Research starts with PhD students

Chapter 338: All seven experiments were successful, how is this possible!

"Not interested in research on superconducting materials?"

"Because of the needs of the Chaos Field Experiment Group, you came here specifically to develop this material?"

"Just want to complete this 'mission' quickly? Rushing to watch the test flight of the gravity ship?"

"..."

Wen Shumao stood there with extremely complicated emotions. He felt angry, confused, lost, and had deep doubts.

What... is this research?!
The research on superconducting materials is not easy. He has devoted his whole life to this research. His greatest wish is to develop superconducting materials that can be used on a large scale in industry.

This is exactly what I have been pursuing all my life.

However, in Zhang Shuo's eyes, all of this seemed to be something that could be done easily. He was even rushing to test-fly the gravity spacecraft and did not want to come back to continue his research.

This is so infuriating!
Wen Shumao's expression became a little distorted. He didn't know what to say. His face turned red. After a long time, he managed to squeeze out a word and said through gritted teeth, "We will definitely cooperate with you to the fullest!"

He was angry and depressed, then turned and left.

"Uh~~~"

Zhang Shuo stared at the other person's back as he left, realizing that his words might have been too straightforward.

Perhaps because I have been in a high position for a long time, sometimes I ignore other people's feelings.

Sometimes, some aspects cannot be expressed so directly?

……

"Research is not that easy!"

"For material 122, it is not that easy to get the critical temperature to above 60K. From 30K to 60K, the difficulty does not increase by one, but by ten or a hundred times. It is not even clear whether it can be done..."

"Academician Zhang, you're rushing to finish the work..."

Wen Shumao returned to his office and his mood calmed down a little.

He thought about it carefully and felt that it was a bit of an exaggeration.

How old is Academician Zhang!

More than thirty years old!

At this age, most outstanding researchers have just started their scientific research careers, but Zhang Shuo has already achieved such great achievements that it would be an understatement to call him the modern Einstein. He has confidence in scientific research, and it is normal for him to be proud.

However, changing fields is like crossing a mountain. Materials research is different from mathematics, physics, and new physics. Sometimes, it depends not only on talent and ability, but experience and luck are the most important.

"All we can do is cooperate." Wen Shumao thought and shook his head.

He still didn't believe that the research could be done easily, let alone in a short period of time.

That's simply a fantasy.

But he was powerless to change anything. The only thing he could do was to cooperate fully. Whether it was achieved or not was none of his business.

At three o'clock in the afternoon of that day, Wen Shumao's materials research group, including other researchers and engineers sent by the superconductivity laboratory, gathered in a small conference room.

Zhang Shuo has already drawn up an experimental plan.

Through a period of experimentation and inspiration from the mission, he has already grasped the 'favorable variables' in the experiment and has some ideas on 'adding elements'.

These are already written in the plan.

Liu Mingkun distributed materials to each team leader and person in charge, then walked up to the podium in the conference room and carefully explained the experimental plan.

"We have seven experiments going on simultaneously, all of which are material preparation."

"Seven experiments, each different. Three of them are related to adding elements, and one is adding nickel oxide..."

"in addition……"

"In terms of experimental operation, experiments 1-6 continue to use the solid phase reaction method. During the sintering process of experiment 1, we use..."

"Experiment No. 2..."

He explained each experiment carefully.

Everyone was listening attentively, and some team leaders or persons in charge also began to take notes seriously.

Conducting seven sets of experiments at the same time will make every member of the experimental group busy and the workload will become very high. However, data recording is a tedious task, and what they need to do is to ensure that each experiment proceeds smoothly.

An hour later, the meeting was over.

Everyone went to make their own preparations. Wen Shumao and Zhang Shuo discussed the issue of basic materials. During the initial grinding stage of material preparation, the basic materials had to be shipped out and processed by the "mysterious" team.

Wen Shumao doesn’t know how the specific processing is carried out, but the initial processing is also very important and can greatly improve the performance of the material.

