Experimental And Numerical Investigations On Exfoliated Graphite Seals

In order to improve the sealing performances of porous braided packing rings, an experimental study is currently performed on a dedicated device. This device has been specially designed to measure the stresses during cyclic loading tests with compressed exfoliated graphite valve packing. Indeed, different tests which reproduce the opening and closing cycles of the valves have been performed to enhance the understanding of the response of the packing mechanical behavior. To this respect, an Hyperelasto-Hysteretic model is now being developed to reproduce the mechanical behavior of the compressed exfoliated graphite. The material parameters of this model are then identified to describe the stress-strain response of the studied packed stuffing-box under these cyclic loading tests.