https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-025-01920-5
Regular Article
Measuring adhesion of soft elastic shells
1
Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires (IFIBA-CONICET), Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, C1428, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2
Laboratoire de Physique et Mécanique des Milieux Hétérogènes PMMH, CNRS, ESPCI Paris, Université PSL, Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Cité, 75005, Paris, France
3
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Field of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Cornell University, 14853, Ithaca, NY, USA
Received:
2
September
2025
Accepted:
4
September
2025
Published online:
19
September
2025
Adhesion of soft materials is commonly measured through the classical JKR framework where a full elastic hemisphere is slightly compressed on a flat plane. However, this technique is not suitable for highly compliant materials or structures for which deformations become non-linear. Here we experimentally explore an alternative approach, inspired from the compliance method originally developed for fracture mechanics and based on the measurement of the work of adhesion during an indentation cycle. We illustrate this technique with elastomeric hemispherical shells and propose an extension to non axisymmetric shapes. Although the involved forces are of the same order of magnitude as in a standard JKR test, the corresponding displacements are much larger and can thus be more easily controlled. Precise measurements of adhesion then become possible on samples of arbitrary shape or internal structure and materials with non-linear elastic response.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
