The Red Era, the Opening University Speech

Chapter 441 Siliconized Armor
"If anyone has a pen, give me one!" Zhang Shushun said hurriedly.

He had just come up with a good design idea and couldn't wait to draw it out.

If feasible, at least part of the fin-stabilized armor-piercing discarding sabot flight problem could be solved.

Hearing this, Li Mu took two quick steps forward, unscrewed his pen and handed it to the other party.

After the latter took it, he was about to draw on the picture when he realized that it was a pen in his hand and muttered, "Why give me a pen?"

As he spoke, he quickly pulled out a new piece of manuscript paper, leaned over the table and began to draw.

The other researchers looked at Li Mu, then at Zhang Shushun who was concentrating on drawing, and were about to speak up to remind him.

Li Mu quickly made a "hush" gesture, signaling them not to speak.

Then he stepped aside and watched Zhang Shushun draw.

The latter held the pen and gestured on the paper for a long time before finally putting pen to paper and drawing a design of the projectile part.

After success.

He nodded with satisfaction, picked up the manuscript, and said to the researchers around him: "Everyone, tell me, what do you think of my idea?"

But he waited for a long time and no one said anything.

When he looked up, he finally found Li Mu standing next to him.

"Consultant Li, when did you come here?" Zhang Shushun asked in surprise.

As he spoke, he suddenly hid the draft paper he had just finished behind him.

Although he was quite satisfied with his idea just now.

But that is only the design drawing relative to the first version.

If I take it out and show it to Li Mu at this time, I won't be sure at all.

Hearing this, Li Mu smiled and said:
"I came a long time ago and listened to your discussion at the door for a few minutes."

"I was planning to call you, but I didn't expect that you would have an inspiration. So I asked everyone not to disturb you for now."

"Now that the painting is finished, let's discuss it together to see if it is feasible. If not, how to improve it."

After he finished speaking.

Zhang Shushun's face turned redder when he heard this.
"You are too kind. My level is not comparable to yours. I still need to improve myself."

As he spoke, he hid the manuscript in his hand behind him.

Seeing this, Li Mu said:

"Professor Zhang, you are being too self-deprecating."

"I just looked at the preliminary design you drew, and many of your ideas coincide with mine."

"If you say so, it seems I have to go back today and think about it carefully before coming to see you."

After he said his last words, he made a move to leave.

Seeing this, Zhang Shushun immediately became anxious and said quickly:

"Consultant Li, please wait a moment. That's not what I meant. I have great faith in your ability, and the advice you gave is definitely very beneficial to the research!"

As he spoke, he gritted his teeth and took out the design drawing he had just drawn from behind.

no way.

You have to take it.

If Li Mu was really "forced" to leave, he would agree, but the other researchers around him would not agree.

"That's right. Come, let's take a look together." Li Mu smiled, took the drawing, and glanced at the pen in Zhang Shushun's hand.

However, the latter obviously did not understand what he meant, and at this moment his attention was all focused on the design drawing.

Seeing this, Li Mu had no choice but to continue talking about his research:

"The overall design of this projectile is very good. The front and rear centering parts fully consider the stability of the projectile core in the barrel and the air stability after leaving the muzzle."

"But I personally suggest that you add a front inner centering section and a back inner centering section."

"Also, the shape and weight of the tail fins can be considered further to ensure that the core can be effectively stabilized after hitting the target..."

His speaking speed was not too fast and his explanation was relatively simple and straightforward.

However, Zhang Shushun and others, who were already accustomed to using pen and paper to record everything he said, quickly took out their notebooks and began to record.

As Li Mu spoke, he glanced at the pen in Zhang Shushun's hand and thought to himself, "Is this kid going to take my pen?"

In this era, a fountain pen is considered a small luxury.

Of course, he didn't care about the money.

It's just this pen, but it was given to him by leader Yuan. Its commemorative significance is far greater than its practical significance.

……

It took more than 20 minutes.

Li Mucai fully introduced the design ideas of the projectile part.

Of course, just having ideas is not enough.

If you want to complete the final design, you still have to spend a lot of effort to verify it.

——But that was in the past when we were very poor.

Now they have supercomputers and Type 03 computers, which they can fully utilize, relying on powerful computing power and software to eliminate some wrong answers.

"The Type 03 computer is available in the institute. You can use CAD to assist in the design. If it still doesn't work, you can go to the Semiconductor Research Institute and use the computer there to calculate." Li Mu said after he finished talking about the design problem.

