• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.36-45
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• 2014

Understanding steel/skin contact phenomena is important for the study of object manipulation in robotics and has been a topic of great interest. In this study, pig skin was taken as a surrogate model for human skin, and its adhesive, friction, and deformation behaviors were measured under various exposure times to air. Indentation, friction, and scratch tests were performed at $25^{\circ}C$ and 45% relative humidity. The influences of adhesion and deformation on the coefficient of friction were characterized; the pig skin was found to be sensitive to the sliding velocity and normal load under the controlled experimental conditions.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.304-309
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• 2013

Shark skin has functionalities such as self-cleaning and antifouling; it also exhibits excellent drag reduction owing to a hierarchical structure of microgrooves and nanometer-long chain mucus drag reduction interfaces around the shark body. In this study, the wettability of a shark skin surface and its replicas are evaluated. First, a shark skin template is taken from a real shark. Then, shark skin replicas are produced directly from a shark skin template, using a micromolding technique. The quantitative replication precision of the shark skin replicas is evaluated by comparing the geometry of the shark skin template to the replica using 2D surface profiles. Contact angles at the solid-air-water interfaces are evaluated for the shark skin template and its replicas under two conditions: with and without hydrophobic coating. The results show that the microriblets on shark skin improve the hydrophobic feature and play a critical role in self-cleaning.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.167-170
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• 2013

The friction behavior of human skin is determined by the complex interplay of the material and surface properties of the skin, as well as the contacting material, and strongly depends on the contact parameters (e.g., pressure and sliding velocity) and the presence of substances such as water, sweat, or skin surface lipids at the interface. Including a study on the effect of a surface's physical roughness for skin sliding over the surface, various studies have been conducted to understand human tactile sensibility. However, to investigate products in relation to human tactile sensibility, more objective research is needed. This study performed sliding experiments between the skin and the surfaces of phone cases to understand how the texture, friction, and stick-slip characteristics are related. Eight phone case surfaces with different topologies and chemical (or mechanical) compatibilities with skin were prepared and tested multiple times.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.201-206
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• 2016

In this study, we attempt to produce a semi-elliptical riblet with a shark skin-like surface using wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) and micro molding techniques. Our design for the production of the semi-elliptical mold includes an electrode, a winding roller, and a guide on the WEDM system. A replication mold with negative riblets is machined using WEDM, and a shark skin inspired surface with positive riblets is fabricated using a micro molding technique. For a comparison with the original shark skin, a shark skin replica is also produced using the micro molding technique directly from a shark skin template. Droplet contact angles on a flat surface, the shark skin replica, and the epoxy resin-based micro riblet shark skin-like surface are evaluated. The effect of a Teflon coating on the contact angles for the three different surfaces is also investigated. The results show the micro riblet with a shark skin-like surface has a similar contact angle as the shark skin replica, which means that the simplified riblet shark skin surface strongly influences the performance of wettability. This study confirms the effectiveness of using the WEDM method to prepare hydrophobic surfaces with diverse surface patterns.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.297-302
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• 2012

We conducted 3D elastic contact analysis of a sharkskin surface pattern for the characteristic assessment of biomimetic shark skin structure pattern for engineering applications. Rough sharkskin surfaces of similar size with real shark skin scales are generated numerically. Under the assumption of the contact of a plate on the generated sharkskin surface, contact performances such as contact pressure, real contact area, and surface separation are evaluated.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.202-206
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• 2017

In this study, the hydrophobicity properties for riblet surfaces that replicate shark skin are simulated. Riblet surfaces with surface roughness on riblets are generated numerically based on the measured data of real shark skin. We assumed that a rib on a scale is hemi-elliptical surface. The surface used in the simulation for the calculation of contact angle is composed of 9 scales like checkerboard type with a roughness. The contact angle of a water droplet can be calculated using the Wenzel equation and Cassie-Baxter equation for the generated riblet surfaces. The variation of contact angles with a fractional depth of penetration for the generated shark skin surfaces without and with coatings is demonstrated in the condition of solid-air-water. The results show that the contact angle for the surface without coating decreases with an increase of the fractional depth of penetration more drastically than that for the surface with coating. We compared the experimental and simulated results. It is shown that the measured contact angles of the shark skin template and the shark skin replica are within the simulated results. Therefore the contact angle of water droplet for rough surfaces can be estimated by the developed numerical method in this study.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.94-98
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• 2019

