Uncategorized | Silicone Expo

Q&A with Clwyd Compounders’ Rubber Technologist, Nithin Sebastian Kuncheria

1. What sparked your interest in this particular field, and what continues to drive your passion for it?

My introduction to the rubber industry was somewhat coincidental—it began during a summer internship during my undergraduate studies. I quickly became fascinated by the world of elastomers, where I saw the potential to apply many of my research interests. This curiosity turned into a career when I secured my first job with a major tire manufacturer. What continues to drive my passion is the constant push for innovation, as cutting-edge technologies demand ever higher-performing materials. The challenge of pushing boundaries and developing new solutions keeps this field exciting and full of opportunities.

2. Can you provide a concise summary of the key takeaways attendees can expect to gain from your session?

Attendees will gain insights into the challenges posed by high-temperature specifications in the aerospace industry, the limitations of fluorosilicones in extreme environments, and opportunities for improvement. The session will explore strategies to enhance high-temperature performance, key results from compounding studies, and characterization methods for evaluating material performance.

3. What are the most significant challenges or opportunities you see currently facing the silicone industry? How does your presentation address these?

A key challenge in the aerospace industry is achieving high-temperature performance in fluorosilicones (FVMQ), particularly above 250°C, where material degradation occurs due to homolytic chain scission. Meeting the stringent requirements of MIL-R-25988 Type 2 Class 3, which demands continuous heat stability at 250°C, is particularly challenging. This presentation explores strategies to overcome these limitations and provides insights into the characterization techniques used to analyse material degradation.

4. Who is your ideal audience for this presentation? Which professionals would benefit the most from attending your session?

This presentation is ideal for professionals in the aerospace and defence industries, particularly technologists, engineers, and business development teams working with high-performance materials. It will also be valuable to moulding and engineering firms, as well as peers in the silicone and rubber industry, including material manufacturers. Additionally, the characterization studies will provide valuable insights for material researchers and academics.

5. Can you share a real-world example or case study that illustrates the practical application of the concepts you’ll be discussing in your presentation?

The practical application of the content would be for manufacturing seals, gaskets, extruded profiles, vibration dampers etc used in aircraft fuel systems, hydraulic systems, engine components where excellent fuel/ lubricant resistance and high temperature performance is needed in aeronautical and aerospace industry.

Beyond your presentation, what are you most looking forward to at Silicone Expo Europe?

At Silicone Expo, I look forward to networking, building potential customer relationships, and exploring collaboration opportunities. With our stand at Stand 532, I am eager to connect with industry peers, exchange ideas on new projects, and discuss emerging trends. I am also keen to explore supplier offerings in sustainable materials and attend insightful sessions at the Gasket and Seal Conference.

7. What are some key resources that you would recommend to someone looking to deepen their understanding of the topics covered in your presentation?

Further case studies about our FVMQ offerings and investigations can be found at www.clwydcompounders.com

8. What are the most important questions that professionals in this industry should be asking themselves today?

How can we be future ready for demanding applications requiring high performance materials?

9. If you could leave the audience with one lasting message from your presentation, what would it be?

Today’s applications demand materials to push boundaries, we can help achieve these materials by leveraging understandings from a spectrum of industries and apply them for your bespoke solution.

Q&A with Wackers Dr. Christian Anger and Dr. Christiane Baer

1. What sparked your interest in this particular field, and what continues to drive your passion for it?

Transmission and distribution of electrical energy is fundamentally essential for our modern society. My personal motivation is to contribute to that industry.

2. Can you provide a concise summary of the key takeaways attendees can expect to gain from your session?

See sustainability under the aspect of conserving resources by creating taylor-made products that can be operated reliably for decades in service. Only by providing such products, a sustainable energy transition towards renewable energies is possible.

3. What are the most significant challenges or opportunities you see currently facing the silicone industry? How does your presentation address these?

Extremely growing market due to Energy transition projects, infrastructure must be renewed and grown worldwide by keeping/achieving high level of quality, reliability and resilience. One key factor to achieve this are taylor-made materials serving the product needs. Especially, long service lives of > 40 years are expected typically.

4. Who is your ideal audience for this presentation? Which professionals would benefit the most from attending your session?

Almost everybody amongst engineers, researchers and business leaders is needed and invited to contribute to this extremely important topic of energy transition.

