Dow Corning unveils "significant" silicone advance

Dow Corning unveiled “a significant new enhancement” to its Silastic fluorosilicone rubber (FSR) portfolio at the Society of Automotive Engineers 2015 World Congress in April.

The company said it had managed to modify polymer structures to develop a more heat-resistant Silastic FSR technology for extreme high-temperature applications.

“This new platform now enables Dow Corning’s FSR-engineered elastomers to meet the demands of customer automotive applications that require long-lasting, reliable performance at temperatures exceeding 220°C,” said a company press release.

“With automotive design trending toward smaller engine compartments, increased exhaust gas recirculation and decreased air flow, the high-end temperatures in under-hood environments are climbing and, more importantly, driving the performance requirements for FSRs to extremes not previously required,” said Craig Gross, senior application engineer for Fluorosilicone Elastomers at Dow Corning.

The company, he said, took a holistic approach to the development: looking at polymer design, raw materials, additives and processing, to develop a new FSR technology platform that delivers reliable performance at temperatures above 220°C for extended periods of time.

Using this technology, Dow Corning said it can now tailor new FSR solutions to target the precise performance needs of customer applications, including easier processing, thinner wall sections, lower weight, reduced systems cost and more stable performance over a broad temperature range.