Background
Dr Lorenzo Zani completed his bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Bologna (Italy) in 2010. After graduation he worked for 4 years at the Medical Technology Laboratory at Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute on the characterisation of biological tissues, biocompatible materials, and prosthetic implants performance.
In 2014 he joined Loughborough University to study for a PhD at the Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering within the Mechanics of Advanced Material research group under the supervision of Professor Vadim Silberschmidt, Dr Simin Li, and Professor Mark Lewis. The focus of his doctorate study was the investigation of the mechanical properties of the soft tissues of lower limb to develop a novel manufacturing process for the prosthetic socket for transtibial amputees. The project was partially funded by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory of the Ministry of Defence.
Since 2018, Lorenzo works full time at the Wolfson School, Loughborough University. Lorenzo was Research Technician of the Embedded Integrated Intelligent Systems research group until 2020, where his principal duties were the manufacturing and mechanical characterisation of porous material along with developing bespoken alloys for biomedical application.
In his current position as Research Associate in Design and Manufacturing of Hybrid Machining Systems, Lorenzo is the post-doctoral researcher working under Professor Anish Roy supervision on Manufacture with Pulsed-Electric Mechano-Vibratory Machining project funded by EPSRC.
Lorenzo’s research findings have been disseminated via internationally recognised scientific conferences and peer reviewed journals.
Main research interests
- Mechanics of materials
- Biomechanics
- Structure integrity
- FInite-element modelling
- 3D printing & scanning
- Sensors & sensing-related electronics
- Metrology
Current teaching support
- Fluid Mechanics Lab
- Strength of Materials Lab
- Heat Treatment Lab
- Structural Integrity Lab
- Resistance Welding Lab
Peer-reviewed journal articles
- Kim J., Zani L., Abdul-Kadir A., Jones L., Roy A., Zhao L., Silberschmidt V.V., "Hybrid-hybrid machining of SiC-reinforced aluminium metal matrix composite", Manufacturing Letters, Volume 32, 5 April 2022.
- Kim J., Zani L., Abdul-Kadir A., Ribeiro M. L., Roy A., Baxevanakis K. P., Jones L., Silberschmidt V. V., "Ultrasonically assisted turning of micro-SiCp/Al 2124 composite", Procedia Structural Integrity, Volume 37, 22 February 2022.
- Borgman J.M., Wang J., Zani L., Conway P.P., Torres-Sanchez C., "The effect of energy density and Nb content on the microstructure and mechanical properties of selective laser melted Ti-(10-30 wt.%) Nb", Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance, Volume 30, 20 September 2021.
- Wang J., Torres-Sanchez C., Borgman J. M., Zani L., Conway P.P., "Template-free, microscale dimple patterning of pure titanium surface through anodic dissolution using non-aqueous ethylene glycol-TiCl4 electrolytes", Surface and Coatings Technology, Volume 404, 22 October 2020.
- Marinopoulos T., Zani L., Li S., Silberschmidt V. V., "Modelling indentation of human lower-limb soft tissue: simulation parameters and their effects", Continuum Mechanics and Thermodynamics, 01 October 2020.
- Torres-Sanchez C., Wang J., Norrito M., Zani L., Conway P. P., "Addition of Sn to TiNb alloys to improve mechanical performance and surface properties conducive to enhanced cell activity", Materials Science and Engineering: C, Volume 115, 12 March 2020.
- Holt J.A., Blackwell S., Zani L., Torres-Sanchez C., "Comparison of elastic properties of low-density polymeric foams determined by ultrasonic wave propagation and quasi-static mechanical testing", Materials Letters, 15 Mar 2020.
- Dozza B., Salamanna F., Baleani M., Giavaresi G., Parrilli A., Zani L., Lucarelli E., Martini L., Fini M., Donati D. M., "Nonunion fracture healing: Evaluation of effectiveness of demineralized bone matrix and mesenchymal stem cells in a novel sheep bone nonunion model", Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, 25 Jul 2018.
- Zani L., Erani P., Grassi L., Taddei F., Cristofolini L., “Strain distribution in the proximal Human femur during in vitro simulated sideways fall“, Journal of Biomechanics, Volume 45, Issue 2, 10 January 2012, Pages 394-399.
- Baleani M., Francesoni D., Zani L., Giannini S., Snyder S. J., “Suprapectoral biceps tenodesis: A biomechanical comparison of a new “soft anchor” tenodesis technique versus interference screw biceps tendon fixation“, Clinical Biomechanics, Volume 30, Issue 2, February 2015, Pages 188-194.
- Danesi V., Zani L., Scheele A., Berra F., Cristofolini L., “Reproducible reference frame for in vitro of the human vertebrae“, Journal of Biomechanics, Volume 47, Issue 1, 3 January 2014, Pages 113¬118.
- Zani L., Cristofolini L., Juszczyk M., Grassi L., Viceconti M., “A new paradigm for in vitro simulation of sideways fall loading of the proximal human femur“, Journal of Mechanics in Medicine and Biology, Volume 14, Issue 1, 2014.
- Juszczyk M., Cristofolini L., Salva M., Zani L., Schileo E., Viceconti M., “Accurate in vitro monitoring of fracture in bones: failure mechanism of the proximal human femur“, Journal of Biomechanics, Volume 46, Issue 6, 4 January 2013, Pages 158-164.
- Zani L., Cristofolini L., Juszczyk M., Viceconti M., “In vitro strain distribution during sideways fall in the proximal human femur“, Journal of Biomechanics, Volume 45, Supplement 1, July 2012, Page S351
- Cristofolini L., Juszczyk M., Zani L., Viceconti M., “For which loading scenarios is the proximal femur optimized?“, Journal of Biomechanics, Volume 45, Supplement 1, July 2012, Page S283.
- Grassi L., Schileo E., Taddei F., Zani L., Juszczyk M., Cristofolini L., Viceconti M., “Accuracy of finite element predictions in sideways load configurations for the proximal human femur“, Journal of Biomechanics, Volume 48, Issue 10, 16 July 2015, Pages 2130-2143.
External Collaborators
- Laser Processing Research Centre Impact - The University of Manchester
- Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre - The University of Sheffield
- Far-UK Composites
- Defence Science and Technology Laboratory - Ministry of Defence
- Medical Technology Laboratory - Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute