2112 広視野レーザ顕微鏡を用いた金属平形ガスケット密封面の接触観察(表面・接触,一般講演)

Abstract

To clarify the sealing characteristics of metal gasket seals, the observation of the real contact area on seal surfaces is very important. In a previous work, to determine the leakage flow paths between the gasket and the flanges, the real contact situation between them was observed using a thin polymer film 1 μm in thickness. In this research, we use a laser microscope with wide field of view recently developed in our laboratory. The static seal consisted of a ring-shaped copper gasket and the two steel flanges that held the gasket in place. Gasket width was 5 mm in the radial direction. The gasket surfaces were finished by polishing with emery paper. The contact surfaces of the flanges were finished by lath turning. After unloading, the whole seal surface of the copper gasket indented by the ridges of the flange was directly observed with the laser microscope. The observation indicated that the leakage flow paths on the gasket surface were the radial direction perpendicular to the lathe-turned groove and the circumferential direction along the groove.