Physics of Fluids - Publications

Surface tension regularizes the crack singularity of adhesion

arΧiv
Soft Matter 12, 4463–4471 (2016)

Authors

	Stefan Karpitschka
	Leen van Wijngaarden
	Jacco Snoeijer

BibTeΧ

@Article{C5SM03079J,
author ="Karpitschka, Stefan and van Wijngaarden, Leen and Snoeijer, Jacco H.",
title  ="Surface tension regularizes the crack singularity of adhesion",
journal  ="Soft Matter",
year  ="2016",
volume  ="12",
issue  ="19",
pages  ="4463-4471",
publisher  ="The Royal Society of Chemistry",
doi  ="10.1039/C5SM03079J",
url  ="http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C5SM03079J",
abstract  ="The elastic and adhesive properties of a solid surface can be quantified by indenting it with a rigid sphere. Indentation tests are classically described by the JKR-law when the solid is very stiff{,} while recent work highlights the importance of surface tension for exceedingly soft materials. Here we show that surface tension plays a crucial role even in stiff solids: Young{'}s wetting angle emerges as a boundary condition and this regularizes the crack-like singularity at the edge of adhesive contacts. We find that the edge region exhibits a universal{,} self-similar structure that emerges from the balance of surface tension and elasticity. The similarity theory is solved analytically and provides a complete description of adhesive contacts{,} by which we reconcile global adhesion laws and local contact mechanics."}