Wind Turbine Tower Segment Metal Ring Concrete Interface
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for assembling wind turbine towers using concrete segments face challenges due to the brittleness of concrete, leading to inaccuracies and potential instability, as small imperfections or foreign bodies can cause concrete to break off, compromising the tower's stability and power transmission between segments.
Innovation Solution
The use of metal ring members bonded to the concrete forms the finishing surfaces of the tower segments, reducing the risk of failure by distributing pressure evenly and eliminating localized points of failure, with metal ring parts covering at least 50% of the concrete wall thickness and being designed to form planar end surfaces for secure contact and load transfer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If concrete end surfaces are used for tower segments, then the tower can be assembled from prefabricated segments, but the brittleness of concrete causes inaccuracies and potential instability due to concrete breaking off
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines concrete and metal materials to create a composite structure. The concrete tower segments are equipped with metal ring sections at the end surfaces, creating a composite material system that leverages the compressive strength of concrete and the ductility/machinability of metal. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining prefabrication capabilities while eliminating the brittleness-related reliability issues of pure concrete structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the material parameter of the end surfaces from pure concrete to metal-ringed concrete composite. This parameter change transforms the end surface properties to be more ductile and easier to machine, allowing for precise fitting and adjustment during assembly while maintaining the prefabricated nature of the tower segments.
2Reliability
If metal ring sections are added to concrete walls, then the risk of concrete breaking off is reduced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the tower structure into modular concrete segments, each equipped with integrated metal ring sections. This segmentation allows the complex metal-concrete composite structure to be manufactured as standardized prefabricated units, reducing on-site construction complexity while maintaining the reliability benefits of the composite material design.
Solution Approach 2:
By using composite materials (concrete with metal ring sections), the patent achieves high reliability without proportionally increasing device complexity. The metal rings are integrated into the concrete segments during manufacturing, creating a unified composite component that performs reliably while maintaining manageable structural complexity through standardization.
3Ease of operation
If concrete end surfaces are used, then the tower segments can be stacked, but precise fitting is difficult to achieve due to tolerance limitations in concrete pouring
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the surface material parameter from concrete to metal for the end surfaces. Metal surfaces can be machined with much tighter tolerances and are more forgiving of minor variations, enabling precise fitting during stacking operations. This parameter change maintains the ease of stacking operation while dramatically improving manufacturing precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the concrete-to-concrete mechanical contact system with a metal-to-metal contact system at the end surfaces. This substitution allows for precise mechanical fitting and adjustment during assembly, as metal surfaces can be more accurately machined and adjusted compared to concrete surfaces, thereby improving manufacturing precision while maintaining operational ease.
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 solution significantly reduces the likelihood of errors during tower assembly, enhances stability by ensuring secure contact and load transfer between segments, and prevents twisting, thereby improving the structural integrity and stability of the wind turbine tower.
Implementation Method 1
A first ring section (28) made of metal, connected to the concrete, forms an upper end surface (27) of the wall. A second ring section (30) made of metal, also connected to the concrete, forms a lower end surface (29) of the wall.
Implementation Method 2
If the metal part of the ring is subjected to increased pressure in a specific area, the metal material can flow and thus escape the increased pressure. This does not result in a local defect in the ring part, nor is the friction in other areas of the ring part affected.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~5
AI summary
Tower segment for a tower (15) of a wind turbine with a wall (26) made of concrete. A first ring section (28) made of metal, connected to the concrete, forms an upper termination surface (27) of the wall (26). A second ring section (30) made of metal forms a lower termination surface (29) of the wall (26). The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing such a tower segment.