Fastening arrangement and wind turbine

Abstract

The invention relates to a fastening arrangement for fastening a drive train to a wind turbine (10). The wind turbine (10) has a tower (28) and a nacelle (20) arranged thereon. The fastening arrangement has at least one drive train-side fastening interface (52, 54, 56, 58) and a nacelle-side end portion of the tower (28), wherein the drive train is connected to the nacelle (20) at the drive train-side fastening interface (52, 54, 56, 58). The drive train-side fastening interface (52, 54) is arranged in a region above a nacelle-side edge (70) of a circumferential wall of the nacelle-side end portion of the tower (28). The invention also relates to a wind turbine (10).

Description

[0001] ZF Friedrichshafen AG File 303659 Friedrichshafen 2025-01-20

[0002] Fortification order and wind power plant

[0003] The present invention relates to a mounting arrangement for a drive train of a wind turbine. The invention also relates to a wind turbine.

[0004] State of the art

[0005] Wind turbines are used to generate electricity from wind energy. For this purpose, wind turbines have a rotor. The rotor's rotational speed is transmitted by a rotor shaft to a gearbox. The gearbox then translates the rotor shaft's rotational speed into a suitable rotational speed to drive a generator. The rotational speed and the loads acting on the rotor can fluctuate during operation of the wind turbine, for example, due to gusts of wind. This can cause vibrations in the wind turbine's drive train, which can produce undesirable acoustic effects such as noise. Furthermore, these irregular loads can deform parts of the wind turbine, such as its tower, and cause them to vibrate. The tower, for example, may be a hollow structure, and its deformation and vibrations can also produce undesirable acoustic effects, such as noise.Furthermore, vibrations and deformations can increase wear and reduce system efficiency.

[0006] Description of the invention

[0007] A first aspect concerns a mounting arrangement for attaching a drive train to a wind turbine. The wind turbine can have a tower and a nacelle mounted on it. The tower extends, for example, in a vertical direction. The nacelle can, for example, be mounted on the tower so that it can rotate or be fixed to rotation. The nacelle can, for example, be located on the top of the tower. The tower can, for example, be hollow. The tower can taper towards its upper end. The tower can thus, for example, be conical towards its free end. ZF Friedrichshafen AG File 303659 Friedrichshafen 2025-01-20

[0008] The tower can be cylindrical. It can have a round, oval, or rectangular cross-section. For example, it can be made of several stacked tower elements. The tower can be constructed of steel and, alternatively or additionally, concrete.

[0009] A wind turbine can, for example, consist of a rotor, a gearbox, and a generator. The rotor can drive the generator via the gearbox to produce electrical energy. The rotor is connected to the gearbox, for example, by a rotor shaft. The rotor, gearbox, and generator can be mounted on a nacelle of the wind turbine. The rotor can have a horizontal or a vertical axis of rotation. The rotor can have, for example, two, three, four, or more rotor blades, which are connected to the rotor shaft via a hub. The rotor shaft, gearbox, and generator can, for example, be parts of the drive train. The drive train can optionally also include the rotor and, alternatively or additionally, a brake.

[0010] The rotor shaft can be rotatably mounted in the nacelle via two bearings, for example, rolling bearings. The rolling bearings can be arranged in a housing, for example. The housing can be attached to the nacelle. The nacelle can, for example, have a machine bed to which the drive train is attached. The housing and the rolling bearings can form a main bearing for the drive train. The rotor shaft can be mounted to the nacelle only via this main bearing. The gearbox can also be mounted to the nacelle only via this main bearing. In this case, stationary components of the housing, such as a gearbox housing, are attached to the housing of the main bearing. At least one rotatable component, such as an input shaft of the gearbox, can be mounted to the rolling bearings of the main bearing via the rotor shaft.Optionally, the generator can also be mounted only via the main bearing on the gondola, for example indirectly via the gearbox.

