The Red Era, the Opening University Speech

Chapter 137 Computational Materials Science!
After staying at home for two days, Li Mu felt a little restless.

Although the integrated circuit computer was successful, the problem of high-temperature resistant materials for the top-blown oxygen converter has not been solved.

Technological innovation in iron and steel metallurgy is beneficial in the present. The sooner it is solved, the earlier it can accelerate the development of the country's basic industries.

So on the third day, after making promises again and again to Grandma Li, Li Mu left home and returned to school.

……

Beijing Institute of Technology, inside the Iron and Steel Metallurgy Laboratory.

As soon as Li Mu approached, he heard the discussion coming from inside:

"At lower temperatures, dolomite decomposes into calcium carbonate, magnesium oxide and carbon dioxide in the reaction, and the mineral structure and surface activity will change to make the high-temperature resistant material we need."

"But the sintering temperature of dolomite is 1900-2000℃, which is impossible to achieve with our current equipment."

……

Listening to the sound inside, Li Mu walked to the door and knocked on the open door of the laboratory.

Hearing the knock on the door, Ye Zhupei and others were stunned for a moment, then they looked over, showing surprise and said, "Li Mu, you are finally back."

Professor Zhang and others sitting beside him also greeted him and asked about Li Mu's health.

Of course he couldn't talk about the integrated circuit computer casually, so he could only say that there was something wrong with his health.

“It’s not good for young people to be in poor health!” After listening to this, Professor Zhao sighed, as if he had some hidden meaning.

The fact that the Semiconductor Research Institute had developed an integrated circuit computer shocked the entire academic community, so he had naturally heard about it.

"I will pay attention in the future and not hold you back." Li Mu smiled and said, "Is there any progress on the issue of high temperature resistant materials?"

Hearing his question, the professors in the laboratory couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

Ye Zhupei said helplessly:

"Not yet. We tried many methods before we found dolomite, which is a feasible material. However, the sintering temperature it requires is too high, and we cannot calcine it with our current equipment."

Hearing this, Li Mu frowned slightly. Although he had some ideas, he still didn't understand them, so he definitely couldn't talk nonsense.

Ye Zhupei, Professor Zhang and others are the kind of people who like to get to the bottom of things. If you tell them, they will never give up until they get to the bottom of things.

After thinking for a while, he said:

"We can find another way and improve the slag-making system first, and select slag components that can meet the needs of blast furnace smelting in terms of slag fluidity, stability and temperature range of the soft melting zone."

"The alkalinity of slag is an important parameter. If it is reduced, the desulfurization efficiency will increase accordingly, and vice versa."

“However, one thing to note is that if the basicity is too high, the melting point of the slag will also increase, and the fluidity and stability will decrease, which is not conducive to the smooth operation of the furnace.”

……

Listening to Li Mu's story, the experts and professors sitting down ignored the embarrassment and quickly wrote down all the content with pens.

Although the problem of furnace age cannot be completely solved, at least there has been some progress.

After he finished speaking, there was applause from the audience.

Professor Zhang applauded and said, "Not bad, not bad. This method is very feasible. I can see that you have put a lot of effort into steel metallurgy and chemistry recently."

"You're too kind. It's just a theory. Whether it works or not depends on the experimental results." Li Mu said with a smile.

It is not enough to find the right direction in the experiment. You must continue to move forward and explore in this direction to reach the end of success.

The process in between is no easier than finding direction, and may even be more difficult.

Thinking of this, Li Mu suddenly came to his senses: "I almost forgot, computational materials science!"

……

After continuing to discuss the issue of high-temperature resistant materials with Ye Zhupei and others, Li Mu quickly left and went to the Semiconductor Research Institute.

After arriving at the place, he immediately went to Laboratory 01 where a computer named “Type 312” was placed.

Unexpectedly, as soon as I arrived, I saw Wang Shoujue and Huang Xinhua directing the second assembly.

Seeing him coming, the two were surprised at first, and then signaled him with their eyes to wait behind.

Because of the experience of the first time, the second assembly went quite smoothly, and soon the words appeared on the dot matrix LED display: "Hello, Xiaguo!"

After the experiment was successful, Wang Shoujue immediately handed over the rest of the work to the people below him, and then said with a fierce face: "Why did you come back so soon? Are you fully recovered?"

"Okay, okay, can the doctor let me leave the hospital?" Li Mu smiled. "By the way, why did you start assembling the second integrated circuit computer so soon?"

Wang Shoujue whispered, "The first one has been requisitioned."

