DIN 75200.

Overview

DIN 75200 specifies how the burning behaviour of materials used inside motor vehicles is determined — the trims, linings, seating and other components a vehicle occupant is surrounded by. It is the reference test for confirming that interior materials do not ignite and spread fire too readily.

The aim is occupant safety: in the event of a fire, interior materials should burn slowly enough, or self-extinguish, to give occupants time to react and escape. DIN 75200 measures this as a horizontal burning rate, giving a single comparable figure for a material's flammability.

Scope & Applicability

The standard applies to the interior materials of motor vehicles tested as flat or near-flat specimens cut to a defined size. It characterises the material itself, so a result obtained on a sample applies wherever that material is used in the vehicle interior, supporting both material selection and production checks.

Test Methods

The test reproduces ignition and measures how fast a flame travels across the material:

• Horizontal burn — a specimen is clamped horizontally in a holder, exposed to a defined gas flame for a set time, and the rate at which the flame front advances between reference marks is measured after the flame is removed.
• Result classification — a material is rated by its measured burning rate, or recorded as self-extinguishing if the flame goes out before reaching the reference distance.

The flame conditions, specimen size, reference distances and the maximum permissible burning rate are defined by the standard, so the test chamber is configured to those fixed conditions for every sample.

Related Standards

DIN 75200 is technically equivalent to ISO 3795 and to the United States standard FMVSS 302, so a single horizontal-burn apparatus can serve all three. This alignment lets a material qualified to one of these standards be recognised across the international automotive supply chain.

Testing with ULMEKA

ULMEKA Mechatronics designs and manufactures horizontal flammability test chambers for automotive interior materials to DIN 75200 and its ISO 3795 / FMVSS 302 equivalents, configured to the flame and specimen conditions the standard defines. The equipment below covers this test; for a specific testing need, the requirements are confirmed at the proposal stage.