78: Bringing his wife and children to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 100: The mold has arrived, and the trial production is complete.

"Master Wang, well done!"

"Of course. I've been making molds for thirty years, how could I possibly mess up something like this?"

Mr. Wang put his reading glasses into his pocket.

When will the final payment be made?

"I'll give it to you today. Mr. Li, here's two hundred yuan."

Mr. Li took the money from the office and handed it over.

Mr. Wang checked the list once, then got on his tricycle and drove off.

Master Li watched his retreating figure and smiled.

"This person has a bad temper, but is incredibly meticulous in his work."

"As long as it's detailed, it's fine."

Ye Bingwen patted the mold.

"Master Li, we'll start trial production tomorrow. You'll be in charge of preparing the first batch."

"OK."

Chen An arrived early the next morning.

He heard that the mold had arrived, so he rode his bike over and squatted down in front of it to look at it as soon as he entered the workshop.

"Master Wang's craftsmanship is truly remarkable. This set of molds is even more refined than the one in his laboratory."

"Shall we begin?"

Master Li asked.

"start."

Chen An spread the new process instructions on the worktable.

Each item is written very clearly.

Master Li looked at it once and copied the key numbers onto the back of his hand.

"Increase the resin ratio by 5% and reduce the hardener by 3%. Curing temperature is 140 degrees Celsius, and the curing time is 50 minutes."

"Pressure of 18 megapascals."

Master Li repeated it once.

"I've got it."

With Liu Xiaojun absent, the task of preparing the ingredients fell to Master Li.

He put on rubber gloves, weighed the resin and hardener according to the formula, poured them into the mixing bucket, and stirred them with a manual mixer for five minutes.

Chen An occasionally offered a reminder from the side.

"Mix well, making sure there's no dry powder left at the bottom."

The mixed material is poured into the mold and pushed onto the press worktable.

Master Li pressed the start button, and the upper horizontal bar pressed down on the mold.

The pressure gauge needle slowly rose to 18 megapascals.

"Temperature rising."

Chen An said.

Master Li set the temperature to 140 degrees Celsius.

The heater starts working.

"Keep warm for fifty minutes."

Chen An pressed the stopwatch.

The workshop fell silent.

"Stop. Let it cool down."

Master Li turned off the heater and opened the cooling water valve of the press.

The water temperature dropped very quickly, falling below 50 degrees Celsius in just 20 minutes.

"Mold making".

Chen An said.

Master Li pressed the start button, and the upper beam rose.

Chen An used a crowbar to pry open the mold.

The mold was opened, revealing a black composite material plate inside.

Chen An put on gloves, took the board out, and placed it on the worktable.

"It's done."

His voice was filled with excitement.

Ye Bingwen walked over, picked up the board, and examined it over and over.

The plate is not heavy; it is much lighter than a steel plate of the same size.

"What about the size?"

Ye Bingwen asked.

Chen An measured the dimensions of several key holes.

"All are qualified. Thickness tolerance is ±0.1, and dimensional tolerances are all within the allowable range."

Master Li remained silent for a long time.

"Master Li, what's wrong?"

Ye Bingwen asked.

"Xiao Ye, I've been a lathe operator my whole life, and I never thought I could make something like this."

Mr. Li's eyes were a little red.

"This isn't iron, it's not steel, it's a chemical substance. But it feels smoother than iron and stronger than steel."

"This is a composite material."

Chen An smiled.

"Master Li, you'll be the first master craftsman in our factory to know how to make composite materials."

Master Li wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

Five pieces were produced in the first batch, and all of them passed the test.

Chen An marked each item, packed them into a cardboard box, and prepared to take them back for mechanical testing.

"Director Ye, I'll take this batch of samples back to Professor Cai for testing. If the data comes back positive, we can start mass production."

"Okay. Tell Professor Cai that five samples were made, and the data should be even better than in the third round."

Chen An rode away on his bicycle, with a cardboard box tied to the back seat.

Standing at the factory gate, watching his retreating figure, Master Li suddenly said something.

"Xiao Ye, do you think Xiao Jun would be so happy if he knew?"

"He knows. I'll call him tonight."

Ye Bingwen returned to his office and dialed the number for the provincial technical school's reception office.

After waiting for five minutes, Liu Xiaojun answered the phone.

"Xiao Jun, the molds have arrived and the trial production is complete. All five pieces are up to standard."

"real?!"

The voice on the other end of the phone suddenly rose eight octaves.

"Uncle Ye, how's the data?"

"It hasn't been tested yet; Xiao Chen took it back to Professor Cai. But its appearance and size are better than the third round."

"That's great! Uncle Ye, I've learned so much here. Mechatronics, PLC programming, hydraulic transmission."

"I understand everything I didn't understand before."

"Study hard. When you come back, you'll be in charge of composite materials."

"knew!"

After hanging up the phone, Ye Bingwen sat down at the table and read through the project application from the Ministry of Ordnance Industry again.

Professor Cai helped him revise the technical roadmap to be clearer and the innovative points to be more prominent.

He signed his name on the last page.

I'll mail it tomorrow.

He was about to put the application form into an envelope when his pager vibrated.

It was Director Fang calling.

"Xiao Ye, there's something I need to tell you. The Equipment Department of the Provincial Military Region is working on a new project recently."

"We need a batch of high-precision composite material shells. Director Fang asked me if I knew any manufacturers, and I recommended you."

Ye Bingwen was stunned.

"Director Fang, what project?"

"I can't go into specifics, but the requirements are one level higher than your current military equipment. Are you interested?"

"have."

"Okay. I'll arrange for someone to come to your factory for an inspection next week. Please prepare accordingly."

After hanging up the phone, Ye Bingwen looked at the application form that he had just signed.

Before the military project could even be submitted, a new opportunity arose.

He put the application form in an envelope, planning to mail it first thing tomorrow morning.

Director Fang said someone would come next week, but they arrived on Thursday.

Ye Bingwen was in the workshop adjusting the cooling system of the press with Master Li when his pager went off.

When he turned back, Director Fang sounded a little anxious.

"Xiao Ye, the team has already set off and will arrive at your factory in an hour. Engineer Zhang is leading the team; he's the same Old Zhang who came last time."

"Get ready."

After hanging up the phone, Ye Bingwen called Master Li over.

"Master Li, the provincial military region is here. They'll be here in an hour. Please tidy up the workshop, clean the equipment, and arrange the samples."

Mr. Li was stunned for a moment.

"The provincial military district? They're investigating again?"

"It's not an investigation. It's an evaluation of a new project."

Ye Bingwen patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't be nervous, just be yourself."

Master Li nodded and turned to tidy up the workshop.

Ye Bingwen returned to his office.

Take all the composite material samples, test reports, and process instructions out of the drawer.

They wiped the sign for the industry-academia-research base cleaned it again.

An hour later, a green Jeep pulled up at the factory gate.

Mr. Zhang got out of the car.

Two young people, a man and a woman, followed behind him, both dressed in military uniforms and carrying canvas tool bags.