“The Sub-Committee aims to develop internationally acknowledged requirements for design, construction, materials, and testing of transport equipment for land and maritime carriage of chemical products and explosive substances. The 62nd session explored requirements for transporting lithium batteries, safety issues associated with liquid gas transportation, the use of polymer composites, etc.,” comments Sergeichev.

The suggestions include clarifications and new chapters that define terminology, regulate testing methods and certification procedures for polymer composite products needed for the multimodal transport equipment to carry hazardous goods. Skoltech’s ideas were sent to the Sub-Committee through a note from the Russian Federation.

After Sergeichev’s presentations at the plenary sessions, the suggestions were approved. Next year, they will be included in the 24th edition of the United Nations’ Model Regulations and the 8th edition of the United Nations’ Manual of Tests and Criteria.

The ideas derive from experimental results obtained by Skoltech as part of the Experimental Digital Platform for Certification project supported by the National Technological Initiative. The research team is building a platform to accelerate the certification procedure for polymer composite products. The platform will substantially reduce time and financial costs for certification and will provide faster market access with the help of virtual testing.

“Virtual testing of products helps introduce a range of physical and mechanical parameters of the material into the validated digital model of the product and vary its operational factors. It gives a more accurate picture of serial products’ properties. Field testing in this case is not possible even in theory,” adds Sergeichev.