Concrete Tower Casting Mold for Precision Dry Joints
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for constructing towers, particularly concrete towers, face inefficiencies due to the need for grouting in horizontal joints and additional machining steps, which increase costs and time, while precast segments often result in inferior surface qualities on top surfaces during casting.
Innovation Solution
A manufacturing method involving horizontal casting of concrete segments using a casting mold with machined arc-shaped surfaces, allowing for dry horizontal joints by ensuring superior surface qualities through precise machining of the mold surfaces, and assembling segments to form towers efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional vertical casting methods are used for concrete tower segments, then the casting process is simpler, but the top surfaces have inferior quality requiring additional machining steps
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional vertical casting orientation to horizontal casting. By casting segments horizontally instead of vertically, the surfaces that will become horizontal contact surfaces are formed on the bottom of the mold rather than the top. This inversion eliminates the inferior surface quality issue that plagues conventional methods, as the bottom surfaces of horizontally cast segments achieve the required precision without additional machining.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from vertical casting to horizontal casting, fundamentally changing the dimensional orientation of the casting process. This dimensional shift allows the critical contact surfaces to be formed in a position (bottom of horizontal mold) where they achieve superior quality naturally, eliminating the need for post-casting machining operations.
2Strength
If grout is used in horizontal joints of precast concrete segments, then joint strength is sufficient, but construction time increases and specialized equipment is required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by ensuring that the horizontal contact surfaces are machined to precise specifications during the casting process itself, before the segments are transported and assembled. This pre-preparation of surfaces with exact flatness and dimensional accuracy enables direct dry stacking without requiring grout, thereby eliminating the time-consuming grouting operation and specialized pumping equipment while maintaining sufficient joint strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the grout from the joint system entirely, replacing it with precisely machined dry contact surfaces. By removing the grout layer and its associated application and pumping processes, the construction time is significantly reduced while the joint strength is maintained through the precision-engineered dry interfaces between segments.
3Manufacturing precision
If equalization layers are applied and machined to achieve plane-parallel surfaces, then dry joints are enabled, but two laborious additional method steps are required
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of applying and machining an equalization layer on top of cast segments to achieve plane-parallel surfaces, the patent inverts the approach by casting segments horizontally so that the future contact surfaces are formed on the bottom of the mold. These bottom surfaces are machined directly during casting to achieve the required plane-parallel quality, eliminating the need for equalization layers and their associated application and machining steps.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a tower comprising at least two annular concrete sections. The method comprises the following steps: - Providing a casting mold, wherein the inner surface of the casting mold has a first arc-shaped surface and a second arc-shaped surface facing the first arc-shaped surface, - Machining the first arc-shaped surface and the second arc-shaped surface of the casting mold, - Horizontally casting a segment of a cylindrical or frustoconical tube by filling the casting mold with concrete, - Curing the concrete, and - Stacking at least two annular concrete sections (8) upon each other. In the method, at least one of the annular concrete sections is composed of at least two of the horizontally cast segments of a cylindrical or frustoconical tube. Further, the at least one annular concrete section abuts the other annular concrete section with its first arc-shaped surfaces or its second arc-shaped surfaces, thereby forming a dry joint. The present invention further describes a tower that is obtainable by this manufacturing method. Moreover, the present invention relates to a casting mold defining a cavity in the shape of a segment of a cylindrical or frustoconical tube, the shape corresponding to a longitudinally cut segment of a cylindrical or frustoconical tube, wherein the casting mold is segmented such that its first arc-shaped surface and/or its second arc-shaped surface is separable into at least two parts.