Advantages of Silicone Rubber for Sealing Solutions
Silicone rubber provides a number of advantages over other elastomeric materials. This sealing solution offers a robust combination of tensile strength, vibration and noise dampening, and thermal stability. Silicone rubber is also resistant to various chemicals, abrasions, and weathering.
APM Hexseal has been developing advanced bonding and sealing solutions for a range of materials since 1947. Various industries rely on our silicone rubber bonding and sealing solutions to provide a high-quality, reliable seal.
Silicone Rubber: An Ideal Choice for Sealing Solutions
Silicone rubber is a versatile compound with a wide range of material properties that help create a durable and robust seal, including:
- High flexibility and low compression set
- Overall strength and resilience
- Dampening qualities
- Low permeability
- Chemical stability
- Insulative properties
- Low electrical conductivity and flammability
- Wide temperature operating range
One can further enhance its material properties using advanced formulas and manufacturing techniques. The resulting seals can be used in some of the most extreme and sophisticated military or medical applications.
Silicone rubber comes in a range of hardness and color options, allowing our design engineers to fine-tune each solution to the client’s exact design requirements. These advantages set silicone rubber apart from common alternatives like chloroprene or nitrile.
Suitable for An Array of Applications
Silicone rubber is tasteless, odorless, non-toxic, and highly biocompatible. These properties are useful in food, beverage, and drug manufacturing applications that adhere to industry-specific standards.
Medical applications also heavily rely on silicone rubber seals to produce critical devices ranging from:
- IV components
- X-ray, MRI, and CT scan equipment
- Feeding devices
- Medical pumps
- Ventilators
Silicone rubber can withstand various rigorous sterilization methods, including steam autoclaves, dry heat, gamma radiation, ethylene oxide, and electron beam (E-beam) accelerators.
The quality of a rubber silicone seal can have a tremendous impact on the functionality and longevity of critical military equipment. We offer high-end formulations that can withstand the harsh operating conditions and extreme temperatures found in military and other demanding applications.
Easy Customization Options
Silicone rubber is highly customizable and moldable. Liquidized silicone rubber can adhere perfectly to different surfaces to create custom shapes and realize unique properties in the following:
- Medical-grade products
- Self-lubricating products
- Conductive materials
- Self-bonding materials
- Radio-opaque materials
Our elastomer design experts can create silicone rubber formulas with different levels of resistance or hardness to meet your application requirements. You can also choose custom colors for your product, which include glow-in-the-dark or transparent options.
Discuss Your Project with APM Hexseal Today
Compared to other elastomeric materials, silicone rubber provides many of the best qualities for high-performing industrial seals, even in harsh environments and operating conditions. We’ve worked closely with numerous industries to create RoHS-compliant sealing solutions suitable for use in some of the most challenging and hazardous environments on land, sea, and air.
To learn how APM Hexseal can solve your industrial sealing challenges, contact us or request a quote from our experienced seal design engineers. Ask the experts at APM Hexseal.