Simulation of cracking of metal alkoxide gel film formed on viscous precursor layer using a spring-block model

¹ Institute of Physics, University of Tartu - Riia 142, 51014 Tartu, Estonia, EU
² CENS, Institute of Cybernetics, Tallinn University of Technology - Akadeemia tee 21, 12618 Tallinn, Estonia, EU

^a jakob.jogi@ut.ee

Received: 6 May 2011
Accepted: 9 August 2011

Abstract

Drying-induced cracking of thin films attached to a non-solid (viscous) substrate is studied both experimentally and numerically. The numerical model is essentially a modification of the spring-block model, introducing a shear stress due to faster drying of the upper film layer, and annealed disorder in the distribution of the spring strengths. The simulation results are in a qualitative agreement with the experimental results, covering all the qualitatively different experimental regimes of the fragment formation. The model allows us to identify the physical processes responsible for the formation of micro-tubes in our experiments, and is helpful in designing and interpreting the film cracking experiments.