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ICE fire


pete_mcfarlane
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I spotted this through the wonders of Facebook (and google translate). Luckily everyone got out, as the fire seems to have melted one of the carriages.

 

https://www.express.de/news/panorama/frankfurt-koeln-video-zeigt-feuer-inferno-im-ice-wagen---bahnstrecke-weiter-gesperrt-31429150?dmcid=sm_fb

 

Are they aluminium bodied? I seem to remember reading about a similar problem with aluminium warships in the Falklands War, where the temperature of the fire is greater than the melting point of Aluminium. 

 

 

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I spotted this through the wonders of Facebook (and google translate). Luckily everyone got out, as the fire seems to have melted one of the carriages.

 

https://www.express.de/news/panorama/frankfurt-koeln-video-zeigt-feuer-inferno-im-ice-wagen---bahnstrecke-weiter-gesperrt-31429150?dmcid=sm_fb

 

Are they aluminium bodied? I seem to remember reading about a similar problem with aluminium warships in the Falklands War, where the temperature of the fire is greater than the melting point of Aluminium. 

Not just warships in the Falklands War, also aircraft, such as the BA 737 that caught fire on the runway at Manchester during take-off in August 1985. The pictures show parts of the fuselage had melted in the heat. An internet search suggests that aluminium melts at about 660 degrees centigrade whereas steel melts at a bit over 1,400 degrees centigrade.

Edited by GoingUnderground
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Are they aluminium bodied? I seem to remember reading about a similar problem with aluminium warships in the Falklands War, where the temperature of the fire is greater than the melting point of Aluminium. 

Pete,

the German text says that the plastic body melted. Frankly, I don't believe that it is Plastic or Aluminum. The superstructure is certainly steel, only isolation and interior may contain significant amounts of Aluminium and Plastic.

 

Michael

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... An internet search suggests that aluminium melts at about 660 degrees centigrade whereas steel melts at a bit over 1,400 degrees centigrade.

It does more than just melt in appropriate oxidising conditions, as those who have used the thermit(e) reaction will well know. An aluminium structure can literally 'disappear' in a fire. Iron burns too of course, but usually rather more slowly, and the resulting rust is an inconvenience rather than an immediate peril.

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