Numerical Analysis of the Adhesive Forces in Nano-Scale Structure

Nanohairs, which can be found on the epidermis of Tokay gecko's toes, contribute to the adhesion by means of van der Waals force, capillary force, etc. This structure has inspired many researchers to fabricate the attachable nano-scale structures. However, the efficiency of artificial nano-scale structures is not reliable sufficiently. Moreover, the mechanical parameters related to the nano-hair attachment are not yet revealed qualitatively. The mechanical parameters which have influence on the ability of adhesive nano-hairs were investigated through numerical simulation in which only van der Waals force was considered. For the numerical analysis, finite element method was utilized and van der Waals force, assumed as 12–6 Lennard-Jones potential, was implemented as the body force term in the finite element formulation.