The riblet structure like shark skin has been widely studied owing to its drag reduction and anti-fouling properties. In this study we simulated the wettability of an oil droplet on a riblet surface. We developed a numerical analysis method using the Wenzel equation and Cassie-Baxter equation that can estimate the contact angle with a penetrated depth of the droplet on rough surfaces. Riblet surfaces with nine scales composed of five hemi-elliptical ribs are generated numerically. The variation of contact angles with fractional depth of penetration for the generated riblet surfaces with and without coatings is demonstrated in the condition of solid-air-oil and solid-water-oil interfaces. The contact angle for the uncoated surface decreases with increasing fractional depth of penetration more drastically than that for the coated surface. For the effect of surface roughness on the contact angle of the droplet, the oleophilic surface gives lower contact angle when the surface is rougher, whereas the oleoophobic surface gives higher contact angle with higher roughness To verify the analysis results, the wetting angle was measured in the solid-air-oil interface and solid-water-oil interface for the shark-skin template and shark-skin replica. The effects of teflon coating were also evaluated. It is shown that the simulation results cover the experimental ones.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.148-152
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• 2017

The feel of writing is important to customers when they buy smart devices with stylus such as smartphones and tablet computers. With an aim to reproduce the tactile sensibility of writing instruments when people write on the glass display using a stylus, this study focuses on the frequency characteristics of writing instruments that can describe the vibrations of writing instruments sliding over counter surfaces. In addition, this study includes the effect of various factors influencing the friction of writing instruments such as lubricant, nib material, and contact type. We perform sliding experiments with six types of writing instruments and a sheet of paper to understand the relation between the friction conditions of the nib and the frequency characteristics. As this research focuses on the tactile perception of human skin when people use a writing instrument, the analysis of frequency characteristics is performed in the perceptible frequency range of mechanoreceptors in the human skin. As a result, three types of frequency characteristics are identified. Low frequency peaks are observed for a metal nib with ink; high frequency peaks are observed for a nib without ink; and, middle frequency peaks with a wide range of distribution occurs for fabric nibs with ink. Therefore, to implement the proper feel of writing, at least three types of vibrations have to be made.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.184-189
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• 2010

In this paper, tactile response characteristics in medical haptic interface are investigated to characterize the feeling of contact between the finger skin and the organic tissue when a finger is dragged over tissue. In order to represent the tactile feeling, a prototype tactile display incorporating Magneto-Rheological (MR) fluid has been developed. Tactile display devices simulate the finger's skin to feel the sensations of contact such as compliance, curvature and friction. Thus, the tactile display provides the surface information of organic tissue to the surgeon using different actuating mechanisms ranging from the conventional mechanical motor to the smart material actuators. In order to investigate the compliance feeling of human finger's touch, vertical force responses of the tactile display under the various magnetic fields have been assessed. Also, frictional resistive force responses of the tactile display are investigated to simulate the action of finger's dragging. From the results, different tactile feelings are observed as the applied magnetic field is varied and arrayed magnetic poles combinations. This research gives a smart technology of tactile displaying.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.181-193
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• 2010

The paper presents an alternative way to classical stereocorrelation. First, 2D image processing of random patterns is described. Sub-pixel displacements are determined using phase analysis. Then distortion evaluation is presented. The distortion is identified without any assumption on the lens model because of the use of a grid technique approach. Last, shape measurement and shape variation is caught by fringe projection. Analysis is based on two pin-hole assumptions for the video-projector and the camera. Then, fringe projection is coupled to in-plane displacement to give rise to 3D measurement set-up. Metrological characterization shows a resolution comparable to classical (stereo) correlation technique ($1/100^{th}$ pixel). Spatial resolution seems to be an advantage of the method, because of the use of temporal phase stepping (shape measurement, 1 pixel) and windowed Fourier transform (in plane displacements measurement, 9 pixels). Two examples are given. First one is the study of skin properties; second one is a study on leather fabric. In both cases, results are convincing, and have been exploited to give mechanical interpretation.