Nucleation and development of regular microrelief under deformation of polymer with metallic coating

Direct microscopic observations showed that, under deformation of rubbery polymers with a thin rigid coating, a regular microrelief develops via the formation of nucleation structures at the surface microinhomogeneities, which are characteristic of real systems. The number of nucleation structures was shown to depend on the stress level of the polymer deformation and on the thickness of the deposited metallic coating. The process of the initiation of the nucleation structures was assumed to be controlled by the Griffith criterion.