Effective and efficient characterization of lubrication flow over soft coatings

This work models the fluid-structure interactions associated with separating a solid from a soft elastic film in a liquid environment. One side of the soft film is permanently attached to a rigid substrate. The ensuing liquid flow and elastic deformations are derived by considering a system of partial differential equations, that govern the mechanics of the separation process. A finite element based computational scheme is developed to solve the governing equations and predict the resultant forces acting on the solid. It is shown that the resulting forces are influenced by the elasticity of the film for an initial duration and by the viscosity of the liquid at larger times. The proposed model is utilized to shed insights into the mechanics of the separation process in constrained-surface stereolithography process.