PhD Research Studentships

SustainWind: Engineering the sustainable composite structures for offshore wind turbines

Supervisor: Wei TAN
Apply by:31 January 2023

Description

Wind power installations have been significantly increased in UK and globally to produce clean energy and mitigate global warming. It is expected that their growth will escalate in the next decade with 323 GW of new wind energy projects, that will be installed in the EU by 2030. Offshore installations exhibit tremendous wind energy potential, particularly deep-water areas (below 50 meters) due to strong and consistent wind speeds, which has sparked global interest in developing offshore floating wind turbines (OFWT).

In service, the OFWT blades continuously experience extreme weather conditions, such as dry/wet weather, high/low-temperature cycles, UV radiation exposure and erosion. All these factors have a detrimental effect on the mechanical performance of wind turbine blades (WTB), particularly the combined effect of temperature/moisture ingression and fatigue loading is considered as the most crucial for the long-term durability of offshore WTB. Current wind turbine blades are mostly made from glass fibre reinforced polymer composites (GFRP), which are difficult to recycle or not economically viable to recycle. Consequently, they will produce up to ~ 550,000 tons of composite waste by 2050, and it will become a major environmental problem within a few years. With the greater potential for environmental degradation, OFWT blades must be designed more robustly to reduce their maintenance costs and assure long-term durability. Therefore, the development of sustainable WTB is crucial to support economic benefits, climate mitigation and ensure their long-term performance under extreme weather conditions. Thus, the key objective of this project is to unravel the degradation mechanisms of GFRP in OFWT blades subjected to hygrothermal ageing and to develop a new computational framework to predict their long-term fatigue performance under a harsh marine environment.

Eligibility:

  • The minimum requirement for this studentship opportunity is a good Honours degree (minimum 2(i) honours or equivalent) or MSc/MRes in a relevant discipline.
  • If English is not your first language, you will require a valid English certificate equivalent to IELTS 6.5+ overall with a minimum score of 6.0 in Writing and 5.5 in all sections (Reading, Listening, Speaking).
  • Candidates are expected to start from September 2023

Conacyt-funded students -  candidate to secure the Conacyt scholarship

Application Method:

To apply for this studentship and for entry on to the PhD Full-time Mechanical Engineering  - Semester 1 (September Start), please select the following type of research degree programme at https://www.qmul.ac.uk/postgraduate/research/subjects/engineering.html (Go to Apply online at the bottom of the page)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Funding

Funded by: Conacyt
Candidate will need to secure Conacyt scholarship.

Eligibility

  • The minimum requirement for this studentship opportunity is a good honours degree (minimum 2(i) honours or equivalent) or MSc/MRes in a relevant discipline.
  • If English is not your first language, you will require a valid English certificate equivalent to IELTS 6.5+ overall with a minimum score of minimum score of 6.0 in each of Writing, Listening, Reading and Speaking).
  • Candidates are expected to start in (Semester ).

Contact

For informal enquiries about this opportunity, please contact Wei TAN.

SEMS Research Centre:
Sustainable Engineering