Bolted flange connections are commonly used in process industries. Their sealing performance is greatly affected by the gasket. In this paper, a NiTi alloy corrugated gasket was simulated to reveal its sealing performance, considering the gasket surface roughness, shape memory effect and superelastic effect. A fluid-structure coupling analysis method that takes the real surface morphology of the gasket contact zone was proposed, and a leakage rate prediction model was established. The results showed that NiTi shape memory effect could enhance the sealing reliability in service and lower the leakage rate. The leakage rate of the NiTi alloy corrugated gasket is positively correlated with the internal pressure of the medium and the roughness of the sealing surface. The prediction model of the NiTi alloy corrugated gasket leakage rate has good reliability with an average error of about 16.81% compared with the simulation.
Keywords: NiTi alloy corrugated gasket; leakage rate prediction; sealing property; surface roughness.