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Clusterization of Biological Structures with High Aspect Ratio

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Combined Discrete and Continual Approaches in Biological Modelling

Part of the book series: Biologically-Inspired Systems ((BISY,volume 16))

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Abstract

In this chapter, we will concentrate ourselves on the effect of so-called clusterization, which appears in biological and biologically-inspired fibrillar adhesion systems. If the arrays of fiber-like structures are flexible enough to allow efficient contact with natural rough surfaces, after few attachment-detachment cycles, the fibers tend to adhere one to another and form clusters which are much larger than original fibers. Due to this effect, they are less flexible and form much worse contacts with rough surfaces. Prevention of the clusterization is very important for the effectiveness of both natural and artificial adhesives. It is known that the arrays of setae of real gecko or beetle are much less susceptible to this problem than artificial ones. Here we provide numerical modeling of two different solutions of this problem that were previously experimentally studied in biological systems: gradients of the fiber stiffness and spatial structure of the fibers distributed in 3D space.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Donetsk Institute for Physics and Engineering, Donetsk, Ukraine

    Alexander E. Filippov

  2. Zoological Institute, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany

    Stanislav N. Gorb

Authors
  1. Alexander E. Filippov
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  2. Stanislav N. Gorb
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Filippov, A.E., Gorb, S.N. (2020). Clusterization of Biological Structures with High Aspect Ratio. In: Combined Discrete and Continual Approaches in Biological Modelling . Biologically-Inspired Systems, vol 16. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41528-0_3

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