Rats use their whiskers as tactile sensors to sense their environment. Active whisking, moving whiskers back and forth continuously, is one of prominent features observed in rodents. They can discriminate different textures or extract features of a nearby object such as size, shape and distance through active whisking. There have been studies to localize objects with artificial whiskers inspire...

In-situ TiB whisker-reinforced Ti-6Al-4V (TC4) titanium matrix composites (TiBw/TC4) with quasi-continuous networks were successfully fabricated by vacuum hot-pressing sintering. The effects of the hot-hydrostatic canned extrusion on stock utilization, microstructure and mechanical properties of the TiBw/TC4 composites were investigated. It was satisfactory that the utilization of composites co...

Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) was reinforced with 0-50 vol% hydroxyapatite (HA) whiskers using a novel powder processing and compression molding technique which enabled uniform mixing at high whisker content. Texture analysis showed that viscous flow during compression molding produced a preferred orientation of whiskers along the specimen tensile axis. Consequently, the elastic modulus or ultima...

Animals in their natural environments actively process spatiotemporally complex sensory signals in order to guide adaptive behavior. It therefore seems likely that the properties of both single neurons and neural ensembles should reflect the dynamic nature of such interactions. During exploratory behaviors, rats move their whiskers to actively discriminate between different tactile features. We...

In this work, magnesium borate (Mg2B2O5) and aluminum (Al18B4O33) whiskers with a high aspect ratio were successfully synthesized using molten salt method. The phase transformation morphology involution of the studied by XRD, IR-FT, TG-DSC, SEM-EDS different boron/metal ratios reaction temperatures. results show rich boron environment appropriate temperature to be crucial factors respect compos...

Synthetic hydroxyapatite (HA) whiskers have been utilized as a new, biocompatible reinforcement for orthopedic biomaterials. High-density polyethylene (HDPE) was reinforced with either the synthesized HA whiskers or a commercially available spherical HA powder using a novel powder processing technique that facilitated uniform dispersion of the reinforcements in the matrix prior to compression m...

The present study investigates the changes in microstructure and microchemistry (particularly Ca/P ratio) during whisker formation on the surface of a monolithic TTCP powder in a basic phosphoric acid solution. The XRD results indicate that when TTCP powder was treated for 10min or less in (NH4)2HPO4 solution, the monolithic TTCP phase remains unchanged. When treated for 30min, apatite whiskers...

Fe and Co nano-whiskers platelets were synthesized via physical vapor deposition without any template catalyst. Transmission electron microscopic analyses revealed that the whiskers all single crystal with whisker axis along [1 0 0] crystallographic direction. Both FCC HCP structures found in stacking faults micro-twins. Off-axis Electron holography results showed magnetic domain structures. Vo...