Xu Shunshou's eyes lit up, but he said:

"But we heard that the computing tasks for those two machines have been scheduled for next year. Is it appropriate for us to jump the queue?"

The information about the first and second generation supercomputers is top secret, and not much information is disclosed even to internal researchers.

Therefore, he and many ordinary researchers only knew that the Semiconductor Research Institute had two computers with very high computing power.

But no one knows what it is called specifically or how high its computing power is.

"It can't be considered as cutting in line. You said that I let everyone go, which would squeeze out some time from the original task." Li Mu said with a smile.

The computing power of the two supercomputers at the Semiconductor Research Institute is actually relatively saturated.

It’s just that the fly-by-wire flight control has taken up a lot of resources recently, which has caused the queue.

Of course, given the importance of the Dragon-1, no one would have any objection to it having some small privileges.

……

Chatted with Zhang Shushun and others for a while.

Li Mu then went on to talk about the design issues of the detached part.

The design of this part of the fin-stabilized armor-piercing discarding sabot projectile is relatively complicated.

Although the mechanism can be simply described as the use of a specific mechanical structure and a fragile material shell to ensure that it will automatically break when a certain speed or pressure is reached, revealing the armor-piercing part inside.

However, in the actual design process, it is necessary to fully consider the manufacturing of the projectile body, the shell ejection mechanism and the stability of the core.

……

I was busy until around 5pm.

Li Mucai walked out of the Automotive Research Institute.

But it's not over yet.

He then went straight to the Materials Research Institute to inquire about the development of composite armor and ceramic armor.

The composite armor is designed as "steel-fiberglass-super-hard steel-fiberglass-steel" stacked and placed in gaps, with a total thickness of 220 mm and an inclination angle of 22 degrees.

The Type 99 uses advanced armor-constrained ceramic third-generation composite armor, as well as FY-4 and FY-5 explosive reactive armor.

The main material of FY-4 armor is quartz glass fiber, while the materials of FY-5 explosive reactive armor mainly include inert materials, high-energy explosives, ejection plates and elastic gaskets.

However, apart from the first one, Li Mu has not yet mentioned the materials needed for either the FY-4 or FY-5 explosive reactive armor.

After all, there has been no breakthrough in the technology of quartz glass fiber and high-energy explosives, so we should not act hastily.

But he has "lowered" the difficulty.

Problems continue to arise for the researchers at the Institute of Materials and the experts and professors who come from all over the country to support research.

For example, they have been discussing the issue of stacking gap placement of a series of materials for almost a week.

The stacked form, the proportions of the materials, the strength of each material…

There are problems everywhere, it’s really overwhelming.

Unfortunately, Li Mu didn't come for several days, which made them feel that everything was in the dark and they didn't know how to conduct research.

Therefore, when the researchers saw Li Mu, they all wanted to rush forward, hug him and give him a big kiss.

Director Zhou Renyi took the lead.

Fortunately, he finally suppressed his inner impulse, and instead held Li Mu's hand tightly, saying, "Advisor Li, you are here, come and give us some advice."

"I can give you some advice, but I can't guarantee that it will be useful." Li Mu looked at the researchers and experts and professors around him.

Many of them are very famous scholars in the field of materials.

There are also relatively young core researchers like Xu Bingshi and Zeng Sumin, who are in their thirties and are the future pillars of Xia’s armor materials field.

"I'm afraid it's not that he can't think of it, but he's waiting for me to give him the 'answer'." Li Mu sighed slightly in his heart.

He guessed that when he was working on the radiation protection suit, he gave out too much information about the materials at once, which led to everyone's expectations of him being too high now.

But it’s not their fault.

After all, whoever can come up with para-aramid fiber, metal fiber alloy wire, nano-ceramic fiber and carbon fiber, as well as nano-technology in this era?

He would probably be shocked too.

Zhou Ren knew what Li Mu was thinking.

He only knew that Li Mu was here, so he had a solution for the research, so he immediately said:

"It's still a material problem. We've considered many solutions, but after running the computer's material calculation software, the results are not ideal..."

Zhou Ren's tone was quite helpless.

He asked all kinds of questions, and in fact, he and the researchers present felt a little embarrassed.

But in order to solve the combination problem, they made a lot of efforts and tested it several times using material calculation software.

But the final result is really unsatisfactory.

In order not to delay the progress, I could only continue to ask Li Mu for advice.

——It’s all for research, there’s nothing shameful about it.

Seeing everyone looking at him.

