowing combustion of the specimen after end of flame Yes/No
exposure
Hairdryer test Yes/No
Hairdryer test OK/NOK
Formation of smoke during the flame exposure period Yes/No
Formation of smoke after the flame exposure period Yes/No
Formation of smoke s/min
Dropping, burning substance Yes/No
Ignition of the wadding Yes/No

Other notes
(particular observations)
Evaluation of the burn test: