Analysis of three-layer gasket performance affected by flange surface

Abstract

Gaskets are components that play a very important role in piping connections to prevent leakage. Several factors affect the performance of the gasket, one of which is the contact surface of the flange. The quality of the contact surfaces in the connection also influences the leakage rate of each connection, therefore the gasket sealing performance is assessed by the rate of leakage that occurs. As a result, the surface roughness of the flange has an effect on sealing. This study examines the capability of a three-layer corrugated metal gasket to prevent leakage when the outside layer thickness and flange roughness are adjusted. The feature of three-layer corrugated metal gasket was elucidated using the finite element analysis (FEA) and experimental method. The leak rate was tested using a helium leak quantity test experimentally. The gasket was constructed with oxygen-free copper (C1020) as the outside layer and SUS304 as the base layer, and it was structured in a three-layer pattern with no bonding. A mold press was used to make the gasket. The simulation method applies finite element analysis software to investigate the correlation between contact stress, contact width, surface thickness and surface roughness. The projected results matched the experiment results fairly well. A three-layer corrugated metal gasket shows improvement capability to prevent leakage than a single gasket (standard). The gasket three-layer shows sealing performance improvement that leakage did not occur in low axial force 40 kN for all surface roughness test. In terms of sealing, a three-layer gasket with a low thickness ratio works well. Surface roughness of the flange has no influence on the three-layer gasket