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Abstract: We consider the buckle-driven delamination of biaxially compressed thin films. Telephone cord-like patterns observed in experiments are explained as a result of the buckling behavior of the film. We perform a stability analysis of a straight blister. A mechanism of instability causing undulations in an advancing finger of delamination is pointed out, which we claim to be the basic phenomenon explaining the zig-zag pattern. We predict a transition to a varicose (unobserved yet) pattern at low Poisson ratios.