Silicones – Engineers for Special Challenges
Silicones from WACKER generate the most amazing success stories – and yet, they often remain hidden in the background. They move us punctually from A to B, they make housework easier and they have even made the energy revolution possible. They can be found working hard at the bottom of the sea or even flying up into space.
Discover the success stories of our “secret engineers.”
Punctual Whatever the Weather –
Engineered by Silicones
Regardless of whether you are traveling by intercity train, subway or streetcar – the one thing you want most when you are using public transport is to arrive punctually and without major delays. Silicones from WACKER have an important role to play here.
Chugging Away
Trains and streetcars work hard day in, day out. Within conurbations or right across the country. In all weathers and temperatures. And all that over many, many years. To ensure that rail traffic rolls smoothly, the materials used must be designed to be durable, reliable and for constant use. Silicones from WACKER are extremely reliable in meeting these high requirements. One such example can be found in the heart of traction machines: the traction motor.
Getting Up to Speed with Silicone Resins
WACKER developed the high-performance silicone resin SILRES® H62 C especially for use in electric motors. As a significant component in electrical insulation systems, it provides effective heat management and reliably protects the motor against environmental influences such as moisture, dust and dirt. This electrical insulation is maintained for years, ensuring permanently safe and punctual rail traffic operations.
Silicones Through and Through
Silicones also play an essential role in numerous other train elements: flame-retardant WACKER silicone rubbers can be found inside and outside rail vehicles – in cables, coupling bellows, door and window pane seals, for example. They meet the high EU fire protection guidelines and can also be used to produce components with the highest requirement classes.
Want to Learn More about WACKER Silicones Used in Rail Traffic?
To the product page “Rail Traffic”
Reliability and Safety in the Home –
Engineered by Silicones
As we all know, danger lurks everywhere in a home. It’s a good job WACKER silicones exist: they make housework a lot safer and more comfortable in many areas. Starting off with coffee brewing in the morning, working in the kitchen and even the ironing.
Keeping Heat at Bay
Lots of households feel the heat at breakfast, especially inside their coffee makers and toasters. Silicones from WACKER help make that tasty morning coffee a relaxing affair – they ensure, in the form of reliable insulation, that household appliances keep their cool and don’t go up in smoke. They protect the heating element in coffee machines from moisture. They space out the heating wires in toasters at the right distance so that the temperature remains safe and even. This securely keeps the heat where it belongs.
Silicones for Kitchen Comfort
You only realize how valuable your stove, dishwasher or microwave are when they stop working the way they should. But this doesn’t happen when silicone rubbers from WACKER are used: thanks to their excellent sealant and adhesion characteristics, they ensure smooth and safe operation. They remain flexible when cold and are resistant to heat, they are permanently elastic and they can withstand microwave radiation. And they are also suitable for all food-contact applications. That makes them the first choice for dishwashers, washing machines, ovens, cooktops, refrigerators and freezers.
Letting Off Steam with Silicones
Letting off steam after work – some people like doing this whilst ironing. Silicones from WACKER are also used here to prevent people from burning their fingers: they safely seal off the steam chambers in steam irons. Components that come into contact with hot steam are reliably bonded with silicones so that no steam can escape and cause scalding.
Discover More about How WACKER Is Turning the Home into a Comfort Zone.
To the product page “Appliances Industry”
News from Outer Space –
Engineered by Silicones
Primary requirements in our modern society: secure data transmission and problem-free communications. No distance is too far for WACKER to ensure this happens: our silicones even fly into space inside satellites for this purpose.
Extreme, Extremer, Outer Space
No pressure, intense radiation, extreme cold and, at the same time, extreme temperature fluctuations: space is characterized by extreme conditions. This of course means that all the materials used in satellite construction have to meet extreme requirements. Right up there in the front row: silicones from WACKER.
Silicones for Satellite Construction
Working closely with well-known aerospace companies, WACKER has developed silicones suitable for space travel and use in satellites: they meet the standards set by the European Space Agency (ESA) and make it possible to securely attach solar cells to the support structure of solar generators. Semiconductive specialty silicones enable satellite components to perform flawlessly even in extreme environments, thereby ensuring reliable data transmission and communications.
Find out More about Specialty WACKER Silicones Used In Satellite Construction.
To the article “Silicones in Space”
Concentrated Solar Energy –
Engineered by Silicones
The energy revolution is on everyone’s lips in Germany. Solar energy will play an increasingly important role in the future. A particularly efficient technology – concentrator photovoltaics – uses specialty silicones from WACKER.
Focused Light
Solar energy is already an important part of the sustainable energy portfolio. It can be obtained in a particularly efficient and environmentally friendly manner with concentrator photovoltaics (CPV): sunlight is concentrated and focused on highly efficient solar cells.
Silicones for More Sustainability
Light is focused using, among other things, lens plates that are based on specialty silicone rubbers from WACKER: ELASTOSIL® Solar 3201 and ELASTOSIL® Solar 3210. These highly transparent silicones are characterized by long-term UV and heat resistance, and have a lower weight compared to glass.
As components in optical systems, silicones enable a very high solar-power yield while reducing the amount of semiconductor material required – a sustainable solution that meets energy revolution requirements.