Tower vibration damper

Abstract

The present invention relates to a wind turbine tower comprising a tower vibration damper (100) with a tuned mass damper and one or more impact damping units (113, 114, 115, 200, 300, 400). The tuned mass damper comprises a pendulum structure (101, 208), a chamber connecting a friction media (112) to the pendulum structure (101, 208) is at least partly immersed, and a suspension arrangement (103-111) suspending the pendulum structure (101, 208) inside the wind turbine tower such that the pendulum structure (101) is allowed to displace from a neutral position towards the outer boundary (102) of the chamber. The impact damping units (113, 114, 115, 200, 300, 400) are positioned between the pendulum structure (101, 208) and the outer boundary (102), such that the outer boundary (102) of the chamber and the pendulum structure (101, 208) may collide via the impact damping units (113, 114, 115, 200, 300, 400).

Claims

1. A wind turbine tower comprising a tower vibration damper, the tower vibration damper comprising a tuned mass damper comprising: a pendulum structure suspended inside the wind turbine tower, a chamber comprising an outer boundary, the chamber connecting a friction media to the pendulum structure, and a suspension arrangement suspending the pendulum structure at least partially inside the chamber such that the pendulum structure is allowed to displace from a neutral position towards the outer boundary of the chamber, and an impact damper comprising: one or more impact damping units laterally positioned between the pendulum structure and the outer boundary of the chamber so as to provide an opening either between the pendulum structure and the one or more impact units or between the outer boundary of the chamber and the one or more impact units when the pendulum structure is in the neutral position, wherein the impact damper is adapted to be deactivated in order to prevent collision of the outer boundary and the pendulum structure via the impact damper.

2. The wind turbine tower according to claim 1, wherein the friction media is a damping liquid, and the outer boundary of the chamber has a bottom part extending between wall parts of the outer boundary, the chamber holding the damping liquid into which the pendulum structure is at least partly immersed.

3. The wind turbine tower of claim 1, wherein the pendulum structure includes an upper rim and a lower rim, the one or more impact damping units being position between the upper rim and the lower rim.

4. The wind turbine tower according to claim 1, wherein the impact damper is adapted to be deactivated by removing or relocating at least one of the impact damper units, changing the shape and/or dimensions of at least one of the impact damper units, or by rotating the pendulum structure relative to the outer boundary of the chamber.

5. The wind turbine tower according to claim 1, wherein the one or more impact damping units are detachably secured to the pendulum structure.

6. The wind turbine tower according to claim 1, wherein the one or more impact damping units are suspended from an upper rim of the pendulum structure.

7. The wind turbine tower according to claim 1, wherein the number of impact damping units is larger than two.

8. The wind turbine tower according to claim 7, wherein the impact damping units are evenly distributed around a centre axis of the pendulum structure and/or around a centre axis of the wind turbine tower.

9. The wind turbine tower according to claim 1, wherein each impact damping unit comprises one or more resilient fenders each having a durometer hardness of at least Shore 50A.

10. The wind turbine tower according to claim 9, wherein each impact damping unit comprises oppositely arranged first and second resilient fenders, wherein the first resilient fender faces the pendulum structure, and wherein the second resilient fender faces the outer boundary of the chamber.

11. The wind turbine tower according to claim 1, wherein the outer boundary of the chamber is formed by a part of a wind turbine tower wall.

12. The wind turbine tower according to claim 1, wherein the suspension arrangement comprises a plurality of wires for suspending the pendulum structure, and tuning means configured for adjusting the natural frequency of the suspended pendulum structure, the tuning means comprising, for each of said plurality of wires, a clamp secured to the wind turbine tower at one end and to the wire at the other end, wherein the securing of the clamp is configured such that the clamp is movable along a longitudinal direction of the wire.

13. A method of damping tower vibrations in a wind turbine tower, the method comprising the steps of providing a tuned mass damper comprising: a pendulum structure suspended inside the wind turbine tower, a chamber comprising an outer boundary, the chamber connecting a friction media to the pendulum structure, and the outer boundary of the chamber has a bottom part extending between wall parts of the outer boundary, the chamber holding a damping liquid into which the pendulum structure is at least partly immersed, and a suspension arrangement, for suspending the pendulum structure at least partially inside the chamber such that the pendulum structure is allowed to displace from a neutral position towards the outer boundary of the chamber, during assembly, storage, transport and/or installation of the wind turbine tower, providing an impact damper comprising: one or more impact damping units laterally positioned between the pendulum structure and the outer boundary of the chamber so as to create an opening either between the pendulum structure and the one or more impact units or between the outer boundary of the chamber and the one or more impact units when the pendulum is in the neutral position, wherein the impact damper is adapted to be deactivated in order to prevent collision of the outer boundary and the pendulum structure via the impact damper, and activating the impact damper during assembly, storage, transport and/or installation of the wind turbine tower.

