In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 418 Materials! Processes! These are the bottlenecks hindering Harbin Institute of Technology's scientific research.
"The accuracy of time is related to high-precision positioning, which is indeed very important in fields such as aerospace and communications."

A senior aerospace technical advisor told Li Rui this.

Subsequently, he personally went to see Director Lin of the Ministry of Aerospace.

Director Lin's attitude towards Li Rui was much better than that of the previous head of aerospace: mainly because the military's support for aerospace has been quite substantial in recent years.

The country has little money, so it invests less in the aerospace field.

"The experimental satellite for the BeiDou system is scheduled to launch in April or May next year... Apart from national and military missions, there are no other related projects..."

Director Lin didn't understand what Li Rui was planning to do. Knowing Li Rui's identity, he didn't hide it. Who knows, the military might be able to provide more support?
The 35 Dongfeng-3 missiles were sold for a high price of over 10 billion US dollars. Now the military has sent Deputy Commander Cao to the big spender for more detailed communication, mainly to negotiate specific cooperation on base construction, logistics maintenance and other aspects.

"Doesn't Harbin Institute of Technology have any other projects?"

Li Rui frowned.

"Harbin Institute of Technology has always initiated its own projects without needing the approval of the Ministry. This is something that Harbin Institute of Technology insisted on back then."

Director Lin shook his head.

He finally understood Li Rui's purpose: Harbin Institute of Technology had just started to do some business, and the military was already eager to stuff more projects into it.

"Director Lin, haven't the school's satellite and other projects been reported?"

Li Rui was still unwilling to give up.

In his view, Xie Wei said that on purpose.

It's hard to accept that such a huge amount of funding isn't being used to develop cutting-edge equipment needed for the future development of the military.

"Director Li, you know the situation at the university better than I do. So far, the development of the WS-10 core engine is hampered by high-temperature alloys and manufacturing processes, resulting in a lifespan of only a few dozen hours. The control system, for example, has been less than ideal due to issues with chips and other components. Meanwhile, the Harbin Institute of Technology's fighter jet team, in collaboration with Northwestern Polytechnical University and other institutions, has launched research on the development of stealth fighter jet layouts; and they are also collaborating with the 201st Research Institute on the development of a third-generation main battle tank… The military hasn't provided any funding for these projects!"

Director Lin was displeased and directly reminded Li Rui which projects Harbin Institute of Technology was currently undertaking.

These projects were all initiated when Li Rui was the principal.

"Because of these projects, Harbin Institute of Technology must increase its R&D investment in alloy materials, semiconductor manufacturing processes, etc... Do you have no regard for the development of Harbin Institute of Technology at all?"

Director Lin's angry question silenced Li Rui.

Director Lin did not give up.

Li Rui represents the attitude of the military.

"Furthermore, in terms of CNC, Harbin Institute of Technology has solved the problem of linkage in five-axis machining centers in recent years, but because the manufacturing process and other aspects do not meet the requirements, the precision of five-axis machining centers has not made a breakthrough. The funds required in this area are also increasing... If we don't invest in the basics, what good will it do even if we design something more advanced? Why can't Harbin Institute of Technology manufacture the Wuzhen-1 robot? Why can't their robot workshop be stably controlled? Don't you care at all?"

"Without advanced materials, advanced manufacturing equipment and processes, everything is in vain!"

Even though the person opposite him was Li Rui, Director Lin showed no politeness whatsoever.

Harbin Institute of Technology.

Automation Research Center.

Unmanned workshop laboratory.

Xie Wei was standing next to Du Guowang and a group of bigwigs, nervously watching the entire operating workshop.

The workshop is filled with a large number of CNC machine tools, and between the machine tools are robotic arms.

At this moment, all the CNC machine tools are running, and the robotic arms are constantly taking the machined parts off the machine tools and placing them on the adjacent transfer tables; then they clamp a part from the previous transfer table and mount it onto the machine tool.

However, not all robotic arms are synchronized.

Some robotic arms have to stop when there are no parts left on the transfer table after removing the processed parts.

Once the previous processing steps are completed and the parts are placed on the transfer table, the stopped robotic arm has to wait several seconds before it can turn around to pick up the parts.

"There are still too many problems in the whole process. The detection system is not sensitive enough, and the program of the central control system also needs further optimization. It is still far from being put into actual production."

Looking at the situation in the workshop, Xie Wei shook his head repeatedly.

He had seen fully automated, unmanned workshops where robotic arms never experienced such delays.

"There's no other way; this has already used the computing power of two Galaxy-1 and one Galaxy-2 satellites..."

Du Guowang shook his head. "At least, we have achieved our initial goal."

