Friction in the peeling test

Suomi Ponce1,2, José Bico1 , Benoît Roman1

1
Physique et Mécanique des Milieux Hétérogènes, PMMH (UMR CNRS 7636), ESPCI.
2
Université Pierre et Marie Curie, UPMC.
suomi.ponce@espci.fr

1. Kendall’s model
In 1971, Kendall [1] made some detailed studies where he proposes an equilibrium theory of
adhesive failure. This theory is based on energy minimization arguments and shows how the
separation of two interfaces depends on materials properties such as geometry, interfatial surface
energy and elasticity. Later on, in 1975 [2], he shows some results on a displacement controlled
peeling test. He models the system, considering an extensible stripe without any bending
stiffness, so the energy cost of creating an infinitesimal surface area brings to:

(1)
Basically, two asymptotic regimes are predicted. For larger angles, the fracture of the interface is
dominated by the work made by the force on the film axis without any stripe deformation. In this
limit, the peeling force increases and even diverges as the peeling angle decreases. For smaller
angles, the peeling force should reach a constant value, due to the stretching that helps the
peeling of the stripe (figure 1). In his work, he shows a good agreement between experiments
and the model, but it does not show any experiments for smaller angles than approximately 9º.
This motivated us to explore in detail a similar system at peeling angles in the 0º to 10º range.

Figure 1: Kendall's 1975 data.

 2. Friction effect on the peeling process
We started studying the zero-angle peeling configuration. This permitted us to characterize the
friction effect on the process as the generation of an effective shear stress τ at the interface.
Assuming a linear elasticity model, combined with an experimental relation between the force
and the local deformation of the stripe, permitted us to quantify the friction shear stress between
a PVS (poly-vynilSiloxane) stripe and a glass plate. This method is much simpler than other
methods reported in [3-4] and we obtained values in agreement these previous works.

3. Friction dependence on peeling angle

Initially, we thought this friction effect was exclusive to the zero-angle peeling test (lap-test-
like). But, we demonstrate that it is dependent on the peeling angle. This is due to the variation of
a sliding length l that connects a non-deformed zone to the peeled-off zone of the stripe, as
sketched in figure 2.

Figure 2: Schema. (1) Non-deformed, (2) sliding and (3) completely

detached zones.

We show that considering this friction effect as a dissipative term in the energy balance leads to a
new prediction for the peeling force that challenges Kendall's classical model.

4. References
[1] K. Kendall, “The adhesion and surface energy of elastic solids” J. Phys. D : Appl. Phys. Vol. 4, pp. 1186-1195
(1971).

[2] K. Kendall, “Thin-film peeling - the elastic term” J. Phys. D : Appl. Phys. Vol. 8, pp. 1449-1452 (1975).

[3] N. Amouroux, J. Petit and L. Léger, “Role of Interfacial Resistence to Shear Stress on Adhesive Peel Strength”
Langmuir Vol. 17, pp. 6510-6517 (2001).

[4] A. Chateauminois and C. Fretigny, “Local friction at a slinding interface between an elastomer and a rigid
spherical probe” Eur. Phys. J. E Vol. 27, pp. 221-227 (2008).