[0011] The mounting arrangement has at least one drivetrain-side mounting interface and a nacelle-side end section of the tower. ZF Friedrichshafen AG File 303659 Friedrichshafen 2025-01-20

[0012] This can be a flange, a shoulder, or even just a section of the main bearing housing, which attaches the drive train to the nacelle. The mounting interface can, for example, have a bearing surface. This bearing surface can rest on a part of the nacelle, such as the machine bed. The drive train-side mounting interface can have through-holes for fasteners such as screws or rivets. The nacelle can have corresponding mounting interfaces for each drive train-side mounting interface. For example, the machine bed can have an associated bearing surface for each bearing surface of the drive train-side mounting surface. The nacelle-side mounting interface can have through-holes for fasteners such as screws or rivets.The gondola-side end section of the tower can, for example, be formed by the uppermost tower segment. However, the gondola-side end section can also be a section of the tower or an uppermost tower segment closest to the gondola. The gondola-side end section can form a gondola-side edge of a surrounding wall of the gondola-side end section of the tower, and thus of the tower as a whole. The gondola-side end section of the tower can be designed for attaching the gondola to it.

[0013] The drive train is connected to the nacelle at the drive train-side mounting interface, for example, at the corresponding nacelle-side interface. For example, the drive train-side mounting interfaces are bolted or boltable to the nacelle-side interfaces. A permanent connection, such as welding at the mounting interfaces, may also be provided. The mounting arrangement may have multiple drive train-side mounting interfaces, whereby the designs for the drive train-side mounting interface may apply equally to a majority or all of the mounting interfaces, where applicable. Respective nacelle-side interfaces may be designed to correspond to the drive train-side interfaces, and corresponding designs may apply equally. ZF Friedrichshafen AG File 303659 Friedrichshafen 2025-01-20

[0014] The drive-side mounting interface is located in a region above a nacelle-side edge of a circumferential wall of the nacelle-side end section of the tower. The nacelle-side edge may be the upper end of the tower wall. In a plan view of the tower, the drive-side mounting interface may partially overlap the nacelle-side edge of the circumferential wall of the nacelle-side end section of the tower. In a plane extending orthogonally to a vertical extent of the tower, the drive-side mounting interface may at least partially overlap the tower wall. The vertical extent may correspond to the longitudinal extent of the tower in its assembled state. With respect to, for example, an axis of symmetry of the tower, which may correspond to the longitudinal axis, the drive-side mounting interface may be located on the same diameter as a top edge of the tower wall.Bearing forces at the mounting interface acting circumferentially on the tower result in only very minor tower deformations and therefore minimal vibrations. Similarly, bearing forces at the mounting interface acting vertically on the tower, for example, due to torques around a rotor shaft axis, also result in only very minor tower deformations and thus minimal vibrations. This allows the wind turbine to operate with less noise, and the load on the tower can be reduced or at least optimized for its design. For example, this eliminates the need for elastic elements in the drivetrain for vibration reduction, such as connecting the rotor shaft to the gearbox input shaft via elastic bolts. This makes the drivetrain particularly reliable and low-maintenance.

[0015] In one embodiment of the fastening arrangement, the drivetrain-side fastening interface may be spaced apart from the axis of rotation of the wind turbine's rotor shaft in the plane that extends orthogonally to the vertical extent of the nacelle-side end section of the tower. The vertical extent of the nacelle-side end section of the tower may correspond to the vertical extent of the tower. The axis of rotation of the rotor shaft may, for example, correspond to the axis of rotation of the rotor and extend orthogonally to the ZF Friedrichshafen AG File 303659 Friedrichshafen 2025-01-20

[0016] The vertical extension of the nacelle-side end section of the tower can extend upwards or be slightly inclined relative to it. This plane can contain the axis of rotation of the wind turbine's rotor shaft and, alternatively or additionally, be intersected by the rotor shaft's axis of rotation. In a top view of the tower, the rotor's axis of rotation might, for example, extend through a 9 o'clock position and a 3 o'clock position. The drivetrain-side mounting interface might be located at a 12 o'clock position, a 1 o'clock position, a 2 o'clock position, or elsewhere between the 12 o'clock and 3 o'clock positions. This allows forces acting around the rotor shaft's axis of rotation, for example, to be supported vertically against the tower wall. These loads then compress or stretch the tower at that point, resulting in, for example, only low-volume noise during operation. The tower can be particularly rigid in its vertical direction.