14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising the step of dismantling the impact damper when the wind turbine tower is no longer during assembly, storage, transport and/or installation.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The present invention will now be described in further details with reference to the accompanying figures, wherein

(2) FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of the tower vibration damper of the present invention,

(3) FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of an impact damping unit positioned between a pendulum structure and a wind turbine tower wall in order to transfer tower wall displacement to the pendulum structure,

(4) FIG. 3 shows a 3D perspective of an impact damping unit,

(5) FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of an impact damping unit,

(6) FIG. 5 shows side and top views an impact damping unit,

(7) FIG. 6 shows reduced wind tower vibrations as a result of impact damping units, and

(8) FIG. 7 shows various modes of operation.

(9) While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms specific embodiments have been shown by way of examples in the drawings and will be described in details herein. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(10) In its broadest aspect the present invention relates to a tower vibration damper comprising a tuned mass damper and one or more impact damping units configured for transferring displacements of the tower structure through impact between the impact damping units and a tower wall and/or a tuned mass damper. The tower vibration damper with the impact damping units of the present invention is particular suitable for damping vortex induced vibrations during assembly, storage, transport, installation and/or operation of wind turbine towers. The overall response of the tower vibration damper at low wind speeds follows a tuned mass damper behaviour, whereas the overall response at higher wind speeds follows a combined tuned mass damper and impact damper behaviour as a result of shifted resonance frequencies. At high wind speeds the overall response of the tower vibration damper follows a regular 1-degrees-of-freedom (DOF) response for combined masses.

(11) As vortex induced vibrations are most pronounced before the nacelle is installed, at least the one or more impact damping units of the tower vibration damper of the present invention may be temporarily installed and operated in wind turbine towers during assembly, storage, transport and/or installation thereof. The one or more impact damping units may then be dismantled after the entire wind turbine generator has been assembled and reused in another tower. The tuned mass damper maintains its operation after the wind turbine generator has been assembled, but without the impact damping units because the frequency characteristics of the wind tower changes when the nacelle and rotor are installed.

(12) In an embodiment of the invention the impact damping units are composed of an inflatable structure (not shown). Examples of such an inflatable structure include but are not limited to air bellows balls and tires. In this embodiment the impact damping units may be permanently installed and inflated to activate and deflated to deactivate. The impact damping structure can be suspended from the wind tower wall or from the tuned mass damper.

(13) In a further embodiment of the invention the impact damping units are attached to the wind tower wall as a plurality of protrusions (not shown). The tuned mass damper is configured with a shape that allows for adjustment of the distance to the impact damping units as the tuned mass damper is rotated about the longitudinal axis of the wind tower. For example, the pendulum could be polygonal. When the corners of the polygonal pendulum are aligned with the impact damping units attached to the wind tower wall the distance is at its minimum and the impact damping units are thus active. When the pendulum is rotated about the longitudinal axis of the tower the distance increases and the impact damping units become inactive.

(14) Referring now to FIG. 1 a side view of an embodiment 100 of the present invention is depicted. FIG. 1 shows a cylindrically shaped pendulum structure 101 being suspended in three wires 103, 104, 105. The weight of the pendulum structure is determined based on the generalized mass of the tower. The length of the wires 103, 104, 105 sets the natural frequency of the vibration damper. Thus, by varying the length of the wires 103, 104, 105 the natural frequency of the cylindrically shaped pendulum structure may be altered and thereby tailored to specific demands.

(15) In the present application the term “length of the wires” relates to the length of the wires that are free to swing, i.e. the distance between the suspension point where the wire is attached to the tower structure or an intermediate fixation point and the pendulum structure. Common for a suspension point and a fixation point is that the wire is fixed at least in relation to lateral displacements. The wire may move angularly below the suspension point or fixation point allowing the pendulum structure to swing.

