Physics of suction cups in air and in water

TL;DR

This study investigates how the failure time of suction cups depends on the pull-off force in air and water, combining experimental measurements with a developed contact theory for rough surfaces.

Contribution

The paper introduces a contact theory for suction cups on rough surfaces and validates it with experiments, highlighting effects of material out-diffusion and capillary forces.

Findings

Theory agrees with experiments in air except for very smooth surfaces.

Out-diffusion of plasticizer causes longer lifetimes than predicted.

Capillary forces influence failure times in water.

Abstract

We present experimental results for the dependency of the pull-off time (failure time) on the pull-off force for suction cups in the air and in water. The results are analyzed using a theory we have developed for the contact between suction cups and randomly rough surfaces. The theory predicts the dependency of the pull-off time (failure time) on the pull-off force, and is tested with measurements performed on suction cups made from a soft polyvinyl chloride (PVC). As substrates we used sandblasted poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). The theory is in good agreement with the experiments in air, except for surfaces with the root-mean-square (rms) roughness below $\approx 1 \ {\rm \mu m}$, where we observed lifetimes much longer than predicted by the theory. We show that this is due to out-diffusion of plasticizer from the soft PVC, which block the critical constrictions along the air flow channels. In water some deviation between theory and experiments is observed which may be due to capillary forces. We discuss the role of cavitation for the failure time of suction cups in water.