[0017] In one embodiment of the fastening arrangement, a principal direction of extension of the drive-side fastening interface may be tangential to the circumferential wall of the nacelle-side end section of the tower. The principal direction of extension may, for example, run parallel to a bearing surface of the fastening interface. The principal direction of extension may be the longest extent of the fastening interface. The principal direction of extension may be defined by an arrangement of fastening means at the fastening interface. For example, the principal direction of extension may be located between two rows of through holes for screws and run parallel to these two rows. The principal direction of extension may also be defined by an orientation of an adjacent section of a support arm at whose nacelle-side end the fastening interface is located.The support arm can connect a main part of the housing, on which the bearings for the rotor shaft are located, to the mounting interface. Due to the tangential orientation, many loads at the mounting interface are transferred tangentially into the nacelle and thus also into the tower wall. A radial load component can therefore be kept to a minimum. This minimizes deformations and vibrations of the tower and consequently also reduces acoustic effects. ZF Friedrichshafen AG File 303659 Friedrichshafen 2025-01-20.

[0018] In one embodiment of the fastening arrangement, a normal on the tower-facing side of the drive-train-side fastening interface can be arranged parallel to an inclination of an adjacent section of the circumferential wall of the nacelle-side end section of the tower. This allows loads to be introduced largely parallel to the tower wall. For example, if the tower-facing side of the drive-train-side fastening interface is planar, its normal can be aligned parallel to the adjacent section of the circumferential wall of the nacelle-side end section of the tower. The inclination of the adjacent section of the circumferential wall of the nacelle-side end section of the tower can correspond to the inclination of the circumferential wall of the entire tower.The inclination of the side of the drive-side mounting interface facing the tower to a horizontal plane can correspond to the inclination of the tower's perimeter wall to a vertical plane in the corresponding adjacent section. The drive-side mounting interface can also be inclined accordingly as a whole. The nacelle-side mounting interface can likewise be inclined with one side facing the drive-side mounting interface. The side of the drive-side mounting interface facing the tower can be its bearing surface. The inclination of the adjacent section of the perimeter wall can be defined by a taper of the tower towards its nacelle-side end. For example, the perimeter wall at its nacelle-side end can be inclined towards an axis of symmetry and, alternatively or additionally, towards a central vertical axis.The gondola-side edge of the surrounding wall of the gondola-side end section of the tower can be inclined accordingly or be horizontally aligned.

[0019] In one embodiment of the mounting arrangement, the nacelle-side mounting interface may be formed on a housing of the drive train. This housing may be the housing on which the rotor shaft is mounted. A stationary component of the gearbox may also be attached to the housing. The housing may include the support arm described above. ZF Friedrichshafen AG File 303659 Friedrichshafen 2025-01-20

[0020] The support arm may have a mounting interface at one end facing the nacelle. It may be angled relative to the rotor shaft's axis of rotation. For example, the support arm may extend at least partially in the plane perpendicular to the tower's height. The support arm may provide additional flexibility to reduce vibration transmission to the tower.

[0021] In one embodiment of the fastening arrangement, the fastening arrangement may have at least one first nacelle-side fastening interface and one second nacelle-side fastening interface. The first and second nacelle-side fastening interfaces may each be located in an associated area above the nacelle-side edge of the circumferential wall of the nacelle-side end section of the tower. The first and second nacelle-side fastening interfaces may be identical. The first and second nacelle-side fastening interfaces may be arranged symmetrically, for example, on opposite sides of the rotor shaft's axis of rotation. The first and second nacelle-side fastening interfaces may be spaced apart from each other.

[0022] In one embodiment of the mounting arrangement, the first and second nacelle-side mounting interfaces may be arranged axially facing a generator of the wind turbine. For example, the first and second nacelle-side mounting interfaces may be located on an axial end region of the housing on the generator side. The generator-side mounting interfaces are typically subjected to heavier loads during operation, which can cause noise and excite the tower to vibrate. These mounting interfaces may then be arranged above the nacelle-side edge of the tower's surrounding wall.

[0023] In one embodiment of the fastening arrangement, it may be provided that the fastening arrangement further includes a third nacelle-side fastening interface and a fourth nacelle-side fastening interface. ZF Friedrichshafen AG File 303659 Friedrichshafen 2025-01-20

[0024] The third and fourth nacelle-side mounting interfaces can be located outside a region above a nacelle-side edge of the circumferential wall of the nacelle-side end section of the tower. This can result in a large axial distance between the generator-side pair of mounting interfaces and the third and fourth mounting interfaces. Alternatively, the third and fourth nacelle-side mounting interfaces can each be located in an associated region above a nacelle-side edge of the circumferential wall of the nacelle-side end section of the tower.

[0025] In one embodiment of the mounting arrangement, the third and fourth mounting interfaces may be arranged axially facing a rotor of the wind turbine. For example, the third and fourth nacelle-side mounting interfaces may be located on an axial end region of the housing on the rotor side.

[0026] In one embodiment of the fastening arrangement, it may be provided that the fastening arrangement includes the drive train, which may be designed according to the above descriptions.

[0027] A second aspect concerns a wind turbine that features the mounting arrangement described in the first aspect. The respective advantages and further characteristics are detailed in the description of the first aspect, whereby embodiments of the first aspect also form embodiments of the second aspect and vice versa. The wind turbine can include the tower, the nacelle, and the drive train. The drive train can be attached to the nacelle using the mounting arrangement.

[0028] Brief description of the characters

[0029] Fig. 1 schematically illustrates a wind turbine with a drive train. ZF Friedrichshafen AG File 303659 Friedrichshafen 2025-01-20

[0030] Fig. 2 schematically illustrates a positioning of the drive train mounting interfaces on a nacelle of the wind turbine relative to a tower of the wind turbine in a top view.

[0031] Fig. 3 schematically illustrates in a sectional view an alignment of the drive train's mounting interfaces relative to an inclination of a continuous wall of the tower.

[0032] Fig. 4 schematically illustrates in a perspective view a housing which forms the drive train-side mounting interfaces.

[0033] Fig. 5 schematically illustrates the housing of Fig. 4 in a different perspective view.

[0034] Detailed description of embodiments

[0035] Fig. 1 illustrates a wind turbine 10 with a horizontal drive train. The wind turbine 10 has a rotor 12, which is held on a rotor shaft 16 via a hub 14. The axis of rotation of the rotor shaft 16 extends essentially horizontally. The rotor shaft 16 is supported in a nacelle 20 by two roller bearings 18. A housing 40 is provided for this purpose, which is attached to a machine bed 42 of the nacelle 20. The rotor shaft 16 is mechanically connected to a generator 24 via a gearbox 22. A brake 26 is also arranged in the operative connection between the gearbox 22 and the generator 24, which acts on an input shaft of the generator 24. The nacelle 20 is rotatably mounted at the upper end of a tower 28, which is anchored to the ground. In another embodiment, the wind turbine 10 is designed as an offshore installation. In addition to tower 28, wind turbine 10 has a grid connection 30.

[0036] In Fig. 1, the housing 40 is shown arranged on the machine bed 42 in one direction orthogonal to a vertical extent of the tower 28 and spaced apart from the tower 28. This results in many acting loads being distributed transverse to the vertical extent and ZF Friedrichshafen AG File 303659 Friedrichshafen 2025-01-20

[0037] The circumferential extent of the tower 28 is also introduced. Figures 2 and 3 illustrate a mounting arrangement for the drive train of the wind turbine 10, in which loads are more favorably introduced into the tower 28. The housing 40 is, for example, arranged at least partially above the tower 28.

