Regensburg 2004 – scientific programme

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AKB: Biologische Physik

AKB 50: Poster Session "Biological Physics"

AKB 50.107: Poster

Friday, March 12, 2004, 10:30–13:00, B

Contact mechanics of bioinspired fibrillar structures — •Ralph Spolenak, Stanislav Gorb, and Eduard Arzt — Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung, Heisenbergstr. 3, D- 70569 Stuttgart

Animals like beetles, flies, spiders and geckos rely on hairy (fibrillar) structures to adhere to natural surfaces enabling them to walk on vertical surfaces or on the ceiling. Recently, experimental evidence has been provided by Autumn et al. that the adhesion between single fibers and the natural surfaces is caused by van der Waals interaction. Modeling the adhesion of fibrillar structures by contact mechanics reveals that the total adhesion of the system can be enhanced by contact splitting. In effect the size of fibers in animals scales inversely with their body mass. Derived from contact mechanics we present the effects of contact shape, fiber material and fiber geometry on the total adhesion of the system. Design rules are devised that can serve as guidelines for the fabrication of artificial adhesion systems.