UUnniivveerrssiittyy ooff MMaassssaacchhuusseettttss AAmmhheerrsstt SScchhoollaarrWWoorrkkss@@UUMMaassss AAmmhheerrsstt Doctoral Dissertations Dissertations and Theses March 2017 DDeeffoorrmmaattiioonn aanndd AAddhheessiioonn ooff SSoofftt CCoommppoossiittee SSyysstteemmss ffoorr BBiioo-- iinnssppiirreedd AAddhheessiivveess aanndd WWrriinnkklleedd SSuurrffaaccee FFaabbrriiccaattiioonn Michael Imburgia University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2 Part of the Engineering Mechanics Commons, Engineering Physics Commons, Polymer and Organic Materials Commons, and the Polymer Science Commons RReeccoommmmeennddeedd CCiittaattiioonn Imburgia, Michael, "Deformation and Adhesion of Soft Composite Systems for Bio-inspired Adhesives and Wrinkled Surface Fabrication" (2017). Doctoral Dissertations. 879. https://doi.org/10.7275/9375445.0 https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2/879 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations and Theses at ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DEFORMATION AND ADHESION OF SOFT COMPOSITE SYSTEMS FOR BIO-INSPIRED ADHESIVES AND WRINKLED SURFACE FABRICATION A Dissertation Presented by MICHAEL JAMES IMBURGIA Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY February 2017 Polymer Science and Engineering (cid:13)c Copyright by Michael James Imburgia 2017 All Rights Reserved DEFORMATION AND ADHESION OF SOFT COMPOSITE SYSTEMS FOR BIO-INSPIRED ADHESIVES AND WRINKLED SURFACE FABRICATION A Dissertation Presented by MICHAEL JAMES IMBURGIA Approved as to style and content by: Alfred J. Crosby, Chair Alan J. Lesser, Member Ian R. Grosse, Member Duncan J. Irschick, Member E. Bryan Coughlin, Department Chair Polymer Science and Engineering DEDICATION To Mom, Dad, Anthony, and Justin. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS When I was an undergraduate contemplating what to do after I graduated, I had several advisors along the way, to whom I asked: “Do you know any good programs or professors of materials science that would take a mechanical engineer?” Four separate people told me to look up Al Crosby at UMass. So I did. I visited the group website andsawapictureofadecentlyhandsomeguywithdarkhairandabigsmile-andalso some interesting images of research on the snapping mechanism of the Venus Flytrap. A while later, I arrived on UMass campus to visit and met Al, a warm and welcoming guy with silvery-grey hair. Though I was slightly betrayed by his appearance, I still came away with an awesome first impression. Even after five years of advising me, Al is just as warm and welcoming. Along the way he has made my PhD experience more like an apprenticeship and less like a stressful job; he has led by example, invested his valuable time to guide me through research, answered simple questions I should have known from reading the literature, and motivated me when my results were not what I had expected. I am truly grateful for being at the receiving end of such great mentoring. Thanks Al! To my committee members, Professor Alan Lesser, Professor Ian Grosse, and Pro- fessor Duncan Irschick - thank you for your time, intellectual insight, and professional input into my research and presenting skills. I put together a committee that I hoped would help me defend my PhD work, but you all helped me build skills to advocate for my research; instructing me how to “sell” my projects and how to convincingly argue minute points. These skills are invaluable to my future, thank you. To the Crosby Group members past and present with whom I have spent count- less hours with, Dong Yun, Chelsea, Hyun Suk, Sammy P, Mike B., Yuri, Jun, Cheol, v Shelby, Sami, Jon, Dan, Marcos, UJ, Yu-Cheng, Minchao, Shruti, Satyan, Richard, Chya-Yan, Yongjin, David, Kasey, Konane, Dylan, Chris, Mark, Martin, and Chris- tian - thank you for all of your help inside and outside of lab, at conferences, at cookouts, and in the offices. You will always be a part of my academic family and if you need anything you know I will give too much of my time to try to help you out. To Hannah and Brian, my research hands, you have taught me so much about how to be a better mentor, even if it was at your expense. To Mike B., Dan, Satyan, and Chris, thanks for your input and help with Geckskin(cid:13)R and adhesion related projects. Thanks especially to Mike B. and Dan for doing the leg work to make me a TV star. ToHyunSuk, Yuri, Marcos, andYu-Cheng, thanksforgettingmepumpedtowrinkle. To Sami, Jon, and Shruti, thanks for being outstanding office mates, enduring my singing and tolerating the look of my disheveled desk. And to Minchao, my academic twin, your unexpected sarcastic comments are a breath of fresh air much needed when confined to research for too long. I cannot wait to see where your career will take you next. To the PSE community in Conte, including the Class of 2011, Nakul, Joel, Con- nor, Sveta, Madhura, Daniel, Piril, Gajin, Jaewon, Zhiwei, Pat, Alex, Alper, Jana, and