Microdesign using frictional, hooked, attachment mechanisms: a biomimetic study of natural attachment mechanisms—Part 3

Part 1 completed the studies of five long-shafted, cellulose, frictional, hooked probabilistic fasteners. Part 2 identified three substructures prevalent in the natural world for probabilistic fasteners and detailed the collection of voxel dataclouds while measuring from the natural fluorescence of their composing chitin and cellulose under the laser illumination of a confocal microscope. In this part 3, consideration is given to the development of a behaviour-optimised bioinspired probabilistic attachment system that is thermodynamically inert due to attachment substructures, such as interlocking setae, that act as arrestors and temporary interlocking devices. The three devices of part 2 are considered for their relative merits, and one part is modelled for a rapid prototyping device. If one is considering the question of shape versus material, then it is at this stage that it is a very important issue since one is considering fundamental, simple shapes and the materials used to form them are of finite variety. Hence, the final design will hinge upon design for manufacture and component material qualities, in this case copper.