Adhesion and friction in gecko toe attachment and detachment
California NanoSystems Institute · University of California, Santa Barbara · +2 more institutions
Abstract
Geckos can run rapidly on walls and ceilings, requiring high friction forces (on walls) and adhesion forces (on ceilings), with typical step intervals of approximately 20 ms. The rapid switching between gecko foot attachment and detachment is analyzed theoretically based on a tape model that incorporates the adhesion and friction forces originating from the van der Waals forces between the submicron-sized spatulae and the substrate, which are controlled by the (macroscopic) actions of the gecko toes. The pulling force of a spatula along its shaft with an angle between theta 0 and 90 degrees to the substrate, has a "normal adhesion force" contribution, produced at the spatula-substrate bifurcation zone, and a…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 45.60
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 32
Authors
8- YTYu TianCorresponding
California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Tsinghua University
- NSNoshir S. Pesika
California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara
- HZHongbo Zeng
California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara
- KRKenny Rosenberg
California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara
- BZBoxin Zhao
California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara
Topics & keywords
- Gecko
- Adhesion
- van der Waals force
- Substrate (aquarium)
- Perpendicular
- Materials science
- Composite material
- Chemistry