Gasket joints are essential components in most structural assemblies. Gaskets as sealing components between structural components are usually very thin and made of various materials, such as steel, rubber and composites.

From a mechanics perspective, gaskets act to transfer force between components. The primary deformation of a gasket is usually confined to one direction: through-thickness. The stiffness contributions from membrane (in plane) and transverse shear are much smaller in general compared to the through-thickness. The stiffness contribution therefore is assumed to be negligible, although the TB command provides options to account for transverse shear.

A typical example of a gasket joint is in engine assemblies. A thorough understanding of the gasket joint is critical in engine design and operation. This includes an understanding of the behavior of gasket joint components themselves in an engine operation, and the interaction of the gasket joint with other components.

Interface elements (INTERnnn) are used to model gaskets. By default, these elements account for both gasket through-thickness and transverse shear stiffness. However, you can modify the transverse shear stiffness by using the transverse shear option of the gasket material data table. You can also exclude the transverse shear stiffness via an element key option (KEYOPT) setting. For more information, see the TB command documentation and the documentation for each interface element.