Coupled effects of applied load and surface structure on the viscous forces during peeling

TL;DR

This study examines how applied load and surface structure influence viscous forces during peeling, revealing three regimes based on fluid film thickness and showing structured surfaces generally require less work to detach than smooth ones.

Contribution

It experimentally isolates the effects of surface structure and load on peeling forces, demonstrating how hydrodynamics and surface features govern separation work.

Findings

Three distinct regimes of peeling force depending on fluid film thickness.

Structured surfaces require less work to detach than smooth surfaces.

Experimental results align with hydrodynamic scaling models.

Abstract

Tree frogs are able take advantage of an interconnected network of epithelial cells in their toe pads to modulate their adhesion to surfaces under dry, wet, and flooded environments. It has been hypothesized that these interconnected drainage channels reduce the hydrodynamic repulsion to facilitate contact under a completely submerged environment (flooded conditions). Using a custom-built apparatus we investigate the interplay between surface structure and loading conditions on the peeling force. By combining a normal approach and detachment by peeling we can isolate the effects of surface structure from the loading conditions. We investigate three surfaces: two rigid structured surfaces that consist of arrays of cylindrical posts and a flat surface as a control. We observe three regimes in the work required to separate the structured surface that depend on the fluid film thickness prior to pull out. These three regimes are based on hydrodynamics and our experimental results agree with a simple scaling argument that relates the surface features to the different regimes observed. Overall we find that the work of separation of a structured surface is always less than or equal to the one for a smooth surface when considering purely viscous contributions.