Mechanical and Civil Engineering Seminar

This talk will consist of two related short stories. The first story is about the adhesion induced instability and pattern formation in thin soft elastic films. While the appearances of some these patterns are similar to those of the well-known Saffman Taylor instability in viscous films, there are remarkable differences between the two. We will elaborate upon the elastic instabilities observed in various experimental configurations, and describe a simple model that explains their morphological behaviors in terms of the geometric and material properties of the systems. The second part of the story is about the roles of the interfacial patterns in the adhesion and frictional properties of thin elastomeric films. We will provide examples of how cracks can be arrested in patterned thin films, thereby enhancing the adhesive strengths of low energy films in contact with various substrates.