The impact of wear, contamination and substrate conditions on the pull off force of adhesive microstructures in relation to sustainable manufacturing

Mushroom shaped adhesive microstructures (MSAMS) provide the potential to grasp a wide variety of objects with minimal energy usage and are therefore particularly interesting for an automated and sustainable production. Investigating the influence of wear, contamination and substrate surface conditions on the adhesive force is crucial to assess their usability in non-laboratory conditions. In this work, the pull off force of MSAMS on additively manufactured specimens is measured during multiple cycles. The results show, that different surface finishes can lead to major changes of the resulting adhesive force. Adhesion is prevented by particle contamination but can be restored by cleaning.