Large deformation contact mechanics of a pressurized long rectangular membrane. II. Adhesive contact

In part I of this work, we presented a theory for adhesionless contact of a pressurized neo-Hookean plane-strain membrane to a rigid substrate. Here, we extend our theory to include adhesion using a fracture mechanics approach. This theory is used to study contact hysteresis commonly observed in experiments. Detailed analysis is carried out to highlight the differences between frictionless and no-slip contact. Membrane detachment is found to be strongly dependent on adhesion: for low adhesion, the membrane 'pinches-off', whereas for large adhesions, it detaches unstably at finite contact ('pull-off'). Expressions are derived for the critical adhesion needed for pinch-off to pull-off transition. Above a threshold adhesion, the membrane exhibits bistability, two stable states at zero applied pressure. The condition for bistability for both frictionless and no-slip boundary conditions is obtained explicitly.