Peeling Line 2.8 km Long: Why does Contact Divisionin Biological Attachment Devices Enhance Pull-off Force?

摘要

Setal tips of most biological hairy attachment devices of geckos, spiders andinsects bear spatula-like terminal contact elements. The use of Cryo-SEM aided invisualisation of exact contact geometry between the terminal plate and substratein animals from different groups. Such tape-like contact geometry cannot beproperly described by JI(R. model, but rather by applying peeling model ofKendall (1975). Within this concept, the pull-off force is proportional to a peelingline (at the peeling angle about 90°). These theoretical considerations let usconclude that splitting up the contact into finer sub-contacts increases pull offforce due increasing peeling line of the numerous tape-like terminal contactstructures.