[0038] The housing 40 has a main part 50 in which the rolling bearings 18 are arranged. Furthermore, the housing 40 has a first mounting interface 52, a second mounting interface 54, a third mounting interface 56, and a fourth mounting interface 58. The four mounting interfaces 52, 54, 56, 58 are all drive-side mounting interfaces 52, 54, 56, 58 and are located on corresponding nacelle-side mounting interfaces of the machine bed 42. They are screwed in place for fastening and thus connect the drive train to the nacelle 20. For this purpose, the four mounting interfaces 52, 54, 56, 58 have a flat contact surface and through-holes on their underside. In other embodiments, the contact surface of the mounting interfaces 52, 54, 56, 58 has shoulders. In the embodiment shown, the drive train is mounted on the gondola 20 only via these four mounting interfaces 52, 54, 56, 58.In other embodiments, there are additional mounting interfaces that, for example, allow mounting on the generator 24.

[0039] The four mounting interfaces 52, 54, 56, 58 are each connected to the main part 50 via an associated support arm 60. The housing 40 is formed in one piece. Openings are provided in the main part 50, as shown in Fig.

[0040] This can be seen in Figures 4 and 5. In Figure 3, the axis of rotation of the rotor shaft 16 extends from left to right in the plane of the image. A left side of the housing 40 with the third and fourth mounting interfaces 56, 58 is an end region facing the rotor 12. A right side of the housing 40 with the first and second mounting interfaces 52, 54 is an end region facing the generator 24.

[0041] Fig. 2 further illustrates a gondola-side edge 70 of a circumferential wall of a gondola-side end section of the tower 28. The gondola-side edge ZF Friedrichshafen AG File 303659 Friedrichshafen 2025-01-20

[0042] 70 is formed by an upper, and thus gondola-side, end of the tower 28. The first and second fastening interfaces 52, 54 are each arranged in the vertical direction of the tower in a region above the gondola-side edge 70 of the surrounding wall of the gondola-side end section of the tower 28. In the vertical direction of the tower 28, the first and second fastening interfaces 52, 54 are therefore arranged directly above the gondola-side edge 70 of the surrounding wall of the gondola-side end section of the tower 28. Furthermore, a main direction of extension of the first and second fastening interfaces 52, 54 extends tangentially to the surrounding wall of the gondola-side end section of the tower 28.The main direction of extension corresponds to a line of symmetry between the two rows of through-openings at the first and second mounting interfaces 52, 54 and runs parallel between the longer sides of the rectangularly shaped support surface. A mounting interface-side end region of the two associated support arms 60 also extends in this direction.

[0043] Figure 3 shows a section of the circumferential wall of the gondola-side end section of the tower 28. The section is a longitudinal section in which the cutting plane is parallel to the vertical direction of the tower 28. As can be seen, the tower 28 tapers towards the gondola 20 and thus has a conical shape. The circumferential wall of the gondola-side end section of the tower 28 is inclined inwards with respect to a vertical axis towards a center of the tower 28. A normal to each of the first and second fastening interfaces 52, 54 facing the tower is aligned parallel to this inclination of an adjacent section of the circumferential wall of the gondola-side end section of the tower 28. The side 72 is inclined with respect to a horizontal axis in the same way as the adjacent section of the circumferential wall of the gondola-side end section of the tower 28 is inclined with respect to a vertical axis.Page 72 corresponds here to the contact surface of the first and second mounting interfaces 52, 54 on the machine bed 42, which is not shown in Fig. 3 for the sake of simplicity. ZF Friedrichshafen AG File 303659 Friedrichshafen 2025-01-20.

[0044] The four fastening interfaces 52, 54, 56, 58 are arranged in a plane that extends orthogonally to the height of the tower 28 and is spaced apart from the axis of rotation of the rotor shaft 16 of the wind turbine 10. This plane corresponds to the plane of Fig. 2.

