Three-dimensional Hybrid Composites for Repair and Recycling

Wind turbine blades and boat hulls could one day repair their own cracks and be fully recycled at end of life, using a new class of hybrid composite materials. The problem is that today’s high-performance composites—used in everything from aircraft to offshore wind turbines—are expensive to maintain and nearly impossible to recycle. Cracks require external heating to fix, and the materials themselves are often bonded with resins that cannot be broken down, sending damaged parts to landfill. This project combines three advances in one material: self-healing polymers that seal cracks automatically, metallic reinforcement elements that add strength, and recyclable thermoplastic matrices that can be melted down and reused. Crucially, the composite will conduct heat through its own thickness when an electrical current is applied, so repairs no longer need bulky external ovens or heat guns. The same internal heating can later soften the matrix for disassembly and recycling. If successful, the work could slash maintenance costs for marine and offshore wind infrastructure, and make composite waste—currently a growing environmental problem—reusable. The project focuses on manufacturing process development and numerical simulation to optimise material performance, with validation targeted at real-world marine and wind energy applications.