A gasket is a mechanical seal that fills the space between two objects, generally to prevent leakage between the two objects while under compression. Gaskets save money by allowing less precise mating surfaces on machine parts, which can use a gasket to fill irregularities. Packing gaskets are deformable materials used to make a pressure-tight joint between stationary parts, such as cylinder head and cylinder that may require occasional separation. Gaskets are known as static seals, as compared with packing or dynamic seals. In packing the parts are frequently in motion, as in piston rods and valve stems.
Packing is used for a range of purposes like sealing hot water, high temperatures, gases, solvents, pressure steam, etc. Technologies used in packing include compression, hydraulic, die form packing, v-packing, braided packing, etc. With this vast range of materials and technologies in use, the product range is indeed extensive.
Vital in the manufacture and maintenance processes of a plethora of products across industry, packing, sealant and gaskets are required all the year round. Both packing material and gaskets are made from a variety of raw materials and by a variety of processes. Depending on the object it is used on, e.G., pumps, valves, flanges, etc.
The gaskets can be made of sheet materials such as natural or synthetic rubber, cork, vegetable fiber such as paper, asbestos and plastic pastes, or of soft metallic materials such as lead and copper. Rubber in the form of o-rings is used for light pressure. Gaskets for specific applications may contain asbestos.
It is usually desirable that the gasket be made from a material that is to some degree compressible such that it tightly fills the space it is designed for, including any slight irregularities. There are several ways to measure a gasket material's ability to withstand compressive loading. The hot compression test is probably the most accepted of these. Most manufacturers of gasket materials will provide or publish these results.
Many types of molded and extruded rubber gaskets are applicable for sealing and packing to avoid leakages of oil water, steam, chemicals, ozone, etc, are manufactured by many rubber industries. It can be offered in round, square, rectangle, hexagonal triangle and many more shapes as per customer specification and designs or samples. Raw materials used in manufacturing of rubber gaskets are synthetics rubber, neoprene, nitrile, epdm, butyl, polyurethane, and silicone viton. These rubber gasket products are applicable to pumps, valves, strainers, filters, chemical equipment, diary equipment, flanges, transformer, etc.
One of the more desirable properties of an effective gasket in industrial applications for compressed fiber gasket material is the ability to withstand high compressive loads. Most industrial gasket applications involve bolts exerting compression well into the 14 mpa range or higher. Generally speaking, there are several truisms that allow for best gasket performance.
