Effect of counterface roughness on adhesion of mushroom-shaped microstructure

Abstract

In this study, the effect of the substrate roughness on adhesion of mushroomshaped microstructurewas experimentally investigated. To do so, 12 substrates having different isotropic roughness were prepared from the same material by replicating topography of different surfaces. The pull-off forces generated by mushroom-shaped microstructure in contact with the tested substrates were measured and compared with the pull-off forces generated by a smooth reference. It was found that classical roughness parameters, such as average roughness (Ra) and others, cannot be used to explain topography-related variation in pull-off force. This has led us to the development of an integrated roughness parameter capable of explaining results of pull-off measurements. Using this parameter, we have also found that there is a critical roughness, above which neither smooth nor microstructured surface could generate any attachment force, which may have important implications on design of both adhesive and anti-adhesive surfaces. © 2013 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.