Abstract
Many applications use cast-iron, glass lined, or fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP) flanges. These flanges usually have limitations with the amount of clamp load that could be generated for sealing and require special gaskets that have a low seating stress. There are a variety of these gaskets in the market. These seals have typically validated their design through standard testing such as DIN EN 13555, and ASTM F2836-18. However, these standards compress the gaskets many times (10x+) beyond the limited maximum allowable clamping load of these flanges. A concern has been raised regarding if the test method might not be applicable to the real-world conditions, as the gasket stresses are so much higher. By reviewing ASME Section X - Fiber-Reinforced Plastic Pressure Vessels, and ASTM D5421 - Standard Specification for Contact Molded “Fiberglass” (Glass-Fiber-Reinforced Thermosetting Resin) Flanges, we are suggesting a low-stress-gasket leakage test by modifying the standard EN 13555 standard leakage test, by applying 20 percent of the standard loads required in each step, and adjusted the test pressure to the common pressure for FRP flanges, of 10 Bar. The paper will provide end-users with data from the modified test method and show the comparison on the leakage performances as it pertains to low-stress-gasket applications.
