NIP #250 - Material Development
#250 - Material Development
However difficult, he had to keep going. Lasers were a very important branch of future science and one of the core technologies of semiconductor production.
For example, the DUV light source in the main world was an excimer laser, while EUV light was produced by high-energy lasers bombarding metallic tin droplets.
These were all things related to lasers. If Ren Zhong wanted to start the development of semiconductors in advance, he couldn't do without the development of these basic sciences, let alone the most basic raw materials of these basic sciences.
Just like with aero engines, when they evolved from propellers to jets, the requirements for materials instantly jumped an era.
Currently, Ren Zhong was already producing a world-class Merlin 1650-V12 engine.
He had even produced more than 20 P-51D Mustang fighters to supplement the defensive forces in the base area's airspace.
The monthly production capacity had gradually climbed from the initial two to about ten.
The Rogue Eagle's P-51D Mustang fighter also employed many innovative technologies, including the first use of a laminar flow wing. In addition, engineers used plastics on many traditional glass and metal components.
By using plastic components, they reduced the aircraft's weight by more than 400 jin, making the aircraft very agile.
By using high-shear rivets, the Mustang fighter further reduced its weight by more than 400 jin, enough to fit a 321.76-liter fuel tank, because the weight of 321.76 liters was almost exactly more than 400 jin.
Lightweight materials also helped to improve productivity. For example, a plastic instrument vacuum manifold could produce two units per minute.
When manufactured with aluminum, it took nearly an hour of processing time to make one unit.
Ren Zhong was working hard to complete these innovations. For example, now that engineering plastics had been produced, they could replace many non-load-bearing structural parts on the fighter planes. Compared with metal parts, plastic parts were processed more quickly and could be rapidly formed by heating and machining.
In addition, the methyl formate industrial manufacturing process had now been researched and put into production, which meant that the manufacturing of plexiglass was about to enter mass production. Such materials would reduce the large-scale application of glass for fighter cockpit covers, increasing the lifespan of the cockpit cover and reducing weight.
The current version of the P51D was actually different from the original Rogue Eagle version, and many materials had been used as substitutes before.
Therefore, in terms of production capacity, the border area's aircraft manufacturing plant was still far behind the Rogue Eagle North American factory's peak monthly production capacity of 570 aircraft.
However, with the maturity of materials, the production and installation efficiency of many parts would be greatly improved.
According to calculations, after optimizing the production process and materials in the future, the production capacity of the P51D was expected to increase to 50 units per month.
This was basically the limit of the production capacity arranged by the 10,000-ton hydraulic press.
If further improvement was needed, a second 10,000-ton hydraulic press would need to be developed.
This task was now placed on the Second Heavy Machinery Plant in Taiyuan.
The construction of the second 10,000-ton hydraulic press was also underway simultaneously.
For this kind of large-scale machinery and equipment, not to mention the large investment, the key construction period was also relatively long, which Ren Zhong found a bit unbearable.
However, for heavy machinery production, this equipment was difficult to bypass, and Ren Zhong had to invest in it despite the difficulties.
The manufacturing expansion of mature equipment was now beyond Ren Zhong's concern. He only needed to put forward the target requirements.
Now Ren Zhong's focus had begun to shift from steel alloys to the development of non-ferrous materials, especially engineering plastics.
As for engineering plastics, it had many branches. The first type that Ren Zhong introduced was polyamide (nylon). This type of engineering plastic, which was relatively simple to produce, was widely used. Typical products included pump impellers, fan blades, valve seats, bushings, bearings, various dashboards, automobile electrical instruments, hot and cold air conditioning valves, and other parts. These were industrial applications. In fact, it was also very widely used in clothing. Nylon fibers had excellent elasticity and tensile properties, so nylon sportswear had excellent adaptability and comfort. As for black silk stockings, everyone knew about them, but due to the limited production capacity, Ren Zhong couldn't consider the application in clothing for the time being.
The second type introduced was polyoxymethylene (POM). This plastic had hardness, strength, and rigidity similar to metal. It also had good self-lubrication and good fatigue resistance in a wide range of temperature and humidity. It could replace zinc, brass, aluminum, and steel to make many parts. Since its introduction in the main world, POM had been widely used in electronics, machinery, instruments, daily light industry, automobiles, building materials, agriculture, and other fields. In this time and space, it was basically still a laboratory product. In terms of aspects, this product was synthesized in 1939, and DuPont applied for a patent in 1942, but large-scale mass production had to wait until 1959 to overcome many production process problems.
However, because Ren Zhong seriously lacked zinc, brass, and aluminum, he tried to buy a complete factory production process from the 1970s from the main world at a cost. Although it was outdated compared to the main world, it was better because Ren Zhong could use the technology and equipment of the Bright Sword world to replicate this production process. If it were a new process from the 1980s and 1990s, some equipment could not be found or manufactured in the Bright Sword world.
The third option Ren Zhong chose was polycarbonate (PC, also known as organic glass). This plastic possesses strength similar to non-ferrous metals while also having ductility and toughness. Its transparency is excellent, and it can be colored in any way, making it the best alternative to glass. It is widely used in transparent protective panels, skylights, high-rise building glass, automotive reflectors, windshields, and aircraft cockpit glass. Currently, the most important application is aircraft cockpits, which are essentially a necessity.
