Gasket is a mechanical seal that fills the space between two objects, generally to prevent leakage between the two objects while under compression. Gaskets save money by allowing "less-than-perfect" mating surfaces on machine parts which can use a gasket to fill irregularities. Gaskets are commonly produced by cutting from sheet materials, such as gasket paper, rubber, silicone, metal, cork, felt, epidermis, neoprene, nitrile rubber, fiberglass, or a plastic polymer.

Gaskets for specific applications may contain Asbestos and Non Asbestos Material. It is usually desirable that the gasket be made from a material that is to some degree yielding such that it is able to deform and tightly fills the space it is designed for, including any slight irregularities. Many gaskets require an application of sealant directly to the gasket surface to function properly.

One of the more desirable properties of an effective gasket in industrial applications for compressed fiber gasket material is the ability to withstand high compressive loads. Most industrial gasket applications involve bolts exerting compression well into the 14 MPa (2000 psi) range or higher. Generally speaking, there are several truisms that allow for best gasket performance. One of the more tried and tested is: "The more compressive load exerted on the gasket, the longer it will last". There are several ways to measure a gasket material's ability to withstand compressive loading. The "hot compression test" is probably the most accepted of these.

Gaskets come in many different designs based on industrial usage, budget, chemical contact and physical parameters:

These are of several types:

• Perforated Gasket – Where both side Tin sheets are perforated & Non asbestos Fibrous sheet is compressed inside Metal.

• Multi – Metal gasket - Multiple layers (may be four or five) of Steel Sheets are punched out of tool & combined with Piston Culot or Spot Welded. This type of gasket is generally used where flanges are properly grinded.

• Non Asbestos gasket with Metal Re-enforced - In this category, On Asbestos Sheet is used on both sides of composite & inside there is a metal sheet for reinforcement.

The premise is simple in that a sheet of material (in older situations the material would be compressed asbestos, but now generally a fibrous material such as graphite is used) has the gasket shape "punched out" of it. This leads to a very fast production of gasket. These gaskets can fill many chemical requirements based on the inertness of the material used and fit many budgetary restraints.