The spreading dynamics of liquid drops normally impacting a solid dry surface at high Reynolds and Weber numbers is experimentally and numerically studied at early post-impact times starting from 10−5 s after impact. The focus is on the emergence and growing of the axisymmetric liquid lamella underneath the drop, that is, on the time evolution of its thickness, radius, and velocity, as a function of impact velocity U and liquid viscosity ν. The Navier–Stokes equations for two-phase flows are solved numerically by an artificial compressibility method. A “shock-capturing” method is used for the tracking of the gas-liquid interface, neglecting surface tension effects. Experimental and numerical results are interpreted using a simple scaling analysis that reveals the characteristic lengths and velocities of the spreading dynamics. In particular, a finite characteristic time of appearance for the lamella is found, which is of the order of ν/U2. Rescaling of the data works satisfactorily in the considered range of parameters. Thus, the lamella ejection is limited by viscosity.

The limitation of poor mechanical stability and difficulties in printing electrically conductive components can be overcome owing to the recent introduction of nanotechnology into the field of additive manufacturing (AM) and the consequent development of nonconventional polymer nanocomposites suitable for 3D printing. In the present work, different weight percentages (up to 6 wt % in total) of carbon-based nanostructures—multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs), and a combination of both fillers (MWCNTs/GNPs)—were incorporated into poly(lactic) acid (PLA, Ingeo™) in an attempt to overcome several limitations of conventional 3D manufacturing based on insulating materials. Solution blending and melt mixing were the two fabrication methods adopted for preparation of the samples under test. A comparison of the morphological, rheological, and electrical properties of the resulting nanocomposites was carried out. Moreover, for the same weight concentrations, the influence of physical and geometrical features (i.e., functionalization and aspect ratio) of the embedded fillers was also investigated. Rheological methods were applied to control the quality of fillers dispersion in PLA matrix. The rheological percolation threshold was considered as reference in order to evaluate the internal structure of nanodispersions. TEM visualization, combined with rheological characterizations, was used for efficient control of the nanofiller dispersion. DC characterization revealed that lower electrical percolation thresholds and higher values of electrical conductivity were achieved using fillers with a larger aspect ratio and melt mixing, respectively. Moreover, given the possibility of obtaining complex and appropriate shapes for electromagnetic compatibility (EC) applications, electromagnetic (EM) response of the nanocomposites at the highest filler concentration was investigated in GHz and THz regions. It was found that the electromagnetic shielding efficiency (EMI) of nanocomposites strongly depended on the aspect ratio of the nanofillers, whereas the type of processing technique did not have a significant effect. Therefore, a careful choice of methods and materials must be made to address the final application for which these materials and further 3D printed architectures are designed.

The analysis of the blood flow dynamics (hemodynamics) in tubes is crucial when investigating the rupture of different types of aneurysms. The blood viscosity nonlinear dependence on the flow shear rate creates complicated manifestations of the blood pulsations. Although a great number of studies exists, experimental and numerical, this phenomenon is still not very well understood. The aim of the present work is to propose a numerical model of the oscillatory blood flow in a tube on the basis of the Carreau model of the blood viscosity (nonlinear model with respect to the shear rate). The obtained results for the flow velocity and tangential stress on the tube wall are compared well with other authors’ results.