Hollow thin-walled fan tower with special-shaped steel column bundle

Abstract

The application provides a hollow thin-wall fan tower drum with special-shaped steel column bundles, and belongs to the technical field of fan tower drums. The application solves the problems of large steel consumption, high construction difficulty, unreasonable stress and inability to fully exert the material characteristics of steel in the existing fan tower drum structure. The application comprises special-shaped steel column bundles, a tower drum body and a stiffening rib structure. The tower drum body is formed by two concentric steel plates with different diameters. The special-shaped steel column bundles are arranged inside the hollow cylindrical structure and connected with the inner wall of the tower drum body. The number of the special-shaped steel column bundles is multiple. The multiple special-shaped steel column bundles are arranged along the circumferential direction. The multiple special-shaped steel column bundles are connected through the stiffening rib structure. The cross section of the special-shaped steel column bundles is a V-shaped, trapezoidal or square special-shaped cross section or multiple V-shaped, trapezoidal or square cross sections connected transversely or a structure formed by the combination of multiple special-shaped cross sections. The cross section size of the special-shaped steel column bundles gradually changes along the height direction of the tower drum body. The application is mainly used for fan tower drums.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of wind turbine tower technology, and in particular relates to a hollow thin-walled wind turbine tower with irregularly shaped steel column bundles. Background Technology

[0002] Wind power, as a renewable energy source with high technological maturity and great potential for large-scale development, has become a core pillar of the global energy transition. Currently, wind turbines are continuously upgrading towards higher power output, larger rotors, and taller towers, placing stringent demands on the load-bearing capacity, construction efficiency, and economic viability of the turbine's supporting structure. As the core load-bearing component of the wind turbine, the steel tower bears the core functions of supporting the nacelle and rotor, transmitting alternating loads, and ensuring the safe and stable operation of the entire unit. It is the most mainstream and critical foundation structure used in wind power projects.

[0003] Traditional wind turbine towers employ a fixed-tapered integral cylindrical steel structure design, serving as the longest-used and most technologically advanced support structure in the wind power industry. However, as wind power development accelerates into low-wind-speed onshore areas, complex mountainous terrain, and deep-sea regions, the overall stress distribution of this type of structure becomes extremely unreasonable in practical engineering applications. To meet strength and stiffness requirements, the only way to compensate for insufficient load-bearing capacity is to continuously increase the thickness of the cylinder wall. Currently, the thickness of the bottom cylinder wall of wind turbine towers has generally exceeded 80mm. This continuous increase in cylinder wall thickness not only directly leads to a surge in the amount of steel used in the entire unit but also increases the overall structural stiffness, causing a significant upward shift in its natural frequency range and posing a significant risk of structural resonance. At the same time, the processing and forming of ultra-thick high-strength steel plates has become a core bottleneck in the industry. Even with high-end processing equipment such as thousand-ton ultra-large plate rolling mills and large rolling mills, it is difficult to form the plates, greatly increasing the processing difficulty.

[0004] To overcome the above problems, there is an urgent need to provide a wind turbine tower structure that can improve the overall stress rationality of the tower, reduce the amount of steel used, reduce the overall structural stiffness, reduce the risk of structural resonance, and can be processed and formed using existing equipment. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In view of this, the present invention aims to propose a hollow thin-walled wind turbine tower with irregularly shaped steel column bundles, so as to solve the problems of large steel consumption, high construction difficulty, unreasonable stress and inability to fully utilize the material properties of steel in existing wind turbine tower structures.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solution: a hollow thin-walled wind turbine tower with irregularly shaped steel column bundles, comprising irregularly shaped steel column bundles, a tower body, and stiffening rib structures. The tower body is formed by two concentric steel plates of different diameters enclosing a hollow cylindrical structure. The irregularly shaped steel column bundles are disposed inside the hollow cylindrical structure and connected to the inner wall of the tower body. There are multiple irregularly shaped steel column bundles, which are arranged along the circumferential direction and connected to each other by stiffening rib structures. The cross-section of the irregularly shaped steel column bundles is V-shaped, trapezoidal, or square, or multiple V-shaped, trapezoidal, or square irregularly shaped cross-sections are connected laterally, or a combination of various irregularly shaped cross-sections. The cross-sectional dimensions of the irregularly shaped steel column bundles gradually change along the height direction of the tower body, and the cross-sectional dimensions of the irregularly shaped steel column bundles at the bottom of the tower body are larger than those at the top of the tower body.

