Interface Shear Directionality between Snakeskin-Inspired Surfaces and Normally Consolidated and Compacted Fine-Grained Soils

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The ventral scales of snakes mobilize direction-dependent friction, generating higher interface strength in the cranial direction (i.e., against the asperities) compared to the caudal one (i.e., along the asperities). This direction-dependence holds potential for enhancing the performance of geotechnical applications such as foundations, anchors, and soil reinforcement elements. This study evaluates the shear behavior of snakeskin-inspired surfaces in contact with normally consolidated kaolin clay and compacted silty clay through interface shear tests. The test results are used to evaluate the effect of asperity geometry and shearing direction on the interface shear behavior with two distinct fine-grained soils. For both soils, shearing in the cranial direction resulted in greater peak and residual strengths than shearing in the caudal one. The compacted silty clay exhibited higher shear resistances than the normally consolidated clay, with a more pronounced difference between the cranial and caudal interface shear strengths. The strength with both soils increases as the asperity height is increased and the length is decreased. The findings highlight the potential to leverage the directional-dependent strength of snakeskin-inspired surfaces to enhance the capacity and multifunctionality of various geotechnical applications.

2025 International Conference on Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics (ICBBG2025)

General session: Bio-inspired methods for subsurface exploration and excavation