Abstract
Evidence for the graphite fracture mechanism is reviewed and discussed. The roles of certain microstructural features in the graphite fracture process are reported. The Burchell fracture model is described and its derivation reported. The successful application of the fracture model to uniaxial tensile data from several graphites with widely ranging structure and texture is reported. The extension of the model to multiaxial loading scenarios using two criteria is discussed. Initially, multiaxial strength data for H-451 graphite were modeled using the fracture model and the Principle of Independent Action. The predicted 4th stress quadrant failure envelope was satisfactory but the 1st quadrant predictions were not conservative and thus were unsatisfactory. Multiaxial strength data from the 1st and 4th stress quadrant for NBG-18 graphite are reported. To improve the conservatism of the predicted 1st quadrant failure envelope for NBG-18 the Shetty criterion has been applied to obtain the equivalent critical stress intensity factor, KIc (Equi), for each applied biaxial stress ratio. The equivalent KIc value is used in the Burchell fracture model to predict the failure envelope. The predicted 1st stress quadrant failure envelope is conservative and thus more satisfactory than achieved previously using the fracture model combined with the Principle of Independent Action.