Investigating the normal and tangential peeling behaviour of gecko spatulae using a coupled adhesion-friction model

The present work investigates the normal and tangential peeling behaviour of a gecko spatula using a coupled adhesion-friction model. The objective is to explain the strong attachment and easy detachment behaviour of the spatulae as well as to understand the influence of various parameters on the pull-off forces. Using nonlinear finite element computations, it is shown that during tangentially-constrained peeling the partial sliding of the...