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LOAD
askets are the weakest link in bolt load (or assembly load) produces a
compressive stresses than thicker one. perature will degrade the strength of use a thicker gasket, or reduce the
However, thinner materials require a the gasket material, causing it to de- area of the gasket to allow for a higher
higher surface finish quality. As a rule form. This will change the bolt load seating load. Dont overlook potential
of thumb, the gasket should be at least and thus modify the residual stress. A problems associated with the bolts
four times thicker than the maximum poor gasket material that suffers high themselves. Make sure that the bolt
surface roughness of the flange faces. deformation with increasing tempera- threads are long enough to allow nuts
The gasket must be thick enough to oc- ture will show high relaxation and col- to make contact with metal faces. If
cupy the shape of the flange faces and lapse or extrude at high temperatures possible, increase the number or diam-
still compress under the bolt load. In under moderate internal pressure. eter of the bolts used for the flange.
situations where vibration is unavoid- Fluid properties: The gasket mate- Gasket is badly corroded: This is
able, a thicker gasket than the mini- rial must be resistant to corrosive at- an obvious sign that the gasket ma-
mum required should be employed. tack from the fluid. It should chemi- terial is not compatible with the pro-
Bolt loading: Bolt loads also affects cally resist the system fluid to prevent cess fluid, and a replacement material
the choice of materials thickness. Ba- serious impairment of its physical with improved corrosion resistance is
sically, the gasket material must be properties. required.
thick enough to deform sufficiently Gasket is mechanically damaged:
to accommodate any irregularities or Troubleshooting When the gasket is not properly placed
inequalities in the flange faces under There a number of situations where a in the flange, it will be damaged by ei-
the available bolt load. The lower this gasket can be damaged. Some of the ther the overhang of the raised-flange
load, the greater will be the required most common problems and suggested face or the flange bore. To prevent this
thickness, and vice versa. However, remedies are presented here. from happening, one should make
the thickness will also depend on the Gasket is excessively extruded: sure that the gasket is properly cen-
materials compressibility. In gen- When the seating stress is too high, tered in the joint during installation.
eral, it is desirable to use multiple the gasket will be squeezed or ex- One should also review the sizing of
bolts that are equally loaded to give truded through the space between the the gasket to make sure it was not
a uniform stress over the gasket area. flange faces. When this occurs, one sized too large.
Using many small-diameter bolts is should select a gasket material that Gasket is substantially thinner on
preferable to using few large-diameter has better cold-flow properties, or a the outer diameter than the inner
bolts. material with a better load capacity. diameter: This problem can arises
Gasket width: In order to reduce the Gasket is excessively crushed: An- when the flange is bent or if the flange
bolt load required to produce a par- other problem that arises when the has rotated. One possible remedy is to
ticular gasket pressure, it is advisable stress is too high is crushing of the alter the gasket dimensions so that the
not to have the gasket wider than is gasket. A gasket material with a bet- gasket-reaction force is closer to the
necessary. For a given gasket stress, ter capacity to handle the load and bolts, which will minimize bending.
a raised face flange with a narrow seating stress should be considered. A softer gasket material, or a smaller
gasket will require less pre-load, and If the gasket material cannot be gasket area can be considered to lower
thus less flange strength than a full- changed, the crushing can be reduced the required seating stress.
face gasket. In general, high-pressure by selecting a thinner gasket, or one Gasket unevenly compressed
gaskets tend to be narrow. with a larger area. Other remedies around the circumference: This is
Stress relaxation: This factor is a are to consider reducing the number an indication that the bolts were not
measure of the materials resiliency of bolts used, or, if possible, a redesign tightened correctly. Again, when in-
over a period of time, and is normally of the flange. stalling the gasket, keep in mind that
expressed as a percentage loss per No apparent gasket compression the best compression is achieved when
unit of time. All gasket material will achieved: When the stress is insuffi- the bolts are tightened in sequence.
lose some resiliency over time, due to cient to achieve adequate compression Edited by Gerald Ondrey
the flow or thinning of the material of the gasket, the obvious remedy is
caused by the applied pressure. After to increase the torque applied to the
some initial relaxation, the residual bolts. A better compression is achieved Author
stress should remain constant for the if the bolts are tightened in sequence, Trinath Sahoo is the deputy
manager of the maintenance
gasket. that is, one after the other rather department at Indian Oil
Corporation Ltd. (Haldia Re-
Gasket external diameter: For two than crosswise. Keep in mind that finery, Dist. Midnapur, West
gaskets made of the same material the gasket may relax as the tempera- Bengal, India PIN-721606;
Phone: +91-3224-223-926;
and having the same width, the one ture increases, so the bolts should be Fax: +91-3224-252-202; Email:
with a larger outer diameter will with- retightened after the system reaches SAHOOT@iocl.co.in). He has
more than 10 years experience
stand a higher pressure. Therefore, it the operating temperature. When in design and engineering of
is advisable to use a gasket with an a seal is still not achieved, a gasket piping and pressure vessels
for process plants. He has also published several
external diameter that is as large as material with a lower seating stress articles in international journals and presented
papers at symposia. Sahoo has a mechanical en-
possible. or high-tensile-strength bolt should gineering degree from the University College of
Temperature: An increase in tem- be considered. Alternatively, one can Engineering, Orissa, India.