Silver Aluminum Conductive Silicone Rubber Strip Good Shielding Performance

Silver Aluminum Conductive Silicone Rubber Strip Good Shielding Performance

Model: BH-Conductive Silicone Rubber Strip

Item specifics

Processing Service: Moulding, Cutting

Place of Origin: Guangdong, China

Application: Microwave Waveguide System,Metal boxes sealing

Volume resistivity: 0.004 Ωm

Style: Ag/Al conductive rubber

Feature: conductive and sealing

Filler: Ni/C,AL/Ag,AL/Cu,AL/Glass

Shielding effectiveness: >90db

Temperature Ranges: -60 to +185 ºC

Review

Description

Selection guide

Silver-plated aluminium silicone strip: a gasket that must do two jobs at once

This strip is a compression gasket, not a conductor in the wiring sense. It seals a joint against dust and moisture and, at the same time, carries RF current across that joint. It is the right part when a die-cast aluminium housing, a waveguide flange or a shielded cabinet door needs sealing and grounding from one component, and when you cannot rely on a welded or screwed bond at the mating face.

It is the wrong part in three situations, and each of them explains a large share of the field returns we examine: a groove that is machined too deep, so the strip never reaches its working deflection; a door that flexes, where a braided strap or a finger-stock contact belongs; and a contact face that is painted, anodised or chromate-coated, which insulates the very surface the strip is meant to bridge.

Silver-plated aluminium conductive silicone rubber strip in continuous length — Silver-plated aluminium (Ag/Al) conductive silicone strip. Profiles, lengths and cut formats are made to drawing.

The material is an Ag/Al filled silicone elastomer: a beige base compound loaded with silver-coated aluminium particles, so conductivity runs through the whole cross-section rather than sitting in a coating that can rub off.

Four filler systems, four different purchasing decisions

Conductive silicone is not one material. The filler decides conductivity, corrosion behaviour and price, and the four systems offered on this series are not interchangeable. Read the table as a shortlisting tool, then confirm the choice against your own corrosion and attenuation test.

Filler system

Where it usually fits

What to check before release

Nickel / carbon (Ni/C)

Cost-sensitive enclosures, industrial cabinets, general EMC sealing where moderate attenuation is enough

Lower conductivity than silver systems; confirm attenuation at your highest frequency of interest

Silver / glass (Ag/Glass)

Stable conductivity with a harder, more abrasion-tolerant surface; good for repeated open-close cycles

Glass beads raise hardness and compression force; re-check closure force on small covers

Silver / aluminium (Ag/Al) - this page

Balanced conductivity and cost, wide temperature range, waveguide and cast-aluminium housing sealing

Aluminium is sensitive to galvanic mismatch; check the mating metal and any salt-spray requirement

Silver / copper (Ag/Cu)

Highest conductivity of the four, used where attenuation margin is tight

Copper is the least corrosion-tolerant option; specify plating or a protected joint

One page cannot rank these for you. The correct answer depends on frequency band, mating surface, closure force, salt spray and target cost, which is why a drawing plus a test band is more useful to us than a product name.

Profile options on the same compound: rectangular, D-section and channel forms are all cut from a moulded or sheet stock.

How to read the numbers on this page

Filler: Ag/Al, with Ni/C, Ag/Glass and Ag/Cu available on the same moulding platform
Volume resistivity: Quoted with its unit and test method. Ohm-centimetre and ohm-metre differ by a factor of 100, so a figure is only comparable when both are stated - see the note below
Shielding effectiveness: Above 90 dB, measured on the compound, not on your finished assembly
Service temperature: -60 to +185 degrees C continuous; short excursions higher, to be confirmed per application
Processing: Moulding and cutting: die-cut, kiss-cut and slit-to-width formats are all possible
Typical joints: Microwave waveguide flanges, cast or machined metal boxes, shielded cabinet doors and panels

Unit discipline

Volume resistivity in ohm-metre and ohm-centimetre differs by a factor of one hundred. A quotation that states a number without a unit is not comparable with another supplier's, and a decimal point moved one place can make a 0.4 ohm-cm part look like a 0.004 ohm-cm part. Fix the unit in the RFQ.