[0045] The third and fourth fastening interfaces 56, 58 are located outside an area above a nacelle-side edge 70 of the circumferential wall of the nacelle-side end section of the tower 28. The two rolling bearings 18 are each located in an axial area of ​​the main part 50 of the housing 40, from which the support arms 60 extend. ZF Friedrichshafen AG File 303659

[0046] Friedrichshafen 2025-01-20

[0047] Reference mark

[0048] 10 wind turbines

[0049] 12 Rotor

[0050] 14 hub

[0051] 16 Rotor shaft

[0052] 18 rolling bearings

[0053] 20 gondolas

[0054] 22 gearboxes

[0055] 24 Generator

[0056] 26 brake

[0057] 28 Tower

[0058] 30 network connection

[0059] 40 cases

[0060] 42 machine bed

[0061] 50 Main part of the housing

[0062] 52 First fastening interface

[0063] 54 Second mounting interface

[0064] 56 Third fastening interface

[0065] 58 Fourth mounting interface

[0066] 60 support arm

[0067] 70 Gondola-side edge

[0068] 72 Page / Mounting surface of the fastening interface

Claims

ZF Friedrichshafen AG File 303659 Friedrichshafen 2025-01-20 Patent claims 1. Fastening arrangement for attaching a drive train to a wind turbine (10), wherein the wind turbine (10) has a tower (28) and a nacelle (20) arranged thereon, wherein the fastening arrangement has at least one drive train-side fastening interface (52, 54, 56, 58) and a nacelle-side end section of the tower (28), wherein the drive train can be connected to the nacelle (20) via the drive train-side fastening interface (52, 54, 56, 58), and wherein the drive train-side fastening interface (52, 54) is arranged in a region above a nacelle-side edge (70) of a circumferential wall of the nacelle-side end section of the tower (28).

2. Fastening arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that the drive train-side fastening interface (52, 54, 56, 58) is spaced apart in a plane which extends orthogonally to a vertical extension of the nacelle-side end section of the tower (28) from an axis of rotation of a rotor shaft (16) of the wind turbine (10).

3. Fastening arrangement according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a main extension direction of the drive train-side fastening interface (52, 54) extends tangentially to the surrounding wall of the gondola-side end section of the tower (28).

4. Fastening arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a normal of a side (72) of the drivetrain-side fastening interface (52, 54) facing the tower (28) is arranged parallel to an inclination of an adjacent partial region of the circumferential wall of the nacelle-side end section of the tower (28), wherein the inclination of the adjacent partial region of the circumferential wall is defined by a taper of the tower (28) towards its nacelle-side end. ZF Friedrichshafen AG File 303659 Friedrichshafen 2025-01-20 5. Fastening arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the gondola-side fastening interface (52, 54, 56, 58) is formed on a housing (40) of the drive train.

6. Fastening arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the fastening arrangement has at least one first gondola-side fastening interface (52) and one second gondola-side fastening interface (54), wherein the first and the second gondola-side fastening interfaces (52, 54) are each arranged in an associated area above the gondola-side edge (70) of the circumferential wall of the gondola-side end section of the tower (28).

7. Fastening arrangement according to claim 6, characterized in that the first and the second nacelle-side fastening interface (52, 54) are arranged axially in an end region facing a generator (24) of the wind turbine (10).

8. Fastening arrangement according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the fastening arrangement further comprises a third gondola-side fastening interface (56) and a fourth gondola-side fastening interface (58), wherein the third and the fourth gondola-side fastening interfaces (56, 58) are arranged outside a region above a gondola-side circumferential edge (70) of the wall of the tower (28).

9. Fastening arrangement according to claim 8, characterized in that the third and fourth fastening interfaces (56, 58) are arranged in an axial direction facing a rotor (12) of the wind turbine (10).

10. Fastening arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the fastening arrangement comprises the drive train.

11. Wind turbine (10) with a fastening arrangement according to one of the preceding claims.

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