"No! We haven't even achieved the initial goals. The painting and welding workshops at Harbin Aircraft Industry Group need to be automated, but our current control technology simply can't meet that requirement."

Xie Wei shook his head.

Don't be fooled by the fact that this is just an unmanned workshop, equipped with some CNC machine tools and robotic arms. It is currently the most advanced automation research project in China, involving a series of automation-related technologies such as industrial automation, automatic control, automatic detection, communication, and computers.

The entire workshop has received over 6.2 million yuan in research funding since its initial project inception.

"Director Xie, the only thing we can do right now is to continue optimizing the control program and designing more sensitive sensors, but the funding..."

"According to the original plan, we need at least three supercomputers with a computing speed of 20 billion operations per second. Now, even running the automatic control program requires calling them from the university's supercomputing center, which has a significant impact on the project's progress..."

The people around Du Guowang began to complain.

Got it!
It requires funding again.

"We'll allocate 2.18 million yuan in funding here first."

Xie Wei thought for a moment and then said, "But what I hope for even more is to solve the accuracy problem of five-axis machining centers. Aerospace and aviation have very high requirements for five-axis machining, and so far we cannot even stably control the accuracy of 5 guides (0.05mm)..."

Xie Wei knew that the workshop in front of him integrated the most advanced automation technology in the school and even the whole country, but the basics were more urgent.

"This isn't our fault! The basic components of Harbin No. 1 Machinery Plant don't meet the precision requirements, and the precision of the ball screw assembly is unstable..."

"It's a middle-aged man in his early forties," he said helplessly.

"They are also working hard... mainly on the control system, especially in areas such as compensation and correction..."

Du Guowang hurriedly spoke up.

"Alright, let's not dwell on who's responsible now. Harbin No. 1 Machinery Plant is indeed making efforts, but ultimately it's because our materials and manufacturing processes are too poor."

Xie Wei sighed.

Harbin No.1 Machinery has made great progress since it started cooperating with Harbin Institute of Technology, at least in the technology of small CNC lathes.

However, their technological advancements have also made them targets for international CNC giants. If Xie Wei hadn't proposed increasing the production of general-purpose machine tools and improving quality while reducing costs, they would have been in dire straits long ago.

International giants aren't fools.

When we first discovered that China could provide CNC systems, we were indeed panicked for a while, and even lifted the embargo on four-axis machining centers.

Later, after discovering that the quality of domestically produced products could not be improved, they directly terminated the cooperation on the five-axis linkage machining center that was under negotiation, and even stopped the transactions for high-precision three-axis, large three-axis, and four-axis machining centers.

Both aerospace and aviation industries have a great demand for machining centers with three or more axes.

It's not that Xie Wei is unaware, nor is it that the school invests too little in this area—there are just too many areas that need extra help.

This is why Xie Wei now has to focus all his funds on investing in basic materials and processing equipment.

"And then there's the cemented carbide used for machining cutting tools. Currently, the cutting tool materials used for machining titanium alloys and high-temperature alloys are not wear-resistant enough..." "Alright, Xiaokang, Director Xie knows that!"

Du Guowang interrupted the middle-aged man.

Kang Lei, one of the first batch of doctoral students supervised by Du Guowang, has not yet graduated, but he is already a key member of the Automation Research Center. He did his undergraduate studies at Capital University and his graduate studies at Tsinghua University. He gave up pursuing his doctorate at Tsinghua University and also gave up going abroad, and came to Harbin Institute of Technology.

"I'll go check out the Institute of Metal Materials."

Xie Wei did not get angry because of Kang Lei's complaints.

If Xie Wei hadn't forcibly linked research time with funding, countless researchers in all the school's research groups would probably have died suddenly.

"Sixth Brother, what brings you here? Don't give us another project, okay? We have a ton of projects in the metal materials sector right now, all with high requirements and not much funding..."

Zhang Jingyan did not distance herself from Xie Wei as his position continued to rise.

They still referred to each other as they did in the experimental class, in the same way they did in their dormitory.

"What if I'm here to provide funding?"

Xie Wei looked at Zhang Jingyan's graying temples, haggard face, and bloodshot eyes, and sighed silently, "Materials can't be developed in a day, I won't rush you."

"Tools for machining high-temperature alloys?"

Zhang Jingyan knew that Xie Wei would only contact him when there was something important, and he wouldn't even come to the Institute of Metal Research.

Without him.

If you go there, you'll be surrounded by the leaders and experts of the entire Institute of Metal Materials, who will demand money, personnel, and equipment.

