Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electric machine comprising a laminated stator which has grooves on its outside which extend axially and which are distributed over the entire circumference of the laminated stator. The laminated stator is suspended in a housing by means of longitudinally extending wedges.
Background of the Invention
The mounting of the stack of stator laminations in the machine housing or in the stator frame, respectively, must be designed in such a manner that it can withstand all radial and tangential forces occurring during operation, and especially in the case of a short circuit, without having to use elaborate machining and/or assembly techniques.
From DE-B2 No. 2,042,561, a turbo-generator having a laminated stack is known in which the laminated stack is suspended on its outside by means of dovetail-shaped wedges extending in its longitudinal direction in a housing, the dovetail-shaped wedges being joined via screw bolts to a wedge carrier which extends parallel to them and is fixed at the housing.
The wedge carriers partially engage recesses at the outside of the stack of stator laminations, resting without play against the recesses, and are designed to be tapered at the part engaging the inside of the stack of stator laminations. In this arrangement, the tapering of the wedge carriers is designed to be arc-shaped. The screw bolts are kept under constant tension by means of spring means supported on the wedge carriers. The wedge carriers are firmly joined to a stator frame arranged inside the housing.
This electric machine is produced in such a manner that first the stack of stator laminations is assembled and pressed together in the axial direction by means of compression plates arranged at its faces, after which the wedges are introduced into grooves provided on the outside of the stack of stator laminations and are clamped, by means of wedge carriers resting against contact faces provided on the outer surface of the stack of stator laminations, by means of the screw bolts. After that the stack of stator laminations clamped in such a manner by the wedges, wedge carriers, and compression plates is introduced into the stator frame and, after being centered with respect to the stator frame, the wedge carriers and the stator frame are firmly joined.
The known construction and arrangement of the wedge carriers ensures that the contact between housing and stack of stator laminations is free from play and is suitable for absorbing forces in the radial and circumferential directions. Simultaneously, the wedges and the screw bolts associated with them are completely relieved of circumferential forces. In addition, they can be retightened at any time.
In DE-B2 No. 2,042,561, the laminated stack is completed in its entirety outside the housing. After the wedges have been introduced and the wedge carriers have been clamped to the stack of stator laminations, the axially clamped stack of stator laminations is introduced into the stator frame and firmly joined to the latter. It is only after this that the stator frame and laminated stack are built into the housing.
In electric machines in which the laminated stack is laminated directly into the housing, the method of proceeding as described above cannot be applied in practice. The frictional connection between the housing and the laminated stack must be made only after the laminated stack has been compressed and consolidated, since otherwise the laminations would no longer be able to shift at the back of the laminated stack. In addition, all mounting points would have to be accessible from the outside over the entire iron length and over the entire circumference, and that in turn would necessitate a very large number of closable openings in the pressure-tight housing jacket.
Object of the Invention
Starting from the prior art as described above, the invention is based on the object of creating an electric machine of the type initially mentioned, in which the stack of stator laminations can be directly laminated into the machine housing and the frictional connection between the laminated stack and the housing can be established after compressing and consolidating the laminated stack without having to provide mounting openings in the housing jacket.
Summary of the Invention
The invention provides for a connection of the laminated stack with the housing which is free from play and frictionally connected and which can be accomplished exclusively from the front sides of the housing after the pressing and consolidating process. This is of great advantage, particularly with hydrogen-cooled electric machines where each opening in the housing jacket would have to be sealed to be H.sub.2 -tight. In the finished mounted and clamped condition, the invention has all positive characteristics of the conventional dovetail wedging (for example according to DE-B2 No. 2,042,561) with respect to the quality of the wedging in the radial and circumferential direction. Depending on the type of the clamping means, it also allows the wedging to be retightened.
The invention is characterised by the following advantages:
Essentially, the laminated stack is radially supported with respect to the housing directly via the centre part of the wedge and that in the circumferential direction via the clamping means. A loosening of the clamping in the circumferential direction thus does not have any direct effect on the quality of the support in the radial direction.
The design of the wedge provides for considerable simplification of the laminating process. As a rule, each layer of lamination consists of several lamination segments which extend in the circumferential direction over two or more wedge carriers. While, in the case of lamination segments having conventional dovetail-shaped recesses and corresponding dovetail-shaped wedges, each individual lamination segment must be pushed from the front over the wedges to the place of installation in the interior of the housing, the lamination segments according to the invention can be lowered to the present position of laminations and there inserted in the radial direction in accordance with the invention.
According to a first embodiment, the clamping means are constructed as double inclined wedges permitting a comparatively simple mechanical clamping, for example by hammer blows. If spring means (preferably constructed as corrugated springs) are arranged between the wedge surfaces, possible settling phenomena can be avoided in operation.
Another construction of the clamping means comprising permanently deformed hollow bodies (for example, thick-walled metal tubes) provides for the simultaneous tightening of all wedges of one groove and, if necessary, even the subsequent retightening of the wedges.
Another alternative construction of the clamping means makes use of a technique which has been successful for years in connection with the wedging of stator windings.
The wedge centre parts may be screwed together with the wedge carriers. Either separate shear bolts or shear bushes, through which the screw bolts are passed, may be used for relieving the screw connection.
The machine housing is normally provided with annular reinforcement ribs which project inwardly and at which the axially extended wedge carriers are mounted, as a rule welded. The wedges are mounted, according to the invention, at the self-supporting section of the wedge carrier between two adjacent reinforcement ribs. This offers the advantage of varying the elasticity of the support between the laminated stack and the housing within certain limits--for example by choice of mounting positions, cross-section, and characterisics of the wedge-carrier material. The wedge carrier then acts as a longitudinal spring.
