Comparison of elastic and tactile behavior of human skin and elastomeric materials through tribological tests

The current article describes static and frictional contact tests carried out with spherical indenter on both human skin surface and elastomeric materials. This tribological study is performed to analyze the elasticity and tactile properties of the human skin, and therefore to evaluate reliability of human skin behavior simulation through the considered elastomeric materials. Finite element analyses of indentation tests are proposed. Critical normal load was found when numerical and experimental results were confronted. Such critical force defines the limit of elastic model application. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 46:1715–1720, 2006.