Angled Flange Wind Turbine Tower Segment Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
The manufacturing and assembly of wind turbine towers, particularly segmented steel towers, are costly and time-consuming, with issues like distortion during welding that affect material properties and assembly fit, leading to stress conditions and increased complexity.
Innovation Solution
A wind turbine steel tower ring segment design featuring a shell segment with angled vertical flanges and connection elements that protrude from the flanges, allowing functional elements to be attached directly, reducing the need for welding and minimizing distortion, thus simplifying assembly and enhancing safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If welding is used to attach functional elements to the tower segment, then the functional elements can be securely fixed, but distortion occurs and material properties deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the harmful welding process from the attachment method and replaces it with mechanical connection elements (bolts, screws, or clips) that attach functional elements to the flanges. This eliminates the distortion and material property deterioration caused by welding heat while maintaining secure fixation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces connection elements as an intermediary between the functional elements and the shell segment. These connection elements mechanically bridge the functional elements to the flanges, providing secure attachment without direct welding to the shell segment, thus preventing distortion.
2Reliability
If welding is used to attach functional elements, then secure fixation is achieved, but assembly time and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The connection elements are pre-attached to the flanges during manufacturing, before the tower segments are assembled on-site. This preliminary action eliminates the need for time-consuming welding operations during assembly, reducing both assembly time and cost while maintaining secure fixation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the welding process (thermal-mechanical system) with a purely mechanical connection system using bolts, screws, or clips. This substitution significantly reduces assembly time and complexity while achieving equivalent or superior fixation reliability.
3Stability of the object's composition
If vertical flanges are formed by bending the shell segment, then integration is achieved, but bending forces create distortion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the flange from the shell segment, forming them as separate components. The flanges are attached to pre-formed shell segments using connection elements, rather than bending the shell segment to create flanges. This segmentation eliminates bending-induced distortion while maintaining structural integration.
Solution Approach 2:
The shell segments are manufactured with their final geometry (without flanges) first, allowing precise fabrication without bending distortion. The flanges are then separately attached in a preliminary assembly step, preserving the precision of both components while achieving integration.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a wind turbine steel tower ring segment, a wind turbine tower section, a wind turbine tower, a wind turbine, and a method for producing a wind turbine tower section. The invention particularly relates to a wind turbine steel tower ring segment for a wind turbine tower, comprising a casing segment extending in the direction of a segment height, a segment ring direction and a segment thickness with a first horizontal abutment side and a second horizontal abutment side, a first vertical abutment side and a second vertical abutment side, a first vertical flange being arranged on the first vertical abutment side and a second vertical flange being arranged on the second vertical abutment side, the first vertical flange and/or the second vertical flange forming an angle with a casing segment, at least one connection element being embodied on the first vertical flange and/or the second vertical flange for the arrangement of functional elements, the connection element protruding from the first vertical flange and/or the second vertical flange.