Strongly enhanced static friction using a film-terminated fibrillar interface.

We examine the behavior under shear of a bio-inspired fibrillar interface that consists of poly(dimethlysiloxane) micro-posts terminated by a thin film. These structures demonstrate significantly enhanced adhesion due to a crack trapping mechanism. We study the response of this structure to shear displacement relative to a spherical indenter placed on its surface under a fixed normal force.

Biologically inspired crack trapping for enhanced adhesion.

We present a synthetic adaptation of the fibrillar adhesion surfaces found in nature. The structure consists of protruding fibrils topped by a thin plate and shows an experimentally measured enhancement in adhesion energy of up to a factor of 9 over a flat control. Additionally, this structure solves the robustness problems of previous mimic structures and has preferred contact properties (i.

Can a fibrillar interface be stronger and tougher than a non-fibrillar one?

Elasticity analysis and finite element simulations are carried out to study the strength of an elastic fibrillar interface. The fibrils are assumed to be in perfect contact with a rigid substrate. The adhesive interaction between the fibrils and the substrate is modelled by the Dugdale-Barenblatt model (DB).

Adhesion enhancement in a biomimetic fibrillar interface.

Two important putative functions of the fibrillar contact interfaces commonly found in lizards and insects are to provide contact compliance and enhanced adhesion. To explore the question of whether a fibrillar architecture inherently enhances adhesion, we constructed model structures consisting of thin sheets of poly(vinyl butyral) (PVB) bonded on one of their thin sides to glass plates. The PVB samples had two flat, unstructured regions interrupted by a central fibrillar region along the bonded interface.

Effect of stamp deformation on the quality of microcontact printing: theory and experiment.

Microcontact printing (microCP) is an effective way to generate micrometer- or submicrometer-sized patterns on a variety of substrates. However, the fidelity of the final pattern depends critically on the coupled phenomena of stamp deformation, fluid transfer between surfaces, and the ability of the ink to self-assemble on the substrate. In particular, stamp deformation can produce undesirable effects that limit the practice and precision of microCP.