Operational Stability Control Technology for Gravity Blocks in Gravity Compressed Air Energy Storage Systems

To address the attitude instability of kiloton-scale gravity blocks under high-pressure gas, this study reveals the influence mechanism of guide rail parallelism errors on guiding forces through physical modeling. Utilizing a 1:10 scaled model (total block mass: 6,102.2 kg; stroke: 2.131 m), we quantitatively characterize rail parallelism distribution features (maximum fluctuation range: −2 to 1.71 mm), identifying a “narrow-center, wide-ends” gradient distribution pattern between front rail surfaces. Results demonstrate that coupling between parallelism gradient errors and block tilt induces extreme guide force deviations (64.04 t at design spring stiffness). We propose a collaborative spring stiffness-preload optimization method, determining an optimal spring stiffness of 0.45 × 10 7 N/m and a four-layer preload configuration (0/0/10/10 t). This solution reduces guide force deviation extrema by >56% while maintaining continuous wheel-rail contact throughout operation. The proposed strategy eliminates instability risks arising from coupled seal membrane buckling and rail errors, providing critical technical foundations for engineering applications.