What is Viton Sponge Rubber? 

Viton Sponge Rubber is a high-performance and specialist material with a closed-cell structure and continuous skin on both sides, a unique design that allows for increased tear resistance and strength. If the skin becomes punctured or cut, Viton sponge rubber acts as an impenetrable barrier, preventing the passage of air or fluids between the cells. 

Additionally, Viton sponge rubber is highly compressible, resilient, lightweight, offers excellent thermal insulation properties and resistance to a wide range of substances including aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, oils, fuels, ozone and weather, lubricants and animal or vegetable oils, acids and hot water. 

Key Takeaways:

  • Viton Sponge Rubber features a unique continuous skin on both sides, improving the overall tear resistance strength of the material. 
  • Viton Sponge Rubber offers excellent temperature, chemical and weathering resistance making it suitable for use in various harsh environments. 
  • Many industries use Viton Sponge Rubber including the Automotive, Construction, Industrial Manufacturing, HVAC and Electrical Sectors, among others. 
  • Some of the key benefits of using Viton Sponge Rubber include its exceptional mechanical strength and physical properties, its unrivalled resistance properties, the materials cost-effectiveness over time and its guaranteed longevity of life. 
  • Delta Rubber Limited are one of the UK’s exclusive stockists of Viton Sponge Rubber, with the material readily available off-the-shelf and available to buy online. We also offer bespoke components manufactured from high-performance material on request. 

Why use Viton Sponge Rubber?

Viton sponge offers a myriad of advantages that make it the material of choice for various sealing applications across different professional industries. Let’s explore the key reasons why Viton sponge stands out over other closed-cell sponge elastomers:

  • Temperature Resistance: Viton sponge rubber boasts exceptional temperature resistance, making it suitable for use in extreme environments. It can withstand temperatures ranging from -24°C to 205°C and even when subjected to elevated temperatures while under compression, the specialist material maintains its integrity and sealing capabilities, ensuring reliable performance in demanding thermal conditions. The remarkable temperature resistance set it apart from almost any other closed-cell sponge sealing material.
  • Chemical Resistance: Offering unparalleled chemical resistance is a stand out feature of Viton sponge rubber. The material holds the ability to withstand a wide array of chemicals including aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, oils, fuels, lubricants, acids and animal or vegetable oils. The chemical resistance makes Viton sponge rubber an optimal choice for industries that operate in highly aggressive chemical environments, providing reliable performance and protection against potential chemical degradation. 
  • Weather Resistance: Viton sponge rubber demonstrates remarkable resistance to environmental factors including ozone, weathering and UV radiation. Unlike many other materials that often deteriorate when exposed to harsh weather conditions, Viton sponge rubber remains resilient, durable and resistant to the detrimental effects of these elements. This weather resistance ensures the longevity of seals and gaskets manufactured from Viton sponge rubber, making it a highly dependable choice for outdoor applications. 
  • Mechanical Strength: Thanks to the unique skin finish on both sides, Viton sponge rubber exhibits exceptional tear resistance and superior mechanical strength. The continuous skin adds an extra layer of durability, making the closed-cell sponge material more resilient and less prone to tearing or punctures. This mechanical strength enables Viton sponge rubber to withstand challenging conditions and environments , providing reliable sealing even in high-stress applications. 
  • Versatility: Viton sponge rubber finds applications in a wide range of industries and sealing applications where its exceptional properties make it suitable for automotive, construction, industrial manufacturing, HVAC and electrical industries, among others. Whether its sealing engine bays with irregular gaps in automotive applications, providing noise reduction and damping in construction projects, or ensuring optimal sealing in industrial manufacturing processes, Viton sponge rubber offers versatility and adaptability to diverse sealing requirements. 

What is Viton Sponge Rubber used for?

Automotive:

In the automotive sector, Viton sponge rubber plays a pivotal role in sealing applications, offering unparalleled performance and reliability. Its ability to withstand high temperatures, resist oils, fuels, and lubricants, and maintain sealing integrity even in the most demanding conditions make it an ideal choice for the industry. Whether it’s preventing the ingress of contaminants or ensuring optimal performance in the engine compartment, Viton sponge rubber can be relied upon to deliver exceptional results consistently. Its superior sealing capabilities contribute to the overall efficiency, longevity, and functionality of automotive components, providing manufacturers and users with peace of mind and confidence in its performance.

