Etienne Barthel

Shape relaxation of gelling droplets Solidification is a heterogeneous transformation from liquid-to-solid which usually combines transport, phase transition and mechanical strain: predict- ing the shapes resulting from such a complex problem is fascinating and has a wide range of implications from morphogenesis in biological tissues to in- dustrial processes.

We investigate experimentally the adherence energy Γ of model polyacrylate pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs) with combined large strain rheological measurements in uniaxial extension and an instrumented peel test. We develop a nonlinear model for such a peel test which captures the dependence of Γ(V) with peeling rate V, revealing the key role played by the extensional rheology.