Wind Turbine Blade Hoisting via Integrated Root Strengthener
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for mounting and dismounting wind turbine blades are costly and risky, particularly when using large cranes on land or boats at sea, as they require careful handling to avoid damaging the blades and often necessitate the use of harnesses that limit the pressure that can be applied.
Innovation Solution
A rotor assembly with a blade root portion and a strengthener that includes a one-piece supporting part to anchor the blade to a hoisting means, eliminating the need for a harness by providing a strong, integrated mechanism for lifting and securing the blade, using fasteners and a mounting flange or ring to facilitate mounting and dismounting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a harness is used to hoist the blade, then the blade can be supported during lifting, but the maximum pressure that can be applied to the blade surface is limited to avoid damage
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the hoisting function from the blade surface (harness) and relocates it to the blade root strengthener. The strengthener includes a supporting portion that can be directly attached to hoisting means, eliminating the need for a harness and allowing full hoisting force to be applied without risking blade surface damage.
Solution Approach 2:
The strengthener acts as an intermediary component between the blade and the hoisting means. It provides a robust attachment point at the blade root that can withstand the full hoisting force, while the blade itself remains unaffected by the lifting forces.
2Strength
If multiple separate components are used for supporting the blade, then the supporting structure can be optimized, but the mounting and dismounting procedure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the supporting function with the existing blade root strengthener structure. The supporting portion is integrated into the strengthener as a one-piece component, combining structural reinforcement with hoisting capability in a single element that simplifies the mounting and dismounting procedures.
3Length of moving object
If large cranes are used to hoist the blade, then the blade can be lifted to the hub, but the operation becomes very expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The blade's own strengthener structure provides the attachment point for hoisting, allowing the blade to be self-supported during lifting operations. This eliminates the need for external large cranes and reduces operational costs significantly.
Data Source
AI summary
A rotor assembly for a wind turbine comprises a hub, a blade provided with a blade root portion and a strengthener for the blade root portion. The strengthener comprises a supporting part that strengthens the blade root portion and the supporting part comprises a supporting portion to temporarily support the blade. The supporting portion is made in one piece with the supporting part. The rotor assembly also comprises a number of first fasteners and second fasteners to fasten the blade root portion to the hub. The second fasteners are adapted to fasten the supporting part of the strengthener to the blade root portion when the latter is not fastened to the hub.