Wind Turbine Tower Section With Radial Flanges for Easier Welding
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional wind turbine tower manufacturing processes require extensive ultrasonic testing (UT) and radiographic testing (RT) for flaw detection, leading to increased work and safety hazards, as well as complex welding procedures due to T-shaped joints and small spaces between vertical flanges.
Innovation Solution
A method of manufacturing tower sections by forming longitudinal slits in the tower section body, cutting off butt slits, and using longitudinal flange pairs that protrude radially for simplified welding and eliminating the need for UT and RT flaw detection, reducing the amount of welding work and improving assembly convenience.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional tower sections are manufactured with butt welding seams and T-shaped joints, then structural integrity is maintained, but extensive UT and RT flaw detection is required, increasing work and safety hazards
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes the problematic T-shaped joints by cutting the tower section body along predetermined lines that pass through the butt welding seams. This eliminates the need for complex penetration welding and extensive flaw detection, while maintaining structural integrity through alternative joint configurations.
Solution Approach 2:
The tower section body is segmented into multiple parts by cutting along longitudinal and transverse lines. This segmentation allows the removal of T-shaped joints and simplifies the welding structure, reducing the need for extensive UT and RT testing while maintaining reliability.
2Ease of manufacture
If vertical flanges are fixed inside the cylinder wall with small space between them, then assembly is achieved, but welding becomes inconvenient due to limited access
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the spatial arrangement of flanges from an internal configuration with limited access to an external configuration where flanges protrude from the tower section body. This dimensional change provides adequate welding access while maintaining assembly capability through alternative connection methods.
3Strength
If penetration welding is performed on butt welding seams to ensure quality, then welding strength is improved, but the process becomes more complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes the butt welding seams from the final tower structure by cutting through them during the section division process. This eliminates the need for time-consuming penetration welding operations while maintaining structural strength through the alternative joint design created by the cutting pattern.
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
A tower portion, a tower, and a wind turbine generator assembly. The tower portion comprises: a main tower portion (4), and a longitudinal flange pair (9). The main tower portion is divided into at least two sections by means a longitudinal seam (6) formed in a longitudinal direction thereof. The longitudinal flange pair is provided in the longitudinal seam along the longitudinal direction of the main tower portion. The longitudinal flange pair protrudes from an inner surface (41) and an outer surface (42) of the main tower portion in a radial direction thereof, and is welded to a corresponding section of the main tower portion. The tower portion reduces welding difficulty, reduces heat produced during the welding process, and improves the quality of the weld. The invention further discloses a method for manufacturing the tower portion.