Common Applications for Silicone Rubber Gaskets

A gasket may be a relatively inexpensive part, but when it fails, the damage can be catastrophic. That’s why PGC helps customers to look at a part’s entire assembly to make sure the gasket works well with all the other components. Often, silicone rubber is the ideal material for custom gaskets. Its ability to maintain dimensional stability within tight tolerances, protect sensitive components, and keep out contaminants and moisture makes silicone rubber one of the most common gasket and seal materials.

Properties of Silicone Rubber Gaskets

Silicone rubber is a workhorse, providing the customer with a wide range of development solutions. Silicone formulations are available to fit a range of applications and budgets. It is generally resistant to one of the widest ranges of extreme temperatures, with certain silicone compounds remaining functional from -67 to 572 degrees Fahrenheit. It also resists the sun’s powerful UV rays and the atmosphere’s ozone, both of which can deteriorate weaker materials. Silicone rubber has broad chemical resistance, making it nonreactive with a wide range of other chemicals found in many environments. PGC often can provide general silicone chemical resistance information to support the customers’ material selection process.

When used as material for a gasket, silicone rubber creates a high-performance seal, preventing leaks from occurring between two mating parts in an assembly.

With all these advantages, it’s no wonder that silicone rubber gaskets are found in a wide range of applications, from the aerospace and transportation sectors to the food and construction industries. Silicone formulations occur in cellular, solid and reinforced configurations, providing customers with options where soft, medium or firm applications of the rubber are needed.

Silicone Rubber Gaskets for Aerospace

Often, its resistance to extreme temperatures, UV, and ozone makes silicone rubber an ideal material for gaskets on airplanes, space shuttles, and other air- and space-bound equipment. Aerospace applications require parts that will not fail in the field, even when under stress from the elements and external environment. This is especially true when those applications are carrying people aboard.

Silicone rubber gaskets are used in a variety of aerospace parts, from engine gaskets to vent ducts. In these applications, testing has qualified them to be ideal components of door, window, HVAC, and instrument panel seals. Silicone rubber gaskets may also excellent for vibration dampening and thermal insulation.

Transportation Uses for Silicone Rubber Gaskets

Silicone rubber is strong, durable, stable in extreme environments, and resistant to environmental stresses. These features are as useful on the ground as they are in the air. Silicone rubber gaskets are ideal for use in personal, commercial, and industrial vehicles, heavy machinery, and buses and trains.

Silicone rubber gaskets dampen vibration in vehicles and provide high-performance seals for radiators. In mass transit applications, they provide vibration dampening as well as HVAC seals, interior door seals, and seals around electrical enclosures, protecting the vehicle and its occupants from the elements.

Commercial Applications for Silicone Rubber Gaskets

In the general commercial sector, silicone rubber gaskets have a wide variety of applications. The construction industry uses silicone rubber gaskets as seals for HVAC systems and doors. Certain specific types of silicone rubber also make excellent anti-vibration pads. In the food industry, the gaskets can be found on food processing machinery and industrial oven seals.

PGC is trusted by many of the most respected businesses in the world to support their development of custom gaskets and seals for dozens of end applications. Work with us to discover innovative solutions to your unique gasket challenge. Contact the PGC team today.