The Grandmother in the Siheyuan

Chapter 219 Aluminum Alloy

What makes everyone frown is not because of anything else, but that the Y-10 still has many problems at this stage.

The engine was not good, which was a fatal flaw; the fuselage was overweight and not strong enough; the flight control system was not up to standard. The Y-10 used air-assisted control with adjustment plates, while the mainstream international approach at the time was hydraulic operation.

The quality of aviation materials was also not good. The domestically produced aluminum alloy materials at the time were not up to standard, were prone to cracking, and the cracks expanded quickly. They were not corrosion-resistant and fatigue-resistant, and had an extremely short flight life.

The chief engineer frowned and said, "Comrades, the situation is very serious. If these problems cannot be solved, our large aircraft will be just a decoration."

Liu Hua raised his hand directly: "I'll take care of the aluminum alloy material."

The chief engineer shook his head and said, "Engineer Liu, you are an avionics engineer, and aluminum alloy materials are not your specialty. I understand your urgency, but this is no joke."

"I am an engineer at a steel rolling mill." Liu Hua said directly: "All the steel rolling equipment of Xincheng Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill was developed by me, even some new alloy formulas, which I have also developed. I still have some confidence in aluminum alloy materials."

Everyone's eyes lit up, and the chief engineer walked directly to Liu Hua and asked, "Engineer Liu, this is not a joke, are you sure?"

"If this happened on the battlefield, I would dare to issue a military order."

The chief engineer was overjoyed: "Okay, the aluminum alloy is handed over to you. Now there is one less problem. As for the remaining problems, is there anyone who dares to take on the heavy responsibility?"

Some people also stepped forward and were ready to shoulder the heavy responsibility, but what they said was obviously not as strong as Liu Hua's.

The chief designer also knew what was going on. He could only sigh and pat him on the shoulder: "Come on, do your best."

After the meeting, Liu Hua flew directly back to Beijing. The Ministry of Science had also been informed, and Liu Hua met with the leaders.

"What are you going to do?" The leader of the Science Department listened to Liu Hua's report and nodded in the office. He said very pertinently: "I admire your courage and determination. We are in urgent need of materials like aluminum alloys, not only for civil aircraft, but also for military aircraft. If you can really solve this big problem, I will personally recommend you for the credit."

"I want to return to the steel mill." Liu Hua said seriously, "I hope the First Machinery Industry Ministry can cooperate. I don't need the entire steel mill to obey my orders. At least it can be the same as when I was working on scientific research at the steel mill. I can transfer some senior technicians. If that doesn't work, I can rehire some retired technicians."

The leader picked up the phone directly: "Hello, put me through to the First Machinery Department."

After a while, the leader said, "You have heard about the Y-10, right? Now Engineer Liu is going back to the steel mill. I hope you can cooperate."

The leader hung up the phone and said, "The First Ministry of Machine Building has agreed. At the same time, they have sent your old partner Li Huaide to work with you. You two were good comrades who worked closely together in the past. I hope you can also produce results as soon as possible this time."

Two years later, Liu Hua returned to the steel mill again. Everything was still so familiar. The steel mill was still the same steel mill, even the peeling paint sign on the wall was the same.

Director Yang also learned from his mistakes and started to follow the rules. Li Huaide managed the factory very well, so he continued to follow his rules. Although it was not enough to innovate, it was more than enough to maintain the status quo.

When Director Yang saw Li Huaide, he was shocked at first, but then he remembered the call he received yesterday and could only force a smile. It was true that he followed the rules, but that didn't mean he didn't mind that Li Huaide had pushed him away. He felt infinite disgust in his heart, so he could only force a smile.

"I never expected that your superiors would send you back again."

Li Huaide smiled and said, "I didn't expect that. I came back to visit the old place two years ago, and it seems that this steel mill has not changed at all. Old Yang, your ability is still not good enough."

Li Huaide continued to bully him, so Lao Yang could only reach out his hand and shake hands with Liu Hua: "My superiors have already told me that you are here to test the new aluminum alloy. Don't worry, I will fully cooperate with you. I promise that we will cooperate better than you and him."

Li Huaide smiled and said, "Your boasting is not funny at all. How many years have I been working with Liu Hua?"

"Who is bragging to you?" Director Yang made a gesture of invitation and said, "I had the experimental workshop cleaned up overnight last night, and all your former colleagues in the technical department have been assigned tasks. No matter which senior technician you need, tell me, and I promise to have him report to the experimental workshop on the same day."

Aviation aluminum alloy material is not simply an aluminum alloy, such as thermally-insulated aluminum. It is a huge family. Different parts require different performance, so aluminum alloys with different formulas must be used.

If he simply used the plug-in to exchange for the aluminum alloy formula, it would be a huge expenditure of points. Fortunately, Liu Hua quickly thought of a very clever way.

When it comes to civil airliners in this world, there are two most successful ones. One of them is Boeing's 737. Boeing was even willing to spend a lot of effort to research other types of airliners, but just relied on the 737 platform to continuously upgrade. This is also the reason why the 737 kept having accidents in various situations.

Another one is the Airbus A320, which has several models and is suitable for medium and short-haul international flights. Of course, there is also the A380, which is also famous for its large fuselage, advanced technology and luxurious cabin design, with a maximum range of kilometers.

It can be said that if the United States had not used national power to intervene, Boeing would have been beaten to a pulp by Airbus.

Of course, there is another type of aircraft that is also very advanced, that is our country's C919. Strictly speaking, the raw materials used by C919 are more advanced than those of A380.

Liu Hua was afraid that the existing technology could not realize the production of C919 raw materials, so he settled for the second best and used the aluminum alloy material of A320. After all, the original design range of Y- was only kilometers, and the actual range was even shorter than this, only about kilometers.

Liu Hua spent 320 points to redeem various aluminum alloy formulas used by the A320. Through analysis of the data, Liu Hua found that the A mainly used five types of aluminum alloys.

2024, 7075, 7050, 2196, 6061, these numbers are very simple, but the process of successfully synthesizing these aluminum alloys is very complicated.

Among them, 7075 aluminum alloy is similar to the aviation-grade B95 aluminum alloy that our country already has. It only needs slight improvements to reach the level of 7075.

Looking at the indicators of 2024, 7050, 2196, and 6061 aluminum alloys, Liu Hua scratched his head. These aluminum alloys are not easy to deal with.

The experimental workshop started firing again, this time using a small crucible furnace. The formula and ratio had to be determined first. Not too many people were used, only a few technicians were transferred from the technical department.

Director Yang was a little frustrated when he saw that Liu Hua only employed such a small number of people. He had originally wanted to do a big job, but he didn't expect it to be just a small effort.

(End of this chapter)