Spiral Wound Gaskets
Spirals are used in very high pressure applications or in very corrosive or high temperature environments such as pipelines in the chemical and petroleum industries.
Construction of the sealing part of the gasket is a strip of high grade metal, commonly stainless steel, wound in a spiral (known as the winding).
This spiral is wound together with a “filler” strip such as; PTFE, Graphite or a non-asbestos jointing depending on the application. Graphite is a good general purpose choice.
The spiral can have inner or outer guide rings to assist in location or to increase performance. These guide rings can be of several metals but the standard is Carbon Steel Zinc plated and passivated. Guide rings are thinner than the gasket material coil, as such the gasket has a limit to how far it compresses.
The winding material, filler material, guide ring material and the guide ring configuration can all be varied to fit the application.
The winding is generally 4.5mm thick compressing to about 3mm with the guide rings at 3mm thickness.
A frequently specified configuration is:
- Spiral winding of stainless steel
- Filler of graphite
- Outer guide ring in carbon steel zinc plated
Note: Graphite is not suitable for operation above about 440ºC in the presence of oxygen.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for, or require a bespoke gasket, please do not hesitate to contact us.