Development of a Protocol to Determine the Minimum Operating Stress of Compressed Non-Asbestos Gaskets

The ASME PCC-1-2010 Guidelines for Pressure Boundary Bolted Flange Joint Assembly [1] introduced a new method for an appropriate assembly bolt stress determination across bolted flange connections. The method introduced in APPENDIX O of the ASME PCC-1-2010 has recently received substantial attention by several gasket researchers. In this new method, calculation is based in a complex approach that considers the integrity of each joint component. However, almost no information is found about some essential parameters. Therefore, the intent of the present study is to introduce a protocol for the determination of one of these factors: the minimum gasket operating stress (Sg_min-o). This value is defined as “the gasket stress that should be maintained on the gasket during operation in order to assure the leakage does not occur”. This paper will show a detailed study for a protocol to determine the minimum gasket operating stress and actual test results for compressed non-asbestos gaskets. Furthermore, the device used in the research will be defined in detail afterwards.