Patent ID: 8752337

Claim:
A tower part for a wind turbine comprising: a wall segment including an upper edge, a lower edge, and opposing side edges; and an aperture segment including an upper edge, a lower edge, opposing side edges configured to directly abut said opposing side edges of said wall segment, and at least one aperture, said wall segment and said aperture segment being connected by connecting means, wherein said aperture segment is of a substantially uniform thickness and is thicker than a thickness of said wall segment, wherein said wall segment and said aperture segment form segments of a ring and when connected by said connecting means constitute a full 360° tower ring, with said upper edges of said wall segment and said aperture segment defining an upper end of said tower ring and said lower edges of said wall segment and said aperture segment defining a lower end of said tower ring, said upper and lower ends of said tower ring configured to be connected to additional tower rings located above and below said wall segment and said aperture segment, and wherein said wall segment and said aperture segment define structural supporting elements for said tower ring that operate to support and transfer loads and forces through said tower ring, wherein the connection of said opposing side edges of said wall segment and said aperture segment by said connecting means is the only connection of structural supporting elements between said upper and lower ends of said tower ring in which the connection affects the fatigue limit and strength of said tower ring, and wherein said tower ring includes at least one additional structural supporting element, selected from a group consisting of a door frame and a door, and said at least one additional structural supporting element is connected to said wall segment or said aperture segment in such a manner that the connection does not affect the fatigue limit and strength of said tower ring, thereby avoiding a reduction in fatigue limit of said tower ring that would be caused by welding or other fixed attachment of said at least one additional structural supporting element.