Wind Turbine Tower Damper with Rotatable Linear Guide
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wind turbine tower vibration dampers require complex adjustments and multiple drive systems to align with varying vibration directions, increasing installation effort and cost.
Innovation Solution
A tower vibration damper with a linear guide that can be adjusted in a plane orthogonal to the tower axis, allowing the direction of vibration to be set by rotating the guide, using a single reversible drive device, and featuring an elastic suspension to reduce natural frequency and pendulum length, enabling effective damping from any direction with minimal effort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple drive devices are used to adjust vibration direction in a wind turbine tower dampener, then the vibration damping effectiveness is improved, but the device complexity and installation effort increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple drive functions into a single drive device by integrating the linear guide mechanism with the pendulum mass system. The linear guide serves dual purposes: it constrains the pendulum's oscillation path and simultaneously provides the directional adjustment capability through rotation, eliminating the need for separate drive mechanisms for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The linear guide is designed as a multi-functional component that performs both vibration damping and directional adjustment. By making the linear guide rotatable relative to the tower, a single drive device can control both the oscillation amplitude and the vibration direction, allowing one component to fulfill multiple roles that traditionally required separate systems.
2Reliability
If the pendulum length is reduced to lower natural frequency, then the damping effectiveness for low-frequency vibrations is improved, but the pendulum mass must be increased which affects the tower load
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the pendulum system by reducing the pendulum length while adjusting the mass accordingly. This parameter change allows the system to achieve lower natural frequencies suitable for damping low-frequency tower vibrations without requiring excessively long pendulum arms that would increase the horizontal space requirement and structural complexity.
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 simplifies the adjustment of vibration direction, reduces the complexity of drive systems, and allows for effective damping of low-frequency vibrations, making it suitable for retrofitting existing wind turbines with reduced material and operational costs.
Implementation Method 1
a pendulum (8) that has a mass (9) with at least one suspension (10) and a first drive device (11)
Implementation Method 2
The vibration damper is designed as a pendulum, with a length of the pendulum and a mass being matched to a natural frequency of the tower. The pendulum can be actively deflected in order to achieve greater reaction forces and thus greater vibration damping.
Implementation Method 3
The suspension preferably has at least one horizontally elastic element. The suspension is usually relatively inelastic and is formed by at least one steel cable. According to the invention, it is now provided that the suspension is not inelastic, but via at least one horizontally elastic element.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a tower vibration damper (8) for a wind turbine (1). The tower vibration damper (8) has a pendulum comprising a mass (9) with at least one suspension (10) and a first drive unit (11). The aim is to reduce the effort required to adjust the direction of vibration. For this purpose, it is provided that the mass (9) with the drive unit (11) is movable along a linear guide (12), wherein the angular position of the guide (12) is adjustable.