Title: Soft Interface Mechanics

Author (Invited): Katharine Jensen, Williams College

Abstract:

Surface tension is usually neglected in solid mechanics because elasticity dominates the mechanical response of stiff materials. However, for soft materials, solid surface tension can compete with and even dominate over the elastic response. This results in a variety of counterintuitive physical phenomena that sometimes directly contradict the predictions of classic elastic theories. Here, we explore the effects of surface tension at work in the specific context of soft adhesive contact. We find that surface tension dominates over elasticity on length scales determined by material properties, requiring us to rethink solid mechanics for soft materials.