Windmill Arm Connecting Piece Flange Bolt Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for assembling long windmill arms in sections face challenges such as limited space for tightening tools, prestressing tolerance issues, and difficulties in ensuring reproducibility and safety, especially under dynamic stresses and field conditions, where quality and reversibility of assembly are compromised.
Innovation Solution
A method using connecting pieces with flanges and bolts to securely attach arm sections, allowing for reproducible, safe, and maintenance-friendly assembly, with features like transverse holes for nuts and embedded bolts for increased safety and reversibility, and optional aerodynamic covers for improved performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If longitudinal bolts with nuts in transverse holes are used to hold arm sections together, then the arm sections can be assembled, but there is limited space for the tightening tool at the bolt
Solution Approach 1:
A connecting piece with flanges acts as an intermediary component between arm sections. The connecting piece includes a first flange with a first end surface for bearing against the end surface of a first arm section, and a second flange with a second end surface for bearing against the end surface of a second arm section. The flanges are firmly interconnected and each provided with holes for bolts, allowing proper tool access while distributing structural functions.
2Manufacturing precision
If prestressed metal straps with eccentric bolts are used to hold arm sections together, then the arm sections can be assembled, but the prestressing tolerance is limited and correct prestressing is difficult to ensure due to great friction
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the prestressed metal strap system with a bolted flange connection system. Instead of relying on prestressed straps with eccentric bolts that suffer from friction, the invention uses bolts that pass through holes in the flanges and are fastened to nuts fitted in transverse holes in the arm shells, eliminating the friction problem and improving prestressing precision.
3Reliability
If glued-on overlapping plates are used to hold arm sections together, then the arm sections can be joined, but the joint quality cannot be ensured under field conditions and the arm cannot be separated again
Solution Approach 1:
The connecting piece is designed as a separate, removable component that segments the assembly process. The flanges with bolt holes allow the connection to be made and undone in discrete steps, enabling reversibility. This contrasts with glued joints that are permanent and cannot be separated without destructive cutting.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the chemical bonding method (gluing) with a mechanical fastening system using bolts and nuts. This substitution allows the joint to be made and unmade repeatedly under field conditions without requiring controlled environments, ensuring both quality reproducibility and reversibility.
4Ease of repair
If arm sections are assembled using conventional methods, then the arm can be constructed, but replacement of outer sections requires disassembly of inner parts
Solution Approach 1:
The connecting piece design with standardized flanges and bolt connections creates modular segments that can be independently replaced. The first flange connects to the first arm section and the second flange connects to the second arm section, allowing outer sections to be detached and replaced without affecting inner sections, as each connection is independent and accessible.
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
Ensures reliable and safe assembly of windmill arms under field conditions, allowing for easy replacement of outer sections without disassembling inner parts and enabling reversible assembly, thus addressing the limitations of previous methods.
Implementation Method 1
Each connecting piece is provided with a first flange for attachment to the end surface of the first arm section and a second flange for attachment to the end surface of the second arm section, the first and the second flange each being provided with at least one hole for one or more bolts, and this bolt or these bolts connecting each arm section to the adjacent flange.
Data Source
AI summary
Method and connecting piece for assembling a first and a second arm section in extension of one another in order thus to form at least a part of an arm, preferably a windmill arm, where two arm sections are connected to at least one connecting piece for mounting between the two arm sections. The connecting piece is provided with a first flange for attachment to the end of the first arm section and a second flange for attachment to the end of the second arm section, the first and the second flange being firmly interconnected. The first and the second flange are each provided with at least one hole for a bolt which extends through the hole from the connecting piece and into the adjacent arm section, this bolt or these bolts securing each arm section to the adjacent flange.