Gasket

A sealing gasket for disposition within a fluid containment joint between opposing faces of the flange members by which compressive loading is applied to the sealing gasket, the sealing gasket comprising:

• a substantially planar spiral wound gasket element, including a longitudinally grooved resilient metal form interleaved with a compressible filler, and an inner ring extending radially inwardly between the spiral wound gasket element and a through aperture extending in a transverse direction, said inner ring having flat, radially extending major faces formed of exfoliated graphite material extending to substantially uniform depth in said transverse direction and supported by a reinforcing core defining for the exfoliated graphite material, a radially uniform compressible thickness in the transverse direction, wherein said exfoliated graphite material has an uncompressed thickness in relation to said spiral wound gasket element that the sealing gasket is, in said operative disposition between flange members, compressible by said faces of the flange members to an operationally compressed thickness at which the spiral wound gasket element provides a defined degree of sealing between the flange members, and at which the graphite material major faces of the inner ring provide a radially uniform sealing pressure with said flange members to form a primary seal so as to exclude the contained fluid from said faces of the flange members and from the spiral wound element.