Wind Turbine Tower Damper With Central Passageway Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wind turbine towers face challenges in damping vortex-induced vibrations while maintaining a passageway for service personnel, as existing solutions are either cumbersome or obstructive.
Innovation Solution
A compact, robust tower vibration damper featuring a cylindrically shaped pendulum structure suspended by springs and immersed in damping liquid, with adjustable natural frequency and a design allowing easy passage through the tower.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a vibration damper is added to the wind turbine tower, then vortex-induced vibrations are damped, but the passageway for service personnel is obstructed
Solution Approach 1:
The vibration damper is divided into multiple modular components including a pendulum body, damping chambers, and spring elements that can be independently assembled and maintained, allowing service personnel to access different sections through the passageway without removing the entire device
Solution Approach 2:
The pendulum body is nested within the tower structure with the passageway running through its center, creating a concentric arrangement where the vibration damper components are positioned around the service access route, allowing both vibration damping and personnel access to coexist
2Reliability
If the vibration damper is placed close to the free end of the tower, then damping effectiveness is improved, but space restrictions make installation difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The vibration damper utilizes the radial dimension of the tower by positioning the pendulum body concentrically within the tower wall thickness, rather than occupying axial space, thereby enabling installation near the tower top without compromising the passageway or exceeding space constraints
Solution Approach 2:
The damping chambers are designed as thin-walled structures that can be integrated into the tower wall, allowing the vibration damper to fit within the limited wall thickness available at the tower top while maintaining structural integrity and damping performance
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
The solution effectively dampens vibrations while enabling safe and easy access for maintenance, accommodating various damping demands and operational conditions.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of springs arranged to dampen movements of the pendulum structure when suspended in the wind turbine tower
Implementation Method 2
a chamber holding a damping liquid into which damping liquid the pendulum structure is at least partly immersed
Implementation Method 3
a pendulum structure adapted to be suspended in the wind turbine tower, said pendulum structure comprising a cylindrically shaped pendulum body
Implementation Method 4
a suspension arrangement for suspending the pendulum structure in the wind turbine tower such that the pendulum structure is allowed to displace from a neutral position
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a tower damper adapted to be mounted in a wind turbine tower, the tower damper comprising a pendulum structure adapted to be suspended in the wind turbine tower; a plurality of springs arranged to dampen movements of the pendulum structure; a suspension arrangement for suspending the pendulum structure; and a chamber holding a damping liquid into which damping liquid the pendulum structure is at least partly immersed. The present invention further relates to a wind turbine comprising a tower damper.