Adhesion and debonding of soft elastic films on rough and patterned surfaces

Abstract

With the help of simulations based on energy minimization, we have studied the effect of roughness of a rigid contactor with sinusoidal and step patterns on the adhesion-debonding cycle of a soft thin elastic film. The surface instability engendered by attractive forces between the contactor and the film produces a regularly spaced array of columns in the bonding phase. The inter-column spacing is governed largely by periodicity of the contactor pattern. Decreased periodicity of the pattern favors intermittent collapse of columns rather than a continuous peeling of contact zones. An increase in the amplitude of roughness decreases the maximum force required for debonding and increases the snap-off distance. The net effect results in a reduced work for debonding. Introduction of noise and increased step-size in simulations decreases the pull-off force and the snap-off distance, as in the case of a smooth contactor. Finally the study reveals that a patterned contactor can be used as a potential template in the patterning of soft interfaces.