"Expropriate?" Li Mu was stunned for a moment, and soon realized that it was probably the Big Mushroom Research Base. The 120-fold increase in computing power must be sent there as soon as possible.

"Yes, so we need to assemble a second computer." Wang Shoujue stopped there and did not continue the topic of who specifically requisitioned it.

According to confidentiality regulations, we cannot mention anything about what is happening in the Northwest. Even a hint is the limit.

Li Mu naturally heard it, and he and Wang Shoujue smiled in tacit understanding.

Just as I was about to say what I wanted to say, suddenly, a figure hurried in from the door.

Guan Jianmin, who was running out of breath, saw Li Mu and said with a hint of reproach: "Comrade Li Mu, didn't you say you were going home to recuperate? Why are you back to work so soon?"

"I haven't found you at the Beijing Institute of Technology yet. You've been to two places in one day. What if something goes wrong with your health?"

There was a hint of resentment in his tone. Upon hearing this, Wang Shoujue and Huang Xinhua couldn't help but cast questioning looks at Li Mu.

Is this what you said is all right?
"What's the problem? I'm in good health. But you, you're out of breath after running a little. Young people should exercise more in the future." Li Mu walked to Guan Jianmin and patted him on the shoulder.

Guan Jianmin smiled bitterly and was about to persuade him again when he felt the force coming from his shoulder and suddenly grimaced.

Now he finally understood how good Li Mu's health was.

"It's a coincidence that you are here. When you go back later, please help me talk to the higher-ups and ask them to cancel my leave so that I don't have to make a trip." Li Mu said again.

Since he is an assistant, it is not too much to order him around, and it also avoids nagging him in his ears.

Guan Jianmin said sternly, "You can report to me in the evening. I am your assistant and I must be by your side while you are working."

"This is my job, please cooperate!"

He now realized that although Li Mu looked easy to talk to, he was actually a bit self-willed.

Although this spirit is beneficial to promoting the country's scientific and technological development, it is a bit unfriendly to him as an assistant.

"Okay, then you just watch from the side." Li Mu didn't hesitate.

He turned his head and looked at Wang Shoujue and Huang Xinhua, and said:

"Director Wang, Professor Huang, I am here for a serious matter. I plan to develop computational materials science to build a new bridge between theoretical research and experimental research on materials."

"Computational materials science is a discipline?" Wang Shoujue and Huang Xinhua said in surprise at the same time.

Li Mu nodded and explained: "Yes, in my opinion, it is an interdisciplinary subject between materials science and computer science, including materials, physics, computers, mathematics and other disciplines." "Traditional materials research is mainly based on laboratories and is an experimental science."

"But as our requirements for material performance continue to increase, the spatial scale of materials research objects will continue to shrink, and micron-scale microstructure research can no longer reveal the essence of material performance."

"If we want to make further breakthroughs, we must conduct multi-level research on materials at the microscopic, mesoscopic and red light scales..."

"At the same time, the cost of experimental science will become higher and higher, and eventually it will become unacceptable!"

"Computational materials science using computer simulation modeling will definitely significantly reduce research and development costs."

……

Li Mu first briefly explained the basic concepts of computational materials science.

After saying this, Wang Shoujue and Huang Xinhua looked at each other and remained silent.

They originally wanted to persuade Li Mu, but after thinking about it carefully, they found that this path seemed to be really feasible, and it might not be impossible to create a whole new discipline.

After a long while, Wang Shoujue said:

"Your idea is good, but I don't know if you have considered its feasibility at present."

“To achieve what you said, I’m afraid the computing power required must reach at least tens of millions times per second to have a research basis.

Hearing this, Li Mu remained silent, then sighed.

According to the data, computational materials science emerged and developed in the 80s and 90s, which was to years in advance, which was indeed a bit too early.

The computing speed of 120 million times per second seems to be a significant improvement, but it is ultimately due to a weak foundation.

Seeing Li Mu frowning, Wang Shoujue said, "Don't be too disappointed. Even though you can't achieve it for now, it doesn't mean you can't achieve it in the future."

"Yes, you were able to come up with the idea of ​​combining materials science and computer science to form a new discipline so early. You have already had groundbreaking and forward-looking thinking!" Huang Xinhua also exclaimed.

Seeing the concerned looks in their eyes, Li Mu reacted and said quickly, "Director Wang, Professor Huang, don't worry. I'm just worried about the problem of high temperature resistant materials."

Computational materials science could not be accomplished, and the research on high-temperature resistant materials became a slow and arduous process that could only be carried out slowly through experiments.

"Okay, it turns out that you are in Cao's camp but your heart is with Han!" Wang Shoujue and Huang Xinhua couldn't help but laugh and teased.

