On the role of kinetic energy during unstable propagation in a heterogeneous peeling test

We study the dynamic debonding of a one-dimensional inextensible film, subject to a monotonic loading and under the hypothesis that the toughness of the glue can take only two values. We first consider the case of a single defect of small length in the glue where the toughness is lower than in the remaining part. The dynamic solution is obtained in a closed form and we prove that it does not converge to the expected quasistatic one when the loading speed tends to zero. The gap is due to a kinetic energy which appears when the debonding propagates across the defect at a velocity which is of the same order as the sound velocity. The kinetic energy becomes negligible again only when the debonding has reached a critical distance beyond the defect. The case of many defects is then considered and solved using an exact numerical solution of the wave equation and the Griffith law of propagation. The numerical results highlight the effects of the time evolution of the kinetic energy which induce alternate phases of rapid and slow debonding, these oscillations depending essentially on the volume fraction of the highest toughness.