WACKER Develops New Liquid Silicone Rubber with Extremely High Shore Hardness
At the 20th International Trade Fair for Plastics and Rubber K 2016, WACKER, the Munich-based chemical company, will be unveiling a novel liquid silicone rubber grade that achieves an extremely high 90 Shore A hardness after curing. The product, which is called ELASTOSIL® LR 3003/90, is processed by injection molding and cures rapidly to form an exceptionally hard and high-modulus elastomer. This makes the material ideal for cost-effective, large-scale production of dimensionally stable silicone products. It can also be used as the hard component in hard/soft combinations. K 2016 will take place in Düsseldorf, Germany, from October 19 to 26, 2016.
The ELASTOSIL® LR 3003 series already offers a selection of liquid silicone rubber grades with Shore A hardness values ranging from 3 to 85. With the new ELASTOSIL® LR 3003/90, WACKER for the first time presents a product that outperforms all other liquid silicone rubber in hardness and rigidity. The cured material almost falls into the transition zone between an elastomer and a thermoset. On the one hand, the cured rubber still possesses a certain degree of elasticity, while, on the other hand, it features very high dimensional stability for an elastomer. It has a hardness of 90 Shore A or – measured with a Shore-D tester – 33 Shore D. Alongside this hardness, which was previously unattained with liquid silicone rubber, ELASTOSIL® LR 3003/90 features an exceptionally high modulus. It is thus more rigid than the cured products of all previous liquid silicone rubber grades.
Due to its high level of hardness and rigidity, the new silicone grade can be used in many applications as an alternative to thermoplastics or thermosets. The product is suitable as a hard substrate in twocomponent molded parts, for example. It is also possible to manufacture hard/soft combinations that consist of ELASTOSIL® LR 3003/90 and other, softer silicone layers. Molded parts made of ELASTOSIL® LR 3003/90 offer good resistance to aging and heat, weathering and UV.
ELASTOSIL® LR 3003/90 can be processed with high precision and virtually without waste by injection molding. Rubber processors can achieve short cycle times and thus high productivity. Compared to standard silicone elastomers of lower hardness, the surfaces of molded parts made of ELASTOSIL® LR 3003/90 display relatively low surface resistance. The lack of a non-slip effect opens up potential technical applications that had previously not been possible withliquid silicones. The low frictional resistance is particularly beneficial when silicone parts and parts made of metal or plastic move against each other, as is the case with mechanical seals, for example ELASTOSIL® LR 3003/90 is transparent and can be pigmented in any color. The cured rubber features good mechanical properties and can be used at temperatures ranging from -55 to +210 degrees Celsius.
Visit WACKER at K 2016 in Hall 6, Booth A10.