This product was discovered and synthesized in the 1930s, and a patent was filed in 1941. However, due to the complexity of mass production processes, industrial-scale mass production did not truly begin until 1960. For Ren Zhong, finding a production line from the 1970s is not difficult. He acquired a complete set of industrial-scale mass production designs for just over ten thousand yuan. The slightly more troublesome aspect is that most of the production equipment needs to be manufactured.
This caused the mass production of PC to be slightly delayed. Preliminary mass production work on a production line has just been completed, and the first batch of PC material has been produced. Looking at the first cockpit canopy produced, it is more rounded than a glass cockpit canopy, has less air resistance, and has a more streamlined shape.
For Ren Zhong's industrialization, these engineering plastics are indispensable.
However, that is far from enough. Next is polyphenylene sulfide (PPS). This material has stable properties and good insulation. Automotive components are the most extensive application area for PPS, mainly used in automotive igniters, sensors, connectors, thermostats, carburetors, carburetor pumps, IGBT modules, IC regulators, temperature regulators, gearboxes, water valves, water tank water chambers, heater vent brackets, bearing brackets, seat bases, oil pan screws, lampshades, bumpers, automotive generator coil skeletons and brackets, exhaust systems, and reflector and car lamp seat components. It can replace metal in the manufacture of exhaust pipe circulation valves and water pump impellers, pneumatic signal regulators, etc.
Secondly, PPS materials used in electronics and electrical appliances account for about 30%, mainly used for micro-electronic component packaging, connectors, terminals, IC sockets, coil skeletons, brush holders, motor housings, electromagnetic regulating discs, television tuner shafts, relays, trimmer capacitors, capacitor housings, rotor insulation components, fuse holders, tape recorders, magnetic therapy devices, and other components.
Finally, in mechanical and chemical applications: used as bearings, pumps, valves, pistons, precision gears, acid and alkali resistant valve pipes, pipe fittings, valves, gaskets, and submersible pumps or impellers, and other corrosion-resistant components.
Polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) has high insulation and temperature resistance. As one of the five general-purpose engineering plastics, it is mainly used in PBT modification, PBT fiber drawing, film drawing, PBT fiber optic sheathing, and other fields. After enhancement and modification, it can be widely used in automobile manufacturing, electronics and electrical appliances, instruments and meters, lighting appliances, household appliances, textiles, and other industrial fields.
It can be said that the introduction of these engineering plastics in this era has revolutionary effects.
In addition to building an engineering plastics chemical plant in the border area, Ren Zhong does not want to spread these technologies yet. After having a good external environment, he will begin to register patents and promote these technologies for global application. It should be known that the application range of these engineering plastics is so wide, and the future commercial prospects are so great, that people cannot imagine them now.
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But relative to secrecy, Ren Zhong would rather endure these troubles.
After all, the headquarters of the Dawn Research Institute in the border area is now a strictly supervised confidential unit, with the highest level of security protection and confidentiality requirements in the border area.
Now there, there is still a guard team of hundreds of people. Entry and exit are done with one person and one certificate. Most of the workers live independently in the family compound provided by the factory and have little contact with the outside world.
It's like a complete closed small society. At this stage, people still have a strong sense of mission and have no objection to this kind of life.
As for the top-secret rocket/missile and peaceful nuclear device research departments, for the researchers, it is almost a state of isolation from the world. Each of them is very self-aware.
Knowing that this information is already related to the rise and fall of the nation, in order to avoid leaking secrets, they would rather move to the desert area to become self-contained!
Therefore, after the Japanese devils and the Kuomintang, as well as spies from other parties, attacked the Yanjiao Japanese devil airport for the second time in the border area, they exhausted their minds to get through the news, but they did not have much gain.
Including many black hands that stretched towards the Dawn Research Institute, most of them were also cut off. According to the confidentiality conditions and review requirements, this part of the work is jointly guaranteed by the 8th Regiment of the Garrison and the security department of the Dawn Research Institute, and their superiors are the staff headquarters of the border area, directly under the hand of Chief of Staff Ye.
Under such high-level security, the secrets of the Dawn Research Institute have been preserved to the greatest extent.
Although it is inevitable that some news will be leaked, for the secrets of the Dawn Research Institute, this is already the least amount of information leakage.
In addition to the development of non-metallic materials, Ren Zhong's development of high-temperature strength nickel-based alloys has now achieved certain results in the laboratory.
Ren Zhong intends to purchase in the main world the first high-temperature strength nickel-based alloy invented by John Bull in the early 1940s, which was successfully developed by adding a small amount of aluminum and titanium to the 80Ni-20Cr alloy. It can withstand a high temperature of about 700 ℃, which is a necessary material for jet engines. At present, the laboratory has achieved the synthesis of crystals, but the processing technology and related methods obtained have not been verified.
For Ren Zhong, this is an opportunity to overtake on a curve. As long as the material is solved, the jet engine will be stable. At least for Ren Zhong, it is not difficult to get the technical data of our first jet engine—the WP-5 engine, because he can directly find the technical data of its original BK-1 φ engine for imitation.
This first domestic jet engine in our main world is a centrifugal, single-rotor, afterburning aero engine, adapted to our first generation jet fighter J-5 (MiG-17). For the current stage, this is enough to beat the opponents.
Coupled with the radar data obtained from the rogue eagle, the combination of the two, if not invincible, is also the ceiling existence at this stage.
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