Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Adhesive Mechanisms of a Bio-inspired Nano-film

S.H. CHEN, Z.L. PENG

Abstract


Inspired by geckos’ spatulae, the adhesive behavior of a finite nano-film is investigated theoretically and numerically in this paper, considering the effects of adhesive length as well as surface roughness. It is found that (1) an effective adhesive length controls the peeling-off force, beyond which the peeling-off force will keep a constant for a determined peeling angle; (2) An intermediate surface roughness exists, at which the normal adhesion force between a finite nano-film and the rough surface achieves the weakest. All the results are qualitatively consistent with the experimental observations, which may be helpful for understanding geckos’ micro-adhesion mechanisms.

Keywords


gecko; spatula; finite nano-film; adhesive length; surface roughnessText

Full Text:

PDF