Biological microstructures with high adhesion and friction. Numerical approach

Over the course of biological evolution, many classes of living creatures have developed highly effective adhesive mechanisms that allow them to attach to various kinds of surfaces having different physical natures and topographies. The most famous instance of this is the gecko pad, but many similar examples are found in animals of different sizes and evolutionary lineages. In recent decades, such adhesive structures have become the objects of intensive theoretical and experimental studies, partly due to research aimed at developing and producing artificial surfaces with similar adhesive properties. Here, we present a review of research on biological structures with high adhesion and high friction. We focus our attention on one particular class of such structures: systems with elastic fibers interacting with rough surfaces. Other structurally similar systems are discussed as well.