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A note on the pull-off force for a pattern of contacts distributed over a halfspace

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Abstract

We consider a series of flat contact spots distributed over a half-space, for which the pull-off force is proportional to the square root of the total contact area over the elastic compliance. By using an electro-mechanical analogy to compute the compliance using the well-known Greenwood–Holm equation, we show how the pull-off decays for fractal patterns of contact spots with simple scaling laws, tending to zero in a fractal limit, as the contact area goes to zero. Moreover, a qualitative assessment is made for contact of fractal rough surfaces, and it is shown that pull-off in this case is dominated by the value of the contact area reached during the loading process, which depends on the applied load, suggesting pressure-sensitive adhesion.

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Notes

  1. Notice that the 1D random surface may well enhance adhesion and hysteresis as per the Guduru effect. A fully 2D random rough surface may show a qualitatively different behaviour, but such simulations are not available to date.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Politecnico di BARI, V.le Gentile 182, 70125, Bari, Italy

    A. Papangelo, L. Afferrante & M. Ciavarella

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  1. A. Papangelo
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  2. L. Afferrante
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  3. M. Ciavarella
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Correspondence to M. Ciavarella.

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Papangelo, A., Afferrante, L. & Ciavarella, M. A note on the pull-off force for a pattern of contacts distributed over a halfspace. Meccanica 52, 2865–2871 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11012-017-0650-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11012-017-0650-0

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