Wrinkles on a textile-embedded elastomer surface with highly variable friction

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Surface Engineering
• Mechanics of Materials

Background:

• Wrinkling of soft elastomer surfaces is crucial for micro-fabrication, optics, and tribology.
• Previous studies focused on hard caps or physical treatments to induce surface hardening and wrinkling.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the formation of anisotropic wrinkles on elastomer surfaces embedded with biaxial textile sheets.
• To explore the resulting surface structure and its impact on frictional properties.

Main Methods:

• Embedding a biaxial textile sheet onto an elastomer surface.
• Applying compressive strain in the fiber axial direction to induce buckling and wrinkling.
• Analyzing the surface morphology and measuring frictional coefficients.

Main Results:

• Anisotropic wrinkles selectively form on the elastomer surface when subjected to compressive strain.
• The wrinkles exhibit a fine surface structure derived from the textile's periodic pattern.
• Friction is significantly reduced (by a factor of <0.1) on wrinkled surfaces due to localized contact on textile protrusions.

Conclusions:

• Biaxial textile sheets embedded in elastomers can controllably generate anisotropic wrinkles.
• The unique wrinkled topography drastically lowers surface friction.
• This finding has potential implications for advanced tribological and surface engineering applications.