Pipe Segment Connection Using Separating Layer and Casting Compound
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for connecting pipe segments of different widths, particularly in tower-like structures like wind turbines, are complex, expensive, and prone to errors due to geometric deviations, with grout connections being difficult to manage and requiring on-site casting, while other methods like plug connections and welding are costly and hard to calculate precisely.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the use of a separating layer in the annular gap between overlapping pipe segments, where the gap is cast with a casting compound on one side of the layer, forming separate connecting elements that harden to create a form-fitting and force-fitting connection, allowing for easy and cost-effective assembly and disassembly at the site.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If grout connections are used to connect pipe segments of different widths, then the connection can be provided easily, quickly and cost-effectively, but the casting must take place on site which is comparatively complicated and defective connections are difficult to detect and rework
Solution Approach 1:
The annular gap is cast with casting compound in a preliminary manufacturing step before final assembly, rather than casting on site during installation. This transfers the casting operation from the complex on-site environment to a controlled manufacturing setting, eliminating the complications of on-site casting while maintaining the simplicity of grout connections.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection structure is divided into separable components: the pipe segments can be disconnected and reconnected by separating and reinserting them. This segmentation allows the connection to be manufactured separately and then assembled simply, avoiding on-site casting complexity.
2Strength
If plug connections with conical ends are used for pipe segments of different widths, then a force-fitting and form-fitting connection results, but the connection is relatively complex and expensive to manufacture, in particular for large diameter pipe segments
Solution Approach 1:
The connection uses uniform cylindrical pipe segments with parallel ends rather than complex conical geometries. This homogenization of shapes simplifies manufacturing while the casting compound provides the necessary connection strength, eliminating the need for expensive conical plug connections.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection combines the structural integrity of steel pipe segments with the bonding properties of casting compound (grout). This composite approach allows simple cylindrical pipe geometry to achieve strong connections through the composite action of metal and casting material, avoiding expensive conical metal-to-metal connections.
3Reliability
If connections based on bolting, welding or frictional engagement are used for pipe segments of different widths, then the connection can be made, but even minor deviations from ideal geometry can significantly weaken the connection making it difficult to calculate precisely
Solution Approach 1:
The casting compound acts as an intermediary material between the pipe segments, filling the annular gap and providing a bonding layer that compensates for geometric deviations. This intermediary layer absorbs dimensional variations and tolerance errors, allowing reliable connections even when pipe segments have minor manufacturing variations.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection transitions from rigid mechanical contact (bolting, welding) to a more compliant bonding mechanism using casting compound. This parameter change in the connection mechanism allows for greater tolerance in pipe segment geometry while maintaining connection reliability, as the casting material can adapt to slight variations in fit.
4Strength
If cylindrical pipe segments are equipped with metal rings with conically milled inner sides for form-fitting connection, then the connection can be made, but the provision of the rings is quite complex and expensive, especially since only very small tolerances can be accepted
Solution Approach 1:
The complex metal rings with conical surfaces are completely removed from the design. Instead, the pipe segments themselves are used with simple parallel ends, and the connection function is provided by the casting compound filling the annular gap. This extraction of unnecessary components eliminates manufacturing complexity and cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The design uses homogeneous cylindrical pipe segments with uniform parallel ends rather than composite structures with conical metal rings. This simplification maintains connection strength through the casting compound while eliminating the complex ring components and their tight tolerance requirements.
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 allows for a reliable, cost-effective, and easily manageable connection that can absorb high loads, with the ability to separate and reassemble the pipe segments, ensuring precise and durable connections, especially suitable for large diameter pipe segments in wind turbines.
Implementation Method 1
wherein, when the casting compound hardens, the casting compound forms a firm connection on one side of the separating layer with only one of the pipe segments
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for forming a connection between two pipe segments of different widths, preferably of a tower-like structure, in particular of a wind turbine. In order to be able to connect pipe segments of different widths more easily, reliably and cost-effectively to one another, it is provided that the wider pipe segment is pushed with one end partially over an end of the narrower pipe segment, that the pipe segments are positioned apart from one another by forming an annular gap between the pipe segments, that in the annular gap between the two pipe segments a separating layer extending in the longitudinal direction of the pipe segments and/or in the radial direction is provided, that the annular gap adjacent to the separating layer and at least one side of the separating layer is at least partially cast with a casting compound, that during the hardening of the casting compound the casting compound forms a firm connection on one side of the separating layer with only one of the pipe segments and/or the casting compound forms a firm connection on the other side of the casting compound, only with the other pipe segment and that the pipe segments after the hardening of the casting compound are separated again along the separating layer with the assigned separate connecting elements in particular formed by the hardened casting compound.