Understanding the influence of silicone elastomer properties on wedge-shaped microstructured dry adhesives loaded in shear

Abstract

Anisotropic, gecko-inspired, microstructured adhesives are one of the most promising solutions for many applications in robotics and biomedical applications that require controllable adhesives to grip flat surfaces. In such adhesives, normal adhesion is negligible when loaded solely in the normal direction, but becomes available when the adhesive is loaded in shear first. However, much remains to be learned regarding the friction and failure mechanisms of microstructures loaded in shear. In response, we analysed the load–displacement profiles of wedge-shaped microstructured adhesives comprised of nine different silicone elastomers and their mixtures loaded in shear. The results show that the friction profile depends on at least three factors related to material properties: interfacial adhesion strength in the normal direction (work of separation), elastic modulus and the sample's imperfections (e.g. contamination, misalignment and moulding errors). Moreover, the work of separation influences the maximum friction load such that for materials with the same elastic modulus, the strongest interfacial adhesion yields the lowest friction force. To explain this, we suggest that strongly adhering materials will lead to a macroscopic frictional sliding of the array rather than previously reported stick-slip behaviour.