5. Beyond your presentation, what are you most looking forward to at Silicone Expo Europe? (e.g., networking, specific sessions, exploring the exhibition, etc.)
Networking, exploring the exhibition

6. What are the most important questions that professionals in this industry should be asking themselves today?
How can products and infrastructure be made (more) reliable, cost-efficient and environmental-friendly?

Q&A with 3Deus Dynamics Julien Barthes

1. What sparked your interest in this particular field, and what continues to drive your passion for it?

Our ambition is to show that 3D printing is not just a prototyping tool, but also a fully-fledged production tool for high added-value parts for cutting-edge industries.

2. Your presentation at Silicone Expo Europe is titled “Silicone 3D Printing: Meet the Industrial Ecosystem (Machine, Materials, Manufacturers, Technology).” Can you provide a concise summary of the key takeaways attendees can expect to gain from your session?

We want to give an overview of how silicone 3D printing can be used to manufacture finished parts for cutting-edge industries.

3. What are the most significant challenges or opportunities you see currently facing the Silicone 3d printing Industry? How does your presentation address these?

Our aim is to democratise 3D printing as a production tool, reassure industry professionals about the scalability of this solution and identify with them the use cases for which 3D printing brings real added value.

4. Who is your ideal audience for this presentation? Which professionals would benefit the most from attending your session? (e.g., engineers, researchers, business leaders, etc.)

Engineers, medical device manufacturers, business leaders in aerospace and healthcare.

5. Can you share a real-world example or case study that illustrates the practical application of the concepts you’ll be discussing in your presentation?

Our 3D-printed surgical models have the potential to revolutionise the way medical devices are developed through a more ethical approach, by limiting the use of cadavers or animals.

6. Beyond your presentation, what are you most looking forward to at Silicone Expo Europe? (e.g., networking, specific sessions, exploring the exhibition, etc.)
Networking

7. What are some key resources (books, articles, websites, etc.) that you would recommend to someone looking to deepen their understanding of the topics covered in your presentation?
We would recommend to visit our website 3deusdynamics.com

And follow us on LinkedIn

We also had an article in the FonMag in November 2024 (04.2024 Expo Edition)

8. What are the most important questions that professionals in this industry should be asking themselves today?
‘Think out of the box”: new materials and the associated design possibilities are making it possible to develop higher-performance products that previous technologies were unable to achieve.

9. If you could leave the audience with one lasting message from your presentation, what would it be?

I like this quote from Albert Einstein:

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.

Knowledge is limited; imagination encircles the world.”

Q&A with ViscoTec’s Johanna Bruckhuber

1. What sparked your interest in this particular field, and what continues to drive your passion for it?
Silicone is a material that is highly interesting for additive manufacturing. If you take the well-known advantages of Silicones, like biocompatibility, thermal stability, Elasticity, … and combine it with the advantages of additive manufacturing like personalization, small lot sizes and production on site, you get big advantages in a lot of industries, such as medical technology or general industry.

2. Your presentation at Silicone Expo Europe is titled “Silicone 3D Printing: Meet the Industrial Ecosystem (Machine, Materials, Manufacturers, Technology).” Can you provide a concise summary of the key takeaways attendees can expect to gain from your session?

With the vipro-HEADs of ViscoTec using the Endless Piston Principle you can 3d print with real silicones and other fluid or pasty materials (like PU, ceramics, biological materials, etc.) without adding any additives which is highly interesting for industries like medical technology.

It is an extrusion-based approach that uses a volumetric dosing system. Key advantages of the technology also include printing with multi materials, using materials with very high viscosity and achieving a high process stability with a dosing accuracy of 99 %. You can use the technology for one or two component materials. With additional equipment, the vipro-HEAD can be heat or an additive can be added to the process.

3. What are the most significant challenges or opportunities you see currently facing the Silicone 3d printing Industry? How does your presentation address these?

Opportunities: With our technology you can keep the outstanding material properties of Silicones (biocompatibility, thermal stability, Elasticity, …) and combine them with the advantages of additive manufacturing (personalization, production on site, …). Challenges: to create a reliable 3d printing process with Silicones you need a perfectly adjusted system, which includes a 3d printer, the software, material and our technology. We are happy to have such great collaborations and that we can create real added value for the printing processes of our partners.

4. Who is your ideal audience for this presentation? Which professionals would benefit the most from attending your session? (e.g., engineers, researchers, business leaders, etc.)
Anyone who wants to 3d print with Silicones or other fluids/pastes.

