A van der Waals force-based adhesion model for micromanipulation.

Sébastien Alvo (1, 2) , Pierre Lambert (2, 3) , Michaël Gauthier (2) , Stéphane Régnier (1)

1 ISIR - Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique
2 FEMTO-ST - Franche-Comté Électronique Mécanique, Thermique et Optique - Sciences et Technologies (UMR 6174)
3 BEAMS - Department of Bio, Electro And Mechanical Systems

The robotic manipulation of microscopic objects is disturbed directly by the adhesion between the end-effector and the objects. In the micro scale, no reliable model of adhesion is available and currently the behaviour of the micro-objects cannot be predicted before experiments. This paper proposes a new model of adhesion based on the analytical resolution of the coupling between the mechanical deformation of the micro-objects and van der Waals forces. In the nanoscale, the impact of the deformation can be neglected and the proposed model is thus similar to the classical expression for van der Waals forces. In the microscale, the deformation induces van derWaals forces to increase significantly and a new analytical expression is proposed. The limit of validity of this 'deformable van der Waals forces' is also discussed. This result can be used as an alternative to classical adhesion-deformation models in literature (Johnson-Kendall-Roberts (JKR) or Derjaguin- Muller-Toporov (DMT)), which have been validated at the macroscale but are not sufficient to describ the interaction forces in the microscale (typically from 100 nm to 500 m).

Mots clés: Pull off force; deformation; adhesion; van der Waals forces; micromanipulation.; micromanipulation

Domaines: Micro et nanotechnologies/Microélectronique

Sébastien Alvo, Pierre Lambert, Michaël Gauthier, Stéphane Régnier. A van der Waals force-based adhesion model for micromanipulation.. Journal of Adhesion Science and Technology, 2010, 24 (15-16), pp.2415-2428. ⟨10.1163/0169942410X508334⟩. ⟨hal-00545519⟩