Adhesive Hangs in the Balance (IMAGE)

U.S. National Science Foundation

Adhesive Hangs in the Balance

Caption

The gecko-inspired adhesive can support significant weight. Increasing weight increases contact area for the adhesive (contact area is the bright area near the top of the patch). As the load increases, more fibers are recruited to make contact, increasing the strength of the adhesion parallel to the surface. When the sliding force is removed, the fibers straighten, and the patch is easily released with negligible pull-off force. The patch has demonstrated better than 1/6 of a real gecko's stress on the same glass surface.

Credit

J. Lee and R.S. Fearing, UC Berkeley

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