Tuning the periodic V-peeling behavior of elastic tapes applied to thin compliant substrates

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the periodic peeling behavior of opposing symmetric peeling fronts involving an elastic tape peeled off from a deformable substrate of finite thickness, backed onto a rigid foundation.We treat the problem by means of an energetic formulation, and we found that, depending on the values of the initial detached length l, substrate thickness h, and peeling periodicity λ, the translational invariance of the peeling process is lost and restored, as the elastic interaction between the peeling fronts is limited by the substrate thickness. Indeed, given h and λ, a critical value of the detached length can be found, which is able to prevent unstable peeling of the tape under a fixed applied load, thus resulting in enhanced adhesion strength, with respect to the classical Kendall's solution for peeling from a rigid substrate. On the other hand, given the geometrical system configuration (i.e. the detached length l) the load necessary to trigger the peeling can be minimized by conveniently tuning the ratio h/λ. This feature might be of interest for the development of innovative designs for future biomedical devices, such as Transdermal Drug Delivery Systems or wound dressing, requiring low peel adhesion for safe successive removals.

Adhesive contact mechanics of viscoelastic materials

“…Eq. (10) shows that δL P is a non-conservative term, which vanishes in the case of purely elastic material, i.e., G O (x, v) = 0 [26,29,51]. Moreover, it is worth noting that this term does not represent the amount of energy dissipated within the bulk viscoelastic material.…”

“…Understanding the effect of adhesion in sliding contacts of polymeric rubber-like materials is of crucial importance in a large number of engineering and industrial applications, as in Micro-Electro-Mechanical systems (MEMs) [1,2,19], medical applications [3,4], seals [5,6], biological and bio-inspired systems [7][8][9][10][11][12], protective coatings [13,14], tire-road frictional behavior [15,16], windscreen wipers [17], touchscreens [18]. Controlling adhesion is fundamental, as the adhesive effect might be desirable, e.g.…”

The role of interfacial friction on the peeling of thin viscoelastic tapes

“…( 1) takes into account both the elastic energy stored in the tape, and the bulk energy dissipation occurring due to viscoelastic creep in the detached strip. Since we focus on thin tapes, we can neglect the bending contribution to W I (see also Refs [54,55]). Hence we write…”

“…Indeed, several studies have identified this mechanism as one of the sources of the superior adhesive performance of the geckos [45][46][47], insects [48,57] and frogs [49], beside the well investigated effect of the hierarchical nature of the attachment pads of these animals [50][51][52]. Moreover V-shaped peeling configuration observed in such biological systems [53][54][55][56] plays also a role in facilitating the ability of climbing animals to easily switch between firm attachment and effortless detachment. The resulting peeling force arises due to the combination of three main physical mechanisms [59]: (i) tape pre-strain due to partial sliding occurring during detachment [60,61]; (ii) the friction losses associated with the slip at the interface [58]; (iii) the viscous dissipation in the bulk of the material [62].…”

Exploring the effect of geometric coupling on friction and energy dissipation in rough contacts of elastic and viscoelastic coatings

“…For these reasons, a constantly rising interest on the tribological behavior of thin coatings has been reported in the last decades. Indeed, besides the theoretical [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11], numerical [12][13][14][15][16][17] and experimental [18][19][20][21] studies focusing on contact problems where both bodies can be treated as half-spaces (or semi-infinite), detailed investigations have been also devoted to the case of interfaces involving thin bodies [22][23][24][25][26] leading to qualitatively different results with respect to half-space solutions.…”