[0007] Furthermore, the stiffening rib structure includes multiple transverse stiffening ribs and multiple longitudinal stiffening ribs, which are vertically interlaced.

[0008] Furthermore, the multiple irregularly shaped steel column bundles are connected by multiple transverse stiffening ribs, and the two concentric steel plates with different diameters are connected by multiple stiffening rib structures.

[0009] Furthermore, the steel plate thickness of the tower body is 10-20mm.

[0010] Furthermore, the hollow cylindrical structure is filled with concrete.

[0011] Furthermore, the transverse stiffening ribs are a continuous, uninterrupted structure arranged along the height direction of the tower body. The spacing between multiple transverse stiffening ribs varies along the height direction, and the spacing between the transverse stiffening ribs at the bottom of the tower body is smaller than the spacing at the top of the tower body.

[0012] Furthermore, the longitudinal stiffening ribs are discontinuous and can be discontinuous, arranged along an arc, with multiple longitudinal stiffening ribs spaced at equal intervals.

[0013] Furthermore, the irregular steel column bundle and the tower cylinder are connected by a combination of welding and bolting.

[0014] Furthermore, the irregular steel column bundle is welded to the transverse stiffening rib.

[0015] Furthermore, the tower body is welded to the stiffening rib structure.

[0016] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are: This invention provides a hollow thin-walled wind turbine tower with irregularly shaped steel column bundles. Its stress system is scientifically sound and exhibits excellent load-bearing and adaptability. The tower uses irregularly shaped steel column bundles as the core load-bearing components, significantly improving the overall bending and torsional stiffness and load-bearing capacity through its large cross-sectional moment of inertia. The connection between the hollow cylindrical tower body and the stiffening rib structure enables coordinated operation of the entire structure, overcoming the shortcomings of traditional towers such as stress concentration and a single load transmission path, resulting in a uniform and reasonable overall stress distribution. Simultaneously, the cross-sectional dimensions of the irregularly shaped steel column bundles can be flexibly adjusted along the tower height gradient to precisely match load variations at different heights, fully utilizing the material properties of steel and significantly improving the structure's adaptability to complex wind conditions and the loads of large-megawatt units. This solves the problems of unreasonable stress distribution and inability to fully utilize material properties in traditional tower structures.

[0017] This invention employs a hollow thin-walled structural system, abandoning the redundant design of traditional towers that compensate for insufficient load-bearing capacity by continuously thickening the cylinder wall, thus significantly reducing ineffective steel consumption from the structural source. Combined with the variable cross-section gradient design of the irregularly shaped steel column bundles, it can precisely match load requirements, eliminating material waste. While ensuring load-bearing performance superior to traditional towers, it achieves a significant reduction in steel consumption, effectively compressing raw material procurement costs. Simultaneously, this structure reduces the overall structural stiffness caused by excessively thick cylinder walls, optimizing its natural frequency range and reducing the risk of structural resonance, fundamentally solving the problems of high steel consumption and high structural resonance risk in existing technologies.

[0018] The components of this invention are easy to process, and the forming efficiency and finished product quality are highly controllable. The core structural components do not require the large-scale, high-precision plate rolling mills and other high-end processing equipment needed for traditional integral tower structures. The irregularly shaped steel column bundles, the hollow cylindrical tower body, and the stiffening rib structure are all easy to form and process, significantly reducing the processing technology threshold and equipment investment. The component processing steps are simple, with low welding and forming difficulty, effectively shortening the single-piece processing cycle. At the same time, it significantly reduces the difficulty of quality control during processing, improving production efficiency and finished product qualification rate, thus effectively addressing the industry bottleneck of the high difficulty in processing and forming traditional ultra-thick high-strength steel plates.

