Review of Friction and Surface Properties of Snakeskin

Abstract

Locomotion is an essential activity in the biological world. Friction affects the energy invested in motion. Natural systems tend to conserve energy. As such, it is necessary to mitigate the effects of friction. There are many intriguing examples of creatures where dynamics of motion and surface geometry (macro and micro) combine to optimize the tribological profile. One example is that of snakes. In snakes, texturing geometries and topologies specifically contribute to frictional mitigation in a variety of situations. Snakes are found everywhere on earth. Their diverse habitat presents a broad range of tribological environments. This requires customized surface design features that potentially can inspire deterministic solutions for many technical problems. Therefore, they have attracted attention lately. Many, from surface engineering to robotics, have started to study their tribological response and frictional characteristics. This chapter attempts to review the major findings about the tribology of the legless reptiles obtained through the last two decades.