N T S Fire Detection in Cargo Compartments H. I. WILLMS & W. KR ¨ ULL Department of Communication Systems Airbus A400M Mock-up The A400M, as the new airlifter of the 21st century, will play an essential role in enhanc- ing Europe’s airlift capabilities. The A400M is scheduled to first fly in 2008 and enter into service in 2009. A reproduction of a part of the A400M cargo compartment was arranged in the Duisburg Fire Detection Laboratory. The main design and the internal sizes of the mock-up were approx. 3,85m x 4m x 9,2m. A ventila- tion system with 16 overhead, 16 floor out- lets and 3 air extraction outlets with filters was installed. Smoke tests were performed at the fire lab for detector placement. A genera- tor provided the possibility to produce de- fined amounts of smoke. Light obscuration (MIREX) was used as a reference criterion. The goal was to provide as close as pos- sible the real air ventilation conditions be- cause detectors in aircraft cargo compart- ments have to alarm within 60s even under difficult air conditions. The blowing air velocities were 0.3m/s and 1.5m/s for the overhead and floor outlets. The total exhausted air was up to approx. 880 l/s. The sequence of 12 pictures shows the smoke spread within 120s. Contact: XXXX Prof. Dr.-Ing. H. I. WILLMS XXXX [email protected]