The dependence of rubber tackiness on separation speed

ABSTRACT In the present work, the tack properties of a number of uncrosslinked polymers, oil-extended rubbers and particle-filled elastomers to a metal surface were investigated by first contacting a cylindrical metal probe with a flat-ended surface with an elastomer surface and then detaching the probe from the adhered substrate at various separation speeds. Our results reveal that there are simple and universal laws governing the tackiness behavior of these materials. Specifically, when the pulling speed (Vs ) is greater than a critical speed (Vc ), the maximum tack force (Fmax ) can be generally described by the following scaling relationships: Fma x ~ Vs 1/3 and Fmax ~ tmax −1/2, where tmax is the time when the maximum force is reached in the force-time profile. The chemical composition, polymer structure, plasticizer type and filler type in a rubber compound can affect the magnitude of the tacky force at a given separation speed, but have little or no effect on these scaling relationships that primarily exist at high separation speeds.