A Green’s Function Molecular Dynamics Approach to the Mechanical Contact between Thin Elastic Sheets and Randomly Rough Surfaces

Putignano, Carmine; Dapp, Wolfgang; Müser, Martin

doi:10.3390/biomimetics1010007

Journal Article

FZJ-2016-06909

A Green’s Function Molecular Dynamics Approach to the Mechanical Contact between Thin Elastic Sheets and Randomly Rough Surfaces

Putignano, C. (Corresponding author) ; Dapp, W. (Corresponding author) ; Müser, M. (Corresponding author)FZJ*

2016
MDPI Basel

Biomimetics 1(1), 7 - (2016) [10.3390/biomimetics1010007]

This record in other databases:

Please use a persistent id in citations: http://hdl.handle.net/2128/13047 doi:10.3390/biomimetics1010007

Abstract: Adhesion of biological systems is often made possible through thin elastic layers, such as human skin. To address the question of when a layer is sufficiently thin to become adhesive, we extended Green’s function molecular dynamics (GFMD) to account for the finite thickness of an elastic body that is supported by a fluid foundation. We observed that thin layers can much better accommodate rough counterfaces than thick structures. As a result, the contact area is enlarged, in particular, when the width of the layer w approaches or even falls below the short-wavelength cutoff λs of the surface spectra. In the latter case, the proportionality coefficient between area and load scales is (w/λs)3 , which is consistent with Persson’s contact mechanics theory.

Classification: