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Mechanics of a Novel Shear-activated Microfiber Array Adhesive

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Carmel Majidi  and
Ronald S Fearing
Carmel Majidi
Affiliation:
[email protected], Princeton University, Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials, 416 Bowen Hall, Princeton, NJ, 08544, United States, (609)258-0494
Ronald S Fearing
Affiliation:
[email protected], University of California, Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, Berkeley, CA, 94720, United States
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Abstract

Elastic rod theory and principles of contact mechanics motivate the development of a novel, shear-activated, microfiber array adhesive. Unlike with conventional Pressure Sensitive Adhesives (PSAs), the microfiber array and backing are composed entirely of a stiff, glassy polymer (polypropylene, elastic modulus E = 1 GPa) and an externally applied shear load is required to achieve contact with a substrate. Previously, results from a Shear Power Test on glass indicated a maximum interfacial shear strength of 10 kPa over 4 sq. cm, a factor of 1000 greater than with a smooth polypropylene sheet of similar thickness. Here we present a theoretical model that describes the mechanism for shear-activated adhesion and predicts a shear strength of 27 kPa, on the order of the experimental measurement.

Keywords

adhesivebiomimetic (assembly)nanostructure
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1086: Symposium U – Mechanics of Nanoscale Materials , 2008 , 1086-U01-11
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2008

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References

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