Offshore Foundation Installation via Tensioned Cable Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing offshore foundation installation methods for wind turbines and transformer platforms face challenges with insufficient floating stability during lowering, requiring expensive and scarce heavy-duty cranes, and complex and costly solutions to improve stability.
Innovation Solution
A floatable foundation body with air-filled ballast chambers and a tensioned traction cable system, anchored to the seabed, provides increased stability by shifting the buoyancy force's point of application and guiding the foundation to the desired position, using a ballast anchor or ground anchor with a cable pull device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a foundation body is lowered using a crane construction, then the foundation can be installed, but the cost is extremely expensive and availability is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the heavy-duty crane construction from the installation system and replaces it with a simplified cable pull device anchored to the seabed. The crane function is separated into: (1) initial positioning of the floating foundation body, and (2) cable tensioning for stability during lowering, eliminating the need for expensive heavy-duty cranes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces cable pull devices and traction cables as intermediary elements between the foundation body and the seabed. These cables transmit tensile forces to stabilize the foundation during lowering, replacing the direct mechanical support previously provided by heavy-duty cranes.
2Stability of the object's composition
If special geometries or materials are used to improve floating stability, then stability is improved, but the solution becomes complicated and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies counterbalancing forces through tensioned cables anchored to the seabed. The cables create upward tensile forces that counteract the destabilizing effects of buoyancy during lowering, providing stability without requiring complex geometries or specialized materials in the foundation body itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses ballast chambers that can be filled with water (hydraulic principle) to control the foundation body's weight and buoyancy. By adjusting the ballast water level, the foundation's floating characteristics are controlled, providing stability without complex geometries.
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 method ensures stable and precise lowering of the foundation body, reducing the need for heavy-duty cranes and costly stability enhancements, allowing for efficient and accurate placement of the foundation at the desired location.
Implementation Method 1
a floatable foundation body with at least one ballast chamber, which is air-filled in the floating state
Implementation Method 2
at least one cable pull device is provided, with each of the at least one cable pull devices being designed to keep a pull cable routed between a common or separate anchor(s) and the foundation body under tension during the lowering of the foundation body in such a way that a floating stability is increased Tensile force acts on the foundation body
Data Source
Figure 1a~1b
Figure 1c~1d
Figure 2a~2b
AI summary
The invention relates to an arrangement (1) and a method for installing offshore foundations, in particular offshore foundations for wind turbines and transformer platforms. The arrangement (1) according to the invention for installing offshore foundations comprises a floating foundation body (10) with at least one ballast chamber (11) that is filled with air when floating and can be filled with ballast to lower the foundation body (10).Furthermore, at least one anchor (20, 20') arranged on the seabed (90) in the area of the desired installation location of the foundation body (10) and at least one cable pulling device (40, 40') are provided, each of the at least one cable pulling device (40, 40') being configured to keep a pull rope (30) guided between a common or separate anchors (20, 20') and the foundation body (10) under tension during the lowering of the foundation body (10) such that a tensile force increasing the buoyancy stability acts on the foundation body (10). In the inventive method for installing offshore foundations with an arrangement according to the invention, the at least one pull rope (30) is held under a predetermined target tensile tension by the cable pulling device (40, 40') during the lowering process of the foundation body (10).