Buffer member, support cable, and floating body structure

Abstract

To provide a new buffer member for elastically buffering tensile load in the length direction, a new support cable including the buffer member, as well as a new floating body structure moored by the support cable.SOLUTION: A coupling body for a plurality of endless wire ropes 2 are used as buffer members 1 (1A, 1B) for elastically buffering tensile load in the length direction and a floating body 101 is moored by using a support cable 10 including the buffer member 1.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a buffer member for elastically buffering tensile loads in the longitudinal direction, a support rope provided with the buffer member, and a floating structure moored by the support rope. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, wind power generation, which generates electricity by harnessing natural wind, has been attracting attention from the perspectives of the environment and the effective use of natural energy. Wind power generation facilities for this purpose include those installed on land (onshore wind power generation facilities) and those installed on water (offshore wind power generation facilities). In Japan, a country surrounded by the sea on all sides, offshore wind power generation facilities, which have the advantage of having fewer installation restrictions, are particularly suitable. For this reason, many floating structures that serve as the foundations for offshore wind power generation facilities have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1 below). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2024-64177 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] There are various types of floating structures, such as pontoon-type floats that float on the water surface, semi-submersible floats that float while submerged below the water surface, and spar-type floats that float upright like a fishing float, but all of these structures require mooring means to withstand waves, wind, currents, etc.

[0005] Here, the mooring means is generally a means in which one end of a mooring line 11 made of a wire rope (W) or chain (C) is attached to the floating body 101, and the other end of the mooring line 11 is attached to an anchor 102 fixed to the seabed, as shown in Figure 7.

[0006] However, sudden waves or wind can momentarily exert a greater load than expected on the mooring line 11, which can cause damage such as cracks in the part of the floating body 101 where one end of the mooring line 11 is attached or in the anchor 102.

[0007] The present invention was developed in consideration of the above-mentioned technical problems, and aims to provide a novel buffer member for elastically buffering tensile loads in the longitudinal direction, a novel support rope equipped with the buffer member, and a novel floating structure moored by the support rope. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The first buffer member of the present invention, which solves the above-mentioned technical problems, is a buffer member for elastically buffering tensile loads in the longitudinal direction, and is characterized by comprising a plurality of endless wire ropes and link members that connect adjacent endless wire ropes (hereinafter referred to as the "first buffer member of the present invention").

[0009] The second cushioning member of the present invention, which solves the above-mentioned technical problem, is a cushioning member for elastically cushioning tensile loads in the longitudinal direction, and is characterized in that it is made up of multiple endless wire ropes connected in a chain shape (hereinafter referred to as the "second cushioning member of the present invention").

[0010] In the first cushioning member of the present invention or the second cushioning member of the present invention, the endless wire rope is preferably a grommet-processed product.

[0011] In a preferred embodiment of the first cushioning member of the present invention or the second cushioning member of the present invention, S-twisted endless wire ropes and Z-twisted endless wire ropes are alternately connected.

[0012] The support rope of the present invention, which solves the above technical problems, is characterized by comprising the first buffer member of the present invention or the second buffer member of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as the "support rope of the present invention").

[0013] The floating structure of the present invention, which solves the above technical problems, is characterized in that a float is moored by the support rope assembly of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as the "floating structure of the present invention"). [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] According to the present invention, tensile loads in the longitudinal direction can be elastically buffered. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a front view showing the first cushioning member of the present invention. [Figure 2] Figure 2(a) is a front view showing an endless wire rope for constructing the first buffer member of the present invention, Figure 2(b) is a front view showing how the endless wire rope is manufactured by grommet processing, and Figure 2(c) is an AA cross-sectional view of the endless wire rope. [Figure 3] FIG. 3(a) is a perspective view and FIG. 3(b) is a side view showing a link member for constructing the first cushioning member of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a front view showing elastic deformation of the first cushioning member of the present invention. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a front view schematically showing a floating structure of the present invention constructed using a support rope assembly of the present invention equipped with the first buffer member of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a front view showing the second cushioning member of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a front view schematically showing a conventional offshore wind power generation facility. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

[0017] <First cushioning member 1A of the present invention> 1 shows a first cushioning member 1A of the present invention according to an embodiment. The first cushioning member 1A of the present invention comprises an "endless wire rope (2)" and a "link member (3)".

[0018] - Endless wire rope 2 - The endless wire rope 2 refers to a wire rope processed into a ring shape. As shown in FIG. 2, in this embodiment, an endless wire rope 2 (rope diameter (φ) 56 mm, circumference (R) 2270 mm, standard breaking load 1688 kN) manufactured by grommet processing was used. The endless wire rope 2 manufactured by grommet processing has a rope portion composed of a single strand (S), and the start and end of the strand S are butted together in the core strand (S0). Note that while general wire ropes are classified as "S-twisted" or "Z-twisted" depending on the twist direction of the strand (S), in this embodiment, multiple S-twisted endless wire ropes (2S) and multiple Z-twisted endless wire ropes (2Z) were prepared for the endless wire rope 2.

[0019] -Link member 3- The link member 3 serves to connect adjacent endless wire ropes 2. As shown in Fig. 3, in this embodiment, an iron link member 3 is used, which includes a bottom plate 31, a pair of struts 32 fixed on the bottom plate 31 at a distance from each other, and a top plate 33 detachably attached to each upper end of the struts 32. This link member 3 is configured such that the top plate 33 of one link member 3 is removed to expose the upper ends of the pair of struts 32, and then the top plate 33 is attached to connect adjacent endless wire ropes 2. The middle of the strut 32 is constricted by providing a round-bottom groove 34, and when a tensile load is applied to the endless wire rope 2 reeled around the strut 32, the endless wire rope 2 enters the groove 34 and comes into contact with the bottom of the groove 34.

[0020] The first buffer member 1A of the present invention is constructed by sequentially connecting adjacent endless wire ropes 2 via link members 3 (see FIG. 1). In this embodiment, the first buffer member 1A of the present invention is constructed by alternately connecting S-twisted endless wire ropes (2S) and Z-twisted endless wire ropes (2Z).

[0021] The first buffer member 1A of the present invention having the above-described configuration has the property that the endless wire rope 2 elastically deforms, so that when a tensile load is applied in the longitudinal direction, it expands in the tensile direction, as shown in Fig. 4, and can elastically buffer the applied load. It has been confirmed that the elastic deformation of the endless wire rope 2 constituting the first buffer member 1A of the present invention occurs at a load of less than 10% of the standard breaking load. Furthermore, when a load of 40% of the standard breaking load was applied to the first buffer member 1A of the present invention and then released, it was confirmed that the endless wire rope 2 recovered to approximately the same circular shape, although some deformation remained.

[0022] <Support rope body 10 of the present invention, floating structure 100 of the present invention> 5 shows a floating structure 100 of the present invention in which a floating body 101 is moored by support ropes 10 of the present invention equipped with the first buffer members 1A of the present invention. In this embodiment, the support ropes 10 of the present invention have a structure in which a wire rope (sling rope (W)) is connected to one end via a link member 3 and a chain (C) is connected to the other end via a link member 3, and the floating structure 100 of the present invention is designed in which a spar-type wind power generation facility as the floating body 101 is moored to anchors 102 fixed to the seabed by a plurality of support ropes 10 of the present invention.

[0023] In the floating structure 100 of the present invention having the above-mentioned configuration, the support ropes 10 of the present invention are used as mooring ropes, so even if a load greater than expected is momentarily applied to the support ropes 10 of the present invention due to the influence of sudden waves or wind, the applied load can be elastically buffered by the elastic deformation of the first buffer members 1A of the present invention. This makes it possible to effectively prevent damage such as cracks from occurring in the floating body 101 and the anchors 102.

[0024] <Second cushioning member 1B of the present invention> A second cushioning member 1B of the present invention according to an embodiment is shown in Fig. 6. The second cushioning member 1B of the present invention has a configuration in which a plurality of endless wire ropes 2 are connected in a chain shape.

[0025] The second buffer member 1B of the present invention having the above-described configuration has the advantage of being cheaper to manufacture than the first buffer member 1A of the present invention, since adjacent endless wire ropes 2 are directly connected without the use of a link member 3.

[0026] The rest of the second buffer member 1B of the present invention is the same as the description of the first buffer member 1A of the present invention described above, and to avoid repetition, the description will be omitted here. In the following, when describing matters common to the first buffer member 1A of the present invention and the second buffer member 1B of the present invention, both will be collectively referred to as the "buffer member (1) of the present invention."

[0027] In the above embodiment, the endless wire rope 2 for constructing the buffer member 1 of the present invention is manufactured by grommet processing, but the endless wire rope 2 is not particularly limited as long as it is processed into a circular ring shape. In addition to grommet processing, means for processing the endless wire rope 2 can include short splice processing, long splice processing, lock processing, etc.

[0028] However, when constructing the support rope 10 of the present invention for mooring a large-scale structure such as the floating structure 100 of the present invention, it is preferable to use a grommet-processed product in which the joints are inconspicuous and the standard breaking load is relatively high for the endless wire rope 2. In this case, it is preferable to use an endless wire rope 2 having a circumference (R) of 2000 mm or more and a standard breaking load of 1500 kN or more.

[0029] Furthermore, in this embodiment, when constructing the cushioning member 1 of the present invention, S-twisted endless wire ropes (2S) and Z-twisted endless wire ropes (2Z) are alternately connected, but the endless wire rope 2 for constructing the cushioning member 1 of the present invention may be only S-twisted endless wire ropes (2S) or only Z-twisted endless wire ropes (2Z).

[0030] However, if S-twisted endless wire ropes (2S) and Z-twisted endless wire ropes (2Z) are alternately connected, there is an advantage that twisting due to the twisting direction is less likely to occur.In addition, even if S-twisted endless wire ropes (2S) and Z-twisted endless wire ropes (2Z) are not alternately connected, it has been confirmed that twisting due to the twisting direction hardly occurs if the buffer member 1 of the present invention is constructed using approximately the same number of S-twisted endless wire ropes (2S) and Z-twisted endless wire ropes (2Z).

[0031] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the link member 3 has the shape shown in Fig. 3, but the shape of the link member 3 is not limited as long as it can connect adjacent endless wire ropes 2. As the link member 3, for example, a shackle or the like can be used.

[0032] In addition, when adopting a mechanism for connecting the endless wire rope 2 by wrapping it around the support 32 of the link member 3, as in this embodiment, the burden on the endless wire rope increases as the diameter of the support 32 (the diameter (r) around the bottom of the groove 34 when a groove 34 is provided in the support 32) decreases. On the other hand, as the diameter of the support 32 (the diameter (r) around the bottom of the groove 34 when a groove 34 is provided in the support 32) increases, the deformation (flattening) rate of the endless wire rope 2 decreases when a tensile load is applied.

[0033] For this reason, it is preferable that the diameter (r) of the portion of the support 32 where the endless wire rope 2 comes into contact is at least twice the rope diameter (φ) of the endless wire rope 2 and at most 1 / 4 of the circumference (R) of the endless wire rope 2. In addition, the support 33 may be structured so as to be able to rotate around its axis.

[0034] Additionally, in this embodiment, as an example of the floating structure 100 of the present invention, a structure in which a spar-type wind power generation facility as a float 101 is moored to anchors 102 fixed to the seabed via a plurality of support ropes 10 of the present invention is given, but the float 101 is not limited to a wind power generation facility. Other examples of the float 101 include an offshore solar power generation facility and a work vessel that requires long-term mooring.

[0035] The present invention can be embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit or essential features. Therefore, the above-described embodiments are merely illustrative in all respects and should not be interpreted as limiting. The scope of the present invention is defined by the claims and is not limited to the text of the specification. Furthermore, all modifications and variations within the equivalent range of the claims are within the scope of the present invention. [Industrial Applicability]

[0036] The present invention is suitably used as a means for mooring a floating body. [Explanation of symbols]

[0037] 1. Cushioning member of the present invention (cushioning member) 1A First cushioning member (cushioning member) of the present invention 1B Second cushioning member (cushioning member) of the present invention 2 Endless wire rope 3 Link member 10 Support rope of the present invention (support rope) 100 Floating structure of the present invention (floating structure) 101 Floating Body 102 Anchor

Claims

1. A buffer member for elastically buffering a tensile load in a longitudinal direction, A plurality of endless wire ropes; a link member that connects adjacent endless wire ropes together; A cushioning member comprising:

2. The cushioning member according to claim 1, A buffer member in which the endless wire rope is a grommet-processed product.

3. The cushioning member according to claim 1, The buffer member is formed by alternately connecting S-twisted endless wire ropes and Z-twisted endless wire ropes.

4. A support rope body comprising the buffer member according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. A floating structure, characterized in that a floating body is moored by the support ropes according to claim 4.

6. A buffer member for elastically buffering a tensile load in a longitudinal direction, A buffer member characterized by being formed by connecting a plurality of endless wire ropes in a chain shape.

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