Purpose

The purpose of this experiment is to recreate

spiders attachment discs patterns with adhesives on
different surfaces in comparison to coating a surface
with an adhesive to determine the tensile strength of
the adhesive bonds for the possible application to
creating stronger bonding adhesives.

Hypothesis & Rationale

If an attachment disc is enlarged and the adhesive
pattern is applied to a substrate, then the tensile
strength will be stronger by using the pattern on a
substrate instead of coating the surface; further
leading to the creation of new adhesives that
replicate the spiders adherent as well as creating
various applications throughout material science and
the biomedical field.

Introduction

Method
Gather all materials (Tracing paper, tape, printout of
attachment discs on plastic and glass, Plastic sheets,
glass sheets, acrylic glue, glass glue, L-shaped
spreader, gloves, syringe, beaker, goggles, suction
cups, tarp, crane scale, clip, ring stand). Draw
attachment disc pattern (glass and plastic) onto
tracing paper. Tape the tracing paper onto the back of
the glass sheet. Flip the glass sheet over so that you
can see the trace, but you are on the side with only
glass. Put on gloves and goggles. Pour glue into
beaker. With the syringe, slowly take in the glue.
Carefully, push the syringe down and trace the
pattern of the attachment disc on the glass. When
finished, place another glass sheet directly on top of
the freshly-glued sheet. Wait for it to dry. Repeat for
three trials. With an L-shaped spreader, spread/coat
the adhesive in the square box created around the
attachment disc (approximately the same area as the
attachment disc pattern). Place a glass sheet on top
of the freshly-glued sheet. Wait for it to dry. Repeat
for three trials. Repeat all with plastic sheets and
acrylic glue. There will be a total of 12 trials. Fasten
crane scale to a surface (a table leg was used). Hook
a clip onto the crane scale. Fasten one suction cup on
either side of the glass/plastic. Hook up the suction
cup to the clip attached to the crane. Fasten suction
cup to another surface with a bike lock (a table leg
was used). Now both sides are fastened. Place
camera outside of the test area, filming the crane
scale. Stand back. Start machine, pulling on the
surfaces until the surfaces break a part. Record each
tensile strength. Repeat until all 12 trials are finished.
If glass breaks, properly dispose of it in a glassware
disposal. Clean up all materials.

Variables
Independent Variable: Surfaces and adhesives (glass
and plastic).
Dependent Variable: Tensile strength.
Controlled variables (constants): Environment, number
of trials, amount of glue, size of the substrates.
Control/Comparison group: The tensile strength of the
attachment disc pattern coated surface in comparison to
a coated surface.

Data Analysis
As seen in data table 2 and graph 2, both the glass
and plastic attachment disc tensile strength averages
were higher than the glass and plastic coated averages.
Also, the plastic strength average is greater than the
glass strength average. This is applicable to table 1 and
graph 1, displaying the average area of the attachment
discs on plastic vs. glass. The attachment discs created
on plastic were greater than the attachment discs on
glass. Since the attachment disc areas on plastic were
greater than the glass, it makes sense that it created a
stronger bond than the glass. Based on this previous
research, I hypothesized that the adhesives applied in
attachment disc patterns would create a stronger bond
than a coated surface; according to table 2 and graph 2,
my hypothesis was proven true.

Conclusion
Based on the results and calculations, the adhesives
applied in attachment disc patterns created a stronger
bond than the adhesives that were coated on a surface,
supporting my hypothesis. Based on previous research,
the area of the attachment discs on plastic were greater
than the area of the attachment discs on glass. This
was seen while testing the attachment disc pattern vs.
coating with plastic and glass because the plastic
tensile strength was greater than the glass; the plastic
tensile strength would be greater than the glass
because the area of the discs were higher. Overall, this
experimentation is vital in the steps of creating new,
strong adhesives because spider influenced adhesives
are now in the works of being on the market. The
design of spiders attachment disc patterns are versatile
and use very little material; which would create a
limitless breakthrough in material science and the
biomedical field. One researcher who has begun doing
this is Dr. Ali Dhinojwala. He replicated the attachment
disc patterns by using synthetic fibers. In the future, I
would like to replicate the spiders attachment discs with
cyanoacrylate glue for the creation of new adhesives
and application to the biomedical field.

Abstract & Literature Cited