Finite element simulation of friction and adhesion attributed contact of bio-inspired gecko-mimetic PDMS micro-flaps with SiO2 spherical surface

Abstract

The remarkable tribological attributes of the gecko feet have grown much interest in the field of biomimetic tribology over the past two decades. It has been shown that the complexity of friction and adhesion phenomena made it difficult to transfer these exceptional properties into fully functional smart, dry, micro patterned adhesives. The latter, combined with the relative lack of literature on computational oriented studies on these phenomena, is the motive of the current work. Here, a 2D time-dependent finite element model of friction and adhesion attributed contact of polydimethysiloxane (PDMS) micro flaps with a smooth SiO2 spherical surface is presented. The model is tested through simulations concerning changes in the disc curvature, the flap density, as well as different disc mounting heights, representing the effect of preload. Furthermore, the effect of tribological parameters of adhesion and friction coefficient is discussed. Finally, the effect of the use of two hyperelastic material models was examined.