5. Can you share a real-world example or case study that illustrates the practical application of the concepts you’ll be discussing in your presentation?
In Medical technology it´s important to be able to work with certified materials / certified Silicones. Due to this a lot of our customers are heading in this direction. Also, personalization (a key advantage of additive manufacturing) can create important use cases in this sector. An example where our print heads are used is 3Deus Dynamics, who print anatomic models for training to enhance safety in real surgeries.

6. Beyond your presentation, what are you most looking forward to at Silicone Expo Europe? (e.g., networking, specific sessions, exploring the exhibition, etc.)
Networking at our first own booth this year!

7. What are some key resources (books, articles, websites, etc.) that you would recommend to someone looking to deepen their understanding of the topics covered in your presentation?
Website: 3D Druckköpfe

Youtube-Playlist: ViscoTec 2K Druckkopf für 3D-Druck von Fluiden und Pasten

LinkedIn: (15) 3D printing of fluids & pastes: Beiträge | LinkedIn

8. What are the most important questions that professionals in this industry should be asking themselves today?
– How can we keep the outstanding material properties of Silicone and still be able to use these materials in additive manufacturing?

– How can we create a reliable additive manufacturing process when printing with Silicone?

– What are real Use Cases that benefit from Silicone additive manufacturing?

9. If you could leave the audience with one lasting message from your presentation, what would it be?
With ViscoTec technology you can keep the outstanding material properties of Silicone while using it in a reliable additive manufacturing process.

Silicone Applications in Aviation

Aviation Q&A with Dominic Testo of SSP

Q: What are the main applications of silicones in the aviation industry and why are they important?

A: There are so many applications for silicone in aviation, that there is almost too many to name but here are three important ones:

i. Engine Seals… Companies like GE Aviation, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls Royce heavily rely on silicone seals to make their engines work. They are used as platform seals holding the fan blades on both ends acting as seals and pads. These are those spiral looking blades you see in front of the engine when looking at the plane from the nose.

Silicone is used in several other applications in engines like air flow tubes, covers, and fuel line hosing and connections. The materials can be relied on at both high and low temperatures making them ideal. Engines can see extremely cold temps at high altitude and 1 hour later, be on the ground in the Middle East where the runway may be 120°F.

The material is able to keep its elastomeric properties over this change.

ii. Door Seals…When you walk on the plane do you ever see that grey round looking seal or flap around the door?

That silicone was molded with a reinforced Dacron fabric inside – keeping the door sealed from weather and keeps the cabin pressurized.

iii. Silicone Sponge and Foams… Used in several places for anti-vibration and noise control. So many moving parts at high speeds need to be secure and quiet.

These materials are found all over certain aircraft to stop vibration of plastics and metals.

Q: Are there any industry advancements that you’re looking forward to?

A: There is a big push for electric-powered and hybrid-powered aircraft. It’s by no means an easy task but, it’s certainly going to be exciting R&D.I believe this opens up a lot of opportunities for new applications within silicone – especially in the Thermal, EMI, and Specialty Products sectors.

In many situations, these products are made by smaller or medium-sized businesses, giving them the chance to specify their products with the likes of Boeing, GE, Pratt & Whitney, Airbus, Rolls-Royce, Bombardier, Gulfstream, and many other possible partnerships.

From Fantasy to Functionality: The Silicone Prosthetics Evolution

Silicone, the unsung hero of Halloween makeup, is a remarkably versatile material that can be molded and adapted to create a wide array of looks. You might be surprised to learn just how pivotal this substance is in the world of prosthetics. It plays a crucial role in producing facial prosthetics, allowing makeup artists to craft intricately detailed molds that seamlessly adhere to the contours of the face. Its durability and comfort make it an excellent choice for makeup meant to withstand long hours of wear.

One of the most fascinating applications of silicone in prosthetic makeup is in the creation of special effects, such as wounds, scars, and burns. The flexibility of silicone allows for the crafting of incredibly lifelike injuries. When tinted to match the wearer’s skin tone, the results are truly astonishing. Silicone’s ability to mimic the texture and color of human skin adds an extra layer of realism to Halloween makeup, making your gory wounds and gruesome scars all the more convincing.

Silicone prosthetics showcase a fascinating duality, as they can simultaneously craft realistic disasters in the realm of makeup effects, while also offering life-changing adaptations in the field of medicine. In the world of special effects and Halloween makeup, silicone’s ability to mimic gruesome injuries and deformities is astounding, creating chillingly realistic disasters for theatrical purposes. However, this very same material serves a profoundly humanitarian role in medicine, where it enables the creation of lifelike adaptations, such as nose transplants and prosthetic limbs, that restore not only the physical appearance but also the self-esteem and quality of life for individuals in need. The versatility of silicone reminds us of the beauty in both its artistic and life-enhancing applications.

