Free Web NovelChapter 811: Chapter 432 Simple and Crude Research and Development Methods_2
For instance, the personnel involved in research and development.
This is mostly classified information; to the outside, only the names of the team leaders would be disclosed. The public would know of the achievement but not who exactly did the R&D, who contributed more, and so on. However, internally, the information was accessible.
The achievement announcement from Steel Plant 307 mentioned "Academician Zhao Yi’s report suggestions", indicating Zhao Yi was the main contributor to the achievement, with He Guilin’s research team as the verifier, "having participated in designing the revised experimental process". The word "design" alone testified to their contribution.
Zhao Yi was the primary contributor, providing "theoretical contributions"; He Guilin’s research team was second, responsible for designing and conducting the experiments that validated the entire process. freewёbnoνel.com
And thus the final results were obtained.
The content of the achievements released by Steel Plant 307 caused a sensation. The two main enhancements to the K03A were "about a 20% improvement in corrosion resistance", and secondly, "a melting point raised to 1431 Celsius".
The role of corrosion resistance in turbine blade materials isn’t as obvious as the melting point but directly relates to the material’s service life. High corrosion resistance ensures a longer service life, but the actual duration would still need empirical validation, as theoretical calculations were somewhat unreliable.
What attracted more attention was "the increase in melting point".
The Aviation Group, which had the greatest interest in the turbine blade materials, was quite surprised and very excited when they saw the announcement. This was because an increase in material melting point also meant that the performance of their self-developed turbine engines would improve, possibly catching up with the international advanced level.
This was crucial for the development of domestic aviation technology.
Chairman Liu Jiankun of the Aviation Group immediately called to congratulate Steel Plant 307 on their latest achievements and then thought of Zhao Yi, filled with satisfaction, "Believing in Zhao Yi was the right choice, after all!"
"Zhao Yi gets involved in the R&D, and immediately there are results!"
"In no time at all!"
The Department of Science and Technology shared this sentiment; earlier, Zhao Yi had applied for a project on R&D of turbine blade alloy materials, choosing nickel-iron alloy as the direction. The project proposal report stated to continue R&D along the lines of K03A, so they authorized funding immediately. Later, they also consulted experts from turbine teams, metallurgical research institutes, and aviation materials research institutes who were renowned in alloy materials, none of whom were optimistic about the R&D direction of nickel-iron alloys.
However, the project had already been approved, and it was too late for regrets, especially since the other party was Zhao Yi, in whom they still had high hopes.
And the result?
In less than a month, under the guidance of Zhao Yi’s suggestions, Steel Plant 307 improved the manufacturing process, significantly enhancing the performance of the K03A.
This was indeed an achievement!
Inside the Department of Science and Technology, they discussed, "I heard that after Academician Zhao received the funds, he spent money on building a metal materials laboratory. I thought it was hopeless, that the money had gone to waste, as if it were merely supporting university infrastructure."
"Unexpectedly, such a quick and significant breakthrough, 20 million, well spent!"
"Truly worth it!"
"The funds shouldn’t all be spent, right? I noticed a few days ago that only over eight million had been reported, mainly for applying for new equipment."
"There’s still twelve million left!"
"With just eight million, an outcome was achieved. Academician Zhao is indeed highly efficient!"
"With the performance-enhanced K03A, our turbine engines can now closely follow the international standard!"
"..." ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
Many people believed that the performance enhancement of the K03A was the result of the project applied for by Zhao Yi.
In reality, Zhao Yi’s research hadn’t even started yet.
He was in the metal materials laboratory, discussing with Shen Binghe about rare metals. Adding rhenium was a new and high-end research topic that required thorough validation.
Zhao Yi was unsure where to start; he needed several ’advisors’ to first validate and design a few experiments to obtain enough data to know how to add rhenium in a way that would enhance the performance of the K03A.
Li Rongmao was in the operation room, adjusting the equipment. New equipment, much like new cars, needed to be run a few times for acclimatization; after the ’warm-up exercise’, it would perform well.
The task of tuning the equipment was quite relaxed, and when he had time, he would sit in front of the computer and follow news from related fields.
Li Rongmao enjoyed this leisurely work environment, which made him feel very relaxed. In just over a week, his whole demeanor had changed.
When browsing the latest news, he came across the announcement made by Steel Plant 307.
"Further improvement in K03A’s performance?"
"Advised by Academician Zhao? A melting point of 1430 Celsius? Are you kidding?"
Li Rongmao’s mouth dropped open in amazement; having worked on alloy material R&D, he knew better than anyone what a concept of 1430 Celsius melting point was. Until now, the highest melting point alloy they had produced for single-crystal nickel alloys was only around 1200 Celsius.
That was already quite high.
It was precisely because they developed a single-crystal nickel alloy with a 1200 Celsius melting point that Peng Engui dared to say to reporters, "Developing a single-crystal nickel alloy to replace the K03A is just a matter of time."
It was still a matter of time.
The difference was that previously the time frame was a few months, a year; after the last improvement, it was three, five years; now it was...
"Ten years?"
"Is it possible?"
"If we are lucky, five years might be possible, but at least five years are needed. If luck is not on our side, not even ten years would suffice!"
Li Rongmao made a judgment, then suddenly thought of something. He had been poached by Zhao Yi to work in the metal materials laboratory with the purpose of undertaking the nickel-iron alloy R&D project. But it seemed the project was already finished?
