Learn Why Silicone Heaters Are a Popular Choice for Aerospace Battery Heating Applications

Batteries are integral components of most electronics we use in our day-to-day lives, as well as equipment and systems used throughout aerospace industries. Cold temperatures can affect batteries’ performance, reducing their efficiency, leading to shorter lifetimes. Hence, in frigid environments, it is imperative to keep battery packs warm. Several heating elements are available for this purpose, and silicone rubber heaters are one of the most popular choices among them. Silicone heaters provide excellent thermal management to ensure longer lifespans of battery packs while guaranteeing better performance. This post presents ten reasons why silicone rubber heating elements are chosen for batteries in the aerospace industry.

10 Reasons Why Silicone Heating Elements Are Used for Aerospace Batteries

Silicone rubber heating elements are made up of an etched resistive foil encapsulated between layers of silicone. When electricity passes through the foil, it heats up, transferring heat through the silicone to the application to be heated. Silicone heating elements are advantageous in dynamic applications, possess long lifespans, and can operate at a wide range of temperatures. Other benefits of using silicone heaters for batteries are as follows:

1. Silicone rubber is a durable and long-lasting material.
2. Silicone heating elements possess excellent thermal stability across a wide temperature range.
3. They offer reliable performance in challenging environments, being resistant to thermal shocks, oxidation, moisture, and chemicals.
4. These heaters possess excellent dielectric strength.
5. They feature excellent formability to curved surfaces.
6. They can be designed to easily fit into small spaces.
7. Silicone heating solutions have rapid thermal recovery due to their thin profiles
8. These heaters have even heat distribution and excellent thermal conductivity.
9. They can be directly vulcanized to most surfaces to provide the most efficient heat transfer.
10. The heating elements allow for several customization possibilities, including:
    • Complex geometries
    • Multiple heating zones
    • Varying watt densities
    • Dual voltages
    • Integrated temperature sensors
    • Connectors

Today, there are few manufacturers specializing in silicone heating elements for aerospace battery heating applications, and Birk Manufacturing stands tall among them. The company has expertise and experience in manufacturing a wide range of flexible silicone heating elements. Birk’s heaters can be found throughout aerospace/defense industries, especially in battery heating applications. In addition to battery heating applications, the company has been providing heaters for warming LCDs, de-icing probes, wings, sensors, and so on. Get in touch with the experts at Birk Manufacturing today to discuss your requirements for your silicone rubber heaters.