In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 314 You bastard, you're swinging the hoe at the Chinese Academy of Sciences! You're not planning to let me live!

At this moment, Long Yaohua glared angrily at Xie Wei.

He seemed determined not to let him off easily until he explained himself clearly.

"Sir, I have a question."

Xie Wei knew that the military's considerations were correct, especially after listening to Long Yaohua's introduction of the introduction of the Bes engine and the chaos in domestic aero-engine research in recent years, he insisted on his own ideas.

"you say!"

The voice was cold.

"Does the military want a high-thrust military turbofan engine, or does it want the core engine?"

"Is there a difference?"

Long Yaohua frowned. He suddenly felt that Xie Wei was much more annoying than Li Rui.

Despite having held a high position for a long time, he almost lost control of his emotions when facing Xie Wei.

Yes. There is a big difference.

Xie Wei nodded seriously, noticing that Long Yaohua was still staring intently at him. He took a sip of tea to moisten his throat before speaking solemnly: "Previously, Wu Daguan was the chief designer of the WS-6 turbofan engine. After the Spey engine was introduced, he was transferred to the Spey engine project... However, the Third Ministry of Machinery Industry determined that the Spey engine could not be installed on the J-13, and the J-13 would use the WS-6. Due to funding issues, the funds for the localization of the Spey engine were diverted, and the funding for the WS-6 increased..."

Xie Wei knew he was not qualified to judge the previous engine project.

But he couldn't remain silent about his opinion.

The air force and military leaders of that era were quite idealistic and naive. It wasn't until the Gulf War, when the Americans used a high-tech war to shock the PLA leaders and make them realize that the war situation had changed significantly with the development of technology.

Ultimately, after the J-7 and J-8 were developed, the Air Force never wanted them.

It's just that there's no other way but to do it.

The Air Force has always wanted to have an aircraft that is better than the ones available at the time, and that idea is not wrong.

The problem is that the Air Force is well aware of the level and technological foundation of China's aviation industry, which led to the performance indicators of various types of fighter jets and supporting major equipment in the 1960s and 1970s being ridiculously high.

For example, the WS-6 turbofan engine, which is equipped with the J-9 fighter jet with dual 26 specifications, has higher specifications than turbofan engines from developed Western countries.

However, the level of domestic aero-engine design is very low, and the supporting infrastructure is even worse.

Ultimately, Xie Wei was afraid that the Air Force would repeat its old mistakes—raising the performance indicators of Project 10 whenever it saw something advanced internationally.

If we work on the core machine first, there won't be any problems.

If Wu Daguan, the father of China's aero-engine industry, were to become the chief engineer, he would certainly focus his energy on aero-engines, which he is more familiar with, rather than the core engine.

"You want control of the project?"

Long Yaohua's eyes widened instantly, his face filled with disbelief.

Xie Wei nodded calmly, "If we can't take the lead in the project, and the higher-ups keep changing the targets every now and then, whether it's Project No. 10 or the supporting WS-10 turbofan engine, I will suggest that the school not take it on!"

This was Xie Wei's main purpose in seeking out Long Yaohua.

Only after the Gulf War, when the air force and even the entire military leadership were shocked by the high-tech warfare of the Americans and realized that their once-proud artillery had almost no chance of fighting back in an advanced warfare situation, did they abandon their illusions.

Currently, the development of the military has not prioritized the air force and navy!
After the Gulf War, the Air Force stopped giving arbitrary specifications and instead allowed the J-10 to be improved step by step by the research team.

Furthermore, the Kosovo War, in which NATO directly used its air force to win the war, allowed the air force to steadily tackle key problems based on its domestic technological foundation. Ultimately, in just over 20 years, the air force, which had lagged behind by decades in the field of fighter jets, became the leader in the development of air force equipment across the entire planet.

Long Yaohua remained silent.

Xie Wei wasn't in a hurry and waited quietly to the side.

"Okay, you go to Li Rui's place first. I'll have someone notify you once they've made a decision."

Xie Wei was not surprised by this result at all.

"You're really good at getting me into trouble. In just one morning, I've been yelled at by the presidents of four universities..."

When Li Rui saw Xie Wei appear at his office door again, he immediately started cursing.

"Getting scolded is a minor matter; a few words of scolding won't cost you anything. The key issue is whether we can get the person to the school!"

Xie Wei stepped forward and, without any hesitation, made himself a cup of tea.

Seeing his shameless behavior, Li Rui felt powerless once again.

He decided that he would no longer resort to feigning helplessness to solve problems.

The more "disgusted" I am with Xie Wei now, the more those leaders probably dislike me.

"The personnel are fine, but the chief engineer position..."

Li Rui sighed. Xie Wei had been fighting him for control of the school-enterprise office since he was the principal, and now he was fighting the military for control of the project. Although Li Rui supported him, he couldn't influence all the high-ranking military officers.

