Custom Fabrication of Silicone Sponge Rubber
At Fedtech, we use waterjet cutting and water-only waterjet cutting to process materials including silicone sponge and silicone foams. The benefit of using water-only waterjet in these situations allows the material to be clean cut without the pores being filled with the abrasives typically used in waterjet cutting, coupled with no tooling or die costs and water-only as a process also provides minimal set up costs.
The silicone sponge and silicone foams are typically used for gaskets, cushion, and other uses as well. Because of its flame-retardant properties, silicone foam in a liquid form is often seen as a valuable resource. Not only this, but then silicone sponge rubber is able to withstand high temperatures and is not as susceptible to things such as degradation, and aging. These silicone foams are usually not affected by long-term exposure to temperatures ranging from -67°F up to 392°F as well.
Silicone sponge rubber can be seen in numerous forms provided for high performance gasketing, heat shielding, and press pads, plus other uses as seen above. A commercial grade of silicone sponge rubber ranges from 1/32" to ¾" thick and is a great choice for gaskets, seals, print presses, silk screening and more applications that require a soft material. For flame retardant or fiberglass reinforced, the material can range from 1/32" through ½". This is usually used in gaskets as the fiberglass provides great dimensional stability allowing for tight cutting tolerances.
Fiberglass reinforced runs from 1/32" up to ¾" in thickness. Again, this is another good choice for gaskets because of the allowance for tight tolerances. Flame Retardant provides a cut from 1/16" to ½" in thickness for water-only waterjet processing. This is most likely used in furnace rooms, electrical boxes, or other applications that have contact with high temperatures. Lastly is a thermally conductive/low compression set of silicone sponge rubber used as a isolation in electrical applications.
It is also possible to use waterjet cutting to process thin silicone sponge for gaskets often used in vibration reduction, environmental sealing, fire and smoke prevention, heat sealing, electro-static release, and more. These materials range from .032" to .062" thick closed cell silicone sponge. Other uses for silicone sponge include seals, washers, o-rings, adhesives, and more.
Closed cell silicones (rubber) are non-interconnecting, this doesn't allow water or air to wick through the material at a low pressure, generally providing more weatherproof tendencies. Closed cell silicone sponge products hold properties of elasticity, high temperature strength and inertness not offered by any other elastomer. These closed cell silicone sponge products range from .032" thick up to 3.00" thick and work extremely well with water-only waterjet cutting.
Frequent forms of silicone foam and sponge include EP-2022, BF1000, F12, HT870, HT800, HT820, and HT840. Many of these silicone sponge materials do meet Mil-R-46089, Mil-R-6130C, AMS3195, AMS3196, and ASTM D6576 specifications.
Silicone foam is a low-density, flame-retardant material that debuts in aviation, construction, electronics, and automotive industries. Here you'll see UL94V-0 ranging down to 1/16" and is able to endure temperatures as high as 2100°F for more than 10 minutes without burning.
The most common forms that silicone foam includes closed cell silicone foam, F-12 grade silicone foam, and commercial grade silicone foam. Each different type of silicone foam provides their own tendencies and specialties. Fedtech is an ISO 9001:2000 certified job shop, ensuring high quality products to customers far and wide.
Contact Fedtech today to find out more about processing silicone rubber or silicone foam. Find out whether waterjet cutting is the right option for your next project!