Adhesion mechanism of a gecko-inspired oblique structure with an adhesive tip for asymmetric detachment

An adhesion model of an oblique structure with an adhesive tip is proposed by considering a limiting stress for adhesion to describe the detachment mechanism of gecko foot hairs. When a force is applied to the root of the oblique structure, normal and shear stresses are generated at contact and the adhesive tip is detached from the surface when reaching the limiting stress. An adhesion criterion that considers both the normal and shear stresses is introduced, and the asymmetric detachment of the oblique structure is theoretically investigated. In addition, oblique beam array structures are manufactured, and an inclination effect of the structure on the asymmetric detachment is experimentally verified.

[1]  K. Kendall,et al.  Surface energy and the contact of elastic solids , 1971, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. A. Mathematical and Physical Sciences.

[2]  K. Kendall.  Thin-film peeling-the elastic term , 1975 .

[3]  R. Full,et al.  Adhesive force of a single gecko foot-hair , 2000, Nature.

[4]  R. Full,et al.  Evidence for van der Waals adhesion in gecko setae , 2002, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[5]  S. Gorb,et al.  From micro to nano contacts in biological attachment devices , 2003, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[6]  K. Autumn,et al.  Evidence for self-cleaning in gecko setae. , 2005, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[7]  Huajian Gao,et al.  Mechanics of hierarchical adhesion structures of geckos , 2005 .

[8]  Shigeki Saito,et al.  Geckos' foot hair structure and their ability to hang from rough surfaces and move quickly , 2006 .

[9]  Metin Sitti,et al.  Adhesion and anisotropic friction enhancements of angled heterogeneous micro-fiber arrays with spherical and spatula tips , 2007 .

[10]  Matt Wilkinson,et al.  Frictional and elastic energy in gecko adhesive detachment , 2007, Journal of The Royal Society Interface.

[11]  E. Arzt,et al.  The effect of shape on the adhesion of fibrillar surfaces. , 2008, Acta biomaterialia.

[12]  Yu Tian,et al.  Gecko adhesion pad: a smart surface? , 2009, Journal of physics. Condensed matter : an Institute of Physics journal.

[13]  Aaron Parness,et al.  Rate-dependent frictional adhesion in natural and synthetic gecko setae , 2010, Journal of The Royal Society Interface.

[14]  J. P. Sargent,et al.  A practical approach to the development of a synthetic Gecko tape , 2009 .

[15]  B. Różycki,et al.  Segregation of receptor–ligand complexes in cell adhesion zones: phase diagrams and the role of thermal membrane roughness , 2010, 1007.3809.

[16]  Nicola Pugno,et al.  Spatulate structures in biological fibrillar adhesion , 2010 .

[17]  Jia-rui Xu,et al.  A simplified approach to achieve gecko-mimic nano-structural adhesives by a simple polymer , 2011 .

[18]  Zhengzhi Wang,et al.  Adhesive behaviour of gecko-inspired nanofibrillar arrays: combination of experiments and finite element modelling , 2012 .

[19]  Jen-Ching Huang.  Fabrication of a gecko seta-like structure using polydimethylsiloxane , 2012 .

[20]  Sriram Natarajan,et al.  Shear Adhesion Strength of Gecko-Inspired Tapes on Surfaces with Variable Roughness , 2013 .

[21]  Congcong Hu,et al.  Role of seta angle and flexibility in the gecko adhesion mechanism , 2014 .

[22]  Zhengzhi Wang,et al.  Gecko-inspired bidirectional double-sided adhesives. , 2014, Soft matter.

[23]  R. Fearing,et al.  Simulation of synthetic gecko arrays shearing on rough surfaces , 2014, Journal of The Royal Society Interface.

[24]  Y. Sekiguchi,et al.  Flexibility and Poisson effect on detachment of gecko-inspired adhesives , 2015 .