DOI: 10.1140/epje/i2002-10119-8
Formation of adhesive contacts: Spreading versus dewetting
E. Verneuil, J. Clain, A. Buguin and F. Brochard-WyartLaboratoire Physico-Chimie Curie, UMR 168-Institut Curie, 11, rue Pierre et Marie Curie 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
(Received 22 December 2002 / Published online: 29 April 2003)
Abstract
A soft bead (radius
) is pressed with a force
F against a hydrophobic
glass plate through a water drop ("wet" JKR set-up). We observe with a
fast camera the growth of the contact zone bridging the rubber bead to the
glass. Depending on the approach velocity
V, two regimes are observed : i) at
large
V a liquid film is squeezed at the interface and dewets by nucleation
and growth of a dry contact; ii) at low velocities, the bead remains nearly
spherical. As it comes into contact, the rubber bead spreads on the glass
with a characteristic time (in the range of one millisecond)
, where
is the
liquid viscosity. The laws of spreading are interpreted by a balance of
global mechanical and viscous forces.
68.08.Bc - Wetting.
68.15.+e - Liquid thin films.
68.35.Np - Adhesion.
81.40.Pq - Friction, lubrication, and wear.
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag 2003
