  We present a model to study the non-steady V-shaped peeling of a viscoelastic
thin tape adhering to a rigid flat substrate. Geometry evolution and
viscoelastic creep in the tape are the main features involved in the process,
which allows to derive specific governing equations in the framework of energy
balance. Finally, these are numerically integrated following an iterative
scheme to calculate the process evolution assuming different controlling
conditions (peeling front velocity, peeling force, tape tip velocity). Results
show that the peeling behavior is strongly affected by viscoelasticity.
Specifically, for a given applied force, the peeling can either be prevented,
start and stop after some while, or endlessly propagate, depending on the
original undeformed tape geometry. Viscoelasticity also entails that the
interface toughness strongly increases when the tape tip is fast pulled, which
agrees to recent experimental observations on tougher adhesion of natural
systems under impact loads, such as see waves and wind gusts.
