Convex Flange Collar for Wind Turbine Tower Segment Alignment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Large wind turbine towers with diameters over 3.5 or 4 meters face challenges in accurately connecting rolled flanges to the tower wall, often resulting in flange distortion and misalignment, leading to reduced service life and costly repairs.
Innovation Solution
A flange connection design featuring a convex contact surface with a central contact plane and lateral wedge-shaped recesses, allowing for increased production tolerance and secure contact with the connecting component through prestressing, which enhances the service life by maintaining contact even with angular deviations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If rolled flanges are connected to the tower wall with conventional flat contact surfaces, then manufacturing precision requirements are high, but production costs increase and post-processing is required
Solution Approach 1:
The contact surface of the flange is designed with a convex curvature instead of a flat surface. This convex shape allows the flange to accommodate angular deviations and misalignments that occur during welding to the tower wall, maintaining reliable contact over a larger area without requiring high manufacturing precision or expensive post-processing operations
Solution Approach 2:
The geometry of the contact surface is changed from flat to convex, and the prestressing force is applied to optimize the contact pressure distribution. This parameter change allows the flange to function reliably even with angular tolerances, reducing manufacturing precision requirements while maintaining connection reliability
2Strength
If flanges are welded to the tower wall, then connection strength is improved, but flange distortion and misalignment occur reducing service life
Solution Approach 1:
The convex contact surface geometry compensates for welding-induced distortion and misalignment. By curving the contact surface outward, the flange maintains a larger contact area with the connecting component even when angular deviations occur, preventing the edge-bearing condition that leads to flange breathing and reduced service life
Solution Approach 2:
Prestressing is applied to the flange connection to pre-compress the contact surfaces together. This preliminary compressive force counteracts the tendency for the flange to separate or breathe during service, compensating for the misalignment and distortion that occurred during welding, thereby maintaining reliable contact and improving service life
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
The design allows for cost-effective manufacturing without post-processing, significantly increasing the service life of the flange connection by ensuring reliable contact and absorbing angular tolerances, thus reducing maintenance costs.
Implementation Method 1
The contact plane (44) is braced against the connecting component (50) by connection and prestressing by means of tie rods or screw bolts through fastening bores (26)
Data Source
AI summary
The piece (20) has a flange collar (25) for connecting segments of a tower wall (10) with one another. The flange collar connects one of the segments with a connection component (50) in a connecting plane (40), where the flange collar is connected with the tower wall at a side. The collar has a contact surface (42) that is turned away from the tower wall, where the contact surface has a convex cross section. An area of the contact surface is formed as a contact plane (44) lying in the connecting plane.