[0019] This invention is adapted to a standardized mass production model, offering outstanding flexibility in engineering applications. All core components can be standardized and universally designed and mass-produced on assembly lines, breaking the limitations of traditional customized processing for tower projects. This allows for component commonality and cost sharing across multiple projects. Simultaneously, the standardized modules can flexibly adapt to different tower heights, load-bearing capacities, and site conditions, eliminating the need for a completely new structural customization design. This significantly improves the flexibility and universality of engineering applications, effectively shortening the project's early design and construction cycle. Attached Figure Description

[0020] The accompanying drawings, which form part of this invention, are used to provide a further understanding of the invention. The illustrative embodiments of the invention and their descriptions are used to explain the invention and do not constitute an undue limitation of the invention. In the drawings: Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a hollow thin-walled wind turbine tower with irregularly shaped steel column bundles according to the present invention; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the irregular steel column bundle described in this invention; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the stiffening rib structure described in this invention; Figure 4 This is a top view schematic diagram of a hollow thin-walled wind turbine tower with irregularly shaped steel column bundles according to the present invention; Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the internal elevation structure of a hollow thin-walled wind turbine tower with irregularly shaped steel column bundles according to the present invention.

[0021] In the picture: 1-Irregular steel column bundle, 2-Tower cylinder body, 31-Transverse stiffening rib, 32-Longitudinal stiffening rib. Detailed Implementation

[0022] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified, the embodiments and features in the embodiments of the present invention can be combined with each other, and the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, not all embodiments.

[0023] See Figure 1-5 This embodiment describes a hollow thin-walled wind turbine tower with irregularly shaped steel column bundles. It includes irregularly shaped steel column bundles 1, a tower body 2, and stiffening rib structures. The tower body 2 is formed by two concentric steel plates of different diameters enclosing a hollow cylindrical structure. The tower body 2 works in conjunction with the internal structure to provide support. The irregularly shaped steel column bundles 1 are disposed inside the hollow cylindrical structure and connected to the inner wall of the tower body 2. The irregularly shaped steel column bundles 1 are the core load-bearing components of the tower, bearing the main loads such as pressure, bending moment, and torque during wind turbine operation. Multiple irregularly shaped steel column bundles 1 are arranged circumferentially to provide load-bearing capacity and stability. Multiple irregularly shaped steel column bundles 1 are connected by a stiffening rib structure, which includes multiple transverse stiffening ribs 31 and multiple longitudinal stiffening ribs 32. The multiple transverse stiffening ribs 31 and multiple longitudinal stiffening ribs 32 are vertically and intersectingly connected to form a stable grid-like support system, which is used to connect and fix the main components and realize the effective transmission and distribution of load.

[0024] The multiple irregularly shaped steel column bundles 1 are connected by multiple transverse stiffening ribs 31, and the two concentric steel plates with different diameters are connected by multiple stiffening rib structures. Thus, the tower body 2, the irregularly shaped steel column bundles 1, and the stiffening rib structure are connected into a whole, realizing the coordinated operation of the entire structure.

[0025] The irregularly shaped steel column bundle 1 has a cross-section that is V-shaped, trapezoidal, or square, or multiple V-shaped, trapezoidal, or square cross-sections connected laterally, or a combination of various irregularly shaped cross-sections. The irregularly shaped cross-section of the irregularly shaped steel column bundle 1 has a large moment of inertia, which can significantly improve the overall bending and torsional stiffness and bearing capacity of the structure. The cross-sectional dimensions of the irregularly shaped steel column bundle 1 gradually change along the height direction of the tower body 2, and the cross-sectional dimensions of the irregularly shaped steel column bundle 1 at the bottom of the tower body 2 are larger than those at the top of the tower body 2. Through the variable cross-section gradient design, the load changes at different heights of the tower can be accurately matched, giving full play to the material properties of steel.

