Silicone is frequently used for flexible connectors in food and pharmaceutical plants, but it has a major drawback: it isn't durable enough for high-movement applications.
The Silicone Problem: Vulnerability to Tearing
In environments with significant movement, such as sieves and sifters, silicone is prone to failure.
- The Nick: Traditional hose clamps easily create small nicks in silicone connectors during installation or operation.
- The Tear: Because silicone has low tear strength, a minor nick can quickly evolve into a catastrophic rip under stress.
- The Contamination Risk: Torn silicone fragments can enter the process line, resulting in costly product recalls.
- The Operational Downtime: Frequent replacements necessitate immediate production halts.
The Solution: BFM® Seeflex
BFM® fittings use proprietary Seeflex material, which is a clear, ether-based thermoplastic polyurethane alloy engineered for superior wear resistance across a wide range of applications.
- Mechanical Strength: Seeflex is designed to withstand ongoing oscillation and mechanical stress that destroys silicone.
- Tear Resistance: Its unique construction resists cracking and ripping, even if the material is snagged or nicked.
The Proof: The 6.7kg Stress Test
We compared identically sized pieces of Seeflex and silicone to see how they handle real-world damage. We made a small nick in both materials and attached a 6.7 kg weight to the bottom.
- Silicone: Failed instantly. The nick propagated into a total tear the moment the weight was dropped.
- BFM® Seeflex: Remained intact. It resisted the tear and held the weight despite the pre-existing damage.
The result is clear: Seeflex delivers a significantly longer service life and eliminates the downtime caused by fragile silicone connectors.
Find out more about silicone vs Seeflex here, or if you'd like to try Seeflex for yourself, contact your local BFM® Distributor - they'll be happy to show you the difference in person.