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Adhesives & Friction

1    Adhesives (how they work) and Friction

First let's see how smooth a material really is by looking at some material under an electron microscope in the picture below.  The mild steel shown would look quite bright and smooth to the naked eye. 

Click picture to enlarge

So if these materials that are normally considered smooth to the naked eye can look like this other materials not so shiny must be rough places indeed.

So how do adhesives work?

They work by moulding themselves into the comparatively rough surface of the material they are forced into contact with.  This is why if you apply sticky tape to a surface with light pressure it is relatively easy to peel off, if you place the tape under force the tape will take a lot more force to remove.  Similarly adhesive tape applied to glass is fairly easy to remove while the same tape applied to paper will either remove the surface of the paper when you try to peel it away or the paper may

 tear, glass being very smooth and paper rough because it is made up of fibres.  Temperature has an effect because the adhesive becomes softer and more pliable as the temperature increases so it is able to conform to the surfaces more thoroughly.

The second way adhesives work is by suction.  If the adhesive material fits all of the contours of the surfaces it becomes in effect an infinite number of tiny suction pads, of course this is not applicable if the surface is porous.

Thirdly adhesives can work by one or both of the above but instead of the adhesive staying pliable as with surgical or skin tape they cure to become rigid or semi rigid.  Examples of adhesives that set are putty which contains linseed oil which when exposed to the air oxidises and dries combined with the filler to become rock hard and sticks to not only the frame but to the glass as well.  Old style paints work on oxidisation of the oil content hence the old reference to 'oil paints',

Adhesive tape used on the skin are very special as they have specific uses, the old zinc oxide fabric plasters that leave a mess on the skin if left on too long and the hypoallergenic tapes with backing of paper, plastic, fabric or special non tear wove style plastics.  The adhesives can be made to stick on damp skin, be designed for constant long term use on the same patch of skin, for frequent apply and remove applications or of course any combination.  Most specialist tapes are designed to leave the minimum residue of adhesive on the skin and be easily removed without harm to the skin beneath it.  Whatever the claims of individual types/brands all properties are comparative and often trial and error has to be the end resort for particular and demanding applications.

Friction

When two surfaces are in contact with each other there is friction between them even if they are at rest.  The amount of friction depend upon the roughness of the two surfaces in contact with each other.  When the high spots on one material settle into the low spots in another there is a grip or friction between them.  look at the picture above to see that if two surfaces that are relatively rough are together for one to slip over the other the high spots of one surface have to be lifted out of the low spots of the other which takes energy or force.

For any two materials there exists what is known as the coefficient of friction which is constant.  This constant value say wood on steel may be 0.5 if you need more friction then you must increase the force pushing the two materials together so the force required to lift the high spots out of the lows has to be greater.  As the coefficient of friction is a constant if you cannot increase the force on the two materials then the only option for increased friction (perhaps termed as grip in our application) is to change one or both of the materials for a higher combined coefficient of friction or make the surfaces rougher.

Adhesives have a very high coefficient of friction but because in the case of adhesive tapes the sticky surface is soft it can fail by deforming to the point of rolling over the surface.

One most important point is that friction decreases at the point where the two surfaces just begin to move.  Have you ever thought why tape or other holding devices are very effective perhaps for many hours and then all of a sudden you feel a slipping sensation?  Once this happens everything speeds up and in a flash the tape has peeled off, the weight drops to your toes or your testicles are twanged by the sudden release of the elastic strap.

There is no mystery why this occurs, it is simply because once two surfaces start to move friction takes a plunge and as the tension or weight is constant the forces speed up the movement to exacerbate the problem, failure is inevitable and quick.

Šelks2002            Page last updated 19th March 2008

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