Dry adhesives that rely on surface force mediated adhesion, such as van der Waals forces, are important in applications ranging from robotics to manufacturing. The maximum theoretical adhesion strength of a contact is achieved when the stress is uniformly distributed over the entire contact area as the full potential of all the bonds at the interface is realized in this scenario. Most dry adhesive structures are composed of a tip layer that forms contact and a support structure that transfers load from the far field to this tip structure. Here, we determine the displacement distribution that must be applied on the tip layer to generate an optimum interfacial stress distribution. We realize this through a linear, closed-form optimization framework that uses data obtained from finite element analysis for a few basis cases. It was found that adhesion can be maximized by applying an optimum displacement on the tip layer that consists of uniform tension in the center, a peak tension between the center and the edge, and compression near the edge. The displacement applied on the tip layer of a mushroom-shaped, composite, and novel segmented composite structures are then analyzed and compared with the optimal case to guide the design of dry adhesives.

依靠表面力介导的粘附力（例如范德华力）的干粘合剂在从机器人到制造的应用中非常重要。当应力在整个接触区域上均匀分布时，接触的最大理论粘合强度就实现了，因为在这种情况下实现了界面上所有键的全部潜力。大多数干式粘合剂结构由形成接触的尖端层和将载荷从远场转移到该尖端结构的支撑结构组成。在这里，我们确定必须应用于尖端层以生成最佳界面应力分布的位移分布。我们通过一个线性、封闭形式的优化框架来实现这一点，该框架使用从有限元分析中获得的数据来处理一些基本情况。发现可以通过在尖端层上施加最佳位移来最大化粘合力，该位移由中心的均匀张力、中心和边缘之间的峰值张力以及边缘附近的压缩组成。然后分析施加在蘑菇形复合材料和新型分段复合结构的尖端层上的位移，并与最佳情况进行比较，以指导干式粘合剂的设计。