Saffil (96% Al2O3/4% SiO2) is produced as a fibre and was developed for thermal insulation at higher temperatures. Saffil fibre products such as the Non-Woven Fabric and Sheet stocked by Goodfellow.
Properties
Saffil fibre is widely used for lining high temperature furnaces, with good performance up to 1600 °C. Saffil fibres show very little volume change at this temperature, as well as showing good strength and flexibility.
Saffil products are low weight materials, highly resistant to thermal shock and can rapidly reach high temperatures. They are suitable for high vacuum conditions and are resistant to acids and steam.
Non-woven fabrics are similar to papers, being flexible and resilient with smooth surfaces. Saffil contains a small amount of organic binder which will burn out at approximately 650 °C.
The technical data provided is for the Saffil fibres that make up the Sheet and Non-Woven Fabric.
The key properties of Saffil are given below.
Typical Applications
Typical applications of Saffil include catalyst support, filtration and furnace or mould lining. Sheets (often called tiles) are light, open, rather fragile items produced by vacuum pressing, often used as preforms for impregnation to make composites.
The fibre orientation is random planar parallel to the flat faces. A wider range of volume fractions can be supplied to special order.
Table 1. Key properties
| Physical Properties |
| Density |
3.3-3.5 g.cm-3 |
| Thermal Properties |
| Melting Point |
2000 °C |
| Specific Heat at 25 °C |
1000 J.K-1.kg-1 |
| Upper Continuous Use Temperature |
1600 °C |
| Mechanical Properties |
| Tensile Modulus |
100-300 GPa |
| Chemical Resistance |
| Acids – Concentrated |
Good |
| Acids – Dilute |
Good |
| Alkalis |
Good |
| Halogens |
Good |
| Metals |
Good |
About Goodfellow
Goodfellow supplies metals, ceramics and other materials to meet the research, development and specialist production requirements of science and industry worldwide.
The Goodfellow group consists of four companies. The main administration, research laboratories and workshops are located at the Company's headquarters in Cambridge, England. The subsidiary offices in America, France and Germany provide an additional service.