……

After parting with Wang Shoujue and Huang Xinhua, Li Mu went to visit Huang Kun and Wu Xi to check out the status of the J language application research and the follow-up research on programmable digital switches.

When he came out, it was already noon. He was so hungry that he quickly went to the canteen to eat.

The lady who served lunch at the Semiconductor Research Institute had become familiar with him. Before he could even open his mouth, she picked up a pile of aluminum lunch boxes from the side and handed them to him.

Guan Jianmin, who was following behind, immediately stepped forward and helped pick up the lunch box.

The two sat down together. While eating, Li Mu browsed through the historical data on the development of semiconductors in his mind, preparing to see what the next research direction should be.

"We already have integrated circuit computers, how about making a game console next?" Li Mu paused while flipping through the documents.

There is no market for game consoles in Xia Country, but if they are put into OM, they will definitely be a big seller.

In 76, Emperor MATTEL launched its first handheld game console, MATTEL AUTO RACE, which still used LED light-emitting diodes, or dot matrix LED displays.

Technically, there shouldn't be any major problems.

Just when Li Mu had an idea, a figure suddenly sat down in front of him.

However, he was thinking too hard and didn't notice it until the person in front of him coughed softly. Then he reacted: "Director Wu, you're looking for me?"

"Yes." Wu Youxiang nodded and said, "The magnetic tape storage device has been successfully developed. Director Wang and I plan to hand over the subsequent research to Huang Kun and others. You can take a rest when you have time."

"What do you think of this arrangement?"

Having just recovered from a serious illness, the Semiconductor Institute will certainly not assign research tasks to Li Mu so quickly, and may even have to cut down on some optional tasks.

"No problem. I'll just obey your command and take this laziness away." Li Mu thought about it and said with a smile.

It’s not that he wants to rest, but he needs to think carefully about his next plan.

There won't be any major problems in entrusting the follow-up research on the tape storage to Huang Kun. He just needs to keep an eye on it occasionally.

When Wu Youxiang saw that Li Mu agreed, he breathed a sigh of relief. He then reminded him for a while to strike a good balance between research and life before getting up and leaving.

……

After quickly finishing the rest of the meal, Li Mu picked up the lunch box and prepared to clean it in the sink.

Guan Jianmin took the lead and said, "Just leave it to me."

Li Mu did not refuse, but thought about the idea that came to him after meeting Wu Youxiang just now:
“The black and white game is still a little bit more difficult, but the tape is almost ready-made.”

"If we can come up with application products like tape recorders and walkmans, they will probably be much more popular than game consoles."

His inference was well-founded, as this era was the golden age of music, and the legendary Elvis Presley was highly sought after.

If we could sell tape recorders there, the market would definitely be huge.

Thinking of this, Li Mu immediately went to the tape storage laboratory.

……

In the laboratory, the experts and professors who were the backbone of the previous research have left, leaving only two graduate students who are already familiar with the production process.

Seeing Li Mu coming over, both of them shouted, "Team Leader."

"You guys just do your own things, don't worry about me." Li Mu nodded, then found a tape storage device and began to design a tape recorder.

There was no need for Ask's help this time. With his current knowledge and the low difficulty level, he could solve it on his own.

He now drew the basic structure on paper: microphone, tape, chloroform spike, amplifier circuit, speaker, transmission mechanism...

By the way, the Walkman was also expanded, and there was no problem with the chip integration.

However, the technology and design of digital/analog converters and printed circuit boards are relatively complex, and it is not that easy to handle them.

"Forget it, let's make a tape recorder first." It was originally just used to make money, and Li Mu didn't plan to spend too much energy on it.

It took him an afternoon to put down on paper the complete design ideas and plans for the tape recorder, as well as the preliminary concept of the Walkman.

After completing it, he thought about it and felt that the technical difficulty was not high, so he directly asked two graduate students to try it.

Li Mu first handed the plan to the two of them, and then said: "The principle is very simple. In fact, it is the steps of signal acquisition, amplification and modulation, signal recording and magnetization, tape reading back and amplification."

"You guys try it first, and if you have any questions, you can ask me. If you need anything, go to Director Wang to apply."

After that, he looked at Guan Jianmin again: "Do you have a way to contact the First Ministry of Machine Building and the Foreign Trade Commission? I have something I want to ask them to come over to discuss. Let's talk about the time, the day after tomorrow."

Guan Jianmin had been standing there all afternoon, doing nothing except pouring two glasses of water. He was immediately excited when he heard this: "Of course, this is my job."

(End of this chapter)