Wind Turbine Foundation Decoupling Mass and Structural Strength
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The construction of wind turbine tower foundations is hindered by delays, high costs, and environmental impact due to the need for on-site concrete pouring, which is prone to weather-related issues and requires substantial resources for transportation and removal, while also being difficult to inspect for damage.
Innovation Solution
A foundation structure using pre-fabricated structural members made of concrete with non-cementitious fill materials, such as soil or aggregate, to provide mass and stability, allowing for off-site assembly and reducing the carbon footprint and logistical challenges.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If on-site concrete pouring is used to construct tower foundations, then the foundation can be built with required structural strength, but construction delays occur due to weather conditions and crew availability
Solution Approach 1:
The foundation structure is pre-assembled off-site before being transported to the installation location. This preliminary assembly allows quality control and structural preparation to occur in a controlled environment, eliminating weather-related delays and crew availability issues during on-site construction while maintaining required structural strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The foundation is divided into modular segments that can be pre-fabricated separately and then assembled on-site. This segmentation enables parallel production of multiple foundation units, reduces on-site assembly time, and allows transportation of manageable sections to remote locations without compromising overall structural integrity.
2Ease of manufacture
If on-site concrete pouring is used, then the foundation can be constructed, but high costs and logistical challenges arise from transporting concrete and materials to remote areas
Solution Approach 1:
The foundation structure is pre-assembled off-site where materials can be efficiently procured and staged. This eliminates the need to transport large volumes of concrete, water, and rebar to remote installation locations, significantly reducing transportation costs and logistical complexity while maintaining construction feasibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The concrete pouring and material mixing operations are extracted from the remote installation site and relocated to centralized off-site fabrication facilities. This extraction eliminates the need for on-site cement batch plants and material storage, reducing the quantity of substances that would otherwise need to be transported to remote areas.
3Stability of the object's composition
If traditional concrete foundations are used, then the foundation provides required mass and stability, but the large carbon footprint and environmental impact are detrimental
Solution Approach 1:
The foundation design optimizes the distribution and density of recycled materials to achieve required mass and stability without using virgin concrete. By changing the material parameters from traditional concrete to engineered recycled composite, the foundation maintains structural stability while dramatically reducing carbon footprint and environmental impact.
Solution Approach 2:
The foundation uses composite materials made from recycled concrete, metal, and other construction debris rather than virgin concrete. This composite approach maintains the required mass and stability for tower support while eliminating the high carbon emissions associated with cement production and reducing environmental harm.
4Reliability
If traditional concrete foundations are used, then the foundation can be constructed, but inspection for fatigue and corrosion damage is difficult after construction
Solution Approach 1:
The foundation incorporates visual indicators or sensors that change color or signal when fatigue or corrosion damage occurs. This allows for easy detection and monitoring of structural integrity issues without requiring complex inspection procedures, maintaining high reliability while simplifying damage detection.
Solution Approach 2:
Traditional mechanical inspection methods are replaced with sensor-based monitoring systems embedded in the foundation structure. These sensors detect stress, strain, and corrosion conditions in real-time, providing continuous reliability assessment without the difficulty of manual inspection of enclosed concrete structures.
5Strength
If traditional concrete foundations are used, then the foundation provides required structural support, but removal at project end is difficult and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The foundation incorporates detachable connections and modular components that allow for easy disassembly and removal at project end. While maintaining full structural support strength during operation, the dynamic design enables straightforward demolition and material recovery, eliminating the difficulty and expense of removing traditional monolithic concrete foundations.
Solution Approach 2:
The foundation is designed with recoverable components and materials that can be easily removed and reused or recycled at project end. This approach maintains required tower support strength during operation while enabling efficient material recovery and disposal, eliminating the waste and cost associated with demolishing traditional concrete foundations.
Data Source
AI summary
Tower foundations and structures, kits and methods for making the tower foundations. Aspects of the present invention operate to decouple the required mass for the foundation from the structural components needed to resist compression and tension forces. Aspects of the present invention include a foundation structure made of structural components including pre-cast concrete, cast-in place concrete, reinforced concrete, pre-stressed concrete, pre-tensioned concrete and post-tensioned concrete, for resisting the expected forces transferred from the tower.