Our Innovations team have been putting our newest silicone sponge grade, kSil™V-0 through its paces to get indication of how it performs under water to give indication of its IP rating.
As with all our silicone sponge grades, water absorption and sealing performance are two of the critical measures to test whether the material can protect electronic enclosures or devices from water and dust ingress. This is generally measured in the end application however, we wanted to gauge the performance levels of the material to IP67 which is submersion under 1m of water for 30 minutes.
Innovations Engineer, Steven Maxwell produced a perspex rig which acted to represent a sealed enclosure. The extruded sponge cord was then placed into the channel of the rig and tightened to form a sealed enclosure shown below.
Steven said “Once fixed in place, we lowered the sealed rig into a large vessel filled with 1m of water where it was left for 30 minutes. After the time had passed we took the rig out for analysis to see if water had entered the enclosure, which to our delight it hadn’t. This is another innovative creation to support our customers with silicone design solutions.”
The test was a resounding success, proving that our kSil™V-0 silicone sponge material is capable of meeting IP67, a rating that is difficult to achieve with a silicone foam/sponge.
More information on kSil™V-0 silicone sponge and it’s applications.