Resilient Mounting Frame for Offshore Rotating Machinery Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mounting systems for large rotating machines in the oil and gas industry, particularly in offshore installations, face challenges in providing robust support and stability while accommodating dynamic loads and environmental conditions, as hyperstatic multi-point systems are unsuitable due to wave and wind actions, leading to misalignment and load concentration issues.
Innovation Solution
A hyperstatic mounting system with four permanent supporting members, each with resilient elements, providing a lower stiffness than traditional three-point isostatic systems, allowing for improved baseplate alignment, reduced torsion, and increased flexibility, which distributes loads more uniformly and reduces vibration transmission.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a hyperstatic multi-point mounting system is used, then the rotating machines receive robust support and stability, but the system is unsuitable for offshore applications due to wave and wind actions causing misalignment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the mounting system from hyperstatic (over-constrained) to isostatic (properly constrained) by reducing the number of supporting members from multiple points to exactly three points. This parameter change in the degree of constraint allows the system to accommodate dynamic offshore conditions while maintaining proper alignment, as the isostatic system can adapt to movements without creating misalignment stresses.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces dynamic adaptability by using three supporting members that can accommodate movements and deformations of the supporting structure. The isostatic configuration allows the mounting system to dynamically adjust to wave-induced motions and wind loads, maintaining reliability in changing environmental conditions rather than rigidly resisting them.
2Reliability
If a three-point isostatic mounting system is used, then misalignment is avoided, but the supporting members must be over-dimensioned to withstand dynamic and static loads
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-loading the resilient elements in the supporting members during installation. This pre-loading ensures that the supporting members are already engaged and sharing the load from the beginning, allowing them to withstand dynamic and static loads more effectively without requiring excessive dimensioning. The resilient elements are pre-compressed to provide immediate load-bearing capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite construction in the supporting members, combining rigid structural components with resilient elements (such as rubber or elastomeric materials). This composite approach allows the supporting members to flex and absorb dynamic loads while maintaining structural integrity, reducing the need for over-dimensioning while still withstanding both dynamic and static loads effectively.
3Manufacturing precision
If the supporting structure stiffness is increased to reduce deformation, then the baseplate alignment is improved, but the system becomes less adaptable to environmental motions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the stiffness parameter of the mounting system by using resilient elements in the supporting members. This creates an optimal balance where the system has enough stiffness to maintain baseplate alignment precision but sufficient flexibility to adapt to environmental motions. The resilient elements provide the right degree of compliance without sacrificing alignment accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces resilient elements as intermediary components between the supporting structure and the baseplate. These intermediaries absorb and isolate the effects of environmental motions while maintaining stable mounting conditions, acting as a buffer that protects the precision alignment from the harsh offshore environment without requiring the supporting structure itself to be excessively stiff.
4Force
If permanent supporting members with resilient elements are used, then load distribution is improved, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the load-bearing function across three separate supporting members, each equipped with resilient elements. This segmentation allows the load to be distributed uniformly across multiple points rather than concentrated at a single location. Each supporting member independently handles a portion of the load, improving overall load distribution without requiring a overly complex integrated system.
Solution Approach 2:
The supporting members are designed with multi-functionality, serving as structural supports, load distributors, and vibration isolators simultaneously. The resilient elements provide both mechanical support and shock absorption functions within the same component, reducing overall system complexity by combining multiple functions into unified elements rather than requiring separate components for each function.
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 solution enables the support of heavy rotating machinery without over-dimensioning, enhances blast resistance, and optimizes baseplate design, reducing the stiffness requirements of the supporting structure while maintaining alignment and vibration damping.
Implementation Method 1
the permanent supporting members comprise resilient elements generating a reaction force when subject to load
Data Source
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AI summary
A mounting system for supporting rotary machinery on a supporting structure of an off-shore installation, the system comprising a base frame provided with an upper side, for mounting the rotary machinery and a lower side, a set of at least four permanent supporting members 15 arranged at the lower side of the base frame and adapted to be placed on the supporting structure to act as an intermediate layer or frame between the base frame and the supporting structure in mounting condition. The permanent supporting members comprise resilient elements 21, 23, 25 generating a reaction force when subject to load and are configured to transfer to the base frame stresses and/or strains lower than allowable limits also in case of deformation of the supporting structures; the base frame has stiffness such as to guarantee design acceptance criteria for example for rotary machinery alignment, terminal points or interface point displacement, dynamic behavior or like parameters.