Two-Dimensional Analysis of Peeling Adhesive Tape from Human Skin

Adhesive tapes are attached to human skin for various purposes. When they are removed by peeling, discomfort or trauma may occur. Typically, the removed tape is partially covered by skin cells, and peeling involves failure within the substrate (skin), rather than just interfacial failure between the adhesive and the substrate, or cohesive failure within the adhesive. As an edge of the tape is pulled, first the skin deforms outward, and then peeling occurs after some threshold is attained. The literature is reviewed first, and then a two-dimensional analysis is developed. The tape is modeled as an extensible elastica, while the skin is represented as a nonlinear elastic strip with no bending stiffness. In the numerical results, the peel angle varies from 90 degrees to 170 degrees. Shapes of the tape and skin during pulling are determined, and the corresponding force is computed. For a certain peel criterion, the peel force is obtained.