The Influence of the Fractal Dimension of Rough Surfaces on the Adhesion of Elastic Materials

In this paper we analyse the adhesion between a rubber block and a rigid randomly rough profile. The focus of the investigation is on the influence of the work of adhesion and of the fractal dimension D-f of the rough profile on the contact behaviour. In particular, we analyse how the contact area and the power spectral density of the deformed profile are affected by the two aforementioned quantities. We find that at sufficiently small loads the influence of D-f is negligible. However, the scenario strongly changes at higher loads as D-f strongly affects the number of contact spots. Calculations show that the contact area depends linearly on the work of adhesion, whereas only a negligible influence of the work of adhesion is found on the power spectral density (PSD) of the deformed profile. (C) Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2012