Gaskets are a mechanical seal placed between two surfaces to prevent leakage. There are a variety of gaskets available that belong to three categories – metallic, non-metallic, and semi-metallic. But, in this post, we will focus mainly on spiral wound gaskets, a type of semi-metallic gaskets. These gaskets are the most popular gaskets used for critical applications that operate at high pressure, as they can withstand temperature up to 550°C and high pressures too. In fact, these gaskets are designed to easily balance any change in temperature and pressure during the sealing process; thus ensuring excellent and secure sealing.

Spiral wound gaskets are manufactured using soft gasket filler and a metal strip; and are constructed by winding together both the filler and metal such that there are alternating layers of filler and metal. The filler acts as the main seal and ensures perfect sealing, while the metal strip provides structural strength and is beneficial for quick and easy recovery. The criteria for material selection for the metal strips include fluid concentration, corrosive mature, and operating temperature, due to which the most commonly used materials include Stainless Steel 304, 316, and 321. The general materials used for filler include graphite, ceramic paper, mica, and asbestos; and the outer central ring is made up of Carbon Steel. Spiral wound gaskets are generally round in shape, but are also available in rectangular, oval, and diamond shapes. You can get the best of these at Trim Engineering Services, one of the most reliable spiral wound gasket manufacturers in India.

What are the benefits of using spiral wound gaskets?

• Spiral wound gaskets serve a variety of roles like padding, sealing, leak prevention, mounting, protection against environmental contaminants, and minimization of vibration.
• They can work well in high-pressure, high-temperature, and corrosive environments; and require lesser clamping forces than solid gaskets.
• Due to their chevron-shaped profile, these gaskets provide padding like a spring; thus being reliable for a variety of work environments.
• Due to their reliability and strength, these gaskets also prevent gear failure and the following expenses.
• Spiral wound gaskets can be tailored to suit a wide range of operating conditions by combining different winding materials and metals; and are also very simple to install.
• The outer ring of spiral wound gaskets simplifies assembly and prevents the gasket’s blow-out.
• The inner ring prevents radial flow of soft fillers, and reduces turbulence; thus minimizing flow resistance.
• The inner ring also acts as a heat shield when the spiral wound gaskets is subjected to high temperatures.
• The center ring of spiral wound gaskets protects the spiral wound element, and provides additional security against the gasket’s blow-out, along with the inner ring.
• The center ring also acts as a compression limiter preventing overloading and over-compression of the spiral wound element.

With the above benefits, you can see how a spiral wound gasket as a whole is beneficial, but you can also see the individual benefits of each ring. This is why gaskets exceeding 600lbs are recommended to use both inner and outer rings so as to optimize the operational reliability of the spiral wound sealing element.