Dow Corning STI.

DOW CORNING STI 

Dow Corning STI is the nation's largest compounder of silicone rubber and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dow Corning Corporation. Headquartered in Plymouth, Mich., STI produces silicone base materials, including dimethyls, fluorosilicones and phenylmethyls, which are supplied to fabricators who compound their own silicone products.

STI also provides completely pigmented, catalyzed and preformed high-consistency silicone rubber compounds according to individual customer requirements, ready for extrusion, calendering or molding operations. In addition, the company offers a full line of liquid silicone rubbers (LSRs) for liquid injection molding.

Versatility unparalleled among silicone rubber compounders has been key to STI's success. For example, the firm is able to supply custom pre-forms or special packaging to facilitate subsequent manufacturing operations, saving customers both time and money. STI offers a complete range of silicone materials for compression-, transfer- or injection-molding, and typically commercializes more than 100 new products each year.

One of STI's greatest assets remains its ability to respond quickly to new materials challenges. Custom-mixed materials, many of which have been developed to meet the needs of individual customers and/or applications, represent much of the company's business. Large batch processing capabilities are also an advantage, drastically reducing lot-to-lot variation.

In addition, a new computerized laboratory information management system is now in place in all domestic STI facilities. The system is used to track raw material specifications, product tolerances and test results to further enhance product consistency and reduce order-to-shipping time.

Complete technical support is an integral part of STI's role as a material supplier, both in product development and processing. Detailed fabricating guidelines describe the preparation and cure of silicone rubber from STI, as well as molding, extruding, calendering and fabric coating.

Much of the firm's R&D work in 1991 has centered around the development and testing of elastomers for alternative automotive fuels, especially products that perform well in gasoline, methanol or any combination of the two. Long-term studies have been underway since 1987 in conjunction with Dow Corning's Automotive Group.

The alternative fuels work is carried out primarily in the fuels laboratory, which is part of the automotive center shared by Dow Corning and STI. The development of elastomers suitable for use in a wide range of fuels also includes the study of a Ford "Flex Fuel" Crown Victoria. Dow Corning is one of the only non-government organizations not aligned with a major oil or fuel supplier to obtain one of the specially designed vehicles. The combination of the fuels lab and the test car permits the alternative fuels team to formulate new materials for use in fuel systems and engine sealing applications, then observe the materials under actual use conditions.

Engine sealing has also been a major focus for the Dow Corning/Dow Corning STI team, as researchers develop world-class materials for molded rubber gaskets and continue their work on a new generation of no-post-cure, oil-resistant LSRs for use in robotically applied cured gaskets and/or mold-in-place applications.

Dow Corning STI's U.S. manufacturing sites include a new 70,000 square foot plant in Kendallville, Ind., completely upgraded facilities in Walnut, Calif., and a custom-designed, 50,000 square foot Monroe, Conn., plant, which replaces two previous Connecticut sites.