What is silicone (VMQ)?

Silicone is a synthetic elastomer that has silicon as its main component and is therefore not a purely organic product, as the base chain does not consist of carbons but of siloxanes (Si-O). The main advantages of silicone products over rubber products are their high temperature resistance (up to 250 °C), ageing resistance and resistance to a wide range of media. Silicones exhibit virtually unchanged mechanical properties in the temperature range from – 60 to 180 °C. Since silicone is non-toxic, stainless steel silicone articles are often used in food and medical applications for vibration damping. Silicones generally have good rebound resilience.

VMQ (vinyl methyl silicone) is the most commonly used silicone variant in vibration control technology.