Compression Behavior of Gasket Materials Under High Loadings

The room temperature and elevated temperature (300°F) compression behavior for a select series of fibrous/elastomeric composites has been studied at stress levels up to 200,000 psi. Fiber reinforcement consisted of both asbestos and non-asbestos. It was found that the strain at room temperature could be largely explained in terms of the composite's pore volume fraction and that material failure was not observed in the materials formulated for this study. At elevated temperature, the binder volume fraction for these materials can be used to predict the material response. Test methods and data analyses are discussed.