Rotatable support fixture for wind turbine blade
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The logistics of transporting large and fragile wind turbine blades across various modes of transportation, such as ocean vessels, railroads, and trucks, pose challenges due to clearance issues and the need for cost-effective, versatile support fixtures that can optimize blade alignment for efficient packing and clearance.
Innovation Solution
A support fixture with a base frame and bearing pedestals supporting grooved wheels, along with a blade cradle assembly featuring trunnion discs that allow rotation of the blade along its longitudinal axis, enabling alignment for optimal clearance and stacking, and incorporating anti-rotation assemblies and conformal inserts for secure positioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If wind turbine blades are transported using fixed support fixtures, then the blades can be securely supported, but the clearance issues arise and the blades cannot be optimally aligned for different transportation modes
Solution Approach 1:
The support fixture incorporates a rotatable cradle mechanism that allows the blade to be rotated about its longitudinal axis. This dynamic adjustment enables the blade to be oriented at different angles (e.g., edgewise for rail transport to minimize lateral clearance, or flatwise for ocean transport to maximize packing density), directly resolving the clearance adaptability contradiction across different transportation modes.
2Quantity of substance
If wind turbine blades are closely packed for ocean transport, then the quantity per ship is maximized, but the loading and off-loading operations become more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The rotatable cradle allows blades to be rotated into an edgewise orientation during loading operations, presenting a narrower profile that simplifies maneuvering and placement on vessel decks. Once loaded, the blades can be rotated to a flatwise orientation for stable stacking and securement, thus facilitating both high-density packing and ease of handling operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention utilizes rotational movement about the longitudinal axis to change the spatial orientation of the blade from one configuration (edgewise) to another (flatwise). This dimensional transformation allows the same blade to occupy different effective volumes and present different profiles to handling equipment, thereby optimizing both packing density and operational ease.
3Length of moving object
If wind turbine blades are supported with traditional fixtures for rail transport, then the blades can be carried, but the lateral clearance in acute curved sections becomes problematic
Solution Approach 1:
The rotatable cradle mechanism enables the blade to be rotated to an edgewise orientation specifically for rail transport applications. This rotation presents a minimal lateral profile to the surrounding environment, allowing the long blade to navigate through acute curved sections of railway tracks with sufficient clearance, thus resolving the contradiction between blade length and lateral clearance requirements.
4Device complexity
If wind turbine blades are transported with fixed orientation fixtures, then the equipment cost is reduced, but the handling requirements increase during intermodal operations
Solution Approach 1:
The rotatable cradle is designed as an integrated component of the support fixture that maintains structural simplicity while providing rotational capability. The mechanism allows for easy rotation of the blade between orientations using minimal equipment, thereby reducing handling time during intermodal transfers without significantly increasing fixture complexity or cost.
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
Enables efficient and cost-effective transportation and storage of wind turbine blades by allowing rotation and alignment for optimal clearance across multiple modes of transport, reducing handling and equipment costs, and facilitating intermodal operations.
Implementation Method 1
The circular outer periphery portions of the pair of trunnion discs rotatably engage the grooved wheels in the first and second pairs of bearing cradles, respectively, to facilitate rotation of the blade cradle assembly about the common longitudinal axis of rotation.
Data Source
AI summary
A support fixture for a wind turbine blade that enables rotation of the blade about its longitudinal axis, and which includes a conformal insert. A selectively deployable stacking frame portion is provided. The support fixture is interchangeably useful for rail, ocean, barge, and truck transportation modes, as well as for static storage.