Design and Verification of Wall-climbing Robot for Wind Turbine Tubular Tower Based on Strong Adhesion Characteristics

In the field of wind turbine tubular tower maintenance, there is a scarcity of research findings concerning the loading design of wall-climbing robots, which cannot fully meet the demands of wind turbine tubular tower maintenance scenarios. To address this issue, a prototype of a robot for wind turbine tubular tower based on strong adhesion characteristics was developed through static analysis and magnetic module optimization design. The design of the mobile and drive units was carried out, while the optimal track material and drive wheel module were selected. The minimum adhesion force requirements for the robot to avoid static slippage and longitudinal overturning were calculated with multi-working-condition force analysis. By using the control variable method, the influence of various structural parameters of the permanent magnet module on the adhesion force was analyzed. A continuous nonlinear programming algorithm was proposed to optimize these structural parameters, thereby determining the optimal magnetic product ratio of the permanent magnet module. Finally, tests were conducted on the prototype to evaluate its loading capacity for both the robot body and cleaning tooling on Q235 steel plate walls and in simulated environments. Research results demonstrate that the designed robot can remain stable without slipping or overturning on a wind turbine tubular tower with an inclination angle of 89.4°. It has a rated loading capacity (measured by mass) of up to 80 kg, meeting the practical maintenance requirements of wind farms.