Generalized Hertzian model for the deformation and cracking of colloidal packings saturated with liquid.

The process of drying colloidal dispersions generally produces particulate solids under stress as a result of capillary or interparticle forces. The derivation of a constitutive relation on the basis of Hertzian contact mechanics between spheres provides a model for quantitatively predicting the conditions under which close-packed colloidal layers form continuous void-free films or homogeneous porous films or crack under tensile stresses.