In the medical industry, silicone prosthetics have seen remarkable growth and advancements in recent years. These prosthetic devices, designed to replace or enhance lost or damaged body parts, have benefited from the unique properties of silicone, such as its flexibility and biocompatibility. Silicone prosthetics have made significant strides in improving the quality of life for amputees, burn victims, and individuals with congenital limb differences. With continuous research and innovation, these prosthetics are becoming increasingly lifelike, comfortable, and functional. They are now equipped with advanced features like myoelectric sensors, allowing users to control the prosthetic limb with greater precision and ease. As technology and materials continue to evolve, the future holds the promise of even more lifelike and functional silicone prosthetics, helping individuals regain both physical ability and confidence in their daily lives.

While the prosthetic makeup industry and the medical field may appear disconnected, their common thread lies in the strikingly lifelike properties of the silicone materials employed in both domains. As silicone finds its way into prosthetic makeup, it not only elevates the realism of special effects and character transformations but also contributes to the comfort and durability of these creations.

This innovative use of silicone, coupled with its growth and advancements in the medical industry, points towards an exciting future for this material. The ability of silicone to adapt and mimic the human body’s characteristics makes it a promising candidate for crafting prosthetic limbs, skin grafts, and medical implants. In this convergence of silicone’s artistic and medical applications, we may very well be witnessing the future of this remarkable material—blurring the lines between imagination and reality, and ultimately improving lives in countless ways, whether it’s on the spooky streets of Halloween or within the life-changing realm of medicine.

The Innovative Future of 3D Printing in Silicone Applications

When it comes to 3D printing, Silicone probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind however, it’s becoming increasingly popular.

As a result of silicone’s high viscosity, it has previously been difficult to 3D print precisely, which has slowed down its development. This all changed in the last 5 years however, during this time, a number of businesses have developed systems for 3D printing silicone. Several manufacturers use print head deposition, while others use vat photopolymerization to produce parts similar to injection molded parts.

3D printing with silicone is considered a real game changer in the 3D printing community as it serves so many markets: medical, automotive, and consumer products to name just a few. Before this became an option, the only way to produce silicone parts was through injection molding, casting, and compression molding. This can be an extremely expensive process due to the high cost of molds which isn’t suitable for the creation of prototypes, bio-models, or small batches of products.

Silicone itself has numerous advantages however the 3D printing of silicone also provides its own specific benefits:

Rapid prototyping – Making silicone parts with a 3D printer allows designers to quickly iterate silicone prototypes in an unprecedented manner.
Low-volume production – 3D printing enables the production of silicone parts in low volumes without high tooling costs.
Customization – LSR was already widely used in the healthcare industry, but 3D printing allows for the fabrication of custom items like patient-specific implants.

Like everything though, there are also limits to 3D printing silicone:

Hardware and material availability – The main limitation is accessibility. Only a handful of companies offer true silicone 3D printing, which means costs are high and choices of material are limited.
Need for UV curing agents – Following up on the previous point, barely any of those companies are able to 3D print pure silicone; most of them 3D print LSR with additives such as UV curing agents, which can weaken the material or reduce the quality and lifespan of the final part.
Structural limitations – Even the best silicone 3D printers have small build areas and aren’t necessarily able to print support structures for the silicone. With only one print head, a silicone 3D printer will only be able to create simple, flat-sided objects with little detail

A 3D printer for silicone functions just like your standard inkjet printer. The workspace and the robot are inside a glass case. One by one, small droplets are quickly extruded from the nozzle onto the printing area until a fine line is created. A computer gives the exact coordinates in order to form the most precise desired shape.

The area is then exposed to UV Light which causes the silicone to immediately vulcanize, this process is repeated until the object is formed. Once solidified silicone does not come back to its liquid state, so the final objects are – just like traditionally produced silicone parts – heat resistant.

Whilst Silicone 3D printing is new, its uses are already apparent across a wide range of industries:

Healthcare – Silicone is already a vital part of the healthcare industry, it is often used to create implants, feeding tubes, catheters, and hearing aids. 3D printing in the industry creates further possibilities, in particular, patient customization.
Dentistry – most photosensitive resins produce hard parts (not recommend the material for fine features), and silicones can create useful soft parts like gum models, providing dental technicians with a far more realistic recreation of a patient’s mouth and allowing them to create more accurate dental devices.
Electronics – 3D printing opens up new design possibilities, such as the creation of overlapping channels for circuitry that could not be made with a two-part mold.
Industrial – Silicone 3D printing has several applications in industry, such as the creation of seals and gaskets for preventing fluid leakage.

