Prefabricated Concrete Wind Tower with Unconnected Vertical Joints
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing support structures for wind-driven power generators with prefabricated concrete towers face challenges in manufacturing, transportation, and assembly due to the need for complex structural connections and high structural connectors, which increase costs and complexity, especially when dealing with tall and heavy wall pieces.
Innovation Solution
The structure employs prefabricated concrete wall pieces with circular or polygonal arc-shaped horizontal sections, lacking structural connectors between vertical joints, allowing independent structural behavior and distributing horizontal strains through shear forces, reducing the need for complex connections and facilitating easier assembly and transportation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If wall pieces have great height to reduce number of annular sections, then fewer connections are needed, but manufacturing and transport become more difficult and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The tower is divided into multiple annular sections with wall pieces of moderate height (e.g., 2-5 meters), avoiding the need for fewer but extremely tall wall pieces. This segmentation makes manufacturing and transport feasible while still reducing the total number of connections compared to using many small sections.
Solution Approach 2:
The height parameter of wall pieces is optimized to a moderate range that balances transport feasibility with connection efficiency. Rather than using either very tall or very short wall pieces, the patent specifies practical height ranges that resolve the contradiction between reducing section count and maintaining manufacturability.
2Strength
If structural connectors are used to connect wall pieces laterally, then structural integrity is improved, but manufacturing complexity and assembly difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes lateral structural connectors between wall pieces within the same annular section, relying instead on vertical connections between annular sections. This extraction of unnecessary connectors simplifies manufacturing while maintaining structural integrity through the post-tensioned vertical connections.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the structural connection function into the vertical joints between annular sections rather than requiring separate lateral connectors within annular sections. The post-tensioning system performs both vertical and lateral stabilization functions, reducing overall connector complexity.
3Stability of the object's composition
If post-tensioning is applied to connect annular sections, then structural stability is improved, but assembly complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
Post-tensioning cables are pre-installed within the tower structure before the final assembly of annular sections. This preliminary placement allows for simpler on-site tensioning operations and integrates the post-tensioning system into the modular assembly process, reducing overall complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The post-tensioning system serves multiple functions: connecting annular sections vertically, providing lateral stability, and enabling the modular assembly approach. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate stabilization mechanisms, offsetting the complexity of the post-tensioning system itself.
4Loss of time
If wall pieces are made taller to reduce number of joints, then assembly operations at height are reduced, but bending moments at base increase
Solution Approach 1:
The tower is segmented into multiple annular sections with moderate-height wall pieces, avoiding both the extremes of very tall wall pieces (high bending moments) and very short wall pieces (excessive assembly operations at height). This optimal segmentation resolves the contradiction between reducing assembly operations and minimizing bending moments.
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 approach simplifies the assembly process, reduces costs, and allows for the construction of taller towers by distributing loads evenly throughout the structure, preventing strain concentration and enabling the use of smaller, lighter wall pieces, thus enhancing stability and reducing installation complexities.
Implementation Method 1
the strains with a horizontal component are transmitted from one wall piece to another by the friction existing between the contact surfaces of the wall pieces compressed together by the post-tensioning
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The present invention relates to a support structure for wind-driven power generators comprising a tubular tower (1) with multiple superposed, post-tensioned annular sections (20) from the crown to the foundation, each being formed by at least two pieces of prefabricated concrete wall (10) defining between them vertical joints (12), each wall piece (10) having two transverse joint faces (13) and two vertical joint faces (14); wherein in the vertical joints (12), the vertical joint faces are arranged facing one another and lack structural connectors between them for the transmission of structural strains, allowing for an independent structural behavior of the mentioned wall pieces (10), the height of the wall pieces (10) being less than twice their width.