The Effect of Contact Duration and Indentation Depth on Adhesion Strength: Experiment and Numerical Simulation

The adhesive contact between a spherical steel indenter and a fragment of a transparent soft rubber sheet fixed on a glass substrate has been studied experimentally. Comparison of experimental data with the results of analytic theory and numerical simulation has revealed quantitative agreement of the results of these three approaches. We have also studied the effect of the duration of the contact between the indenter and the indentation depth on its adhesion strength. The peculiarities of experiments performed with a controllable displacement and a controllable force are considered.