Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
2647 | Acta Biomaterialia | 2006 | 8 Pages |
Abstract
Insects have evolved fibrillar attachment devices based on wet adhesion to attach themselves to a variety of surfaces. This paper investigates the scaling effects of wet adhesion mediated by a liquid bridge between a fiber and a solid surface. The influences of liquid volume and contact angles are discussed via a scaling law indicating that the adhesive strength can be enhanced by contact size reduction. Due to the maximum negative pressure in the liquid bridge, there exists a critical length scale at which the system achieves the theoretical tensile strength of the liquid. We conclude that size reduction down to a critical scale results in optimization of the adhesive strength.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Bioengineering
Authors
Jin Qian, Huajian Gao,