An Adhesion Model for Elastic-Contacting Fractal Surfaces in the Presence of Meniscus

The strong stiction of adjacent surfaces with meniscus is a major design concern in the devices with a microsized interface. The present research concerns the elastic adhesion of rough fractal surfaces in the presence of a thin liquid film. A rough fractal surface is characterized with a two-variable Weierstrass–Mandelbrot fractal function. The microcontact model of the single asperity is established in terms of the fractal parameters. The adhesion model from meniscus is developed with the Dugdale approximation of the Laplace pressure to consider the adhesive interaction within/outside the contact area. Then the Maugis–Dugdale model and its extension are used to solve the elastic adhesive interaction for the two approaching fractal surfaces by incorporating the fractal surface model. Simulations of the external force versus the interface stiffness, surface roughness, and relative humidity are performed, respectively. The simulation results show that the interface stiffness, surface topography, and relative humidity can heavily influence the interface adhesion of rough surfaces with meniscus.