Modular Damping Body Frame for Underwater Noise Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing devices for reducing underwater noise during piling work, such as those used for offshore wind turbines, are inflexible and cannot easily replace damaged damping bodies, leading to permanent functional impairment and unreliable operation.
Innovation Solution
A device with a carrier having a frame with horizontal linkage elements allows individual damping bodies to be decoupled and replaced, enabling flexible repair and configuration, with a lattice structure and optional cable connections for space-saving storage and transport.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If damping bodies are integrated into a one-piece hose-like carrier, then the device structure is simplified and manufacturing is easier, but the device becomes inflexible and cannot easily replace damaged damping bodies
Solution Approach 1:
The carrier is divided into a modular frame structure with separate mounting positions for individual damping bodies. Each damping body can be independently attached or detached from the frame, allowing selective replacement without affecting other components. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by maintaining structural simplicity while enabling flexible repair operations.
2Device complexity
If the carrier is made as a one-piece hose structure, then the device complexity is reduced, but the ease of repair deteriorates because the entire carrier must be replaced or removed for repairs
Solution Approach 1:
The carrier is designed as a modular frame with separate mounting positions for individual damping bodies. Each damping body can be independently accessed, removed, and replaced at its mounting position without requiring removal or replacement of the entire carrier structure. This modular segmentation enables easy repair while maintaining overall device simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The damping bodies are extracted as separate, independently replaceable components from the integrated hose structure. Each damping body has its own mounting interface on the frame, allowing it to be taken out and replaced individually. This extraction principle resolves the contradiction by enabling easy repair of individual components without compromising the simplicity of the overall device structure.
3Stability of the object's composition
If damping bodies are permanently attached to the carrier, then the device structure is more stable, but the reliability deteriorates when a damping body is damaged and cannot be replaced
Solution Approach 1:
The carrier is segmented into a stable frame structure with defined mounting positions, while damping bodies are attached as separate modular units. This segmentation provides stable mounting locations while enabling easy replacement of individual damping bodies if damaged, thus maintaining both structural stability and operational reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The design allows for the discarding of damaged damping bodies and their replacement with new or repaired units. The mounting structure is designed to facilitate this replacement process, ensuring that reliability is maintained through the ability to recover functionality by replacing individual components rather than the entire device.
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
This design ensures safe and reliable operation by allowing easy replacement of damaged damping bodies and flexible configuration, reducing underwater noise propagation effectively.
Implementation Method 1
Device for reducing the propagation of sound, vibration and pressure shocks in a liquid, in particular sound occurring when an object is introduced into a subsoil and/or in particular in water
Data Source
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AI summary
With a view to safe operation using simple design means, a device for reducing the propagation of sound, vibrations and pressure surges in a liquid, in particular sound occurring when an object (1) is inserted into a subsoil and/or especially in water, comprising several damping bodies (2) that can be filled with a gas and a support (3) on which the damping bodies (2) can be arranged in a suitable relative position to each other, is designed and further developed such that the support (3) has a frame (4) with horizontal linkage elements (5).