The elastic serrated gasket of the flange bolted joints

The paper presents the experimental as well as numerical research of a bolted flange joint with an elastic serrated gasket. Two constructions of a metal core were proposed. Their cross-section shapes were different in relation to the standard solution. Results of the experimental research showed that the elastic core provides a considerable increase of the joint tightness compared to the tightness of the joint sealed with a standard gasket. Next, numerical analysis was conducted whose aim was to determine contact pressure on the interfacing surface between the gasket and flange. It appeared that proper forming of the core cross-section provides quite regular distribution of contact pressure along the gasket width. The final part verified the numerical computation and explains the effect of the increased tightness of the joint with an elastic core.