3 Ways Silicone Coated Fabrics Benefit Manufacturers
Silicone-coated fabrics are essential for many industrial applications due to properties such as heat resistance, chemical resistance, flexibility, and durability. These products are often composed of reinforced PTFE, silicone elastomers, silicone rubbers, or rubber-coated fibreglass. They play a crucial role in protecting manufacturing equipment from damage and have a positive impact on the safety, efficiency, and optimisation of manufacturing processes.
We’ve spoken with Victoria Ammermann, Product Manager for Norgard® products, to identify three key reasons why silicone-coated fabrics are a preferred choice in many industrial applications. We focused on why properties such as being chemically inert, non-stick, washable, non-flammable, and dimensionally stable might be important. We also discussed what other types of features and benefits customers consider when selecting silicone-coated fabrics for demanding applications.
1. Ability to Withstand Extreme Temperatures
Silicone-coated fabrics can be specially engineered to ensure excellent electrical properties and withstand extreme temperature ranges. For example, Norgard Silicone, Rubber-coated Fibreglass products are abrasion-resistant and fire-resistant. These properties make them ideal for use within high-temperature electrical gasketing applications.
They are also utilised in industrial applications wherein processes can generate intense heat, serving as reliable thermal barriers. They can be utilised as heat shields, as shrink tunnel curtains, as heater coverings, within conveyor belts and as insulation wraps — to name just a few applications. Due to the ability to retain heat, they work extremely well as a conveyor belt in shrink wrap tunnel applications. High surface release characteristics enable these products to help prevent sticky products from adhering to the belt surfaces.
Products such as our ThermaCool® TF Series are often utilised to electrically isolate power sources from heat sink devices. Due to their thermal conductivity properties, these ThermaCool products are commonly used as heat sinks within LED lighting or electronics. They can offer high-temperature capability and conformability in heat sink gaskets.
By effectively containing heat and helping to prevent heat transfer, these silicone-coated fabrics can help to ensure longevity and durability of industrial machinery, while helping to protect workers from fire or chemical exposure.
2. Resistance to Weathering
Products such as Norgard SCF1410 in North America are comprised of silicone rubber dispersion-coated nylon fabric. These products are non-stick, washable, chemically inert and dimensionally stable. They are most suitable within applications wherein there might be continuous exposure to harsh environments. They are non-flammable, fire-resistant and can withstand temperatures from -85°F to +500°F.
3. Chemical Resilience, Flexibility & Durability
Silicone-coated fabrics have a durable barrier that can repel chemicals, acids, solvents and oils. Products such as SCF1025 in North America are utilised to help safeguard equipment and personnel from exposure to harsh chemicals. They can be utilised within protective clothing where exposure to fire and chemicals is possible. Additionally, they can be used as equipment covers or as barriers to harsh chemicals and contaminants.
Silicone-coated fabrics are also highly flexible, durable and available in different thicknesses and colours. This makes them easily adaptable to fit complex shapes, geometries and demanding environments. Depending on customer needs, different thickness levels can help reduce weight or the CO2 footprint of a specific design.
Silicone-coated fabrics can do it all: seal gaps within machinery, provide electrical gasketing, serve as heater covers, act as shrink tunnel curtains, be used as heat sinks, as conveyor belts, or more! Without a doubt, these products help optimise manufacturing processes, while also protecting workers and machinery due to their flexibility, durability, and resistance to chemicals and fire.
Our Norgard Silicone Coated Fabric product portfolio consists of various products to serve different application needs. If an application requires high thermal conductivity, our most thermally conductive product would be ideal for this scenario compared to a product with lower thermal conductivity. However, this does not always mean that higher thermal conductivity is better. Product selection is both application- and customer-specific. When in doubt, connect with our team to determine which products are most suitable for your specific application needs.