Advanced High-Temperature Test Methods for Gasket Materials, 1989

Testing of nonasbestos gasket facing materials using high-temperature creep, high-pressure sealability, and an elevated pressure thermal conductance apparatus is presented. A discussion of the composition of nonasbestos facing suggests that thermal gravimetric analysis yields little useful information to the designer and that high-performance testing under thermal and/or compressive load are required. Materials are ranked in order of service temperature from cellulose fiber reinforced to homogenous flexible graphite. The data lead to the conclusion that the changes occurring in a gasket facing from ten percent thermally induced compressive creep can result in orders of magnitude change in sealability.