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Micromechanics of elastic buckling of a colloidal polymer layer on a soft substrate: experiment and theory

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Abstract

We study the buckling instability of a colloidal particle layer adhered to an elastic substrate using an integrated experimental and theoretical approach. Experiments using monodisperse colloid-scale spherical particles made of polystyrene and silica, show that the wavelength of the initial (critical) buckling mode is independent of particle modulus and linearly dependent on particle radius—in contradiction with the predictions of the prevailing continuum model. We developed a granular model of the particle layer using structural mechanics techniques. The granular model predicts the observed wavelength of the initial, critical buckling mode within the estimated range of parameter values for the experiment. The evolution of this mode into the post-buckling regime is examined. Results highlight the crucial role of material discreteness in the mechanical response, and the need for accurate methods of estimating parameters for the particle-scale resistances against buckling.

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Acknowledgments

We thank our reviewers for their insightful comments and helpful suggestions. A.T., J.S. and D.C. are supported by: US Army Research Office (W911NF-11-1-0175), Australian Research Council (DP120104759) and the Melbourne Energy Institute. A.B.C. and B.J.G. are supported by NSF-EPSCoR (EPS-0814442) and ACS PRF (52062-DNI7).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia

    Antoinette Tordesillas, David Carey & Jingyu Shi

  2. Department of Physics, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, 58108-6050, USA

    Andrew B. Croll & Bekele Gurmessa

Authors
  1. Antoinette Tordesillas
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  2. David Carey
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  3. Andrew B. Croll
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  4. Jingyu Shi
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  5. Bekele Gurmessa
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Correspondence to Antoinette Tordesillas.

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Tordesillas, A., Carey, D., Croll, A.B. et al. Micromechanics of elastic buckling of a colloidal polymer layer on a soft substrate: experiment and theory. Granular Matter 16, 249–258 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10035-013-0459-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10035-013-0459-z

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