AI-assisted grading of end-of-life wind turbine composite materials for a circular economy

About the Project

This PhD scholarship is offered by the EPSRC CDT in Offshore Wind Energy Sustainability and Resilience; a partnership between the Universities of Durham, Hull, Loughborough and Sheffield. The successful applicant will undertake six months of training with the rest of the CDT cohort at the University of Hull before continuing their PhD research at the University of Sheffield. The project is part of the Research Cluster “Next Generation Manufacturing for Wind Turbine Blades”, which brings together projects in Hull, Sheffield and Durham Universities to look at the entire wind turbine blade lifecycle.

End-of-life blade waste is a pressing issue for the wind energy industry, both for existing blades and future blades. The vast majority of existing blades cannot be recycled and are currently destined for low-value, high-emission end-of-life routes (e.g., incineration or grinding for filler in cement).

The value of these robust composite materials can be retained via reuse in structural applications. For example, it has shown that existing blade materials have sufficient properties and dimensional tolerances to be segmented and used as basic construction elements. Thermoplastic composites blades, likely the blades of the future, have additional potential in that they can be thermoformed into new geometries, while also ‘healing’ the thermoplastic matrix. The challenge of reuse is that blade materials vary based on several factors including microstructure, macrostructure, and loading history.

This project directly aligns with the CDT’s aim to achieve a sustainable wind farm lifecycle by developing methods for high-value reuse of composite turbine blades. Machine learning and non-destructive evaluation techniques will be developed to efficiently grade the end-of-life material properties. These techniques are already in development at the University of Sheffield for assessing in operando material properties of offshore wind turbine blades. Successful re-development for end-of-life composites could enable reuse in other structural applications.

This PhD will investigate the development of hierarchical Bayesian algorithms to capture the variability of end-of-life composite materials. These algorithms will be combined with destructive and non-destructive test data, and then be used to develop predictive capabilities for grading. This work will establish a foundation for future automated grading systems, which will provide a cost-competitive solution for both the offshore wind energy sector and the wider composites industry.

Training & Development

Your training will begin with an intensive six-month programme at the University of Hull, drawing on the expertise and facilities of all four academic partners. It is supplemented by Continuing Professional Development (CPD), which is embedded throughout your 4-year research scholarship giving you a broad understanding of the breadth and depth of current and emerging offshore wind sector needs.

You will receive in-house training in statistical methods, composite manufacturing and machining, and mechanical testing, including various methods of destructive and non-destructive evaluation. Industrial visits will act as additional sources of training in the current state-of-the-art in the project area.

Entry Requirements

If you have received a First-class Honours degree, or a 2:1 Honours degree and a Masters, or a Distinction at Masters level with any undergraduate degree (or international equivalents) in Computer Science, Engineering, Physics, or Mathematics and Statistics, we would like to hear from you.

If you have not previously been educated in English, you will be required to provide evidence of your English language ability. We require an IELTS (or equivalent) score of 7.0 overall, with no less than 6.0 in each skill.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme

We offer a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for home fee status candidates who identify as Black or Black mixed or Asian or Asian mixed if they meet the programme entry requirements. This positive action is to support recruitment of under-represented ethnic groups to our programme and is an opt-in process.

How to Apply

Please familiarise yourself with the AURA CDT website before you apply. The Frequently asked questions page and Candidate resources page are essential reading.

As part of the recruitment process, please submit a short 5-minute film of you delivering a presentation on “How do your experiences and qualities provide a background to contribute to research and innovation for the project you have applied for”.

You will be assessed on the content of your presentation, not your film editing skills, but please film in an appropriate, quiet location. The presentation could be a slide presentation with voice over, or you may wish to present simply talking to the camera, use the method you are most comfortable with. Please use tools and technology that are accessible to you e.g. your mobile phone, Keynote or Powerpoint.

You may only apply for ONE project offered through the CDT, via this page. After filling in your personal details, please select ‘Doctoral Training Course’ as the qualification you are applying for, and ‘AURA II CDT’ for the specific doctoral training course.

Please upload the following to your application:

• Complete transcripts and degree certificates (where possible). The documents should be provided in English and the original language.
• Your CV.
• A completed Supplementary Application Form. This includes space for you to provide a link where the shortlisting panel may view your film.

Save the supplementary application form as a pdf, labelled: Last name_first name PhD application form, and upload it when asked to add your Supporting Statement. Do not send your form directly to the CDT.

Interviews

First-round interviews will be held online during early to mid-February 2026. The interview panel will comprise the project supervisors and a CDT representative. Where the project involves external or industry supervisors then they may form part of the interview panel and your application documents will be shared with them.

If you are successful, you will progress to a second interview towards the end of February 2026. This will be with key academics from the CDT from across our four partner institutions (Durham, Hull, Loughborough, Sheffield) and your application documents will be shared with them.

Documents shared with external staff will have the guaranteed interview scheme section removed from your supplementary application form.

Interested?

Queries should be directed to Dr James Maguire (j.maguire@sheffield.ac.uk) or the CDT (auracdt@hull.ac.uk)

Funding Notes

The AURA CDT is funded by EPSRC, allowing us to provide scholarships that cover fees plus a stipend set at the UKRI nationally agreed rates. These are currently £20,780 per annum at 2025/26 rates and will increase in line with the EPSRC guidelines for the subsequent years (subject to progress).

Our CDT scholarships are available to Home (UK) students. To be considered a Home student, you must have no restrictions on how long you can stay in the UK and have been ordinarily resident in the UK for at least 3 years prior to the start of the scholarship.