Guyed Wind Turbine Tower Section with External Stay Cable Brackets
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Increasing the height of wind turbine towers to enhance energy production is limited by structural strength and rigidity requirements, and conventional internal anchoring of stay cables occupies space and requires additional platforms.
Innovation Solution
A tower section arrangement for guyed wind turbines with stay cables attached to brackets on the outer surface of the tower, allowing easier anchoring and reducing the number of cables needed, which can be connected before installation and do not occupy internal space.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If stay cables are anchored internally to the tower wall, then structural strength is improved, but internal space is occupied and additional platforms are required
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of anchoring stay cables from the inside of the tower wall (conventional approach), the patent inverts the anchoring approach by attaching brackets to the outer surface of the tower section. This allows stay cables to be connected from the outside, eliminating the need for internal attachment means and freeing up internal space for other equipment.
2Stability of the object's composition
If more stay cables are used to support the tower, then structural stability is improved, but access to the tower and maintenance become more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the geometric parameter of the stay cable arrangement by positioning brackets at specific locations on the outer circumference and orienting them at 90° angles. This optimization allows fewer stay cables (three instead of more) to provide sufficient structural stability, thereby reducing crowding around the tower and improving access and maintenance ease.
3Power
If tower height is increased to enhance energy production, then power output is improved, but structural strength requirements become more challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The patent moves the stay cable attachment from the internal dimension to the external dimension (outer surface of the tower section). This dimensional change allows the brackets and stay cables to be positioned outside the tower structure, providing structural support without increasing the tower's internal complexity or requiring thicker walls, thus enabling taller tower designs.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a tower section arrangement for a guyed tower of a wind turbine, the tower section arrangement including: a tower section including a wall having an outer surface with a circumference, at least two brackets attached to the outer surface of the wall at different locations on its circumference, and at least two stay cables, wherein each stay cable is connected at its first end to one of the brackets and is configured for connection at its second end to a cable foundation, and wherein an angle (α) between each stay cable and a tangent to the outer circumference at the respective bracket has, in a top view of the erected wind turbine, a value of 90° when the respective stay cable is guyed.