(16) In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1 the length of the wires 103, 104, 105 may be altered by moving the respective wire fixations arrangements 106, 107, 108 up and down, i.e. along the longitudinal direction of the wires 103, 104, 105. The natural frequency of the pendulum structure is tuned by adjusting the length of the wires 103, 104, 105 and tuned to be lower that the natural frequency of the wind turbine tower. The three wires 103, 104, 105 are attached to the pendulum structure via brackets 109, 110, 111, respectively.

(17) As depicted in FIG. 1 the pendulum structure 101 is at least partly positioned in a chamber or bath containing a damping liquid 112. The pendulum structure 101 is at least partly immersed into this damping liquid 112 in order to damp sidewalls movements of the pendulum structure.

(18) The suspended pendulum structure 101, the wires 103, 104, 105 including the wire fixations arrangements 106, 107, 108 as well as the chamber or bath containing a damping liquid 112 are permanently installed in the wind turbine tower and should thus also be used for damping purposes during normal operation of the wind turbine.

(19) As indicated in FIG. 1 the impact damping units 113, 114, 115, of which three are visible in FIG. 1, are detachably secured to the pendulum structure 101. The impact damping units 113, 114, 115 are, as seen in FIG. 1, positioned between the pendulum structure 101 and a wind turbine tower wall 102. The tower vibration damper thus comprises a tuned mass damper in the form of the pendulum structure 101 and a number of impact damping units 113, 114, 115. The number of impact damping units may be selected to fulfil certain requirements. Also, the angular distribution of the impact damping units may be chosen to fulfil such requirements. A possible implementation of an impact damping unit is disclosed in relation to FIGS. 2-5.

(20) The tower vibration damper of the present invention may be operated in the following three modes of operation: 1) Non-colliding mode of operation (small forces on tower) 2) Collision-limited mode of operation (medium forces on tower) 3) Overwhelmed mode of operation (strong forces on tower)

(21) In the non-colliding mode of operation, the displacements of the wind turbine tower wall 102 are too small to engage the impact damping units 113, 114, 115 leading to a regular 2-DOF response of the wind turbine tower. In the collision-limited mode of operation the impact damping units 113, 114, 115 momentarily engage with the wind turbine tower wall 102 which effectively limits the wind turbine tower response. In the overwhelmed mode of operation, the pendulum structure 101 essentially follows the displacements of the wind turbine tower leading to a regular 1-DOF response of the wind turbine tower. The principle of operation will be disclosed in further details in connection with FIG. 7.

(22) The tower vibration damper of the present invention is adapted to be installed at a position as high as possible inside a vertical wind turbine tower. Typically, an installation of the tower vibration damper within the upper ⅓ of a vertical wind turbine tower will provide effective damping of tower vibrations.

(23) Turning now to FIG. 2 an example of an impact damping unit 200 detachably secured to a pendulum structure 208 is depicted. As seen in FIG. 2 the impact damping unit 200 is positioned between the pendulum structure 208 and the wind turbine tower wall 209, forming part of the outer boundary of the chamber. The impact damping unit 200 comprises a base element 201 having two oppositely arranged resilient fenders 202, 203 secured thereto. The base element 201 may be made of metal, whereas the resilient fenders 202, 203 are made of a softer material having a durometer hardness of 30 to 100 or at least Shore 50A, such as Shore 60A, such as Shore 70A, such as Shore 80A. Each fender may have a durometer hardness of at most Shore 85A, such as at most Shore 80A. A threaded rod 204 is secured to the base element 201 using an appropriate number of nuts. An eye structure 205 is secured to the threaded rod 204 which allows that the impact damping unit 200 may be suspended in a wire 206 having an adjusted length in order to adapt to the height of the pendulum structure 208. A bracket 207 is detachably secured to the pendulum structure 208 and the wire 206 is secured to the bracket 207 via a shackle.

(24) An opening 210 of typically a few centimetres is allowed between the resilient fender 202 and the wind turbine tower wall 209 when the pendulum is in neutral position. Thus, by installing the impact damping unit 200 as depicted in FIG. 2 the displacement capabilities of the pendulum structure 208 is significantly reduced. The size of the opening 210 may be tailored to specific demands, i.e. it may be tailored at which vibration level the wind turbine tower wall 209 should collide with the resilient fender 202.