He also had a little idea in his mind, which was to transport more materials over.

After completing multiple experiments, they will be able to use the processed raw materials and perhaps develop superconducting materials with better performance.

"The processed raw materials are all valuable..."

“After Academician Zhang Shuo leaves, it will be impossible to have it again, unless we can develop materials with very good performance.”

Wen Shumao thought about it and felt a little regretful.

After communicating with Zhang Shuo, Wen Shumao did not stay long and left to assign other tasks.

He was obviously still somewhat indignant about Zhang Shuo's words about 'rushing to complete the research'. Deep down, he couldn't accept it at all, but he couldn't say anything.

Before the research was completed, he could not say things like "the research is impossible to complete" or "Zhang Shuo underestimated the research on superconducting materials."

Of course, it's different for others.

When Wen Shumao was explaining his work to others, he couldn't help but complain, "Academician Zhang Shuo... is a genius, but he underestimates material research and development."

"It's not that easy!"

"If high-performance superconducting materials can be developed quickly, there won't be more than a decade without breakthroughs."

The person he was complaining to was Hu Lei, a senior engineer in the experimental group.

During the material preparation process, professional personnel are needed to carry out the operation, and Hu Lei is responsible for this aspect.

After hearing what Wen Shumao said, Hu Lei smiled and said, "Director, didn't we just make some great progress?"

"Ok?"

Wen Shumao didn't react for a moment.

Hu Lei said, "The critical temperature of this material has been raised to over 30K. It should just be an extra process that we don't know about, right?"

“Other performance has also been improved.”

"What I mean is... we find it difficult, but maybe Academician Zhang Shuo doesn't find it difficult."

Wen Shumao really couldn't find the words to refute. His face turned black, and after a long while he finally said, "Your last sentence is right. Academician Zhang Shuo really doesn't think it's difficult."

"He thinks that after a few experiments, he will be able to directly develop the ideal material. Do you think it's possible?!"

"Uh~~"

Hu Lei glanced at Wen Shumao secretly, and finally said, "It should... be impossible." He didn't know whether to say it was possible or impossible, and it was not something he could decide.

Wen Shumao felt that it was impossible, so he just went along with it. But in fact, he thought it was still possible. Academician Zhang Shuo had done so much research and created so many miracles. Why couldn't he create another miracle?
……

Seven material preparation experiments started simultaneously.

The materials group and the laboratory were extremely busy, and there were also several groups working in the superconducting laboratory, but recording the data was extremely cumbersome.

The team led by Hu Lei is directly responsible for the operations of several preparation steps.

He himself was so busy that he was dizzy.

In fact, Hu Lei's team is usually very idle, because there is relatively little research on material preparation, and they only start working formally after there is a plan.

Now we have to prepare seven materials at once, and every step of each material must be operated very carefully, which requires a lot of energy.

Material preparation is not that simple, especially work in the laboratory.

Because there is no standardized process equipment to assist, many operations need to be very precise. There cannot be any temperature or pressure deviations. During the operation, it is necessary to pay attention to each data, and the completion process also needs to be very standardized. Only very experienced technicians can complete it.

This work continued for more than a week.

The people in Hu Lei's team are so busy that they have to live in the laboratory. Sometimes, they even have to work overtime at night and need to keep an eye on the data on the equipment at all times.

After a busy week, the seven material preparation experiments were finally completed.

Finally, it is rapid cooling.

In the cooling process, Experiment No. 4 was modified and a new cooling method was adopted.

A brand-new approach means brand-new operations, and we need to be extra cautious in our work, hoping to meet the expectations of the preparation plan.

“It’s all done.”

“Now we just have to wait for the test results.”

The experiment was completed in the morning. After the work was completed, the prepared materials were transported to the materials testing center, and Professor Xue Changkun became the busy one.

Wen Shumao announced that everyone could go and rest, but most people did not leave immediately but stayed.

Some people simply went to the material testing center, hoping to know the results first.

