Grip Performance Affected by Water-Induced Wrinkling of Fingers

Gripping an object is one of the most common actions in our daily lives. The hairless human fingers and toes become wrinkled after interacting with water for a period of time. This wrinkling phenomenon affects finger grip performance and influences the safety and convenience of everyday life. In order to study the impact of wrinkled fingers on grip performance, the moisture of the finger was measured using a Corneometer® CM825; the real-time fingertip contact area on the moving surfaces was captured via the ink method and a high-speed camera; and the coefficient of friction between the fingertip and the contact surfaces in the dry, wet and water-submerged states was evaluated using a tribometer (UMT-2). In particular, a simple compressed spring grip experiment was designed to quantify and verify the relationship between the gripping force and the friction force of an unwrinkled/wrinkled fingertip and contact PET surfaces. The experimental results revealed that how finger wrinkles affect grip action.

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