Methods of Adhesion Measurement for Pressure Sensitive Adhesives: Theory and Practice

By Prof. Animangsu Ghatak | IIT Kanpur

Learners enrolled: 108 | Exam registration: 1

ABOUT THE COURSE:

Adhesives are ubiquitous and range from solvent based polymeric solutions as available in glue tubes, to adhesive emulsions/gels/pastes available in bottles to soft elastic/viscoelastic layers as found on adhesive tapes. The kind of adhesive that we will focus on in this course are called pressure sensitive adhesives (PSA) which are commonly seen in adhesive tapes of various types, labels in packages, glue layer for assembling electronic items, as the grip of a robotic hand and even in biology at the feet of many organisms. While adhesion between two bodies occur because of attractive interactions, the physical mechanisms that enhance the adhesion strength in these different situations, from what would have been expected from purely energy considerations, vary depending on the specific requirement. For example, in some applications we need permanent adhesion, whereas in others we look for a reusable tape that can be used over and over again. Hence there is a need to understand these mechanisms and also develop tools to estimate such enhancement. The objective of the course will be to go through different fundamental and practical aspects of adhesion in general and PSAs in particular.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: PG students of Mechanical Engg., Chemical Engg., Material Sci., Physics, Engineers who are involved with manufacture and testing of PSAs

PREREQUISITES: UG Solid Mechanics

Solid Mechanics - https://nptel.ac.in/courses/112102284

INDUSTRY SUPPORT: Manufacturers of adhesive tapes are expected to find this course (or part of this course) helpful.

Summary

Course Status :	Ongoing
Course Type :	Elective
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	12 weeks
Category :	Chemical Engineering Mechanical Engineering Metallurgy and Material science & Mining Engineering Minor 3 in Chemical Minor in Materials Science
Credit Points :	3
Level :	Postgraduate
Start Date :	20 Jan 2025
End Date :	11 Apr 2025
Enrollment Ends :	03 Feb 2025
Exam Registration Ends :	28 Feb 2025
Exam Date :	26 Apr 2025 IST

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: Introduction: Stress equilibrium relations; Equilibrium of an elastic half space subjected to line and point forces

Week 2: Hertz mechanics, Solid bodies in contact with and without interactions

Week 3: Introduction to surface energy, surface tension, Adhesion force

Week 4: JKR contact mechanics. Contact between two spherical bodies; Contact between cylindrical bodies

Week 5: Contact between undulated surface; Characterization of rough surfaces

Week 6: Wetting and Adhesion on rough surface; JKR model & Persson’s model

Week 7: Deformation of a confined elastic film subjected to normal load

Week 8: Adhesion of rigid punch on a confined elastic adhesive film

Week 9: Bending of thin Plates; Adhesion measurement using lift-off plate experiment

Week 10: Adhesion on surface patterned adhesives

Week 11: Peel experiment

Week 12: Rate dependent adhesion; Summary

Books and references

a. “Contact Mechanics” by K. L. Johnson

b. “Surface energy and the contact of elastic solids” K. L.Johnson, K. Kendall, A. D. Roberts, Proc. R. Soc.London, Ser. A 1971, 324, 301-313.

c.""Adhesive contact of cylindrical lens and a flat sheet""by M. K. Chaudhury, T. Weaver, C. Y. Hui and E. J. Kramer, J. Appl. Phys. 1996, 80 (1), 30-37.

d. A. N. Gent, “Compression of Rubber Blocks”, RubberChemistry and Technology, 67, 549-558.

e. A. Ghatak, L. Mahadevan and M. K. Chaudhury,Measuring the Work of Adhesion between a Soft Confined Film and a Flexible Plate, Langmuir 2005, 21, 1277-1281.

f. F. Yang and J. C. M. Li, Adhesion of a Rigid Punch to an Incompressible Elastic Film, Langmuir 2001, 17, 6524-6529.

g. F. Yang, Adhesive contact between a rigid axisymmetric indenter and an incompressible elastic thin film, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 35 (2002) 2614–2620

Instructor bio

Prof. Animangsu Ghatak

IIT Kanpur

Prof. Animangsu Ghatak has completed his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University, PA, USA in 2003 followed by post-doctoral research at Cambridge University, UK and Harvard University USA for one and half years. From 2004 I am involved in teaching and research in the Chemical Engineering Department of Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. My areas of specialization are Mechanics of soft materials; Wetting, adhesion, nucleation, friction and fracture at soft interfaces; Bio-inspired design of sustainable material and surface.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: EXAM DATE : April 26, 2025 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Kanpur .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team