Method discipline

Volume resistivity depends on electrode area, probe pressure and conditioning. Shielding effectiveness depends on the test fixture and the frequency band. Ask for the method, not just the result, and keep the same method for incoming inspection.

Compression discipline

Every attenuation figure assumes a deflection. Conductive elastomer joints are normally designed in the 10 to 30 percent deflection range, then verified by compression-set testing at the real groove depth. A strip tested at 30 percent will not repeat its number at 10 percent.

Where these strips fail in the field

Almost none of the failures we see are material failures. They are geometry and assembly failures, and they are cheap to design out.

Groove depth

No deflection, no conductivity

A groove that is 0.2 mm too deep can drop the joint below its working deflection across the whole perimeter. Specify the groove as a band, for example a target deflection with a minimum, and measure the first-off assembly rather than the loose part.

Corner radius

Cut corners open the joint

Mitred cuts at a rectangular corner leave a wedge-shaped gap. Either specify a moulded corner, a vulcanised splice, or an overlap long enough to survive the compression cycle.

Surface finish

Coating blocks the path

Anodised, painted or powder-coated flanges insulate the gasket from the housing. Mask the contact band before coating, or specify a conductive finish on that band only.

Compression set

The seal relaxes, the shield degrades

Heat and time relax the elastomer. For doors that stay closed for years, ask for compression-set data at your service temperature, not at room temperature.

Conductive silicone gasket strip seated in a metal enclosure groove — Seated in a machined groove. The gap between groove depth and strip height is the deflection the joint will actually run at.

Incoming inspection in five steps

Condition the sample

Bring the strip and the mating plate to the same temperature and humidity used in the specification. Resistivity measured on a cold part is not the number on the drawing.

Measure resistivity by method

Use one fixed electrode geometry and one fixed pressure, and record both on the report. Compare only against results produced the same way.

Sweep the band you care about

Shielding effectiveness is a curve. Check the frequency range that matters for your product, not a single headline number.

Test the assembly

Clamp the strip into the real groove, at the real torque, and measure the closed joint. This is the only figure that predicts field behaviour.

Age it

Repeat the assembly measurement after heat ageing and after a compression-set cycle. A joint that passes cold and fails warm is a design problem, not a batch problem.

What to send with an enquiry

A useful RFQ package

Cross-section drawing with groove depth and target deflection
Perimeter length and corner treatment, mitred or moulded
Mating metal and any coating on the contact band
Frequency band and the attenuation you must reach
Salt-spray or corrosion requirement, if any
Annual quantity and delivery format: continuous roll, cut length or die-cut frame

What we return

Filler recommendation with the trade-off stated in writing
Profile and tolerance proposal, including corner and splice options
DFM feedback within 48 hours of a complete drawing
Sample strip for your own attenuation and compression-set test

Production samples typically follow about two weeks after drawing release, subject to profile and tooling.

Background reading on the material family, including how filler loading changes attenuation, is in how conductive silicone works in EMI shielding. For sealing profiles that carry no conductive filler, see custom silicone seals.

Questions buyers ask before the first sample

Does "above 90 dB" apply to my enclosure?

No. It is a material-level figure measured in a fixture. Your enclosure result depends on groove depth, fastener pitch, surface finish, cable penetrations and seam length. Treat the material figure as a screening value and test the assembly.

Can Ag/Al replace Ag/Cu without requalification?

Only if your attenuation margin is comfortable and your corrosion environment is mild. Ag/Cu carries more conductivity; Ag/Al carries better cost and, in many cast-aluminium joints, more predictable galvanic behaviour. Requalify either way.

Can the strip be supplied die-cut to a frame?

Yes. Die-cut, kiss-cut and slit-to-width formats are all supported, which suits high-volume assembly where a loose strip would be slow to place. Send the frame outline with the drawing.

Is a conductive adhesive backing available?

Adhesive backing helps placement but is not a substitute for compression. Design the groove to hold the strip mechanically, then use backing only to keep it in position during assembly.

Custom build

Send the groove drawing, not a product name

We mould Ag/Al and the other three filler systems on the same platform, so the useful conversation is about your joint: deflection, mating metal, frequency band and quantity. Send a cross-section and we will return a profile proposal and a sample strip for your own test.

Request a quotation Talk to an engineer