Meeting Abstract
Manmade adhesives often fail on wet, compliant surfaces, which can result in poor performance and loss when attaching sensors in medical, defense, and research situations. However, a number of fishes have evolved adhesive discs that allow them to adhere under challenging wetted conditions. In particular, the remora fishes have the ability to attach to wet, compliant bodies under high shear conditions for extended periods of time. This research addresses the lack of underwater adhesives by using remora attachment as a bioinspired model. The goal of this work was to produce an adhesive platform suitable for attachment of instruments for biologging and telemetry research under challenging conditions. Using computed microtomography (microCT) scans of hard and soft tissues of the remora disc as a starting point, we developed a 3D-printed model for experimental testing. Ongoing testing has informed the lowest functional module of this hierarchical system is that will produce adhesion to both smooth-compliant and rough surfaces, under a range of flow speeds.
