Investigation of peeling mechanics of two adhered slender beams by an optimization-based approach

Abstract

In this work, we study the peeling behavior of one slender beam adhered to another slender beam from the perspective of mechanics. The energy method is utilized to derive the governing equations and the associated boundary conditions based on the infinitesimal and finite deformation theories. Since the length of the adhered segment and the rotation at the interface between the adhered and non-adhered segments are unknown, the governing equations and associated boundary conditions cannot be solved by the numerical method directly. Thus, we employ an optimization-based approach to solve the problem and perform a comparative study on the deformation of the two adhered beams considering varying bending stiffness ratios between these two beams, the transverse loadings applied to these two beams and the work of adhesion between these two beams. The findings of this paper are of great significance to analyze complex peeling and adhesion systems from theoretical and numerical perspectives.