Brief Description of the Drawings
In the text which follows, the invention is explained in greater detail with the aid of illustrative embodiments and the drawing, in which:
FIG. 1 is a section perpendicular to the axis through the stator of an electric machine,
FIG. 2 shows detail A from FIG. 1 at an enlarged scale,
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal section through a double inclined wedge as clamping means,
FIG. 4 shows a modification of detail B from FIG. 2 comprising an hydraulically permanently deformable tube,
FIG. 5 shows a further modification of detail B from FIG. 2 comprising a synthetic-resin-filled tube as clamping means, and
FIG. 6 is a longitudinal section through the stator of FIG. 1 along its line VI--VI.
Detailed Description of the Presently Preferred Embodiments
A stator housing 1 is provided with annular reinforcement ribs 2 which project inwardly and which are provided with perforations 3 for conducting the cooling gas. The reinforcement ribs 2 are welded to wedge carriers 4 each one of which extends over the entire length of iron. U-shaped or flat welding lugs 5 provide for accurate alignment of the wedge carriers 4 in the stator housing 1 (see also FIG. 6). A laminated stack built up of lamination segments 6a, 6b and 6c is designated by the reference number 6. Each lamination segment 6a, 6b, 6c extends in the circumferential direction over three wedge carriers 4 in the case shown. The laminated stack 6 has at its outer circumference uniformly distributed grooves 7. The section, at the back of the laminations, of each groove 7 has a dovetail-shaped profile. Each groove 7 is tapered towards the bottom of the groove. Each wedge is multi-part and consists of a wedge centre part 8 having a neck-shaped cross-section and clamping means, arranged in pairs, in the form of two double-inclined wedges 9 comprising wedge halves 9a and 9b.
The wedge centre part 8 has two triangular grooves which extend symmetrically with respect to its longitudinal axis and the side walls of which are designated by 10, 11 and are perpendicular to each other. Groove 7 has two additional triangular grooves defined by side walls designated as 12 and 12', which are perpendicular to each other. The groove side wall 11 extends plane-parallel to the side wall 12 of the dovetail-shaped section of the groove 7 and forms one contact area of the double inclined wedge 9. The side wall 12 forms the other contact area of the double inclined wedge 9. The other side wall 10 of the triangular groove extends approximately plane-parallel with respect to the inward-tapering section of the groove 7. The hollow rectangular space or duct formed in this manner and extending over the entire axial length of the wedge is virtually completely filled by the double inclined wedge 9.
The wedge centre part 8 is mounted on the wedge carrier 4 by means of a screw bolt 13. Correspondingly thick shims 14 permit the wedges to be accurately aligned with respect to the wedge carrier 4. To absorb forces in the circumferential direction, a shear bush 15 can be provided (see FIG. 6) through which the screw bolt 13 is passed. Naturally, separate shear bolts can also replace the shear bush.
The bottom of the groove 7 can be arc-shaped or level. The lamiated-stack-side end of the wedge centre part 8 has a contour which matches the bottom of the groove 7. The radial flow of force from the laminated stack 6 to the housing 1 essentially occurs via the wedge centre part 8, the shims 14, and the wedge carrier 4 to the reinforcement ribs 2.
As can be seen from FIG. 6, the axial length of the support area of the wedge at the wedge carrier 4 is smaller by a multiple than the axial distance between two adjacent reinforcement ribs 2. The radial elasticity of the support of the laminated stack 6 with respect to the housing 1 can be adjusted by choice of the mounting point of the wedge centre part 8 at the wedge carrier 4 and/or by choice of material and cross-section of the wedge carrier 4, since the wedge carrier 4 acts as a longitudinal spring.
FIG. 6 also shows the function of the U-shaped welding lugs 5, each of which has two limbs 5a, 5b and a joining web 5c. The two limbs 5a, 5b enclose the inside end of the reinforcement ribs 2. The joining web 5c can be kept comparatively thin. When the wedge carrier 4 is welded into the (empty) machine housing, the ends of the reinforcement ribs 2 enter more or less deeply into the welding lugs. After alignment of the wedge carriers 4, the welding lugs 5 are welded, on the one hand, to the reinforcement ribs 2 and, on the other hand, to the wedge carriers 4.
Together with the wedge centre parts 8, the double inclined wedges 9 support the laminated stack 6 in the circumferential direction. Any settling phenomena occurring after the wedging can be prevented a priori by interposing spring means, for example a corrugated spring 16, between the two wedge halves 9a, 9b (FIG. 3).
Instead of double inclined wedges, other clamping means can also be used. Thus, FIG. 4 shows a thick-walled metal tube 17 having a rectangular cross-section, which is inserted into the hollow space between the wedge centre part 8 and the laminated stack 6 and is widened by hydraulic means. In this arrangement, the material of the tube is chosen in such a manner that it plastically deforms when pressure is applied.
FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of a clamping means. In this case, a deformable tube 18 is inserted into the hollow space between the wedge centre part 8 and the laminated stack 6. The deformable tube 18 is filled with a hardenable synthetic resin 19, the synthetic resin 19 having been cured under pressure.
The stator is assembled in the following steps:
The wedge carriers 4 are welded into the (empty) stator housing 1, using welding gauges.
The wedge centre parts 8 are screwed to the positions provided for the purpose, if necessary by interposing the shims 14 and separate shear bolts. Laminations are inserted into the stator housing 7, arranged vertically, in which arrangement the laminations can be essentially radially inserted since the wedge centre parts 8 also become narrower towards the groove bottoms and play d is provided (FIG. 2).
After insertion of the laminations, the laminated stack 6 is clamped in the axial direction with stator compression plates and compression anchors by means of tension bolts 20. This is followed by insertion of the double inclined wedges 9, which are pushed to the intended installed location and wedged to the leading wedge half by hammer blows.