(25) At small displacements of the wind turbine tower wall 209, i.e. in the non-colliding mode of operation, the tower wall 209 will not engage with the resilient fender 202 of the impact damping unit 200. At larger displacements of the tower wall 209, i.e. in the collision-limited mode of operation, the tower wall 209 will momentarily engage with the resilient fender 202 of the impact damping unit 200. At even larger displacements of the tower wall 209, i.e. in the overwhelmed mode of operation, the pendulum structure 208 essentially follows the displacements of the wind turbine tower wall 209. The opening 210 should ideally be dimensioned in a manner so that entry into the overwhelmed mode of operation during assembly, storage, transport and/or installation thereof is avoided. As previously addressed the one or more impact damping units 200 may be dismantled after the entire wind turbine generator has been assembled and reused in another wind turbine tower.

(26) In general, it should be noted that the impact damping unit 200 shown in FIG. 2 can be detachably secured in a different manner as depicted in FIG. 2. For example, the impact damping unit 200 may be secured to the wind turbine tower wall 209 instead of being secured to the pendulum structure 208.

(27) In FIG. 3 an impact damping unit 300 is depicted in a 3-D perspective. As seen in FIG. 3 the impact damping unit 300 comprises a base element 301 and two oppositely arranged (sets of) resilient fenders 302, 303 secured thereto. Resilient fender 302 is adapted to engage with the wind turbine tower, whereas resilient fender 303 is adapted to engage with the pendulum structure. A threaded rod 304 is secured to the base element 301 in one end, and to an eye structure 305 in the other end. Two wires 306, 307 with adjustable lengths are provided for suspending the impact damping unit 300 in respective brackets 308, 309 which are adapted to be detachably secured to an upper rim of the pendulum structure (not shown). As mentioned above the resilient fenders 302, 303 may be made of a material having a durometer hardness of at least Shore 50A, such as Shore 60A, such as Shore 70A, such as Shore 80A. Each fender may have a durometer hardness of at most Shore 85A, such as at most Shore 80A.

(28) FIG. 4 shows a side view perspective of an impact damping unit 400. As previously addressed the impact damping unit 400 comprises a base element 401 and two oppositely arranged resilient fenders 402, 403 secured thereto. Resilient fender 403 is adapted to engage with the wind turbine tower, whereas resilient fender 402 is adapted to engage with the pendulum structure. A threaded rod 404 is secured to the base element 401 in one end, and to an eye structure 405 in the other end. Again, two adjustable wires 406 (one is hidden) are provided for suspending the impact damping unit 400 in respective brackets 408 (one hidden) which are adapted to be detachably secured to an upper rim of the pendulum structure (not shown) via screws 409. The wires 406 are secured to the brackets 408 via respective shackles 407.

(29) FIGS. 5a and 5b show more detailed perspectives of an impact damping unit. Referring now to the front view perspective shown in FIG. 5a two resilient fender portions 501, 502 are secured to a base element (not shown) via bolts/nuts 507. Again, a threaded rod 503 is secured to the base element (not shown) via nuts 505, 506. An eye structure 504 is secured to the threaded rod 503 so that the impact damping unit may be suspended in an adjustable wire (not shown) via said eye structure 504. In the top view perspective shown in FIG. 5b the impact damping unit comprises opposing pairs of resilient fenders 509, 510 and 511, 512 all being secured to the base element 508 via through-going bolts. The eye structure 513 for suspending the impact damping unit is also depicted.

(30) The effect of the tower vibration damper of the present invention is demonstrated in FIG. 6. The time development of two acceleration signals 601, 602 are shown in the upper graph. The two acceleration signals 601, 602 originate from two accelerometers mounted in a wind turbine tower being exposed to a constant wind speed which is capable of inducing vortex vibrations. As the axes of the two accelerometers are slightly angled the two acceleration signals 601, 602 are slightly different too. In order to damp vortex induced vibrations a suspended pendulum structure as well as four evenly distributed impact damping units are arranged in the wind turbine tower. As seen from the two curves 601, 602 in the upper graph of FIG. 6 the acceleration of the wind turbine tower increases until the time reaches approximately 446 seconds. At this point, marked with arrow 603, the impact damping units momentarily engage with the wind turbine tower wall whereby the overall system response changes from a regular tuned mass damper to a combined response involving both a tuned mass damper and an impact damper. This change of response has its origin in a change or shift of natural frequencies of the system. It is clear from the upper graph of FIG. 6 that the accelerations, and thereby the displacements of the wind turbine tower top, die out as a result of the engagement of the impact damping units with the wind turbine tower.

