Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1403 A Series of Twists and Turns (5k)

In reality, Gao Zhendong, whom the chief engineer was thinking of, was not busy with the car and engine matters at this time, as he had already made all the necessary arrangements.

At that time, Gao Zhendong was working with his colleagues at Factory 1201 who were working on hard drives, solving their technical problems. However, Gao Zhendong initially didn't expect that this would lead to something unrelated to computers.

"Director Gao, we've encountered a problem that we've tried everything to solve but haven't been able to, so we have no choice but to ask you for help. You're an expert in this area."

The person who calls Gao Zhendong that is naturally a colleague from the Computer Peripherals Research Institute of Factory 1201. The person reporting at this moment is none other than Director Gao of the Peripherals Research Institute.

"Oh? What's the problem? How did I become an expert?" Gao Zhendong laughed.

"The magnetic recording material of a hard drive!"

As Director Gao spoke, something seemed to jump in Gao Zhendong's head, but then it disappeared without a trace.

Gao Zhendong did not delve into the matter; he would remember it when the time came. The most urgent task now was to resolve the problems of his comrades.

“Magnetic recording materials? Hmm…” Gao Zhendong thought for a moment after hearing what Director Gao said, and then suddenly laughed.

"Well, congratulations to you guys, hahaha."

Director Gao blushed slightly. "I'm asking for your help, and you're congratulating us? Something doesn't feel right about that."

Direct supervisor: Congratulations on coming to me for help with your problem.

Hearing this, everyone felt that something didn't quite seem right.

Fortunately, after calming down, he realized that Gao Zhendong wasn't the kind of person who was unpredictable, capricious, or eccentric. When he said "congratulations," it was mostly because something good had actually happened.

"Director Gao, what's the good news?" If you don't understand, just ask directly. Directing things around with Director Gao will only cause problems.

"Congratulations on reaching a new level in magnetic recording density," Gao Zhendong said.

Well… Director Gao smiled too. Well, from this perspective, it really is good news. But at the same time, he couldn't help but admire Director Gao's keen sense of technology. He had only mentioned magnetic recording materials, and Director Gao already knew about their progress.

Even though the institute frequently sought his reports, his astonishing intuition remained admirable.

“Yes, yes, you’re absolutely right. This is indeed something to be happy about. We’ve increased the recording density, but we’ve found that the magnetic recording material we’re currently using can’t keep up with the requirements for recording density. No matter how hard we try, the recording density isn’t much higher than that of current floppy disks,” said Director Gao.

The increase in recording density is related not only to the magnetic head but also to the magnetic recording materials.

If we consider the magnetic head as a pen, and to write more words, we need to make the magnetic head smaller, then the size of the magnetic recording material is similar to the smallest square in a grid paper. To write as much as possible on a unit area of ​​paper, the square must be as small as possible, but still be able to record the entire word.

The early hard drives of the Blue Giant had a lower data density than later floppy disks, which was a result of many factors, including the read/write heads, mechanical components, magnetic materials, and disk structure.

Gao Zhendong nodded: "Yes, you're using zinc ferrite material now, right..."

Holy crap?!

At this point, Gao Zhendong suddenly remembered what had just flashed through his mind!
Ferrite!!!
He also remembered why he had a sense of déjà vu when he heard Director Gao and the others talk about this matter.

Ferrites are a general term for a large class of materials with a wide range of uses. Moreover, research and production of ferrites began very early not only abroad but also in China. For military enthusiasts, ferrites have two other well-known and famous applications.

Stealth coatings and phased array radar.

Ferrite materials can form the main radar-absorbing component in stealth coatings, and can also be used to make phase shifters for phased array radars. Phased array radars are one of the most critical components; without them, the phased array cannot function.

If phase shifting is impossible, then phased arrays are naturally just a mirage.

In an instant, Gao Zhendong's interest soared. This thing was great; it could record data, counter radar, and even make radar!

Director Xiao Gao, of course, had no idea what Gao Zhendong was thinking. He nodded and said, "Yes, ferrite, but right now, there are still some unsatisfactory aspects in terms of both the particle size of the material and its magnetic and electrical properties."

Gao Zhendong did not disappoint Director Gao, and waved his hand cheerfully: "Don't worry about this, I'll take care of it for you!"

If ferrite phase shifters are somewhat unconventional, then magnetic recording and stealth coatings share a great deal in common. At least for both, the primary requirement is to make them small! Make the particle size smaller. As for whether making the particle size smaller will affect the matching of the absorption frequency, that's another issue, and there are other solutions.

At the same time, there are certain commonalities between the two in terms of magnetoelectric properties.

This matter was actually outside the scope of Director Gao's expertise; it was purely materials science. That was precisely why Director Gao and his team came to Gao Zhendong.

Everyone knows that Gao's expertise lies in materials. Steel is iron, ferrite is iron, there's nothing wrong with that.

Although this idea is perhaps too naive and the reality may not be so, it turned out to be a lucky accident for Gao Zhendong, since he had a way to solve it anyway.

Gao Zhendong's words put the comrades at Factory 1201 completely at ease. Sure enough, for this kind of thing, it was right to go to Gao, and it just so happened to be in his area of ​​expertise.

"Any other questions?" Gao Zhendong asked with concern, since his comrades had already come.

"No for now. The two biggest problems with this thing right now are the materials and the precise control of motion. Regarding the precise control of motion, the colleagues in the lithography group at your third plant are developing linear motors based on your guidance, and the progress is good. Now that you have solved the problem of recording materials, we have nothing to worry about."

The colleagues at the 1201 Peripheral Research Institute were in exceptionally good spirits.

Although Gao rarely takes action except for major issues, and even seldom appears at Factory 1201 and the External Equipment Research Institute, his colleagues all know that it's because he's simply too busy with work.

Moreover, Gao Suo is not one to intervene unless absolutely necessary, but when it comes to important or difficult problems, he is almost always there to help.

This is another reason why his comrades admire him. They don't blindly believe that Gao Zhendong can solve any problem. What they admire about Gao Zhendong is his ability to grasp new topics.

As long as he is ready to undertake a new project, he is confident, technically proficient, and well-positioned to succeed. He can also solve any difficult or complicated problems he encounters, which shows that before he initiates each project, he has a clear understanding and grasp of its prospects, problems, and challenges.

Most people can't do this because the things Gao does are all very new, making it even harder to achieve.

After seeing off the comrades from Factory 1201, Gao Zhendong sat down and searched through the system. He still had 8 chances to win the lottery, but he didn't plan to take the AI ​​route. If he wasn't mistaken, there was a very clear solution for ferrite.

This material can solve several problems, so it's worth using it 8 times. Even so, we have to thank the "twice the result with half the effort" effect, otherwise it would have taken 16 times.

Sure enough, he was right. In the search results, Gao Zhendong even found a book published in China last year called "Foreign Scientific and Technological Materials Translation Series - Ferrite Materials".

The reason it is described as being printed and distributed rather than published is because the cover of this document clearly states the words "internal document," which naturally makes it impossible for it to be a publicly published document.

It's true that China started working on this early. In fact, it seems very mysterious when it's associated with stealth coatings, but quite a few people, even those from the 60s, have come into contact with it. For example, radios had a lot of this stuff inside.

However, in terms of applications, these days people naturally wouldn't think of using stealth coatings, but rather more traditional areas such as radio, electronics, and radio frequency.

However, Gao Zhendong didn't select this material from the search results. Since only one search result could be chosen, selecting this one would be wasteful, especially since it was material already available in China last year; he couldn't keep going back to the past. Fortunately, the search results were plentiful enough, and Gao Zhendong selected one that seemed comprehensive enough. Ferrites are a broad field, and a less comprehensive result might not be able to solve all the problems.

Gao Zhendong took out the materials, carefully browsed through the main contents, and changed his original plan.

He originally intended to find a comrade from the Twelfth Ministry of Machine Building who was in charge of ferrite components to handle the implementation of this matter, but now it seems that this is not appropriate.

The comrades at the Third Rolling Mill are more qualified than them in the preparation of this stuff. After all, based on the review and analysis of the development of ferrite materials, Gao Zhendong estimated that the comrades at the Twelfth Ministry of Machinery Industry were still using the sintering and pulverizing method to produce ferrite materials, which was not applicable.

This method is sufficient for the Twelfth Ministry of Machinery Industry to produce some components, at least enough for them to make some radios and televisions. However, for Gao Zhendong's purpose, the uniformity and fineness of the crushed particles do not meet the requirements.

Besides, even in the case of sintering and crushing, Gao Zhendong has people here who are better than most of the comrades in the Twelfth Ministry of Machinery Industry.

Gao Zhendong picked up the phone and called the process section of the technical department.

"Rongguo, come here for a moment."

Not long after Gao Zhendong arrived at the Third Rolling Mill, Liu Rongguo, one of his old colleagues who had worked alongside him, came running over happily. Now he was the deputy head of the Process Section of the Technical Department of the Third Rolling Mill, and he was full of enthusiasm.

"Chief Engineer, did you call me?" Although he has now risen to a higher position and is often busy with steel manuals, Liu Rongguo still misses the days when he first followed Gao Zhendong to burn thermocouple electrodes. That was the starting point for his work to get on the fast track, and it was full of novelty.

"Yes, there's something new that I'm assigning you to work on. It might involve sintering, or it might involve chemical methods. In short, you have to win this battle!" It might involve more than one type of material, and there might be many processes required.

Liu Rongguo knew Gao Zhendong's habit of using military slang, which was related to Gao's background as chief engineer. Now Liu Rongguo himself had come to like this feeling, and he stood up even straighter: "I guarantee to complete the mission!"

"Come on, let's work on this first." Gao Zhendong pulled out some documents and handed them to Liu Rongguo.

"Huh? Iron(III) oxide?"

Liu Rongguo looked at the products needed this time, somewhat surprised. Did this thing really need to be so formal? If he needed as much as he wanted, he could just make a phone call and get it over in a minute. There was no need for production; he had plenty in the warehouse.

Hearing his words, Gao Zhendong suddenly remembered the "Four-Lean-Down-to-Three-Iron" meme and almost blurted out "Man!!!"

Having finally suppressed the urge, Gao Zhendong nodded: "Okay, you can continue watching."

Liu Rongguo continued reading, and this time it wasn't an accident, but a shock.

"Huh? It's so thin?!?"

It's not surprising that this iron(III) oxide needs to be in powder form.

However, the extent of this "fandom" completely exceeded Liu Rongguo's expectations, and even the unit in question was somewhat unfamiliar to him.

10~40nm!!!

nm is a unit that Liu Rongguo rarely uses in practice, let alone even sees.

Unlike the "nanomaterial enhancement" that merchants used to tout in Gao Zhendong's previous life, this thing is a real nanomaterial. It was a bit unfamiliar to comrades in the mid-60s, which is not surprising at all.

“Yes, nano-level Fe3O4 powder,” Gao Zhendong said with a smile.

Nano-sized iron oxide powder is an essential raw material for various ferrite materials that he plans to test, not just for a single application. So, before proceeding to the next step, Gao Zhendong extracted this part.

This is intended to be used as a basic raw material in related fields, and it would be fitting to dedicate a separate research topic to it.

Only then did Liu Rongguo understand why General Manager Gao had specifically called him over and was giving him a serious assignment. The material itself wasn't difficult to read, but creating the form he requested was quite troublesome; Liu Rongguo couldn't even immediately think of a way to achieve it.

"Don't worry, just try it out according to this process." Gao Zhendong noticed Liu Rongguo's concern and pointed to the materials in his hand.

Liu Rongguo then realized what was happening. Was he dumbfounded? For such a difficult task, hadn't Chief Engineer Gao always laid the groundwork beforehand? Even the thermocouple electrode, which now seemed relatively simple, had received guidance from Chief Engineer Gao back then.

Mr. Gao was naturally well-prepared for such a difficult task.

He opened the craft materials and was dumbfounded again; it was truly a series of twists and turns.

"Chemical methods? Coprecipitation? Mr. Gao, I haven't really studied this much." Liu Rongguo knew a little about this, but not much.

Gao Zhendong assigned this task to him instead of his colleagues in the chemical engineering group for a reason. Liu Rongguo had a long tenure and was quite experienced. Moreover, this matter was more materials-oriented than chemical-oriented.

As for knowledge in chemistry, Gao Zhendong had many ways to handle it: one was to hire someone, and the other was to learn it himself.

"Just learn it. The procedures aren't complicated. We'll assign you two colleagues from the chemistry group, and you should learn from them as well." Gao Zhendong didn't take it seriously at all. Even if someone is slow-witted, how could they not learn these basic chemical experimental procedures? Besides, it's a relatively fixed set of procedures, simple.

"I've already done enough for you by not making you learn calculus at 14," Gao Zhendong suddenly remembered an old joke and laughed.

Regardless of the reason for Gao Zhendong's laughter, his relaxed laughter greatly eased Liu Rongguo's emotions.

Yeah, what's there to be afraid of? Just learn it, that's all. No matter how much you need to learn, can it be more than Chief Engineer Gao? It's that simple, what's there to be afraid of?

"Okay, I'll learn!" Liu Rongguo knew that this was a great opportunity for him to improve himself in every aspect.

"Yes, that's right. Don't worry, it's not difficult. If you need anything, just ask the factory. If the factory doesn't have it, especially some uncommon reagents, just ask Director Zheng. He'll help you coordinate with the Applied Chemistry Department," Gao Zhendong said cheerfully.

Liu Rongguo nodded repeatedly. Everything was arranged so well, so what were they waiting for? If the food was practically being fed and the person still wouldn't even chew it, then that was their own problem.

"Yes, Mr. Gao, I'll go right away!"

Liu Rongguo took the production process for nano-grade iron oxide powder and left Gao Zhendong's office.

Time is tight, the task is heavy, and the significance is great; we have to hurry. This set of materials doesn't just involve one type of iron oxide powder production process; there are also some things he'd never even heard of before, like water-soluble iron oxide nanoparticles. What the hell is that?!
However, the more unfamiliar he was with it, the happier Comrade Liu became as he left Gao Zhendong's office. Here it comes! The feeling of burning thermocouple electrodes back then is all back!
After arranging these matters, Gao Zhendong turned back to continue organizing a set of documents at hand.

Inspired by the graphite-based cold reactor thermal power section he obtained from Bai Xiong, Gao Zhendong used the "gift from his hometown" to create a set of data on thermal power plants at a relatively low price. Although it was not very in-depth or detailed, it was still a huge amount of data, which made it somewhat difficult for Gao Zhendong to organize. The professionalism was one thing, but the sheer volume was the main problem.

However, with the light at the end of the tunnel in sight, Gao Zhendong was not in a great hurry. The situation had improved a lot, so there was no rush.
-
On the shores of Bohai Bay, a Mi-6 super-heavy helicopter, purchased from a northern neighbor, is slowly lowering a simulated heavy object.

At the edge of the site, a number of comrades stood at the entrances of several tents, all staring intently at the massive helicopter, their concerns unclear.

"Good! The hoisting position is accurate! Prepare for simulated landing," a comrade shouted over the radio.

Following his command, the massive Mi-6 slowly descended, eventually landing within a designated circle, though the circle appeared somewhat small relative to its enormous size.

The Mi-6's massive rotors slowly came to a stop, and the Mi-6 crew disembarked from the helicopter and walked toward the tent.

(End of this chapter)