Chapter 349 Titanium Alloy Engine (Part 1)

The glass windows in the workshop are large, and many people outside can see the work inside. In the eyes of these British and Germans, this primitive technique of hand-polishing is too old, primitive and too imprecise to keep up with the development of the times.

However, the piston that was just taken out was obviously polished by the simplest manual method, but just by looking at the mirror polishing on the surface, one can tell that it is definitely a rare boutique. The eyes of the two surveyors are very poisonous. They have seen no less than tens of thousands of similar workpieces, and they can tell at a glance that they are absolutely qualified. After seeing it with experience, and then measuring it with an instrument, the unprecedented precision is even higher than that made by the Mercedes-Benz high-precision machining center.

Looking at such a result, the people who just questioned have completely changed from questioning to worshiping. There were a few old people in the watching team, and they also looked relieved. At that time, they were also experts in manual polishing, but they were slowly replaced by machines later. Guo Tailai's action is equivalent to saving the honor of manual processing for them.

What's even more frightening is that they never saw Guo Tailai use a measuring tool from the beginning to the end. It is said that some masters can know the size just by touching their hands. Some young people have always thought that this is an exaggerated legend. Now they see Guo Tailai's undisguised performance, and they can't help but believe it. It turns out that there really is such a legendary master in this world!

All of this happened under the noses of everyone, and it is impossible for Guo Tailai to cheat, and the people from McLaren and Mercedes-Benz will not allow Guo Tailai to cheat. Until now, McLaren's people really realized how Guo Tailai's prototype car came about, and they believed the scene of Guo Tailai's hand-processing titanium alloy that Matsuyama saw at that time.

When Guo Tailai had been busy for half the morning and came out of the clean room to prepare lunch, a group of technicians from McLaren and Mercedes-Benz who had been waiting at the door spontaneously stood on both sides of the door, with reverence in their eyes, and directed Guo Tailai applauded warmly.

It only took Guo Tailai half a morning to conquer more than a dozen staff present, and there was no doubt about his handwork. On the contrary, everyone has a little more expectation. What kind of wonderful performance will the engine made with such precision have?

For the 3.0V10 engine, Guo Tailai almost completed six pistons in the morning, and finished all the pistons and other small parts in the afternoon. After dinner, Guo Tailai did not rest, but continued to work. The crankshaft and camshaft were completed one after another. Only after the cylinder was left, did he stop.

After a night of rest, the next morning, Guo Tailai built the largest and most complicated cylinder. Although all the parts are polished from rough-machined workpieces, the high-efficiency processing speed of Guo Tailai still surprised the technicians of the two companies.

Next, of course, is assembly. With the cooperation of Long Fei and several technicians from Mercedes-Benz, Guo Tailai still used the most primitive manual method to assemble the whole engine. The total weight of this engine is less than 100 kilograms, and Guo Tailai can actually handle it by himself.

The assembled engine was put on the test bench overnight, connected to the circuit, connected to the oil circuit and started testing. More than a dozen engineers got busy, and the data one after another were released quickly, forming a complete report, which was placed in front of the McLaren team manager and technical director early the next morning.

"The maximum power output has only increased by 4%. The maximum torque has not changed much, but the expected lifespan has increased by 20%." The technical director looked at the data and shook with excitement: "It really works. ?”

"It's just the data on the test bench." The team manager is relatively calm: "It takes one or two stops in the car to see the real effect."

"I'm thinking, if titanium alloys are really used instead of cast iron parts." The technical manager looked at the data and looked forward to: "What kind of improvement will there be?"

The technical director has not been idle these days. When Guo Tailai was busy, he had already led a group of engineers to calculate the possible performance changes after replacing the titanium alloy.

The weight of the engine can definitely be reduced, but the strength of the titanium alloy of the same volume is definitely higher than that of cast iron, and its service life is longer. Or regardless of the reason of life, continue to maintain the existing strength, then the weight can be further reduced. However, for the sake of life, some aluminum alloy parts are also replaced with titanium alloy, and the life will be greatly improved without reducing the weight.

The calculation is the impact of these different directions. Engineers should use past experience to judge and estimate, form quantitative indicators, and hand them over to the team manager and technical director for judgment. Of course, the processing costs of different options are also different, and they also need to be listed at the same time as a cost item for the reference of the superior.

McLaren's team manager and technical director are making decisions, and Mercedes-Benz is also making choices. Unlike McLaren's own calculation of costs, Mercedes-Benz is more straightforward. According to McLaren's thinking, if the engines of some limited models are replaced with high-precision titanium alloys, will local wealthy buyers favor them?

Some high-end models of Mercedes-Benz can directly consider all-titanium alloy engines, which will bring customers a unique sense of dignity. Of course, the price will also be extremely impressive. This item alone can make the difference between two cars with the same configuration but different engine materials be one million dollars or more. Performance will definitely change, but whether customers will accept it is the point. If you want to know this, it is estimated that you have to do some questionnaires among high-end customers.

But before that, whether it is Mercedes-Benz or McLaren, it is necessary to come up with a physical engine to prove that the titanium alloy engine is different. Otherwise, if you talk about it, the engineers understand that there will be performance differences, but it doesn't mean that every customer knows.

"If you need to verify the advantages of the titanium alloy engine." Mercedes-Benz is also very concerned about its reputation as an engine manufacturer in the F1 competition, so after knowing that McLaren has been tempted but is blocked by high costs, He took the initiative to find the McLaren team: "Mercedes-Benz can be responsible for 50% of the cost, but the experimental data must be shared with Mercedes-Benz."

Someone is willing to pay half of the cost, what else can McLaren consider? In particular, Mercedes-Benz has been their engine supplier for the past two years, and they already have a contract with them, so of course there is no problem with data sharing.

"The processing fee is two million US dollars? Four million dollars in total for two machines?" Guo Tailai decided to accept the order without thinking long after hearing McLaren's request. Because Guo Tailai himself also wants to verify the performance of the titanium alloy engine. Is there a better place to test the strength than the F1 field?