Hysteresis in an adhesive contact upon a change in the indenter direction of motion: an experiment and phenomenological model

A phenomenological model is proposed for describing the hysteretic behavior in an adhesive contact between a soft elastomer and a hard indenter upon a change in the indenter direction of motion. The model takes into account the increase in the contact strength with increasing contact time. Dependences of the elastic force and the contact radius on the indentation depth are obtained. It is shown that the adhesive strength of the contact increases with the indentation depth. An experiment on intrusion of a spherical steel indenter into a rubber sheet of a fixed thickness is performed. It is shown that the experimental and theoretical results coincide qualitatively.