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The research reported in this paper is a follow-on to a five year research program conducted by General Motors in accordance with an administrative Settlement Agreement reached with the US Department of Transportation. This paper is the fourth in a series of technical papers intended to disseminate the results of the ongoing research [Digges 2004, 2005, 2006]. This paper summarizes progress in several of the projects to better understand the crash factors that are associated with crash induced fires. Part I of the paper presents the distribution of fire cases in NASS/CDS by damage severity and injury severity. It also examines the distributions by crash mode, fire origin, and fuel leakage location. The distributions of cases with fires and entrapment are also examined. Part II of the paper provides summaries of recent projects performed by MVFRI contractors. Technologies to reduce fuel leakage from siphoning and rollover are documented.

The research reported in this paper is a follow-on to a five year research program conducted by General Motors in accordance with an administrative Settlement Agreement reached with the US Department of Transportation. This paper is the fourth in a series of technical papers intended to disseminate the results of the ongoing research [Digges 2003, 2004, 2005]. This paper summarizes progress in several of the projects dealing with underhood fires and testing of a hydrogen fuel tank. Calorimeter tests of underhood materials found a wide range of flammability for the structural plastics as well as the underhood sound insulation. Calorimeter tests of underhood fluids (lubricants and hydraulic fluid) showed that their flash points were less than 188°C and the minimum temperature of a hot surface to cause ignition was less than 325°C. Tests of four different vehicles to determine the exhaust manifold operating temperatures found a range between 241°C and 550°C.