In the past seven days, many people have learned about Zhang Shuo’s intended goals, and also know that Zhang Shuo hopes to use this large-scale experiment to complete the research goals.

Can you do it?

Wen Shumao was not optimistic, and neither were most of the people in his group.

They have all been focusing on the research and development of superconducting materials, and they also know how difficult it is. It is not about doing a large number of experiments with "variables" that can lead to breakthroughs in research.

Researching materials is not easy, and sometimes it really depends on luck.

This is mainly because there is no universal principle in materials science, and there is no complete basic theory of superconductivity. Research often relies on experience and luck.

What will the performance of the materials prepared now be like?
Wen Shumao also went to the materials testing center. He talked to Xue Changkun for a few words and then waited at the door.

Xue Changkun: You know, there are many people waiting for the results. He is also very interested in the material properties and started the testing work immediately.

Testing superconducting materials is not easy. Multiple tests are required for each key performance factor, and it takes about two hours to get results for one material.

The good thing is that multiple materials can be tested simultaneously, just like going to the hospital for a physical examination, where people can queue up and take turns to do one test item.

More than an hour later, the test results of material No. 1 came out.

Xue Changkun came out immediately, handed the printed report to Wen Shumao, and whispered, "I know the initial data of this material."

"From what I can see now, the critical temperature has increased by 3k, which is not a big improvement. Among the other properties, only the physical properties have improved slightly, but any improvement is good..."

Wen Shumao nodded affirmatively.

If it is used in daily research and development, raising the critical temperature of a basic superconducting material by 3K can be considered a significant improvement.

However, compared with the expected target...

3k, what’s that?

Wen Shumao continued to read the report carefully, and after he finished reading it, he showed it to the others around him. The others had similar opinions, "There is improvement, it's amazing."

"Experiment No. 1 was a success!"

"3k is not a small amount, but this improvement is not enough..."

“But it is also an achievement if taken alone.”

While they were discussing, the high test results of other materials also came out.

Xue Changkun was sent out together.

Wen Shumao held a stack of reports in his hand and distributed them to other people one by one.

He only had a report in his hand, and then he noticed the data on it, "Critical temperature, increased by 1 to 2K?"

"This data..."

Before he finished his evaluation, he heard others exclaim, "The critical temperature of the material in Experiment 3 has also increased, and the physical properties are even higher!"

"It's the same with mine, number 5. The critical temperature has increased. Although the increase is very small, it has not decreased. It should be considered a success!"

"Number 6, amazing, a huge improvement! The critical temperature has risen by 5K!"

"Number 7, the critical temperature has not increased much, but it has not decreased either, and the current carrying capacity has increased..."

Everyone talked about the results.

Wen Shumao didn't feel anything at first. Some of them were just small improvements, which were far from the expected goals. But after hearing all the results, he suddenly lost his composure.

The performance of all materials has improved? Most of them have increased their critical temperatures, which means that all experiments have been successful.

The large-scale experiments conducted this time were to perform variable operations on the material preparation process. The variables of each experiment were different. Some added elements, and some simply changed the preparation operation process. Every experiment was successful, which means that every variable had a positive benefit on the material performance.

One positive return is nothing, but what about seven positive returns?

If we put all seven variables with positive returns together, with a critical temperature of 60K, it doesn't seem impossible to accomplish?

But how is this possible!
All seven experiments were successful!
Wen Shumao reacted and was so shocked that he couldn't breathe. He took the report from the person next to him and looked at it for a few seconds, then took another report and looked at it again...

Next one.

Order another one!
This is true for every report, and it is just as it says, all are positive returns.

"This……"

Wen Shumao stared at the pile of reports in his hand and didn't know how to express himself for a moment.

After waiting for a long time, he exclaimed, "It's really like this..."

"Material research is so easy?"

"There has been no results in so many years. Is it because of my level..."

The tone of the last sentence even carried a hint of despair.

(End of this chapter)