Session: 03-05-01: Bioinspired materials

Paper Number: 152355

152355 - Gecko-Inspired Surface Microstructures: Friction Control and Adaptive Design for Space Environments 

Gecko-inspired microscale structures have demonstrated unique advantages in surface interaction, particularly due to their use of van der Waals forces to create high-traction, non-adhesive contact. These properties make them especially promising for applications in environments where traditional friction-based mechanisms may not be effective, such as zero-gravity settings. This study focuses on the development and testing of cost-effective, resin-based gecko-inspired microscale tread patterns, specifically designed for high-performance in environments like space stations or other low-gravity contexts.

Using 3D printing, we fabricated microscale structures from resin, chosen for its affordability and adaptability to complex geometries. The resulting tread patterns were tested on rough metal surfaces to evaluate their performance in terms of friction and deformation. These surfaces are representative of the types of materials commonly found in aerospace and industrial applications. The goal of this study is to demonstrate how resin-based microscale designs can provide high traction and surface adaptability without the need for complex adhesives or mechanical gripping systems, making them ideal for challenging environments where traditional tread designs would fail.

Finite Element Method (FEM) simulations were considered to predict the mechanical behavior of these structures, though modeling the interactions between the resin-based material and surfaces proved to be complex. Instead, the focus of this work is on the experimental validation of the designs, with friction and deformation measurements conducted under controlled conditions. The results show that the gecko-inspired tread patterns significantly enhance traction and the deformation compared to traditional shoes or gloves treads. The resin-based structures proved to be both highly flexible and durable under repeated stress tests, highlighting their potential for long-term use in zero-gravity environments.

In addition to their performance benefits, the use of resin materials and 3D printing offers a highly cost-effective solution. Traditional methods for producing high-precision nano structures can be expensive, particularly when applied to aerospace-grade materials. By using affordable resins and 3D printing techniques, this study demonstrates a scalable and economically feasible approach to manufacturing high-performance microscale treads that can be applied in various industries. These findings suggest that resin-printed gecko-inspired designs could serve as efficient, low-cost alternatives for applications in space exploration, robotics, and other environments where surface traction is critical.

Presenting Author: Shuvodeep De TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY

Presenting Author Biography: Shuvodeep De is an integral member of the ROBOCO lab at Texas State University. Prior to this, he contributed to the Multiscale Materials Group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory within the Computational Sciences and Engineering Division. His current work spans a range of interests including additive manufacturing, large-scale simulations, scientific workflow, GPGPU computation, and physics-informed machine learning. Shuvo began his academic journey in Mechanical Engineering at Jadavpur University, India, and went on to earn his Doctoral degree from Virginia Tech, where he specialized in Finite Element Modeling, Multidisciplinary Design Optimization, and Aeroelasticity. Following his doctorate, he served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, focusing on Multiphysics Simulation of Electrodeposition of Copper. Additionally, Shuvo has delved into genome sequencing and High-Performance Computation at the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Phoenix, AZ.