Buckling and folding of a ductile thin film on a rigid substrate

Abstract

The buckling of a thin film deposited on an infinitely rigid substrate and delaminated over a finite length is studied in the framework of the Föppl-von Kàrmàn theory of thin plates. Assuming the two edges of the ductile film can fold, an energy-based analysis of the different morphologies of the film has been carried out. Depending on the delamination length, the film can either be unfolded, partially folded at one edge or symmetrically folded at its two edges.