Precast Concrete Wind Turbine Tower Segments
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wind turbine towers made of precast concrete elements face challenges in transportation and assembly due to their cumbersome nature, requiring special vehicles and experiencing difficulties in precision assembly due to manufacturing tolerances and sector size limitations.
Innovation Solution
A wind turbine tower composed of axially aligned annular segments with sectors assembled using clamping devices and shear keys, allowing for easy transportation and assembly with precise mechanical resistance, featuring sectors with dimensions less than 4.5m in height and 8m in width, and a method for high-precision sector manufacturing and assembly using a rotating platform.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If precast concrete elements are made larger to reduce the number of segments, then the number of assembly operations is reduced, but transportation becomes more difficult and requires special vehicles
Solution Approach 1:
The tower is divided into multiple annular segments, each composed of several precast concrete sectors. This segmentation allows each sector to maintain manageable dimensions for conventional transportation while the complete tower achieves the required height through vertical stacking of segments during assembly operations.
2Length of stationary object
If the number of sectors per segment is increased, then the tower can be made taller, but the precision of assembly becomes more difficult due to manufacturing tolerances
Solution Approach 1:
Shear keys are cast integrally with the sectors during the precasting process, establishing precise positioning features before assembly. This preliminary action ensures that when sectors are assembled on-site, the pre-formed shear keys guide accurate alignment and reduce the impact of manufacturing tolerances on overall assembly precision.
Solution Approach 2:
Shear keys act as intermediary elements between adjacent sectors, providing mechanical interlocking and force transmission. These keys compensate for minor dimensional variations and ensure precise relative positioning of sectors during assembly, maintaining manufacturing precision across multiple assembled components.
3Length of moving object
If sectors are made with smaller dimensions for easier transportation, then conventional vehicles can be used, but the number of sectors and assembly operations increases
Solution Approach 1:
Each annular segment is divided into multiple sectors that can be transported separately using conventional vehicles. The sectors are then assembled into complete segments on-site, and multiple segments are stacked vertically to form the tower. This segmentation enables manageable transportation dimensions while the systematic assembly process handles the increased component count efficiently.
4Ease of manufacture
If mortar or flanges with openings are used to assemble sectors, then the sectors can be connected, but the play and manufacturing tolerances result in difficulties for assembling with required precision
Solution Approach 1:
Shear keys serve as intermediary elements that provide precise mechanical interlocking between sectors. Rather than relying on mortar or flange connections with inherent play, the shear keys act as positioning intermediaries that ensure accurate alignment and eliminate gaps, achieving both ease of manufacture and high assembly precision simultaneously.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a wind turbine tower comprising a plurality of annular segments axially aligned with each other, at least one of the annular segments comprising a plurality of assembled sectors made of precast concrete, adjacent sectors of this segment being assembled by clamping devices and the segment comprising at the interface of adjacent sectors shear keys (15) cast with the sectors.