"I told the bigwigs, either the school takes the lead, or the school doesn't do it. Whatever!"

Xie Wei looked completely indifferent.

Li Rui didn't believe it at all, and just pursed her lips without exposing Xie Wei. "It's getting late. The guesthouse has been arranged. You should go and rest."

"Aren't you going to rest?"

"It's all because you proposed military standardization and complex engineering system management methods. I have so much to do here! We're even short-staffed right now."

Li Rui said irritably.

The guesthouse was nearby, and Li Rui didn't have time to take Xie Wei there.

"...That's the situation. Harbin Institute of Technology wants to develop a core engine that can be used in thermal power generation, ship propulsion systems, military turbofan engines, and civil airliner engines, and Comrade Wu Zhonghua's three-dimensional flow theory of turbomachinery is the core of the design...I personally agree with this view. In the previous engine development process, none of the projects had a complete design theory. They either copied or improved based on technical specifications..."

The afternoon after meeting Xie Wei, Long Yaohua gave a report to a group of senior leaders.

"Design theory? The computational complexity of three-dimensional flow theory is enormous..."

One of the leaders immediately frowned.

It's not that we don't use the theories that exist domestically. The aviation system has previously conducted special research on the three-dimensional flow theory of turbomachinery, and even invited Wu Zhonghua to give lectures. However, no design team has chosen to use such theories for related designs.

The calculation is extremely difficult.

“We had this concern at first. Harbin Institute of Technology participated in the Galaxy-1 supercomputer project of the National University of Defense Technology. Currently, the computing speed of the Galaxy-1 supercomputer can be stably maintained at 500 million calculations per second. The one ordered by Harbin Institute of Technology is about to be delivered. Computing is no longer a problem.”

This was also one of the reasons Xie Wei persuaded Long Yaohua.

"We've been working on aero engines for decades, but it's an undeniable fact that our industrial foundation is weak, our basic skills are poor, and we have little experience. Over the years, apart from the WS-8 turbofan engine, which is a copy of the JT-3D, which has made good progress, the WS-6 has encountered numerous problems, and the WS-9, which uses parts provided by the UK to produce prototypes, also has many issues. The British simply don't teach us their core technologies, and it has been proven that the British don't have complete MK202 engine technology..."

Long Yaohua explained the situation with a serious expression.

It's not just the Air Force that needs engines.

The navy cannot increase the tonnage of its warships because it lacks high-power gas turbines.

"With the rapid development of the national economy and the acceleration of economic construction, the country's demand for electricity is also increasing. However, high-power gas turbines cannot be manufactured domestically. Relying solely on imports not only consumes a large amount of foreign exchange but also makes us vulnerable to being held hostage by technology..."

"Yes, the number of power plant construction projects being submitted for approval is increasing rapidly across the country!"

One of the leaders sighed and said.

"Can the core machine really solve these problems?" Some leaders have raised doubts.

"As long as we develop the core engine and expand the bypass duct to different types, it becomes a turbofan engine..."

Long Yaohua directly used Xie Wei's reasons, although he didn't remember some details very clearly, but the general idea was correct. "In addition, as long as the core engine technology is sound, the performance of various engine models derived from the core engine can also be guaranteed. At the same time, it can shorten the development cycle of multiple different types of engines and reduce R&D costs..."

"There are many advantages, but what about the disadvantages?"

One of the leaders asked, frowning.

This question reflects the sentiments of all the bigwigs.

The development of a core machine cannot be all benefits without drawbacks.

"The research and development is difficult and time-consuming."

"Comrade Yaohua, you just pointed out that the domestic aero-engine field has a weak foundation and poor basic skills. Wouldn't it be...?"

Although the leader did not say directly what would happen, his concerns represented the thoughts of most leaders.

"That's true. If we can develop a core engine, the heart problem of all large equipment will be solved. Even if we don't succeed in the end, we'll have trained our team and gained valuable experience..."

Long Yaohua's expression was serious. "Without Project Ten, the Air Force will not be able to acquire advanced fighter jets in the short term. The Americans are selling F-16/79 fighter jets, which are only slightly more advanced than our current fighter jets and will soon become obsolete. The Navy is still relying on its old and outdated four mainstays, while other countries have already equipped themselves with Aegis-equipped warships..."

"Our navy supports developing core engines! We may not be able to rely on the Spey gas turbine, but the Type 055 destroyer cannot be without a high-power gas turbine."

The naval leadership was the first to express their opinion.

They have received a message from Institute 703 that Harbin Institute of Technology is preparing to invite them to participate in the development of the core machine.

The most successful example of converting aircraft engines into gas turbines is the Marine Spey: the Spey marine gas turbine, which is a modified aircraft engine, has a single unit power of 19.5 megawatts, or 26500 horsepower!