[0026] The irregularly shaped steel column bundle 1 has a V-shaped, trapezoidal, or square cross-section, or multiple V-shaped, trapezoidal, or square cross-sections connected laterally, or a combination of various irregularly shaped cross-sections, which can produce unexpected technical effects. Various irregularly shaped cross-sections themselves have excellent geometric properties, and their unique interface shapes can provide a moment of inertia significantly greater than that of traditional rectangular or I-shaped cross-sections. This significantly improves the bending and torsional stiffness of the structure with the same amount of steel used, which is the core foundation for this invention to reduce steel consumption and optimize stress rationality. More importantly, multiple similar irregularly shaped cross-sections connected laterally to form composite cross-sections such as W-shaped, multi-trapezoidal continuous, or multi-hole square cross-sections, or a collaborative stress-bearing cross-section formed by combining and splicing various irregularly shaped cross-sections, further amplifies this advantage. This not only greatly enhances the overall stability of the cross-section and effectively prevents local buckling, but also forms an efficient internal load transfer path, resulting in a more uniform stress distribution and significantly improving the stress concentration problem existing in traditional tower structures. The irregularly shaped steel column bundle 1 serves as the core load-bearing skeleton. Its single-type irregular cross-section or combination of multiple types of irregular cross-sections can be more tightly and stably integrated with the transverse and longitudinal stiffening ribs, jointly constructing a spatial grid-like load-bearing system. This achieves multi-path, high-efficiency load transfer from the thin-walled cylinder to the core column bundle and then to the overall structure. The resulting improvement in overall stability and optimization of material utilization is an effect that cannot be achieved using other conventional cross-sections. Therefore, it produces unexpected technical effects and fundamentally solves the problem of unreasonable stress distribution in traditional towers, which prevents the full utilization of material properties.

[0027] The tower body 2 adopts a thin-walled design with a steel plate thickness of 10-20mm. This design abandons the traditional approach of continuously thickening the cylinder wall to compensate for redundant load-bearing capacity, significantly reducing unnecessary steel consumption from the structural source. To further enhance the structure, the hollow cylindrical structure can be filled with concrete as needed to further improve the overall strength and rigidity of the tower.

[0028] The arrangement of the stiffening ribs is targeted, as the bottom of the tower experiences greater stress and requires denser support. Therefore, the transverse stiffening ribs 31 described in this invention are a continuous, uninterrupted structure, arranged along the height direction of the tower body 2. The spacing between multiple transverse stiffening ribs 31 varies along the height direction, with the spacing at the bottom of the tower body 2 being smaller than that at the top. The longitudinal stiffening ribs 32, on the other hand, are a discontinuous, intermittent structure, arranged along an arc, with multiple longitudinal stiffening ribs 32 spaced equally, primarily providing circumferential restraint and local stability.

[0029] The irregular steel column bundle 1 and the tower body 2 are connected by a combination of welding and bolting, which balances connection strength and construction convenience. The irregular steel column bundle 1 and the transverse stiffening rib 31 are connected by welding, and the tower body 2 and the stiffening rib structure are also connected by welding to ensure reliable connection.

[0030] During operation, the tower structure forms a scientifically sound and rationally designed stress system. The shaped steel column bundle 1, as the core load-bearing component, primarily bears and resists bending and torque moments due to its large cross-sectional moment of inertia. The stiffening rib structure tightly connects multiple shaped steel column bundles 1 with the inner and outer tower bodies 2, improving upon the shortcomings of traditional towers such as stress concentration and a single load transfer path, allowing the load to be evenly and rationally distributed and transferred throughout the entire structural network. The varying cross-sectional dimensions of the shaped steel column bundles 1 along the height enhance the load-bearing capacity of the lower part of the structure, precisely matching the gradually increasing load distribution from top to bottom. Through the coordinated work of the components, the entire structure significantly improves the overall stiffness and stability of the tower, as well as its adaptability to large-megawatt units and complex wind conditions, while simultaneously optimizing steel consumption and reducing the risk of structural resonance.

