ZircoFlex^TM Foil - Technical Details

The ZircoFlex^TM material offers superb thermal barrier performance. Click on the graph opposite for a larger view of our performance chart in which we compare a leading commercial double walled heat shield material (5.25mm thk. and 1.46 kg/m²) with just one layer of ZircoFlex^TM foil (0.25mm thk. and 0.46 kg/m²).

In both cases we put the heat-shield in direct contact with the heat source (the worst case scenario) and measure the temperature on the outer "cold" surface of each heat shield.

Measurements show that the commercial heat shield material is only able to achieve a temperature reduction of ~35% in this arrangement, whilst the much thiner and lighter ZircoFlex^TM foil reduces temperatures by ~64%. As a result, ZircoFlex^TM foil has already been supplied on a pre-production basis to F1.

ZircoFlex^TM is believed to be the first-ever flexible ceramic heat shield material. It is the culmination of more than five years intensive research and materials science, using a new technology in which the ceramic material is sprayed in the form of thousands of individual ‘platelets' onto the surface of the backing foil. While these platelets are close-packed to provide comprehensive heat protection, their structure coupled with the forming processes allows the foil to be flexible and easily manipulated and bent to shape.

As expected, early applications for ZircoFlex^TM foil are coming from the automotive industry, where the foil can be used to protect sensitive components from heat in increasingly crowded engine bays. We are also experiencing considerable interest from the motorsport sector where the foil is in demand as a rapid solution to thermal protection problems. We are also seeing an increasing volume of enquires from a range of other industries.

ZircoFlex^TM is supplied in standard sheet sizes of 900mm x 550mm (Nominal dimensions). In its present form it is suitable for applications with temperatures up to 500^oC. We do not recommend using this grade of ZircoFlex^TM in direct contact with high performance exhaust manifolds or headers.

Zircotec is continuing its research into flexible ceramic coatings and has plans to produce an expanded range of ZircoFlex^TM foils using a range of alternative substrates.

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