Wind Turbine Hub Coupling via Segmented Fasteners
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional wind turbine mounting systems face challenges in securing the hub to the main shaft due to thread relaxation in soft casting materials, leading to preload loss and safety concerns during high-altitude installation, where personnel cannot intervene to align or torque fasteners.
Innovation Solution
A mounting system using fasteners with circumferential ridge segments and a connection mechanism, such as retaining rings or elastomeric members, to resist torque and prevent axial translation, allowing secure coupling of the hub to the main shaft without requiring personnel intervention at height.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If threaded fasteners are used in threaded fastener holes formed in the hub body, then the hub can be fastened to the main shaft, but significant preload loss occurs due to relaxation of the hub threads
Solution Approach 1:
The fastening system is segmented into two distinct functional parts: through fasteners that provide clamping force and separate threaded fasteners that provide preload retention. The through fasteners extend through both the hub and main shaft, while the threaded fasteners are engaged only in the harder main shaft, creating a division of labor that resolves the contradiction between ease of manufacture and preload retention.
Solution Approach 2:
The through fasteners act as an intermediary element between the hub and main shaft. They transfer and distribute the clamping force across the softer hub material without requiring threaded engagement in the hub, thereby preventing thread relaxation while maintaining secure fastening. This intermediary component resolves the contradiction by mediating the interaction between the two mating parts.
2Reliability
If through fasteners are used to eliminate preload loss, then preload retention is improved, but additional challenges arise in aligning and torquing fasteners at high altitude
Solution Approach 1:
The through fasteners are pre-positioned and pre-aligned in the hub before the hub is lifted to operating height. Alignment holes are provided in the main shaft that guide the fasteners into correct position. This preliminary alignment action, performed when personnel can still access the hub, eliminates the need for dangerous high-altitude alignment operations while maintaining the reliability benefits of through fasteners.
Solution Approach 2:
Alignment holes and guide features in the main shaft act as intermediary elements that facilitate the insertion and alignment of through fasteners. These guiding features enable remote alignment operations to be performed safely from ground level, resolving the contradiction between maintaining preload retention and improving operational safety.
3Manufacturing precision
If personnel enter the suspended hub to align and torque fasteners, then fastener alignment and torquing can be performed, but safety risks increase due to high-altitude work
Solution Approach 1:
Ground-based alignment tools and guide features in the main shaft act as intermediaries that enable precise fastener alignment without requiring personnel to enter the suspended hub. The alignment holes in the main shaft guide the fasteners into correct position from ground level, eliminating the safety hazard while maintaining alignment precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The fastening system is designed to be self-aligning through precision-machined guide features and alignment holes in the main shaft. The geometry of the components themselves provides the alignment function, eliminating the need for manual alignment operations at height. This self-service alignment mechanism resolves the contradiction by making the system self-correcting without human intervention at dangerous heights.
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 system effectively secures the hub to the main shaft by resisting torque and maintaining alignment, eliminating the need for personnel to enter the suspended hub, thus enhancing safety and reliability during installation.
Implementation Method 1
The elastomeric member is configured to absorb a shock during a mounting procedure
Implementation Method 2
resisting, via contact between the head sections and the circumferential ridge segment(s), a torque applied to the shaft section
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method are provided for coupling a hub to a main shaft of a wind turbine. Accordingly, a plurality of fasteners are arranged within corresponding through holes of the hub of a wind turbine. At least one circumferential ridge segment is arranged radially adjacent to the head sections of the plurality of fasteners so as to resist a torque applied to each of the plurality of fasteners. A connection mechanism is utilized to secure the plurality of fasteners within the plurality of through holes so as to limit an axial translation of the plurality of fasteners prior to the coupling of the hub to the main shaft.