Effect of thin-film length on the peeling behavior of film-substrate interfaces

Compared with the classical Kendall's model to analyze the steady-state peeling behavior of an infinite length film attaching to a rigid substrate, this paper establishes a model of a finite length thin film adhering on a rigid substrate and analyzes the influence of film's initial adhesion length, film stiffness, and initial cantilever length of films on the whole interface peeling behavior. Both theoretical prediction and finite element calculation are carried out. The typical relationship between the peeling force and the separation distance at the loading point is obtained as well as the morphology of deformed films. It is found that the initial adhesion length has a significant effect on the peeling behavior. Differently from the case of infinite thin films, whether the steady-state peeling process can be achieved or not depends on the film's adhesion length. If the film is long enough, the whole peeling process can be divided into an initial peeling stage, a transition stage, a steady-state stage, and an unstable peeling stage. The maximum peeling force of the interface does not necessarily occur in the steady-state stage, which is influenced by the film's initial adhesion length, film stiffness, and initial cantilever length. The results achieved in this paper can not only provide a systematic understanding of peeling behavior of a thin film on a rigid substrate, but also be helpful for the design of high-quality interface and peeling tests in practical applications.