Li Mu did not delay and said immediately:

"The stacked gap arrangement is actually like a 'sandwich cookie'. We can divide it into three parts: the panel layer, the middle layer and the bottom layer..."

It is definitely impossible to ask him to give the proportions and shapes directly. He can only explain the principles more thoroughly and make the ideas clearer.

he said.

Zhou Ren and others hurriedly took out paper and took notes, fearing that they would miss a single word.

Although the result was not as they expected, and they did not get a solution directly, the current idea was also very rare.

At least after Li Mu said it, they didn't have to worry about taking the wrong path or going the wrong way, they could just charge forward with their heads down.

……

After half an hour.

A group of experts, professors and researchers who got ideas from Li Mu re-engaged in their busy research.

He then took Zhou Ren aside and asked if there were any experts in the country who were familiar with the research of quartz glass.

Xia State developed quartz glass fiber relatively late, but started research on quartz glass relatively early.

Just as he expected.

Zhou Ren pondered for a moment, then said:

"In 55, the country compiled the -year science and technology plan, which included the development of quartz glass."

"The National Building Materials Research Institute, led by Cai Xuming, began research and produced the country's first opaque quartz glass in 57 and transparent quartz glass in 58."

"If we were to say which professor in China has done in-depth research on quartz glass, it would definitely be Professor Cai. But even he can't use it on tank armor. Do you want to challenge this technology?"

In 52, quartz glass was used in tank armor.

Researchers at the M Empire have found that its protection against shaped charge weapon jets is twice that of steel armor of the same weight.

Based on this, they developed "siliconized armor" that wrapped quartz glass in steel armor and used it in experiments on the T95 tank project.

"I do have this plan, and if it goes well, maybe we can produce better materials than theirs." Li Mu nodded slightly and said.

The current armor technology using quartz glass as material still has significant flaws.

The first is its high brittleness, which makes the armor very easy to break.

Secondly, the protective effect is greatly affected by its thickness and arrangement angle.

The greater the thickness, the lower the protective effect may be, and the angle also requires complex calculations to achieve the best effect.

However, Zhou Ren and even many experts in Xia State did not know these details.

All they knew was that quartz glass could be used in tank armor.

Therefore, Zhou Ren was so happy that he almost jumped up after hearing this, and said:
"Advisor Li, our Materials Research Institute will fully support your research."

"And Professor Cai Xuming, I will go and ask him to come over as soon as possible."

"With you, we will surely achieve another major breakthrough in quartz glass technology!"

Having said that, he excitedly prepared to go to the National Research Institute of Building Materials to ask for people.

……

Looking at Zhou Ren’s receding back.

Li Mu smiled slightly, turned around and prepared to leave.

Since he mentioned it to Zhou Ren today, the higher-ups should soon cooperate in setting up a quartz glass research group.

He only needed to hand over the preliminary research plan he had prepared long ago to them for them to study before leaving.

While thinking, he got in the car and headed to the Radar Research Institute.

……

The situation is relatively good for the research on flat slot antennas.

The difficulty of this technology lies in its design and manufacturing.

The performance of slot antenna is closely related to various parameters of the slot, including the shape, size and position of the slot.

During these processes, factors such as electromagnetic coupling and edge effects must also be considered, which requires complex computational simulations.

However, Li Mu can solve half of these problems.

It’s not that it can’t be completely solved.

Only half of it has basically put everyone's research ideas on the right track, and the rest can be completely left to computers to solve.

Sometimes, he even felt that half was a bit too much.

Just like now.

When he and Peng Shilu arrived at the laboratory, they saw Jiang Nanying chatting with a group of experts and professors, and he was still the protagonist of the topic.

Of course, the content remains the same as usual, full of admiration and respect for him.

There are even signs that he is the number one scientist in Xia Country.

After listening at the door, he walked into the laboratory and said:
"Director Jiang, you are really flattering me. How can I be worthy of the title of the best?"

“There are many unsung scientists whose contributions are far greater than mine.”

"Forget it, let's not talk about this. Thinking about how they are still working hard on their research, I feel even more ashamed!"

Hear what Li Mu said.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Nanying and others were stunned at first, and then they couldn't help feeling ashamed.

At this moment, Peng Shilu, who had received the news, walked in from outside and said breathlessly, "Advisor Li, you're here. Come in quickly."

As he spoke, he invited Li Mu into the laboratory and asked him to sit down.

Next, Jiang Nanying was asked to report on the development of the flat slot antenna.

