Modular Concrete Wind Turbine Tower Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current eolic turbine tower structures face limitations in diameter and length due to transportation issues, leading to the use of metallic towers with high steel costs and potential electrical insulating problems, while seeking alternatives that reduce costs and enhance durability and maintenance efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A modular tower structure composed of prefabricated concrete, metallic, or mixed elements, divided into horizontal and vertical sections of transportable sizes and weights, using wet joints, pre-stressed cables, and a system of steel bars and channels for assembly, allowing for greater heights and reduced material costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of stationary object
If metallic towers are used to achieve greater heights, then the tower height is improved, but the material cost increases and electrical insulating problems occur
Solution Approach 1:
The tower is divided into multiple modular sections that can be manufactured separately and assembled on-site. Each section can be optimized for specific functions (e.g., concrete for lower sections requiring insulation, metal for upper sections), reducing overall material costs while achieving greater heights.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention employs composite construction using both concrete and metal materials. Concrete sections provide electrical insulation and cost-effectiveness for lower tower portions, while metal sections provide strength for upper portions, creating a hybrid structure that resolves the contradiction between height, cost, and insulation requirements.
2Quantity of substance
If concrete towers are used to reduce costs and improve durability, then material cost and maintenance are improved, but transportation and assembly complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The concrete tower is segmented into standardized modular sections that can be pre-cast off-site and transported efficiently. This segmentation reduces transportation complexity by optimizing load sizes and simplifies assembly through repetitive, standardized connection details.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention standardizes key parameters such as section dimensions, connection types, and reinforcement patterns. This parameter standardization reduces assembly complexity by making the construction process more predictable and easier to manage, while still allowing cost-effective concrete construction.
3Quantity of substance
If tower diameter is increased to reduce steel usage, then steel cost is reduced, but transportation limitations prevent achieving larger diameters
Solution Approach 1:
The tower is divided into segments with optimized local diameters. Lower sections can have larger diameters to reduce steel usage where full height is not required, while upper sections maintain smaller diameters for transportation feasibility. The segmentation allows each section to be optimized independently for its specific structural requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
A tower structure for a wind energy turbine, wind power, renewable energy, and other uses made of concrete, steel-reinforced concrete or other materials, and a method of manufacture thereof are described. The structure includes several pre-fabricated tower lengths, each tower length having at least three pre-fabricated wedges, such that a central protruding edge of each wedge approaches or lies at a center line of the tower structure when assembled. Tower lengths higher in the tower may be narrower and may be made up of fewer wedges than lower tower lengths. Each tower length may also include several apertures or channels adapted to accommodate a cable joining all the tower lengths of the tower. Also, tower lengths may have a circular or polygonal outer ring made up of bracing elements, each bracing element arranged when assembled to brace one or more wedges.