Effect of backing layer thickness on adhesion of single-level elastomer fiber arrays

Seok Kim, Metin Sitti, Chung Yuen Hui, Rong Long, Anand Jagota

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The effect of the backing layer thickness on adhesion was investigated for single-level elastomer fibrillar adhesives. Polyurethane microfiber arrays with spatulated tips on a 160 μm thick backing layer show nine times greater adhesion strength (around 22 N cm2) than those with a 1120 μm thick backing. A theoretical model is proposed to explain this difference in which very thin backing layers promote equal load sharing, maximizing adhesion, while very thick backings can lead to reduced adhesion due to edge stress concentration. Therefore, backing layer thickness should be considered as a significant parameter for design of high performance fibrillar adhesives.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number161905
JournalApplied Physics Letters
Volume91
Issue number16
DOIs
StatePublished - 2007
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

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