Force response of a viscous liquid in a probe-tack geometry: Fingering versus cavitation

We perform traction experiments on viscous liquids highly confined between parallel plates, a geometry known as the probe-tack test in the adhesion community. Direct observation during the experiment coupled to force measurement shows the existence of several mechanisms for releasing the stress: while fingering is favored for low traction velocities, low confinement and low viscosity, nucleation of bubbles occurs in the opposite conditions. It is possible to quantitatively predict the transition between the two regimes and, in many respects, describe the shape of the force response. Using a model for purely viscous fluids, we also present a phase diagram for the different force peak regimes that remarkably accounts for the data. Our results show that conspicuous features of the traction curve commonly thought to be characteristic of soft viscoelastic solids like adhesives are already encountered in liquid materials.