[0031] The specific embodiments of the present invention disclosed above are merely illustrative of the invention. These embodiments do not exhaustively describe all details, nor do they limit the invention to the specific embodiments described. Many modifications and variations can be made based on the content of this specification. This specification selects and specifically describes these embodiments to better explain the principles and practical applications of the invention, thereby enabling those skilled in the art to better understand and utilize the invention.

Claims

1. A hollow thin-walled wind turbine tower with irregularly shaped steel column bundles, characterized in that: It includes a special-shaped steel column bundle (1), a tower body (2) and a stiffening rib structure. The tower body (2) is formed by two concentric steel plates of different diameters enclosing a hollow cylindrical structure. The special-shaped steel column bundle (1) is set inside the hollow cylindrical structure and connected to the inner wall of the tower body (2). There are multiple special-shaped steel column bundles (1), which are arranged along the circumferential direction. The multiple special-shaped steel column bundles (1) are connected to each other by a stiffening rib structure. The cross-section of the special-shaped steel column bundle (1) is a V-shaped, trapezoidal or square special-shaped cross-section or a structure in which multiple V-shaped, trapezoidal or square special-shaped cross-sections are connected laterally or a combination of multiple special-shaped cross-sections. The cross-sectional dimensions of the special-shaped steel column bundle (1) gradually change along the height direction of the tower body (2). The cross-sectional dimensions of the special-shaped steel column bundle (1) at the bottom of the tower body (2) are larger than the cross-sectional dimensions at the top of the tower body (2).

2. A hollow thin-walled wind turbine tower with irregularly shaped steel column bundles according to claim 1, characterized in that: The stiffening rib structure includes multiple transverse stiffening ribs (31) and multiple longitudinal stiffening ribs (32), which are vertically interlocked.

3. A hollow thin-walled wind turbine tower with irregularly shaped steel column bundles according to claim 2, characterized in that: The multiple irregular steel column bundles (1) are connected by multiple transverse stiffening ribs (31), and the two concentric steel plates with different diameters are connected by multiple stiffening rib structures.

4. A hollow thin-walled wind turbine tower with irregularly shaped steel column bundles according to claim 1, characterized in that: The steel plate thickness of the tower body (2) is 10-20mm.

5. A hollow thin-walled wind turbine tower with irregularly shaped steel column bundles according to claim 1, characterized in that: The hollow cylindrical structure is filled with concrete.

6. A hollow thin-walled wind turbine tower with irregularly shaped steel column bundles according to claim 2, characterized in that: The transverse stiffening ribs (31) are a continuous and uninterrupted structure, arranged along the height direction of the tower body (2). The spacing between multiple transverse stiffening ribs (31) varies along the height direction. The spacing between the transverse stiffening ribs (31) at the bottom of the tower body (2) is smaller than the spacing at the top of the tower body (2).

7. A hollow thin-walled wind turbine tower with irregularly shaped steel column bundles according to claim 1, characterized in that: The longitudinal stiffening ribs (32) are non-continuous and can be discontinuous, arranged along the arc, and the spacing between multiple longitudinal stiffening ribs (32) is equal.

8. A hollow thin-walled wind turbine tower with irregularly shaped steel column bundles according to claim 1, characterized in that: The irregular steel column bundle (1) and the tower body (2) are connected by a combination of welding and bolting.

9. A hollow thin-walled wind turbine tower with irregularly shaped steel column bundles according to claim 2, characterized in that: The irregular steel column bundle (1) is welded to the transverse stiffening rib (31).

10. A hollow thin-walled wind turbine tower with irregularly shaped steel column bundles according to claim 1, characterized in that: The tower body (2) is welded to the stiffening rib structure.

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