In this project, a visit to colleagues in Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in the US, who have expertise in energy security and additively manufactured (AM) composite materials, will support knowledge transfer and research development in this area. The sustainability of offshore renewable energy depends on the materials used in their construction. With many turbine blades based on fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composites coming to the end of their service life imminently, and many more to be installed, there are many challenges regarding their sustainability.
To extend the life of composite assets or characterise material value for reuse or recycling at end of llife, it is essential to have an improved understanding of how the material degrades over time. Current work is focussed on the degradation of FRP composite materials exposed to various temperature and humidity conditions will, and the changes in both chemistry and mechanical properties will be correlated with the exposure and time to identify the state of the material degradation. This will inform end-of-life options for FRP composite structures. Collaboration with LLNL will be beneficial to the scope, visibility and impact of the research.
