Scaling and biomechanics of surface attachment in climbing animals.

ABSTRACT: Attachment devices are essential adaptations for climbing animals and valuable models for synthetic adhesives. A major unresolved question for both natural and bioinspired attachment systems is how attachment performance depends on size. Here, we discuss how contact geometry and mode of detachment influence the scaling of attachment forces for claws and adhesive pads, and how allometric data on biological systems can yield insights into their mechanism of attachment. Larger animals are expected to attach less well to surfaces, due to their smaller surface-to-volume ratio, and because it becomes increasingly difficult to distribute load uniformly across large contact areas. In order to compensate for this decrease of weight-specific adhesion, large animals could evolve overproportionally la

SUBMITTER: Labonte D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4275900 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature