Experimental investigation of the adhesive contact of an elastomer

The present work is an experimental study of adhesion between an elastomer and a rigid cylindrical indented The experimental characterization was carried out using a specially developed apparatus. Adhesive force was measured as function of contact geometry, pull-off velocity, normal force, temperature, waiting time, and material properties. Experimental results are compared with existing theoretical models for adhesion of elastic and viscoelastic bodies. Our study shows that the adhesive force between the studied elastomer and a steel cylinder is determined by completely different mechanisms than assumed in the Kendall’s theory. In particular, it does not depend on the surface energy and is almost entirely dominated by the viscosity of the elastomer.