Rotor blade recycling | Research visit to the South Korean institute KIST

Thanks to the long-standing cooperation between the Institute of Advanced Composite Materials KIST (Jeonbuk, South Korea) and the Faculty of Engineering at HTWK Leipzig, Philipp Johst was able to realise a two-month research stay and conduct in-depth research into rotor blade recycling.

Philipp Johst spent from July to August 2024 with the Korean research group of Dr Wonjin Na from KIST in Jeonbuk to continue researching methods for the structural reuse of disused fibre composite components from rotor blade structures, which are related to the contents of the EuReComp project. The research stay was financially supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

Philipp Johst is part of Prof Böhm's research group. In a recent publication, the research group was able to show where and in what quantities used fibre composite materials from disused rotor blade structures can be expected. It is worth noting that these materials are discarded not so much due to severely deteriorated mechanical properties, but rather for economic reasons. Investigations have shown that the materials are still in a very good mechanical condition, which has prompted the research group to focus more on the reuse of these materials.

During his research stay at KIST, Philipp Johst was able to carry out experimental investigations on samples of disused rotor blade structures in collaboration with Dr Na in order to establish structural health monitoring methods for reused rotor blade components. Promising data was obtained with the help of the KIST Institute's excellently equipped technical infrastructure. Those involved in the investigations are currently working on a publication to make the results available to the scientific community. A particular focus is on the development of an indicator for describing the condition of rotor blade components, which should enable them to be safely reused and utilised further. Future work aims to scale up the experiments carried out to a prototype level. The aim is to initiate a joint research project between the KIST and the HTWK in order to coordinate the next steps and secure funding.

In addition, Philipp Johst was able to initiate and carry out experiments for other ongoing research projects at HTWK Leipzig in Dr Na's research group. These investigations not only serve as a basis for current work, but also represent valuable preliminary work for potential future projects.

In addition to the excellent scientific collaboration, Philipp Johst will remember the experience positively in the long term, particularly due to the outstanding helpfulness and hospitality of his South Korean colleagues at KIST.