Wind Turbine Rotor Blade Transport Stiffening
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing transport systems for wind turbine rotor blades face challenges in efficiently transporting increasingly longer blades, as they experience significant deflection during transport due to lack of reinforcement, leading to stress and higher ground clearance requirements.
Innovation Solution
A transport system featuring a stiffening device with coupling devices and a connecting means that forms a stiff structure with the rotor blade, counteracting bending by transmitting tensile and compressive loads, allowing the blade to be self-supporting between coupling points, thereby reducing deflection and stress.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If the rotor blade length is increased to improve wind energy capture, then the energy generation capability is improved, but the blade experiences significant deflection and stress during transport
Solution Approach 1:
The transport system divides the long rotor blade into segments by introducing intermediate support points through coupling devices. The blade is supported at multiple locations (front bearing device, intermediate coupling devices, and rear bearing device) rather than just at the ends, creating separate support segments that reduce the span between supports and thereby reduce deflection and stress during transport.
2Device complexity
If traditional transport systems are used without additional stiffening, then the transport system complexity is low, but the blade deflection and ground clearance requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling devices serve as intermediary elements between the rotor blade and the transport vehicle. These intermediaries provide additional support points along the blade span, acting as mediators that transfer loads from the blade to the transport system at multiple locations, thereby reducing blade deflection without requiring the blade itself to be stiffer.
3Strength
If the blade is made stiffer to reduce deflection during transport, then the transport stability is improved, but the manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The transport system introduces dynamic adaptability by using coupling devices that can be positioned and configured based on the specific transport requirements. Rather than making all blades permanently stiffer (which increases manufacturing cost for all blades), the system dynamically provides additional support only when needed during transport, allowing standard blade manufacturing to be maintained.
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
Enables the safe transportation of long rotor blades with minimal deflection and stress, without the need for making the blades stiffer and more expensive, while maintaining low ground clearance.
Implementation Method 1
the connecting means is subjected to a tensile load
Implementation Method 2
bending of the wind turbine rotor blade between the two coupling devices is counteracted
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~5
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The invention relates to a transport system (134) for a wind turbine rotor blade (110), comprising a front bearing device (140) to which a blade root end (126) of the wind turbine rotor blade (110) is fixed, a non-powered trailing vehicle (138) with a rear bearing device (144) to which a rear, blade tip-side region (142) of the wind turbine rotor blade (110) is fixed, and a stiffening device comprising a first coupling device (156), a second coupling device (158), and a connecting element (170). The first coupling device (156) is fixedly connected to the wind turbine rotor blade (110) in a blade root-side region. The second coupling device (158) is firmly connected to the wind turbine rotor blade (110) in the rear area (142) of the wind turbine rotor blade (110).The two coupling devices (156, 158) are connected to each other by means of the connecting element (170) such that the stiffening device (154) together with the wind turbine rotor blade (110) forms a stiffening structure and thereby counteracts deflection of the wind turbine rotor blade (110) between the two coupling devices (156, 158). The invention also relates to a method.