In many industrial applications, resistance to fire is critical. This is coupled to other features, including low emission of smoke and non-corrosive and non-toxic fumes when fire does occur. All these fire resistance features can be integrated into all silicones, but silicone foam (also referred to as expanded silicone) is best for the fullest levels of protection.  Silicone foam is a soft, flexible, and spongy material that provides the performance benefits of other silicones (gels, elastomers etc.), but with added suppleness. These advantages contribute to the manufacture of foamed gaskets or foam parts (like cushioning and seating) or full coverage of the surfaces to be protected, with the added advantage of being a lightweight material.
Beyond fire protection, foams are ideal for the enclosure of electrical cabinets that will resist high temperatures and invasive chemicals or fluids. Manufacturers of housing for parts in transport, for example, use silicone foams for their ability to withstand high levels of vibration and their light weight, thus contributing to energy savings.
To protect battery system from the external environment, OEMs need to work on thermal insulation right from the initial design stage of the entire battery pack.
Insulation foams have clearly become the material of choice for battery and power pack protection. Silicone battery interstitial fill solutions have proven their performance advantages in over one million EVs, to help prevent disastrous thermal runaway, while maintaining lightweight agility in 15 billion BEV miles driven and counting.
The many qualities of silicone foams have become essential to provide safe products to end users and to comply with strict regulatory standards.