Liquid Silicone Rubber (LSR)
Liquid silicone rubber (LSR )is a versatile, high-performance material. It has gained popularity among consumers because of its good fluidity, fast vulcanization, and relatively high environmental protection level, making it an ideal choice for product applications. In this article, we’ll offer a detailed overview of its properties, types, and advantages, to help you understand more about it.
What is Liquid Silicone Rubber?
Liquid silicone rubber, also known as liquid silicone or liquid silicone gel, is an organic silicone rubber that can cure at room temperature or high temperature, in contrast to silicone rubber in a semi-solid state and commonly used room-temperature vulcanizing (RTV) silicone.
Silicone rubber: Silicone rubber is an elastomeric material with excellent high-temperature resistance, chemical resistance, and electrical insulation properties. It is widely used in the fields of mold manufacturing, sealing components, electronic device packaging, medical devices, automotive parts, and more.
Properties and Applications of Liquid Silicone Rubber
1.High-Temperature Resistance: can withstand extreme temperatures, typically ranging from -60°C to 200°C (-76°F to 392°F) without degrading its performance. It is mainly used to make sealing parts, insulation parts and thermal conductivity parts of aerospace spacecraft.
2. Excellent Elasticity: LSR has a high degree of elasticity and can bend, stretch, and compress without losing its shape, it’s widely used in consumer products.
3. Chemical Resistance: It is resistant to a wide range of chemicals, including acids, bases, and oils, making it suitable for industrial and medical applications.
4. Waterproof Properties: Excellent water resistance, which enables its use in applications like seals, gaskets, and waterproof components.
5. Electrical Insulation: an effective electrical insulator, making it suitable for electrical and electronic components.
6. Transparency: can be produced in transparent or translucent forms, allowing for aesthetic applications as well as enabling monitoring of fluid levels in certain products.
7. UV Resistance: Good resistance to UV radiation, which helps maintain its properties and color over time when exposed to sunlight.
8. Good fluidity: liquid silicone rubber has excellent fluidity, is suitable for making molds, and can accurately copy complex patterns and details.
Grades of Silicone Rubber
Silicone rubber is classified into several grades based on different processes and characteristics. The common grades of silicone rubber include:
Food-Grade Silicone Rubber
Suitable for applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries, it has high food safety and heat resistance, product quality can be guaranteed.
Medical-Grade Silicone Rubber
For medical devices and human health applications, it has high biocompatibility and stability.
Industrial-Grade Silicone Rubber
In various industrial fields including construction, automotive, and household appliances, it has high resistance to heat, cold, aging, and oil.
Electronics-Grade Silicone Rubber
In the electronics industry, including electronic components, devices, and aerospace applications, it has excellent insulation and high-temperature resistance.
The Process of Silicone Liquid Rubber
There are many methods for forming liquid silicone rubber, including injection molding, casting molding, and layered molding.
Injection Molding
Injection molding involves injecting liquid silicone rubber into a mold. After a while, the silicone takes the shape of the mold to produce the corresponding silicone product. During the injection molding process, it is essential to control parameters such as the pressure, temperature, and time of the injection machine to ensure the quality and efficiency of the silicone molding. This technique is particularly suitable for high-volume production of complex shapes and precise dimensions.
Vacuum Casting
This method involves pouring liquid silicone rubber into a mold, where it will cure over a specific period to take shape. Casting molding is an effective process for low-volume manufacturing and larger-sized silicone items. It is often used for producing prototypes, custom shapes, or parts that require less intricate detail compared to those made with injection molding.
Layered Molding (3D Printing)
The mixed silicone is extruded through a nozzle in a layer-by-layer fashion. Each layer bonds to the previous layer once cured, similar to how an FDM printer builds an object layer by layer using thermoplastic materials.
Guantai Makes Silicone Mold and Low-Volume Manufacturing for Your Projects.
Guantai is your reliable partner for rapid manufacturing, specializing in high-quality silicone rubber molds for your prototyping projects. We are dedicated to precision and innovation, offering comprehensive services such as vacuum casting, 3D printing, CNC machining, and post-process finishing. Whether you need detailed prototypes, precise parts, or custom components, Guantai delivers efficient and cost-effective solutions tailored to your needs.
FAQ
1. What is liquid silicone rubber used for?
Liquid silicone rubber (LSR) is widely used in various applications due to its flexibility, durability, and temperature resistance. Common uses include medical devices, kitchenware, automotive seals, and electronic encapsulation.
2. Is liquid rubber the same as silicone?
Liquid rubber and silicone are related but not the same. Liquid rubber typically refers to a category of flexible, elastic materials that can include a variety of compounds, while silicone specifically refers to a synthetic polymer made from silicon, oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen.
3. What are the disadvantages of liquid silicone rubber?
The disadvantages of liquid silicone rubber mainly include high price, relatively short service life and low hardness . Additionally, LSR can have poor adhesion to other materials and may be susceptible to tearing under stress.
4. What is the difference between liquid silicone and soft silicone?
Liquid silicone typically refers to silicone in a fluid state that can be cured into solid forms, such as liquid silicone rubber (LSR), which is used in molding and casting applications. Soft silicone, on the other hand, describes silicone products that are flexible and pliable, often made from cured silicone materials. Essentially, liquid silicone is a precursor used to create various forms of silicone, while soft silicone refers to the final, flexible products made from silicone rubber.
