A computational study of adhesive properties of bio-inspired surfaces

In this paper, adhesive contact of typical biomimetic surfaces with gecko-inspired groove-like textures and phyllotaxis spirals textured surface were examined. Adhesive interaction was modeled by nonlinear springs obeying a constitute law derived from Lennard-Jones potential. The effects of texture shape, pitch, contact position, texture distribution, Maugis parameter and Tabor parameter on adhesion were thoroughly investigated. It is shown that gecko-inspired groove-like textured surfaces exhibit excellent anti-adhesive properties compared with the flat. However, under certain circumstances surface texture can increase surface adhesion. Moreover, the pull-off force of triangular texture decreases first and then increases with the increase of texture pitch. What's more, contact position has little effect on the pull-off force for rectangular texture, but has great effect on the pull-off force for triangular and semicylindrical textures. It is also found that the pull-off forces of textured surfaces increase with the increase of the Maugis parameter. In addition, the pull-off force of phyllotaxis spirals textured surface depends on contact area and surface gap at pull-off. Furthermore, compared with the flat, the adjusted pull-off force of phyllotaxis spirals textured surface tends to change more slowly with the increase of Tabor parameter. This study can offer guidance for the applications of bio-inspired textured surfaces in adhesion regulation and provide basis for the surface texture design of adhesive contacts.