Haptic Intelligence

Contact Evolution of Dry and Hydrated Fingertips at Initial Touch

2022

Article

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Pressing the fingertips into surfaces causes skin deformations that enable humans to grip objects and sense their physical properties. This process involves intricate finger geometry, non-uniform tissue properties, and moisture, complicating the underlying contact mechanics. Here we explore the initial contact evolution of dry and hydrated fingers to isolate the roles of governing physical factors. Two participants gradually pressed an index finger on a glass surface under three moisture conditions: dry, water-hydrated, and glycerin-hydrated. Gross and real contact area were optically measured over time, revealing that glycerin hydration produced strikingly higher real contact area, while gross contact area was similar for all conditions. To elucidate the causes for this phenomenon, we investigated the combined effects of tissue elasticity, skin-surface friction, and fingerprint ridges on contact area using simulation. Our analyses show the dominant influence of elastic modulus over friction and an unusual contact phenomenon, which we call friction-induced hinging.

Author(s): Gokhan Serhat and Yasemin Vardar and Katherine J. Kuchenbecker
Journal: PLOS ONE
Volume: 17
Number (issue): 7
Pages: e0269722
Year: 2022
Month: July
Department(s): Haptic Intelligence
Research Project(s): Finger-Surface Contact Mechanics in Diverse Moisture Conditions
Bibtex Type: Article (article)
Paper Type: Journal
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0269722
Note: Gokhan Serhat and Yasemin Vardar contributed equally to this publication.
State: Published

BibTex 

@article{Serhat22-PO-Hydrated,
  title = {Contact Evolution of Dry and Hydrated Fingertips at Initial Touch},
  author = {Serhat, Gokhan and Vardar, Yasemin and Kuchenbecker, Katherine J.},
  journal = {PLOS ONE},
  volume = {17},
  number = {7},
  pages = {e0269722},
  month = jul,
  year = {2022},
  note = {Gokhan Serhat and Yasemin Vardar contributed equally to this publication.},
  doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0269722},
  month_numeric = {7}
}