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Post-cure process for silicone rubber gaskets

Post-cure process for silicone rubber gaskets

Post-cure process for silicone rubber gaskets

(OP)
In order to minimize outgassing of siloxanes, a compression gasket used in military chemical protection filters must be cured in a vented oven at 400-500 °F for four hours.  At least that's the current requirement but we still have outgassing issues.  So, I am considering increasing the time and temperature of the post-curing process.  I read somewhere that 450 °F is considered an effective upper bound to limit thermal stress on a conventional rubber (see top of page 5 of linked document).  Does anyone have hard data to back that up?  My thought was to change the requirement to 450-500 °F for at least eight hours.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Tom Green
US Army Civilian

RE: Post-cure process for silicone rubber gaskets

"Effective upper bound to limit thermal stress on a conventional rubber" is an odd thing for that document to say, given that silicones rarely behave conventionally compared to most other rubbers. In particular, silicone is known for its exceptional temperature range. 600F / 315C is generally the rule-of-thumb upper limit for silicones (Vanderbilt Rubber Handbook, 13th edition.) Your milage may vary, of course, depending on compounding.

Try out your postcure settings and test parts afterward to make sure there is no noticable property drop. I suspect things should be fine.

RE: Post-cure process for silicone rubber gaskets

(OP)
Thanks for the response!

RE: Post-cure process for silicone rubber gaskets

We post cure peroxide cured silicone parts for 24hrs at 220 deg C (428 F).

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