(31) In the lower graph of FIG. 6 two measured frequency spectra 604, 605 are shown. The frequency spectra 604, 605 are derived from the acceleration signals 601, 602, respectively. Two rounded or smoothed resonance peaks 606, 607 are present in each of the spectra 604, 605. The peak 606 originates from the tuned natural frequency of the pendulum structure, whereas the peak 607 originates from the natural frequency of the wind turbine tower. The rounded or smoothed shapes of the peaks are caused by the fact that the system is in the collision-limited mode of operation where the impact damping units momentarily engage with the wind turbine tower wall which effectively reduces the wind turbine tower response.

(32) FIG. 7 illustrates the underlying principle of the tower vibration damper of the present invention. As previously addressed the tower vibration damper may be considered having a tuned mass damper and an impact damper. In the non-colliding mode of operation, the displacements of the wind turbine tower wall are too small to activate and thereby engage the impact damper leading to a regular 2-DOF response of the wind turbine tower, cf. the tower response curve 702 in FIG. 7 where the tower response at the natural frequencies of the pendulum structure and the wind turbine tower are pronounced. In the collision-limited mode of operation the impact damper momentarily engages with the wind turbine tower wall which effectively damps the wind turbine tower response, cf. the tower response curve 703 in FIG. 7 where the tower response at the natural frequencies of the pendulum structure and the wind turbine tower are less pronounced due to damping. In the overwhelmed mode of operation, the pendulum structure essentially follows the displacements of the wind turbine tower leading to a regular 1-DOF response of the wind turbine tower, cf. the tower response curve 704 in FIG. 7 where the tower response at the resulting/combined natural frequency of the pendulum structure and the wind turbine tower is highly pronounced. The overwhelmed mode should therefore be avoided as the positive effect of the impact damper is reduced, and at the situation most to the right of top FIG. 7 the impact damper will not be have any influence on the vibration of the tower.

(33) In the upper graph of FIG. 7 the tower response vs. force amplitude is depicted in the non-colliding, collision-limited and the overwhelmed mode of operations. The upper dotted line 706 illustrates a theoretical 1-DOF tower response in case of an overwhelmed mode of operation, i.e. in the scenario where the pendulum structure essentially follows the displacements of the wind turbine tower. The lower dotted line 707 illustrates a theoretical 2-DOF tower response in case no impact damper is active. The slope of the tower response curve 707 is given by the mass of the pendulum structure and the length of the wires suspending it.

(34) The solid line 701 illustrates the response of the tower vibration damper of the present invention. As seen, the solid line 701 follows the 2-DOF tower response 707 in the non-colliding regime. In the collision-limited regime the tower response is significantly damped compared to the 2-DOF tower response 707, whereas in the overwhelmed regime the tower response takes off and approaches the 1-DOF tower response 706 as expected. It is therefore observed that in the collision limited regime, the impact damper according to the invention is able to keep the tower response to about the level of the non-colliding regime when the force amplitude is increased into the regime which leads to collision between the pendulum structure and the chamber outer boundary via the impact damper despite much higher force amplitude. In practice, this means that it is possible to work in and with the tower for example during assembly, storage, transport and installation of the tower at wind speeds leading to force amplitudes in the second regime, where work would otherwise need to be postponed.

(35) In conclusion, the tower vibration damper of the present invention provides efficient damping of vortex induced tower vibrations by combining a permanently mounted tuned mass damper with one or more detachable impact damping units which when activated significantly reduce vortex generated tower vibrations. The permanently mounted tuned mass damper is intended for damping purposes of the assembled wind turbine generated, whereas the one or more impact damping units are dismounted and reused in another wind turbine tower.

(36) In addition, tests have shown that the changing frequency response by the tower in the collision-limited mode of operation causes the effect of the vortex load, that would otherwise further increase the force amplitude and tower response, to diminish.

(37) The present invention also relates to the use of a tuned mass damper as an impact damper in a wind turbine tower. The tuned mass damper has a pendulum and is operated by allowing the pendulum movement under the influence of the vibration of the tower be damped by a friction media. This movement does in normal operation not involve impacting the pendulum with the outer boundary of the chamber where the preventing is arranged during use as this would change the natural frequency of the tower to which frequency the tuned mass damper may be tuned. Surprisingly, the normal operation of the tuned mass damper was changed into an impact damper by providing impact damping units between the pendulum structure and the outer boundary of the chamber so that the vibration occasionally will lead to impact between the pendulum and the outer boundary of the chamber via the impact damping units and thereby reduce the vortex induced vibration of the tower.