The 9 Most Common Types of Gaskets

Updated Nov 2023

If you have ever shopped for a gasket, you know that they are not one size fits all. There are different materials, sizes, and even different types of gaskets, and their impact on the efficiency and reliability of machinery is immense.

In this blog post, we'll dive into the world of gaskets, exploring the nine distinct types that engineers and industries rely on to maintain tight seals and ensure smooth operations. From rubber to metal, each type brings its unique set of properties, and understanding them is key to optimizing performance in diverse applications.

Envelope Gasket

An envelope gasket, also known as a double jacketed gasket, is a composite gasket in which PTFE is wrapped around a core insert material. The main benefit of this type of gasket is that it provides the strength and characteristics of the core material while also benefitting from the power and features of PTFE. This type of gasket can withstand high temperatures and has anti-corrosive qualities.

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Flat Metal Gasket

A flat metal gasket can be fabricated to suit any required configuration. Flat metal gaskets offer exceptional mechanical strength, heat conductivity, and high pressures. This type of gasket is effective and economical with proper bolting, especially on flanges with concentric serrations.

Non-Asbestos Sheet Material Gasket

Non-asbestos materials are considered the most reliable option for all sealing flanges and are used in various applications. As the name would suggest, non-asbestos sheet material gaskets are cut from sheet materials that do not contain asbestos. Since the 1980’s non-asbestos materials have replaced asbestos as the industry standard. Aramid, fiberglass, mineral fiber, carbon, and graphite are commonly replaced fibers for asbestos.

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Ring Type Joint Gaskets (RTJ Gasket)

A ring-type joint gasket, also known as an RTJ gasket, is a precision-machined metal gasket. The RTJ gaskets are widely used in refinery, petrochemical, and oil field drilling applications with a design to fit a grooved chamber on a flange face.

Kammprofile Gasket

Kammprofile gaskets, also known as Kamprofile, Camprofile, or Grooved gaskets, are gaskets with a metal core bonded with a soft filler material on both sides. After installing one of these gaskets, the soft non-metallic filler gets inserted into the metal core serrated grooved. Graphite or PTFE is the most often used non-metallic filler in these gaskets. These gaskets are a great option in high pressure and high-temperature environments and are suitable for use with highly corrosive fluid joints.

Spiral Wound Gasket

The spiral wound gasket is categorized as semi-metallic and is most often used in high-pressure applications. This type of gasket is often chosen because it offers good recovery tolerance for irregularities in the flange-surface finish. The sealing action of this type of gasket is owed to the flow of the metal and soft fillers when the gasket is compressed. Spiral wound gaskets with an inner ring are well suited for applications that experience extremes in temperature, shock, vibrations, or pressure cycling.

Spiral Wound Gasket with an Inner Ring

Spiral wound gaskets without an inner ring have the same categorization, semi-metallic, as the spiral wound gasket with the inner ring. This type of gasket offers good recovery tolerance and tolerates irregularities in the flange surface finish. Spiral wound gaskets without an inner ring are well suited to applications with high temperatures or temperature fluctuations but may not perform well where vibration is an issue.

Corrugated Metal Gasket

Corrugated metal gaskets are reliable and cost-effective gaskets for flanges and heads where bolt loading is adequate. The constant load, or pressure, to which the gasket is exposed creates the sealing effect. This gasket type is used in various applications as they are capable of withstanding harsh environments such as those in steam transfers or hydrocarbon.

Rubber Sheet Material Gasket

This type of gasket is punched or cut to shape from industrially manufactured rubber sheets made from industrially produced rubber. Rubber sheet material gaskets offer excellent resilience or adaptation and are an ideal sealing material but offer limited temperature resistance.

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APG (formerly American Packing & Gasket) is a fabricator, manufacturer, and an expert distributor of custom sealing, industrial couplings, and plastic products. Roughly half of our Houston-based, 85,000 square feet, facility is dedicated manufacturing space filled with dozens of specialized machinery and equipment to ensure quality and consistency in our manufacturing processes.

Value Added Services

3D Prototyping - Utilize our CAD department to draw your part in a 3D workspace and let us materialize your part by 3D printing, ensuring sizes, tolerances, and overall design is exactly what you need.

Reproduction Capabilites - We have the capacity to design, manufacture, or reproduce any safety plastics products.

Custom Fabricated Gaskets - Utilize our CAD department, CAM systems, and extensive library of materials to create your custom gasket today.

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