Wind power is considered one of the cleanest, most environmentally friendly energy sources presently available, and wind turbines have gained increased attention in this regard. A modern wind turbine typically includes a tower, a generator, a gearbox, a nacelle, and a rotor having a rotatable hub with one or more rotor blades. The rotor blades capture kinetic energy of wind using known airfoil principles. The rotor blades transmit the kinetic energy in the form of rotational energy so as to turn a shaft coupling the rotor blades to a gearbox, or if a gearbox is not used, directly to the generator. The generator then converts the mechanical energy to electrical energy that may be deployed to a utility grid.
In many instances, a wind turbine tower is formed from an assembly of individual tower segments or sections. For example, a plurality of unassembled tower sections may be transported to the proposed site of the wind turbine. The individual tower sections may then be stacked on one top of the other so as to form a hollow structure extending between the base of the wind turbine and the nacelle.
Due to an incident occurring during transport of the tower sections to the field and/or due to mishandling of the tower sections prior to or following transport to the field, a tower section may become dented at one or more locations along its outer circumference. For example, a portion of the tower section may be dented inwardly relative to the outer circular profile of the tower section. In such instance, to prevent the inwardly extending dent from forming a weak spot or buckling point for the tower being assembled, it is common practice to attempt to repair the dent. In this regard, dent repair systems are known that are designed to repair the dent by pushing the dent outwardly from the interior of the tower section. However, such conventional dent repair systems are often difficult to install within the tower section and/or do not provide adequate mechanical support for the system components as the dent is being pushed outwardly. In addition, dent repair systems to date correspond to open-loop or non-feedback systems. As a result, conventional dent repair systems lack the ability to provide for an actively controlled dent repair process.
Accordingly, an improved system and method for repairing a dent formed in a wind turbine tower section, as well as a related dent repair tool, would be welcomed in the technology.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds