Cyclic Performance of 3D-Printed Snakeskin-Bioinspired Interfaces

Interface friction of surfaces is a major key in the performance of various types of foundations and structures subjected to earthquake ground motions. To provide adequate friction and stability, especially in sloped surfaces, a new snakeskin-bioinspired interface that can be utilized in geosynthetic interfaces is proposed. The primary application of these novel interfaces includes developing surfaces that provide higher interface friction in the direction of loading with anisotropy that depends on the direction of loading. The study illustrates experimental results of sliding interfaces of 3D-Printed snakeskin-bioinspired surfaces and Newmark’s block under the application of the El Centro 1940 earthquake. A wooden rigid block was placed on the wedge and attached to an accelerometer. 3D-printed snakeskin-bioinspired surfaces were used as the sliding surface. The performance of the bioinspired surfaces has been assessed under the application of the earthquake ground motion. In this study, the utilization of 3D-Printed snakeskin surfaces has been shown to offer high potential for superior and reliable geosynthetic interfaces.