The Shapes of Peeling Solid Films

Abstract

A theory is developed to describe the shape of a long thin elastic film peeling from a rigid substrate under a constant load. The theory is verified by static measurements of spring steel strip and by slow peeling experiments using rubber and paint films. Extension of the theory to the case of viscoelastic peeling films demonstrates how the film shape in such a system depends on peeling velocity. Reasonable agreement with experiment is obtained.