COMBINED BUCKLING AND CRACKING OF FILMS

Films or laminates subjected to a compressive stress may fail by a mechanism that involves the propagation of a buckle. An additional driving force for delamination is provided when cracking of the film accompanies the buckling. This provides a mechanism by which cracks can tunnel through compressively stressed films. Although the mechanics of the process is very similar to previous analyses of simple buckling, the possibility of concurrent cracking and buckling allows delamination to occur under conditions excluded by these earlier analyses.