Minchao, and all of my “Entropic Thunder” teammates, we all kept each other entertained and focused on life outside of Conte and I am so grateful. To my room- mates Joel, Nakul, and Nihal, there are too many good meals, parties, barbecues, river floats, salsa dances, potato bugs, hikes, and moments to mention, but I hope you three know how enjoyable you made this PhD. To my biology collaborators, Duncan and Casey - thanks for educating me on biology and the importance of statistics in science. I have enjoyed working with you both and GV3 (my favorite gecko) and look forward to collaborating in the future. To Andy, I have enjoyed our numerous sessions of Instron testing, mainly for me asking ridiculous questions about the Brits. To my Cambridge colleagues from the Glover vi and Federle research groups, especially Beverley, Walter, Edwige, Aleks, and David - thanks for welcoming me into your groups and teaching me about the complexities of plant biology and insect zoology. It was only five weeks but it helped broaden my research, cultural, and eating perspectives immensely. To my friends from Binghamton and Oyster Bay, Jimmy, Kirstie, Greg Frag, Dave, Chris, Greg Kuester, B-face, Putt, Nakrin, Collery, and Demaria - thanks for staying in touch and pretending to be amazed when I talk about my research. To my extended family, Uncle Tony, Aunt Nancy, Anthony, Matt, Richie, Kim, Jake, Ben, Billy, Uncle Ray, Sue, John, Lisa, Jon, Uncle Tom, Aunt Bonnie, Todd, Michelle, Toni, and Matt - thank you for supporting me during my PhD work via barbecues and family reunions. To Uncle Tony especially, you are the one who taught me to be curious, starting with memorizing the capitals of the United States in 2nd grade. A PhD cannot be had without a healthy dose of curiosity - thank you. To my other family, Bob, Ann-Delia, Sarah, and Katrina - thanks for asking tons of questions I did not know the answer to and for making the latter portion of my PhD work more enjoyable than I thought it would be. To my favorite roommate Katrina, thank you for making sure I was fed, clothed, and bathed while writing my thesis. I lost track of time while in the writing/figure making zone and you provided unconditional support to make it happen. Also, there is no doubt this thesis would have taken another year or so to complete if it were not for your “encouragement”: “Did you write your prospectus yet?” “Did you write your IRP yet?” “Did you finish preparing your data defense yet?” “Are you looking for jobs yet?” Thanks for providing the tough love I needed. I love you. And to my family, my brother Justin, my brother Anthony, my dad Joe, and my mom Fran - all of my work during undergraduate school and graduate school vii was motivated by you. I know we are not a family that shows a lot of love, but we are definitely a family that knows a lot of love. To Justin and Anthony, thanks for teaching me how not to be a nerd and for showing me how to listen to, play, and sing all kinds of music - an invaluable resource when frustrated with graduate school. To Dad, for knowing more about my research than anyone outside of Amherst and for teaching me patience, which is critical when science is not on your side. And to Mom, thanks for showing me real strength and teaching me that complaining would get me nowhere, a skill and advice that definitely came in handy more than once during my time in graduate school. Mom, wherever you are, I hope you get to read this dissertation that I absolutely, never uttered a single complaint about. I love you all. Dan King: “Al, I think we have the best research group in PSE.” Al Crosby: “Yeah man. Who’s got tulips like these?” viii ABSTRACT DEFORMATION AND ADHESION OF SOFT COMPOSITE SYSTEMS FOR BIO-INSPIRED ADHESIVES AND WRINKLED SURFACE FABRICATION FEBRUARY 2017 MICHAEL JAMES IMBURGIA B.S., STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BINGHAMTON M.S., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Alfred J. Crosby The study of soft material deformation and adhesion has broad applicability to industriesrangingfromautomobiletirestomedicalprostheticsandimplants. Whena mechanical load is imposed on a soft material system, a variety of issues can arise, in- cluding non-linear deformations at interfaces between soft and rigid components. The work presented in this dissertation embraces the occurrence of these non-linear defor- mations, leading to the design of functional systems that incorporate a soft elastomer layer with application to bio-inspired adhesives and wrinkled surface fabrication. Un- derstanding the deformation of a soft elastomer layer and how the system loading and geometry influence non-linear mechanical transitions, including interfacial failure and surface buckling, are crucial for predicting the performance of the mechanical system. This dissertation focuses on three soft composite systems of particular interest: (1) ix