The British Type 22 and Type 23 frigates, the Dutch Karel Dolman-class frigates and Seven Provinces-class air defense destroyers, and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force's Asagiri-class, Murasame-class, and Takanami-class large warships, all use marine gas turbines modified from Bess aircraft engines.

This is also one of the reasons why the country still imported the bass guitar even though it knew that the specifications did not match the advertising.

All of the Republic's large-scale equipment suffers from "heart disease".

It's a very serious kind.

"Air Force support!"

……

After spending three consecutive days at the guesthouse, Xie Wei pondered who else he could recruit while also considering how to integrate the limited resources.

With the school's seminar on Project No. 10 approaching, and Long Yaohua still not having given a reply, Xie Wei felt awkward about contacting Mr. Wu.

The three-dimensional flow theory of turbomachinery directly overturns the theoretical foundation and calculation methods of internal flow in turbomachinery that have been used since its inception.

The complex flow theory around the wing, which cannot be fully calculated in aeronautical engineering, is directly discarded. Instead, Wu's equations are used to replace the difficult-to-calculate viscosity option with the gradient of entropy for calculation.
Abandoning the analytical solution methods used in fluid mechanics, we decompose complex three-dimensional spatial flows into simple and reasonable two-dimensional calculations.

The second and third generation blade designs mostly adopted Wu's theory and Wu's equation.

Even a century later, Wu's theory and Wu's equations remain advanced theoretical foundations and powerful tools for the design and analysis of turbomachinery.

Adopting the ternary flow theory directly from the beginning is actually no more difficult than the design scheme that is not currently being used.

The reason is simple: there are very few people in China who have mastered the fundamental theoretical design of aero engines. At the beginning, China's aero engines were just imitations of Soviet turbojet engines, and the Soviets' theoretical knowledge in this area was not very good either.

Unfortunately, they had better materials and more funds, so they relied entirely on their advanced materials to stand up to the West.

"Well, we have the theory for engine design, and the talent pool is almost complete. We can only work on materials gradually... But as for computers, we need to introduce mechanical design... We need to complete the computer team!"

Xie Wei felt that this was a good opportunity to recruit top talents from the university.

Thus, another list was freshly produced.

"You bastard! You're not human at all! I just got yelled at by a bunch of universities and research institutes, and now this happens? Did I owe you something in my past life?"

Upon seeing the list Xie Wei handed him again, Li Rui jumped up, slammed his fist on the table, and pointed at Xie Wei's nose, cursing angrily.

A few days ago, he went to ask for the people according to the list Xie Wei gave him. He not only had to smile and beg a lot, but he also got scolded quite a bit.

It even cost them a lot of favors.

Just finished.

Xie Wei handed over the list again.

"I am a Communist Party member and a staunch atheist!"

Xie Wei calmly opened the cabinet under the bookshelf next to Li Rui's wall. Sure enough, Old Li's habits hadn't changed; the best tea was hidden in the corner of the cabinet.

Biluochun, Longjing, Huangshan Maofeng, and even Da Hong Pao wrapped in kraft paper!

Good, good, we'll take them all away in a bit.

Given Lao Li's current status, these teas are definitely much better than before; they're all specially supplied.

Back when he was in school, he would rob the higher-ups.

I took out a handful of Biluochun tea and put it into the cup.

"You fucking shut down! Aren't you afraid you'll mentally kill yourself?!"

Seeing Xie Wei grab a handful of his fine tea—tea that he himself was reluctant to drink or offer to guests—and put it into the cup, Director Li, who was already furious, became even more irritable.

"I didn't sleep well last night because I was thinking about the list, so I drank strong tea to wake myself up."

Xie Wei didn't care at all.

"Do I fucking owe you anything?"

"Old Li, I don't like hearing that. You're the one who dumped the project on the school. Don't you know what kind of resources the school has? I won't even mention the money, but with that small team, how long will it take to get it done?"

What the hell!
Damn it!
They always put themselves on the moral high ground and in the position of the victim.

"This is about developing engines! What do you need computer and integrated circuit experts for?"

Li Rui took a deep breath, repeatedly telling himself: I made this choice, I made this choice! If I had been killed, it wouldn't have been easy to choose such a shameless successor.

"The ternary flow theory places high demands on computers; one Galaxy-1 isn't enough... Moreover, the school's integrated circuit design is lagging behind the development of computers. I wanted to develop the basic functions of computer-aided design software, but the computer couldn't support it..."

Xie Wei took a sip of tea.

Ok.

Special supplies are especially delicious.

"You can manage to poach people from universities, but you're even going so far as to recruit from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Huang Lingyi and Ni Guangnan are both key figures at the Chinese Academy of Sciences..."

Li Rui tried his best to persuade Xie Wei to change his mind.

If you try to poach students from other universities, you'll only get criticized. At least you were on the same level as the presidents of other universities before, and now you're even a level higher, so they'll at least give you some face.

The key point is that Xie Wei is now turning his hoe on the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

(End of this chapter)