Which Polymer To Use
Applications vary, and that’s an understatement! Years of experience bring with it the know how of what to use where, but we wanted to make things a little easier to decide.
The industry standard for thermal insulation jackets is silicone coated E-glass fibre, and this generally will do a large percentage of the applications out there. It is a very good contender for first pick, giving great all round performance – one of the highest temperature limits, and with it; water, flame, and UV resistance.
But, what if you had an application that differed slightly from the rest and you weren’t sure which polymer to use?
We thought a comparison chart of temperature ratings might come in handy. As you can see first up is silicone rubber, in this instance in the colour red. (this is because the red oxide pigments used, actually raise the continuous running temperature of silicone rubber, compared to standard grey pigments – get in touch for more info on that!) But did you know PTFE and Viton® coatings have a very similar temperature resistance? With Viton® actually topping the scale up to 300° C.
PTFE and Viton® coatings have very special resistance properties – including harsh and corrosive chemicals, ones which silicone would not be able to withstand.
What about sub zero applications? This becomes even more interesting! Silicone again is a contender, but by far not the best performer. Silicone is very comparable to Natural Rubber – which gets used in a large variety of gasket and sealing applications. But for sub zero, PTFE takes the top spot. It can be used in cryogenic applications, and maintain its flexibility at these extremely low temperatures. This is where it does get interesting, depending on which base fabric the PTFE is paired with, i.e. Glass or Kevlar, the usage temperature can go even lower, because if it is a Kevlar base fabric the tensile strengths are improved compared to when at room temperature. Get in touch to speak with our PTFE expert and find out more about cryogenic suitable fabrics from THS!
This is only the beginning, THS have developed a wide range of specialist adaptations to various core polymers, for very specific applications, these include;
- Anti-static
- Conductive
- Indication pigments
- Thermally expanding
- Hazardous and corrosive chemical resistance
Whatever your application, we can design, develop, and manufacture a solution fit for purpose, unique to your application.