The latter quickly opened his mouth and said:
"The overall development is going very smoothly."

"During the research process, the flat slot antenna encountered problems such as limited frequency range, weak signal, susceptibility to interference and bandwidth limitation."

"However, thanks to the unremitting efforts of our comrades, we have overcome them one by one. For example, for this signal, we used an amplifier..."

As his voice rang out, Li Mu's expression relaxed.

It seems that he misunderstood and everyone was not lazy.

It was just that the progress was a little too smooth, so there was a little time for chatting. And what he saw was only a few moments.

The fact that they were able to push the progress so fast was due to the fact that he gave them half of the content in advance, but their efforts cannot be ignored.

After Jiang Nanying finished speaking.

Li Mu said:
"Knowing that everyone is making such good progress, I feel relieved. After we come back from this trip, we can start preparing for the theoretical research of passive phased array radar."

The voice just fell.

Peng Shilu, Jiang Nanying, and other experts and professors in the laboratory were all shocked and looked at Li Mu in disbelief.

Phased array radar first appeared in 37, when Germany built the "Mammoth" radar system.

However, its information is not complete, so not much is known about it in China.

More widely known is the USS Long Beach, an atomic-powered missile cruiser of the U.S. Empire.

"Li, Consultant Li, the passive phased array radar you are talking about is..." Peng Shilu swallowed and asked hesitantly.

Xia State’s previous radar research mainly focused on imitating older radars and developing independently.

Only when Li Mu appeared did they turn to the pulse Doppler radar.

However, even so, their technology is still relatively backward, and research on phased array radar has just started.

Li Mu looked at the eyes that everyone was looking at him and explained:
"Yes, it is a phased array radar, but for the sake of distinction, I will call it a passive phased array radar here."

"Its antenna array units do not actively transmit signals, but instead generate high-frequency energy through a centralized transmitter and automatically distribute it to the individual radiators of the antenna array through a computer."

"The core technology mainly includes five aspects: central transmitter and receiver, phase control, signal amplification and processing, beam forming and electronic scanning..."

He doesn't speak fast.

Everyone originally thought that it would just be a simple introduction to what passive phased array radar is.

Unexpectedly, as we were talking, we suddenly turned to the topic of core technology.

So he hurriedly took out a pen and paper from his pocket and wrote down every word.

……

It took about 5 minutes.

Li Mu briefly explained what passive phased array radar is and the several core technologies that need to be broken through to develop it.

But he didn't say too much, just enough.

After all, passive phased array radar is still a new thing for everyone, and it takes some time to digest and absorb.

After he finished speaking.

As expected, everyone stared at their notebooks in silence and thought for a long time.

Finally, it was Peng Shilu who spoke first, exclaiming:
"Advisor Li, your ideas are truly invaluable!"

"With these, our country's radar industry will take another big step forward!"

"In the near future, with its appearance, the country's military strength will also usher in a huge improvement!"

After he finished speaking.

Jiang Nanying and a group of experts and professors standing nearby also nodded in agreement.

The information on passive phased array radar is really too valuable.

Just what Li Mu said today is enough for them to spend three to five years studying.

"It's not that exaggerated. It's just some theoretical stuff. There are still many problems we need to solve if we want to implement it." Li Mu said with a smile.

The Xia Kingdom invented the phased array radar in 70, but it was not until 84 that it developed the passive phased array radar.

If they want to bridge this long time gap, they need to work even harder.

Peng Shilu and Jiang Nanying looked at each other and laughed, "What we are least afraid of is difficulties. What we are afraid of is not seeing the difficulties!"

Upon hearing this, other experts and professors also started laughing.

Can it ever be more difficult than before?

At that time, there was no funding, no equipment, and no information, but we still did research.

What's more, they now have Li Mu leading them, who can always help them when they encounter difficult problems, so they have nothing to be afraid of.

……

Afterwards, Li Mu discussed the issue of establishing a research team for passive phased array radar with Peng Shilu and others, and then got up and left.

After he left.

Everyone also began to prepare to start research.

After all, Li Mu only gave them an idea, which still requires theoretical verification in many aspects before it can be perfected.

Just when they were about to go their separate ways.

Suddenly, a voice sounded:
"Hey, why do you think Consultant Li calls the phased array radar a passive phased array radar?"

Hear this.

Everyone who was walking out stopped in their tracks, and the same thought came to their mind.

Yes, why is it called passive phased array radar? Aren’t they all called phased array radars in foreign countries?

(End of this chapter)