In recent years, after the higher authorities prohibited Harbin Institute of Technology from poaching people everywhere, Xie Wei came up with some bad ideas, but his unit was wary of Harbin Institute of Technology. Many of the people he trained were transferred away by the ministry, so where was he going to find so many people?
"That's only one aspect. The operating temperature that the current high-temperature alloys can withstand is still somewhat low. The extended test run time for the WS-10 turbofan engine is only 68 hours, and we haven't been able to break through that barrier... According to the design of the R&D team there, the import temperature needs to be increased to at least 1680℃..."

"Didn't they say before that 1460℃ would be enough?"

Zhang Jingyan frowned.

As a young backbone in the field of alloy materials, he has been dealing with alloys ever since he transferred to the Institute of Metal Materials in 79. Even with the basic formula provided by Xie Wei, it still takes a lot of time to test the proportion of each component.

The Alloy Institute is also one of the biggest drains of Harbin Institute of Technology's budget.

Before Xie Wei could speak, Zhang Jingyan said, "So, we've been on the wrong track?"

"The approach is correct. Adding rare earth elements is necessary, but the formula and process need adjustment. In addition, it may also be related to processing... Surface roughness has always relied on manual polishing, and according to Mr. Wu's analysis, various factors are involved..."

How much funding can you provide?

Zhang Jingyan asked.

Xie Wei's decision to ask me out alone must mean he's short on funds.

"We can only allocate 2600 million yuan initially; it cannot be misappropriated. Furthermore, technologies such as powder metallurgy and vapor deposition coatings also require focused research and development..."

Xie Wei was somewhat hesitant to look Zhang Jingyan in the eye.

He knew very well that Zhang Jingyan had never taken a single day off since he arrived at the Institute of Metal Materials in 79, and he could count on one hand the number of times he stayed in the house allocated to him by the school each year.

"That's quite a lot!"

Zhang Jingyan was somewhat surprised, "It wouldn't be a problem to ask our director about this, would it?"

"Don't even mention it. Your institute applied for 3.4 million yuan in funding last year to build a larger high-temperature furnace and related facilities, as well as basic research on various superhard metals, and the university cut it down to 6200 million yuan... This matter..."

Zhang Jingyan remained silent.

No wonder Xie Wei was looking for him!
It seems this money wasn't to supplement the funding the institute applied for from the university, but rather to provide additional funds for formula improvements in high-temperature alloys, superhard alloys, and the like.

Is there any funding coming in?

"Theoretically, yes."

Zhang Jingyan stared wide-eyed at Xie Wei.

"There's a contract, a lot of money, but it hasn't been signed yet. If there are problems with the contract, there will be problems with subsequent funding... Like I said, boss, when the other big shots can't be reasoned with, they'll resort to force, and I can't fight back... We need to be careful..."

"..."

Zhang Jingyan looked at Xie Wei speechlessly.

Damn it, you're afraid the old professors will take action, but you're not afraid to take action yourself, are you?
Meanwhile, negotiations are taking place at a secret military base in the Middle Eastern desert.

The atmosphere of the negotiations had become extremely tense.

"...Gentlemen, it's not that we're making things difficult for you, but you've all seen how poor the cultural level and military skills of our officers and soldiers are...We must provide one-on-one guidance, otherwise it will be very difficult for them to understand."

Garcia Abdullah spoke with righteous indignation.

The Chinese representatives sitting opposite him all looked helpless.

One-on-one training!

This means that China must send as many personnel as a base needs to provide guidance.

Logically, there shouldn't be any problem.

The problem is that the other side is also demanding that the garrison troops do the same.

This is very fatal.

Having already explicitly refused the request to station troops, the other side is actually using this method to demand personnel from China...

"General, is a garrison unnecessary? As for the operators, one against many is no problem..."

Du Ziteng was speechless. "At most, we'll provide various weapons and a battalion of instructors."

"No! His Highness said that for every battalion we buy, we must provide an equal number of battalions of instructors! One-on-one!"

Farahleman gritted his teeth and said, "As long as you agree, our contract will be stamped immediately, and the money can be transferred at any time."

"At most two battalions!"

Wu Lijun said through gritted teeth.

He didn't expect that, with all other conditions in order, the other party would make a fuss about the number of people in the training team.

Isn't this a disguised demand that China provide troops to protect their bases?

Xie Wei had originally instructed that the number of trainees be kept below 800, but the other party insisted on one-on-one training!

Including the guards.

The reason given is that all the weapons these soldiers use were purchased from China, and they are required to receive one-on-one training from Chinese instructors, with the training period starting at three years. After three years, many of these trained soldiers will have to retire...

Such a request completely exceeded their expectations.

But who could give up such a huge contract?

If it weren't for that batch of Dongfeng rockets, the contract Xie Wei negotiated would have been worth more than the country's foreign exchange reserves!
(End of this chapter)