Experimental investigation of the effect of tip shape in gecko-inspired adhesive devices under asymmetric detachment

Abstract

Gecko’s foot hairs exhibit significant frictional anisotropy that enables a strong foot grip in a specific direction and an easy detachment in the opposite direction. In this study, we fabricate adhesive devices with frictional anisotropy mimicking gecko’s foot hair based on oblique micro-beam arrays. The devices adhesion force is strongly anisotropic along the beam tilting direction and depends on the stress distribution at the contact area which, in turn, is affected by the geometry of the beam tips. This dependence is investigated by fabricating and testing micro beam arrays with various tip shapes.