Chapter 78, Materials and Materials

Li Fu, Liu Shiying and others looked at the silver-gray engine in front of them as if they were looking at rare treasures. It was about 5 meters long and 1 meter in diameter. It was full of streamlines and faintly glowing, like a product from a science fiction movie. generally.

"Haha, I didn't expect that we could actually create a plasma engine in just over a month. If it weren't for you, Xiao Li, it would have been something we wouldn't have dared to think about. At the beginning, we thought that if we could make some progress within ten years Even though it’s pretty good, it’s only been over a month now.”

Liu Shiying couldn't help but sigh. After spending more than a month with Li Fu, he truly understood how terrible Liu Yi said genius was. There was nothing that Li Fu didn't understand. Many people thought Li Fu could come up with methods that he couldn't even think of, one after another. The entire project progressed at a speed that can be said to be a thousand miles a day.

"Old Liu, thank you for your praise. Without everyone's concerted efforts and the strong support from the country, even some ideas I have will be of no use at all. What's more, without everyone's experience in designing aeroengines, we would really If you start from scratch, you will definitely not be able to complete it overnight.”

Li Fu smiled and shook his head. Although Li Fu is now at the core of plasma engine research, he naturally has to be more modest about this kind of thing. Now he is quite harmonious with Liu Shiying's team. He even calls Liu Shiying "Lao Liu".

"Haha, let's not be too busy to be happy. Let's quickly conduct a wind tunnel test. Only when the test is successful can it be considered a real success. We don't know if our use of new materials and the most advanced air-cooling technology can withstand the core of the engine. high temperature.”

Seeing Li Fu's humble look, Liu Shiying nodded with satisfaction, and quickly turned the topic back to the plasma engine. She was still worried, because according to theoretical inference, the operating temperature of the plasma engine is above 2000 degrees, and the core The temperature can reach 5,000 degrees. Such a terrifying high temperature is definitely the biggest test.

Soon, the engine was transported to the wind tunnel experiment, ready to undergo the most critical wind tunnel experiment test.

Through the thick glass, Li Fu, Liu Shiying and others looked at the plasma engine quietly waiting for testing. Everyone seemed a little excited. After all, this is the first plasma engine in China, although it is not yet known what its performance is. Like this, but everyone was still excited.

"start!"

Following Liu Shiying's order, someone next to him gently pressed several openings, and everyone's eyes were fixed on the engine in the wind tunnel laboratory.

Li Fu only felt that the whole ground was shaking slightly. In the laboratory, the plasma engine started instantly. The powerful air compression ability could instantly evacuate all the air in a space the size of a basketball gym. Even if it was separated by thick glass, Li Fu Fu still heard the thunderous roar.

I saw an orange-red tail flame jetting out from the rear of the engine. The length actually reached tens of meters. Then the orange-red tail flame soon turned into a completely blazing white tail flame. It was very dazzling, as if it was a Look at the sun with your eyes.

As the orange-red tail flame completely turned into a blazing white tail flame, the temperature in the surrounding air increased rapidly, and there was a vague sense of hazyness. A powerful heat seemed to be coming towards you, even though there was a thick layer of The glass still conducts heat.

"Didi!", "Didi!" There was a huge monitor next to everyone. Various data were changing rapidly, making the people in the research team smile.

The engine's thermal efficiency, propulsion efficiency, total efficiency, EPR (engine pressure ratio), N1 (fan speed), EGT (exhaust temperature), power consumption and other data are constantly beating on the huge display.

"It's great. This has just begun and it has already surpassed the most advanced engine parameters in the world. If the power meter is fully opened, it will be absolutely terrifying."

"No wonder it is said that the plasma engine is the core of future fighters and is known as an aerospace fighter. This data is so perfect!"

"I can't imagine that we can actually create such an advanced engine. The power and temperature are amazing!"

The researchers in the research team looked at the numbers on the huge display with smiles on their faces. They who study engines know very well what these data mean.

"He is really an electric tiger. Look at the electricity consumption. In just a few minutes, he has consumed more than 5,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity!"

"This thrust is so powerful that our entire wind tunnel laboratory feels faintly shaking. There are no water glasses on the table. Our wind tunnel is a wind tunnel laboratory with the highest standards!"

"The temperature at the outlet is really too high. It has exceeded 2,000 degrees. The temperature of the rotor core will definitely double. I don't know if our new materials and the most advanced air-cooling technology can meet the requirements. Otherwise, If so, this rotor won’t last long.”

As if to verify this statement, the engine that was originally spitting out dazzling white tail flames suddenly had special gas at its tail. The entire engine began to turn red, and then soon began to turn white, as if burning. The red steel block made everyone immediately realize that something was wrong.

"No, stop the engine immediately!"

Liu Shiying shouted loudly, and the people next to him immediately pressed a few buttons to stop sending high-voltage power to the engine.

"coax!"

As the roars gradually became smaller, the engine slowly stopped running, but the black gas was still coming out, and then you could see open flames burning from the engine.

However, this wind tunnel laboratory is the most advanced laboratory. Soon, water droplets in the wind tunnel laboratory sprayed towards the engine, and countless water mists covered the entire wind tunnel laboratory. Then the powerful exhaust system in the wind tunnel laboratory quickly discharged all the water vapor and so on.

After a long time, a completely scrapped engine appeared in everyone's field of vision. The shape of the engine had been slightly deformed at this time, and there were obvious traces inside, just like the magma after drying. The rotor of the core of the engine had completely melted at this time, and turned into molten iron flowing out. After cooling, it became like dry candle oil.

"More than one billion is gone just like that!"

Someone next to him looked at the engine, and the whole population was stunned. All the materials used in this engine are the most advanced materials in China. In addition to the processing and manufacturing of various blades, the cost of manufacturing the entire engine alone cost more than one billion Chinese yuan.

Liu Shiying, who was standing by, had a dark face and a very ugly expression. He looked at the engine that was gradually cooling down and looked dazed.

"The material, or the material is not good!"

Li Fu's brain was full of analysis and he quickly came to the conclusion that it was not the plasma engine that was not good, but the material used to make the plasma engine. It relied on a strong current to ionize the compressed air, and the temperature was as high as 2000 degrees. The core temperature was as high as 5000 degrees, even with the most advanced air cooling technology and the most advanced high-tech materials.

But in less than ten minutes, the rotor of the entire engine core was completely burned and melted into molten iron, and the entire engine was completely scrapped.

"Why is this happening? We have clearly developed the plasma engine, but we still lost to the material in the end!"

Liu Shiying looked a little frustrated. This engine has used the most advanced materials and the most advanced air cooling technology in China, but it still cannot withstand the high temperature of the core.

"Old Liu, don't be discouraged. Problems always appear one by one. Just like before, we also encountered many problems. We just solved them one by one."

"From the experiment just now, at least we have developed a plasma engine. At least it has shown that our efforts are not completely fruitless. There are fewer and fewer problems to be solved later. As long as we can find high-temperature materials that can withstand this temperature, we can be considered a real success."

Li Fu looked at Liu Shiying's frustrated expression and couldn't help but comfort him.

"It's difficult. The temperature of the core of this engine exceeds 5000 degrees. We used materials and the most advanced air cooling technology in aerospace technology, but there is still no way. Look at this engine. The core rotor has melted completely. It's only been less than ten minutes."

Liu Shiying shook his head helplessly. The failure of this test was undoubtedly due to the material. Everyone present knew this very well.

Material technology, although it doesn't look impressive at all, and it doesn't sound high-end, but it is often the basis for determining the height of a country's science and technology. The reason why many national scientific research projects have always been far behind the international advanced level is largely due to the material aspect.

To give a very simple example, the materials used on the core rotor of an aircraft engine must be resistant to high temperatures, friction, and will not deform when working continuously at high temperatures, and many other stringent requirements that general materials cannot meet at all.

In the past, our country did not pay enough attention to basic materials, so the development of material science and technology is quite different from that of advanced countries in the world. In fact, the scientific and technological content of material science and technology is not very high. What is really needed is to continuously consume a large amount of data for experiments.

Only with a large enough amount of experimental data can we say that we have made achievements in material science and technology. However, this kind of project that continuously invests resources to experiment, but the results may not be effective quickly, our country did not pay much attention to this aspect before. Only in the past ten years, when we have been developing towards high-end technology, we have gradually realized that basic material science and technology has become a big obstacle, and this is why we have invested a lot of resources in it.

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