Back in 1978, I was admitted to Northwestern Polytechnical University.

Chapter 141 The building for the Materials Science Department will be finished soon!
Northwestern Polytechnical University, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Laboratory.

"Qin Liang, look, this is the 3D CNC weaving machine that we developed together with the Mechanical Engineering Department, Electronic Engineering Department, and Mathematics Department. With it, we can automatically weave carbon fiber of various shapes as long as we input the data. At the same time, we also referenced the CNC machine tool that your Aeronautical Engineering Department bought. I have to say, Western machine tools are advanced, and we have found a lot of inspiration from them..."

Professor Zhang was overjoyed to see Qin Liang arrive. The fan blades for the newer Spey models are all produced here. In the future, when there are more orders, they can even build a dedicated departmental factory... and there is hope that the Materials Science Department will have its own independent teaching building!

"By the way, the British have already helped us master the production technology of Spey blanks. Relevant domestic units have already started using domestically produced blanks to manufacture Spey engines. So, as you promised, we have transferred the carbon fiber fan blade manufacturing technology to the British. They just left a few days ago..."

Qin Liang nodded: "Great, the days when our Materials Science Department can earn foreign exchange are coming soon!"

Professor Zhang rubbed his hands together excitedly: "Great, great! We were just worried about this. We haven't had many orders lately, so we haven't been able to use the carbon fiber we've synthesized!"

No use for it? How can such a good thing be wasted?
Qin Liang said, "There are many things that carbon fiber can be used to make. If we don't have any orders, we can just make a batch of fishing rods."

Fishing rod? Can't you just use a bamboo pole? Zhang Tong looked bewildered.

"Let's build it, build it, and sell it overseas. We're guaranteed to make money!"

At that moment, Qin Liang suddenly thought of Yang Duoer again. She was the best partner. We just need to focus on manufacturing. After it's manufactured, we can have her help sell it overseas, earn foreign exchange, and then buy the equipment and parts we need from abroad...

"Okay, let's give it a try!"

"If we still have enough fishing rods to make our production capacity, we can use them to make bicycles..."

What? Bicycles? Professor Zhang looked outside and saw a row of 28-inch bicycles parked under a big tree. Do they really need carbon fiber to make bicycles?

Qin Liang smiled and said, "Professor Zhang, there's a lot to know about bicycles. A high-end bicycle can sell for tens of thousands of yuan!"

Tens of thousands!

Professor Zhang took a deep breath: "Will anyone buy it?"

"There probably aren't any idiots like that in China, but there are plenty of them abroad who have nothing better to do. If we reduce the weight of bicycles to ten kilograms, or even eight kilograms, and sell them for $20,000 each, they'll buy them."

What? A 28-inch bicycle weighs at least 20 kilograms, and now Qin Liang has to lose more than half of that weight?
Seeing Professor Zhang's incredulous expression, Qin Liang unfolded a piece of paper: "I'll draw you a design. You can buy the transmission, tires, etc. from outside first. We mainly produce the car body..."

"This bicycle looks really strange! Qin Liang, did you come here to solve our overcapacity problem?"

"Ahem, let's get down to business. Our materials science department needs to research some special materials, and I have some proposals here..."

In fact, there are many types of isolation devices required for dual-pulse engines. In the early 1990s, a simple valve was used. This valve could isolate the two solid propellant sections and worked very well. Its only drawback was that it was heavy.

Then came the fragile pulse isolation device, which, similar to the fragile cover of a missile launch box, developed after the new millennium, with the emergence of hard isolation pulse devices with metal membrane isolation chambers and soft isolation chamber dual-pulse engines with soft membrane isolation chambers.

Now, Qin Liang plans to go straight to the point and take the soft-compartment route, which is the lightest and most effective. At the same time, he will use carbon fiber materials for the engine and missile body to further reduce the weight and improve the performance of solid propellant... This 60-kilometer range is just the minimum. If he is lucky, he can push the range of the medium-range air-to-air missile to 100 kilometers, which is the category of long-range air-to-air missile!

Qin Liang knew some details about these materials, but how to produce them specifically depended on the materials science department!
Upon hearing Qin Liang mention the plan, Professor Zhang immediately took out paper and pen, ready to take careful notes.

Before he knew it, it was evening. When someone pulled the light cord, Qin Liang realized he'd had another busy day. Meanwhile, far away in England, it wasn't even noon yet. Rolls-Royce.

"Damn it, without experience in basket weaving, you really can't weave these carbon fiber threads properly!" engineer Gore said irritably.

"Yes, I really don't know how the Easterners do it. If their bamboo weavers are truly skilled, we should import a few! Schroeder, Schroeder!"

At this moment, Schroeder's expression was also somewhat complicated. He knew that he had oversimplified a complex problem.

"Well, everyone, a few years ago NASA was working on the Apollo project, and the lunar rover used there had a structure made of woven metal. We in the West also have this kind of craftsmanship!" Schroeder swallowed hard. "Now, everyone needs to be patient. As long as the prototype is successful, we will definitely find suitable workers for mass production!"

"Ok."

Finally, the dense carbon fiber skeleton was woven together. The next steps were resin injection, pressure molding in a high-pressure vessel, surface treatment, sizing...

A week later, a sweeping, high-flow-rate, wide-chord composite blade appeared before everyone's eyes.

Over a meter long, the leaves are twisted into complex shapes, just like a twisted cleaver. Looking at this leaf, everyone feels a sense of excitement.

"Excellent! This fan blade is 10% lighter than the previous titanium alloy blade, and it increases thrust by 3%. Installing it on our RB211-524 engine will easily boost the thrust to 260 kN!" Chief Designer Stanley said excitedly. "Now, we need to test this blade!"

“Mr. Stanley…it’s time to leave work!” Gore glanced at his watch and reminded him.

“Alright, you guys go home, I’ll do the testing myself! Back when we were developing the RB211, none of our core team ever left work on time…you young people.”

As Stanley spoke, he personally walked to the trolley for placing blades and pushed it toward the testing workshop.

Gore took a deep breath. No, his task was complete; he had to leave work on time today! The testing work wasn't his responsibility!
Schroeder caught up with Stanley and together they pushed the cart toward the testing workshop.

Visual inspection: perfect, no defects whatsoever!
The dimensions were measured and everything met the standards!
The weight test was fantastic; it's significantly lighter than titanium alloy fan blades!
"Bird strike test: bird speed 500 km/h, weight 1.15 kg, impact point: middle of the blade. Experiment begins!"

A crowing rooster was stuffed into a specially made egg tray, turning it into a "bird egg".

The test must be conducted within half an hour, otherwise the chicken's body will stiffen, affecting the experimental results. As for why chickens are used? Many birds are protected animals!

The bird eggs were stuffed into an air cannon, which is a steel pipe several tens of meters long, through which high-pressure air is introduced.

Cluck, cluck... At this moment, the rooster had no idea that it was about to experience the fastest flight speed of its life!

Whoosh!
The rooster's whole body tensed up. The enormous overload gave it a feeling of soaring. Everything happened too fast. Before it could react, it had already crashed hard into a thin, flat object in front of it. Crack!
The rooster was cut in half, clean and efficient!
"Good, great, our fan blades... Oh God, what's going on?" Schroeder stared in astonishment at the fixed fan blades, as debris fell onto the dead rooster like fallen incense ash.

Crack... The fan blades started to bend in the middle, and then... they broke!
　PS: The illustration shows a bird strike device for airplanes.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)