Alternating Segment Wind Turbine Tower Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing size of wind turbine towers poses challenges in manufacture, transport, and handling due to their large scale and complex construction, leading to higher material costs and logistical difficulties.
Innovation Solution
A tower construction design featuring axially disposed hollow cylindrical sections with alternating circumferentially arranged first and second segments, allowing for flexible shape and size adjustments, improved mechanical stability through overlapping segments, and simplified manufacturing and transport via rectangular or trapezoidal shapes and pre-mounted connecting portions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If tower construction dimensions are increased to meet growing wind energy requirements, then power generation capacity is improved, but manufacture, transport and handling difficulties increase
Solution Approach 1:
The tower construction is divided into multiple axially disposed hollow cylindrical tower sections, each further segmented into circumferentially arranged segments. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured, transported and handled separately, then assembled on-site to form the complete tall tower structure, resolving the contradiction between increased tower dimensions and manufacturing/transport ease.
2Power
If tower construction dimensions are increased, then power generation capacity is improved, but material costs and makespan increase
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the tower into standardized modular sections that can be manufactured independently and assembled systematically, the overall complexity of material management and construction scheduling is reduced. Each segment can be prepared in parallel, and the modular design allows for efficient material utilization and streamlined assembly processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The circumferential segments are designed with standardized connecting portions that can be used across different tower sections and configurations. This universality reduces the variety of unique components needed, simplifying material procurement, inventory management, and assembly procedures, thereby reducing overall device complexity despite increased tower dimensions.
3Ease of manufacture
If tower construction is segmented into multiple sections, then transportability is improved, but structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tower is divided into axially disposed hollow cylindrical sections that can be transported separately to the installation site. This segmentation directly improves transportability by reducing the size and weight of individual transport units while maintaining the capability to form a complete tall tower through systematic assembly of these sections.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple circumferential segments are combined to form complete circular tower sections. Each circumferential segment includes connecting portions that enable them to be joined together to form the full circular cross-section, and these merged sections are then connected axially to form the complete tower structure. This merging approach reduces structural complexity by using repetitive modular units rather than designing each section uniquely.
Data Source
AI summary
A tower construction for a wind turbine is proposed. The tower construction has a number of axially disposed hollow cylindrical tower sections. Each of the axially disposed hollow cylindrical tower sections has a number of circumferentially disposed first tower section segments and a number of circumferentially disposed second tower section segments. The first tower section segments and the second tower section segments are alternated with each other.