title: Robust microzip fastener: repeatable interlocking using polymeric rectangular parallelepiped arrays.
abstract: We report a highly repeatable and robust microzip fastener based on the van der Waals force-assisted interlocking between rectangular parallelepiped arrays. To investigate zipperlike interlocking behaviors, various line arrays were fabricated with three different spacing ratios (1, 3, and 5 of 800 nm in width) and width of parallelepipeds (400 nm, 800 nm, and 5 μm with the spacing ratio of 1). In addition, the different rigidity of line arrays was inspected for a repeatable microzip fastener. The normal and shear locking forces were measured with variation of the material rigidity as well as geometry of the array, in good agreement with a proposed theory based on the contact area and force balance. The maximum adhesion forces as high as ∼8.5 N cm(-2) in the normal direction and ∼29.6 N cm(-2) in the shear direction were obtained with high stability up to 1000 cycles. High stability of our fastening system was confirmed for preventing critical failures such as buckling and fracture in practical applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University , Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Chanseok
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Sang Moon
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Young Joo
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yong Whan
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Kahp-Yang
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Suh
authors.forename: Changhyun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.forename: Mansoo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Choi
keywords: dry adhesive; interlocking; line pattern; robust; zipperlike