Stability of a thin elastic film close to a rigid plate
Prof. Eliot Fried
University of Washington, Seattle, U.S.
Data:16/12/2011
Hora: 14:30h
Local: Centro de Tecnologia, Bloco G, sala 205
Contato: Fernando Duda (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Abstract: We introduce and study a variational model for the pattern formation induced by bringing the surface of a rectangular plate into contact proximity with the surface of a polymeric film strongly bonded to a substrate. We treat the film as a homogeneous, isotropic, hyperelastic solid and account for both attractive and repulsive van der Waals interactions between the film surface and the proximate contractor. Motivated by prior analyses, we neglect surface energy. Aside from confirming the intuitive expectation that the presence of a repulsive contribution to the van der Waals potential should stabilize patterns that form on the film surface, our results elucidate the role of repulsive interactions at the onset of instability.
Biographical information: Eliot Fried obtained his Ph.D. in Applied Mechanics from the California Institute of Technology in 1991. He received an NSF Mathematical Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowship, a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, and an NSF Research Initiation Award. Currently he is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Interfacial and Defect Mechanics at McGill University and a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Washington. He previously held positions at Carnegie Mellon University, the Pennsylvania State University, College Park, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Washington University in St. Louis. At Illinois, he was a Fellow of the Center of Advanced Study and was awarded a Critical Research Initiative Grant. His research focuses on the mechanics and thermodynamics ofnovel materials, including liquid crystals, surfactant solutions, nematic elastomers, hydrogels, and nanocrystalline alloys.
