Hybrid Wind Turbine Tower Steel-Concrete Joining Device
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing solutions fail to provide an efficient and cost-effective method for integrating metal and concrete portions of wind turbine towers, particularly in taller structures where thin-walled concrete designs complicate steel-concrete integration and increase material costs due to geometric stress concentrations and transportation limitations.
Innovation Solution
A joining device with a metal body having anchoring openings and plates that allow for axial load transmission between metal and concrete portions, featuring variable opening sizes and configurations to manage shear strength and stress distribution, facilitating easy assembly and high mechanical performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If steel plate thickness is increased to overcome transportation limitations and achieve larger bottom diameters, then the tower can support taller heights and higher loads, but the manufacturing cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a composite structure combining steel and concrete materials in the tower construction. The steel-concrete composite design allows the tower to achieve high load-bearing capacity without requiring excessive steel plate thickness, thereby reducing manufacturing costs while meeting structural requirements for taller towers
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the material composition parameters of the tower structure by introducing concrete infilling in the bottom portion. This parameter change allows optimization of the steel plate thickness, reducing it from what would be required in pure steel construction, thus lowering manufacturing costs while maintaining strength
2Strength
If protruding anchoring elements are used to connect steel and concrete portions, then mechanical connection is achieved, but geometric stress concentrations occur and large concrete wall thickness is required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the anchoring elements from protruding positions and relocates them to the inner surface of the steel tower segment. This extraction eliminates the geometric stress concentrations and protruding geometries that would require thick concrete walls, while maintaining effective mechanical connection between steel and concrete portions
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of having anchoring elements protrude outward from the steel segment, the patent inverts the design by placing anchoring elements on the inner surface, pointing toward the concrete. This inversion eliminates the need for large concrete wall thickness to accommodate protruding elements while achieving strong mechanical connection
3Productivity
If thin-walled concrete portions are designed to comply with dynamic behavior requirements, then the tower can be constructed more efficiently, but steel-concrete integration becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing reinforcement elements specifically at the steel-concrete connection zones rather than throughout the entire structure. This localized reinforcement approach enables thin-walled concrete portions to meet dynamic behavior requirements while keeping the integration complexity manageable through targeted strengthening
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3b
Figure 3c~4
AI summary
A joining device (8) for hybrid wind turbine towers (5) intended for the fixation of a metal portion (6) of a wind turbine tower (5) to a concrete portion (7) of said wind turbine (1) which comprises a metal body (9) having a generally tubular configuration that is suitable to be fixed to the metal portion (6) of the tower (5) which in use is adjacent to the concrete portion (7), and suitable for being at least partially embedded into said concrete portion (7), said metal body (9) being provided with a number of anchoring openings (11) adapted such that the material of the concrete portion (7) passes therethrough. A hybrid wind turbine tower (5) comprises such a joining device (8) provided between one metal portion (6) and one concrete portion (7).