Adhesion of Elastic Pre-Stressed Tapes

In this paper, we discuss the mechanism of detachment of thin pre-stressed films from a flat smooth rigid substrate. Indeed, we develop an analytical solution in closed form which shows how the critical value of the pull-off force strongly depends on the press-stress P₀. In detail, the critical pull-off force needed to detachment is shown to be higher for pre-stressed tapes. Furthermore, we notice that, when a high pre-stress is present, tapes may behave in different manner and spontaneously detach from the rigid substrate.