Wind Turbine Blade Lightning Arrester Mounting to Prevent Flashover
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing lightning protection systems for wind generator blades suffer from issues such as unstable contact between the lightning arrester and arrester base, leading to flashover, melting, and difficulty in accurate mounting, which can damage the blades and increase maintenance costs.
Innovation Solution
A lightning protection apparatus with a threaded hole perpendicular to the arrester base surface, a positioning portion for precise fitting, and a magnetic body for easy alignment, along with an insulation layer to reduce upward leader emission, ensuring stable connection and reduced risk of flashover.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If lightning arresters are connected to the base using bolts, then the connection is mechanically strong, but flashover occurs at contact parts causing high temperature and melting
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the harmful function of bolts as connection elements and replaces them with a threaded hole structure. The lightning arrester body directly engages with the base through threading, eliminating the bolt interface that causes flashover. This removes the source of the problem while maintaining mechanical connection strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The threaded hole structure serves as an intermediary connection mechanism between the lightning arrester and base. Instead of direct bolt contact that causes flashover, the threading provides a distributed contact path that guides lightning current safely through the connection, preventing flashover at the contact interface.
2Ease of manufacture
If the lightning arrester structure is simplified, then manufacturing is easier, but accurate positioning during mounting becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces asymmetric positioning features including a positioning groove and positioning protrusion, along with asymmetric distribution of threaded holes. These asymmetric elements provide unique orientation references that enable accurate positioning during mounting while maintaining relatively simple overall structure. The asymmetry creates a single correct mounting orientation without complex positioning mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The positioning groove and protrusion are pre-formed during manufacturing, establishing the correct mounting orientation before the actual assembly process. This preliminary positioning action ensures that when mounting occurs, the lightning arrester aligns correctly with the base without requiring complex adjustment or measurement procedures during installation.
3Reliability
If the lightning arrester is mounted closer to the blade surface, then protection effectiveness increases, but the risk of accidental drilling damage to the blade increases
Solution Approach 1:
The positioning groove and protrusion establish the correct mounting position and orientation before drilling operations. By pre-defining the exact location where holes should be drilled, the system ensures that drilling occurs only at safe positions that do not compromise blade structural integrity, while still allowing the lightning arrester to be mounted close enough to the surface for effective protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The asymmetric positioning features guide drilling operations to specific safe zones on the blade. The unique orientation provided by the positioning groove and protrusion ensures that holes are drilled only at predetermined locations that avoid critical blade structures, enabling close mounting for effective protection while eliminating the risk of accidental damage to blade spars or other critical components.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances the reliability of lightning protection by ensuring stable contact and precise mounting, preventing flashover and blade damage while lowering maintenance complexity and cost.
Implementation Method 1
a magnetic body disposed at a position of the threaded hole
Data Source
AI summary
A lightning protection apparatus for a wind generator blade, including a lightning arrester and a lightning arrester base. The lightning arrester includes a connecting portion, a lightning arresting portion, and a positioning portion, wherein the lightning arresting portion is configured to arrest a lightning, an external thread is formed on a surface of the connecting portion and configured to be connected to the lightning arrester base, and the positioning portion is disposed between the connecting portion and the lightning arresting portion, such that after the connecting portion is screwed into a threaded hole, the positioning portion can fit with a recess in the threaded hole in shape. The lightning arrester base is configured to be connected to the lightning arrester and lead out a lightning current received by the lightning arrester during lightning arresting, and includes an insulation layer and at least one the threaded hole.