In spite of the fact that Silicone 3D Printing technology is relatively new and still being developed, we are confident that it will have a significant impact on the future of technology.

LSR: Your Versatile Key to Success

Liquid Silicone Rubber (LSR) is a high-purity, two-component platinum-cured elastomer that can be imbursed into a mold cavity to manufacture a part. It has been around since the late 70s and quickly became the choice material for manufacturing silicone parts and products.

LSR is commonly used in medical, life sciences, automotive, consumer, and industrial products and is favorably used because of its unique characteristics. Being highly biocompatible means, it can be used for parts that come into contact with humans. It’s also highly durable, compatible with high temperatures, and transparent. Its electrical properties make it ideal for a whole host of electrical applications as silicone can perform in much higher and lower temperatures than conventional insulating materials. It is also translucent, meaning the polymer can be pigmented to match any desired color.

Much like all elastomeric materials, there needs to be a polymerization reaction to create molecular chains. Vinyl and methyl siloxane are then polymerized to form polydimethylsiloxane chains. These chains provide strength and flexibility to the material. This process will change it from the liquid to the more viscous basic form of the LSR.

Once the main polymer is created, the material gets reinforced with fumed silica. LSR materials use alternative silicates to reinforce the polymer chains and add tensile strength to the material. The material is then split into two halves and the catalyst (platinum) and crosslinker are added to separate halves. This ultimately increases the shelf life of these materials. When blended, there’s a short working life of LSRs, only around eight hours! By being able to split these halves, the material could be stored for years without it curing during that time.

There are many types of LSR materials, such as:

· Medical grades

· Self-lubricating

· Conductive

· Self-bonding

· Radio Opaque

· FLSR

· Flame Retardant

· Fast Cure

As long as manufacturers adhere to the fundamental design rules they can produce a component that makes it easier to manufacture. LSR injection molding differs from traditional thermoplastic injection molding, it requires an understanding of its material properties and processing characteristics. A product designer and engineer must consider numerous functional and structural factors, including:

· The intended use of the part

· How the part fits in an assembly

· The loads the part will experience during use

In the silicone rubber molding process, the production tooling is often the longest step and requires the most amount of capital investment.

Whether it’s product design, tooling, prototyping, or parts production the silicone rubber molding manufacturer must have the capabilities to satisfy the most demanding specifications. Quality standards for LSR injection molding should include a robust quality system consisting of problem-solving tools and quality protocols that include, Advanced Quality Planning, Custom Validations and Qualifications, Control Plans, Customized Procedures, and A Wide Array of Metrology Capabilities.

Silicones in Textile Applications

Why is Silicone being used more often within Textiles?

Silicone in general has many benefits, especially when used in the textile industry. Without thinking of the manufacturing uses silicone can have in a textile factory (like sewing thread lubrication, foam control agents during textile pretreatment and dyeing process). It can also be used for the clothing itself. Not only is it heat resistant and water repellent, but it can be emulsified to create a softer finish, as well as having the ability to stretch or become a more breathable fabric.

So, is it good that Silicone has a more prominent stance in the textile industry?

Absolutely! Adding silicone into the creation and manufacturing process massively improves the quality of fabric being used by being more durable, this has a positive effect on both the manufacturer and customer.

“Consumers are benefited with silicone based textiles as it gives long lasting comfort and performance. Moreover, silicone technology is also capable of facing the harsh industrial challenges.

Today, if one goes to buy denim, one can be sure to find denim that will give the feel of absolute comfort and fit, such is the effect of silicone on textiles.” – Fibre2Fashion

Join Us on..

Our 2026 European Exhibition Events >>

Q&A with Clwyd Compounders’ Rubber Technologist, Nithin Sebastian Kuncheria

Q&A with Wackers Dr. Christian Anger and Dr. Christiane Baer

Q&A with 3Deus Dynamics Julien Barthes

Q&A with ViscoTec’s Johanna Bruckhuber

Silicone Applications in Aviation

From Fantasy to Functionality: The Silicone Prosthetics Evolution

The Innovative Future of 3D Printing in Silicone Applications

LSR: Your Versatile Key to Success

Silicones in Textile Applications

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