Effect of work of adhesion on contact of a pressurized blister with a flat surface

The axisymmetric deflection of a circular thin film (or blister) pressurized on one side and coming into contact with a flat surface is considered. The edge of the blister is immovable. Attractive forces between the blister and surface cause an increase in the radius of the contact region. This problem is different from the usual blister test in which the film debonds at its edge as the pressure is increased. The blister is modeled here as a thin plate with no rotation at its edge, either excluding or including stretching resistance, and as a membrane with no bending resistance. Adhesion is modeled using both a JKR energy approach and a DMT approach. The effect of the work of adhesion on the contact radius is determined. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.