Coupling Effect of Morphology and Mechanical Properties Contributes to the Tribological Behaviors of Snake Scales

Abstract It is known that the tribological behaviors of snake skins are contributed by the synergistic action of multiple factors, such as surface morphology and mechanical properties, which has inspired fabrication of scale-like surface textures in recent years. However, the coupling effect and mechanism remain to be elucidated. In this work, the morphology and mechanical properties of the scales from different body sections (leading body half, middle trunk and trailing body half) and positions (dorsal, lateral and ventral) of Boa constrictor and Eryx tataricus have been characterized and compared to investigate the corresponding effects on the tribological behaviors and to probe the possible coupling mechanism. The morphological characterizations of scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy have revealed significant differences between the two species with the roughness of scales from Boa constrictor being larger in general. The mechanical properties measured by nanoindentation have corroboratively demonstrated substantial differences in terms of elastic modulus and hardness. Meanwhile, tribological characterizations of scales in different body positions from the two species also exhibit evident anisotropy. Interestingly, the ventral scales manifest higher friction coefficients but lower surface roughness, together with relatively larger elastic modulus and hardness. A “double-crossed” hypothesis has been proposed to explain the observed coupling effect of the morphology and mechanical properties on friction, which may afford valuable insights for the design of materials with desirable tribological performance.