Multiscale Mechanics of Adhesion and Interface for Structural, Biomaterials and Biological Systems

Adhesives are ubiquitous in everyday life and material development advancement. Adhesion and debonding are always at the cutting edge of any technologies, including, e.g., structural and structural rehabilitation, composite materials & structures, MEMS/NEMS, thin films and coatings, medical and artificial tissue applications, and many other industries. Understanding of the adhesion and debonding mechanisms are therefore imperative for the prediction and development of modern material and structural systems. Adhesion is a complex phenomenon at almost all circumstances. The study of this phenomenon in biomaterials and biological systems in particular can teach engineers to develop optimal adhesional interfaces for optimum developments in new materials, machineries and instruments. Of the examples of the biological systems one can refer to adhesive microstructures of arrays of thin fibers of geckos and lizards feet. Due to the fractal nature of the interface morphology, adhesion can be understood only at smaller scales, going from the average response at the continuum level to the more recognized and detailed behavior at micro, cellular and molecular levels. A brief introduction to the mechanics of adhesion analysis with reference to influencing parameters such as the surface roughness will be made. The adhesional experimental methodologies in engineering mechanics will be reviewed. Also, the necessity of numerical algorithms at multiscaling will be described. In particular, the finite element cohesive zone formulations, a method widely used for interface mechanics at the macro/microscale will be examined. A brief introduction to the mechanics of adhesion in biomaterials and biological system will be made.