Abalone adhesion: The role of various adhesion forces and their proportion to total adhesion force

Adhesion is the basic ability of many kinds of animals in nature, which ensures the survival and reproduction of animal populations. The aquatic abalone has a strong adhesion capacity. In this study, we observed the microscopic morphology of abalone abdominal foot surface, and found that the surface was covered with a large number of fibers. Then five types of force measuring plates were designed and processed for the adhesion test of abalone abdominal foot. According to the test results, the composition of abalone abdominal foot adhesion force was analyzed and the proportion of various adhesion force to the total adhesion force of abalone abdominal foot was calculated. Among them, the vacuum adhesion force accounts for more than half of the total adhesion force of abalone abdominal foot, and its proportion is more than 60%. Van der Waals force also plays an important role, and its proportion is more than 20%. The proportion of capillary force is very small, which is only about 1%. Its main role is to form a liquid film to prevent the gas from flowing into the sucker. The vacuum adhesion of abalone abdominal foot can be further divided into the whole adhesion of abdominal foot, the local adhesion of abdominal foot and the frictional equivalent vacuum adhesion. And the whole adhesion of abdominal foot is basically equivalent to the local adhesion of abdominal foot. This study quantifies the proportion of various adhesion forces to the total adhesion force of the abdominal foot, which provides a reference for the further study of other adhesive creatures and the design of bionic underwater adhesion devices.