Construction:

Viton sponge rubber stands out in the construction sector due to its exceptional acoustic dampening properties. It is highly sought after for applications aimed at reducing noise and dampening vibrations, thereby enhancing the overall comfort and safety of buildings and structures. Whether it’s sealing gaps in HVAC systems or providing insulation for pipes, Viton sponge rubber excels in delivering effective sealing solutions and ensures reliable protection against the presence of oils, acids, and chemicals commonly encountered in construction environments. By incorporating Viton sponge rubber into construction projects, builders can achieve optimal sealing performance while mitigating unwanted noise and vibration.

Industrial Manufacturing:

The industrial manufacturing sector demands sealing materials that can withstand harsh conditions including exposure to aggressive chemicals, extreme temperatures and rigorous environments. Viton sponge rubber emerges as the preferred choice for manufacturing processes due to its exceptional capabilities. Offering reliable protection and sealing against environmental factors, the material ensures optimal performance and longevity of equipment. Viton sponge rubber often finds ​​applications in sealing equipment components, machinery enclosures, and containers where resistance to chemicals, oils, fuels, and high temperatures is of paramount importance.

HVAC and Electrical:

Viton sponge rubber stands out as a top-performing material in the HVAC and electrical industries, where exceptional temperature resistance and durability are essential. Its unique properties make it the go-to choice for creating effective seals in HVAC systems, ensuring optimal energy efficiency and proper insulation. Installers and professionals rely on the reliable sealing performance of Viton sponge rubber to guarantee long-lasting performance.

Additionally, Viton sponge rubber finds widespread use in sealing electrical enclosures. By forming robust seals, it provides essential protection to sensitive equipment, shielding it from harmful elements such as dust, moisture, and environmental contaminants. The unparalleled ability of Viton sponge rubber to withstand high temperatures, as well as its resistance to oils, fuels, and lubricants, make it the ultimate solution for demanding applications within the sector.

Other Applications:

Beyond the Automotive, Construction, Industrial Manufacturing and HVAC/Electrical sectors, Viton sponge rubber finds applications in a wide range of other industries. Its versatility allows for use in diverse sealing applications, including but not limited to Aerospace, Marine, Chemical Processing, Oil and Gas, and Food Processing industries. Commonly employed to create reliable sealing gaskets, O-rings, washer and even custom profiles, Viton sponge rubber ensures integrity and performance of sensitive systems and equipment in various environments.

Benefits of Viton Sponge Rubber

Mechanical Properties & Strength

As already highlighted, Viton sponge rubber exhibits outstanding mechanical properties, including its unrivalled tear resistance and enhanced strength due to its continuous skin finish. This unique characteristic provides the material with the robustness needed to withstand high stress environments, ensuring it maintains its sealing integrity and performance even in demanding conditions. 

Resistance Properties:

Viton sponge rubber excels when it comes to resistance properties, making it the go-to choice for industries prone to attack from chemicals, fuels and oils. Its exceptional resistance capabilities safeguards against damaging effects from hydrocarbons, oils, fuels, lubricants, acids and more. Whilst the materials resistance to extreme temperatures and adverse weather conditions ensures reliable performance in both hot or cold environments, indoors or outdoors. 

Cost Effectiveness:

Although a premium grade material with a higher cost than other closed-cell sponge rubbers, the durability of Viton sponge rubber can translate into cost-effectiveness for users. Due to its durability and longevity of life,  the need for frequent replacements or repairs is significantly diminished. As a result, maintenance costs are reduced, and downtime due to part failures is minimised, providing substantial cost savings in the long run. 

Longevity of Life 

Viton sponge rubber stands out as being one of, if not the most durable closed-cell sponge rubber available on the market. Its ability to resist wear, tear and environmental degradation ensures a prolonged life span, no matter the environment. This extended longevity of life enhances the overall reliability of seals and gaskets, making it the proffered material choice for critical applications where long-lasting performance is paramount. 

Where can you buy Viton Sponge Rubber?

At Delta Rubber Limited, we are proud to be one of the UK’s exclusive stockists of Viton sponge rubber sheet, providing our clients access to the highly sought after material from stock. Available at 3.18mm thick (other thicknesses available upon request), standard sheet sizes measuring 1442 mm x 710mm, our Viton sponge rubber is available off-the-shelf and to purchase through our online shop. We offer fast nationwide delivery on all orders and are confident our prices are competitive, so Click Here to buy online today. 

If you require a bespoke component to be manufactured from Viton sponge rubber, please contact a member of our sales team for assistance. Our access to state-of-the-art manufacturing technology and machinery, allows us to produce bespoke Viton sponge rubber gaskets, seals and washers in-house. Whether its a 1 off custom component or continued supply, we strive to provide an unrivalled level of service and ensure our clients expectations are not just met but exceeded each and every time.