I am an industrial worker during the War of Resistance

Chapter 52: The Premature Appearance of the Radial Steel Wire Tire
In the warm and quiet cave dwelling, Chen Changzai was quietly contemplating the tire manufacturing process.

Although the military factory where he worked in later generations did not have a tire production line.

However, when the factories were converted from military to civilian production in later generations, their factories started by producing hand tractors, then tricycles, and finally trucks.

These vehicles all need tires.

He had also visited the tire supplier's factory more than once.

He has some understanding of the entire tire manufacturing process, including the technology and equipment.

However, the manufacturing equipment used in later generations is absolutely impossible to produce with current conditions.

Therefore, he could only make do with what he had and turn everything that would later become automated into manual or steam-powered systems.

Tire manufacturing is not as simple as it looks.

It looks like a rubber ring that has been pressed out of rubber.

In fact, the tire manufacturing process is very complex.

The entire tire is actually made up of layers of rubber sheets.

From the innermost liner layer to the skeleton layer to the wear-resistant layer.

In later generations, some high-quality tires required more than a dozen layers to be bonded together in order to manufacture.

That's impossible now.

Because there aren't that many special materials.

The main materials of tires are natural rubber, synthetic rubber, graphite, carbon black, and additives.

The inner skeleton inside a tire is made of chemical fibers and steel wires.

Currently, the chemical laboratory can only produce butadiene and styrene in small quantities through experimental methods.

These two materials are the main components of synthetic rubber.

They are all extracted from naphtha.

Naphtha is a light oil produced during the petroleum cracking process, falling between gasoline and kerosene.

Later generations also called it crude gasoline.

Under the current conditions, Chen Changzai is unable to achieve the multi-layered tire application seen in later generations.

Then the only option is to use the simplest four-layer tire.

It consists of an innermost base layer, a layer of hemp fiber on top, a layer of steel wire on top, and an outer wear-resistant layer.

The reason it wasn't placed inside the steel wire layer was to use the synthetic fiber material commonly used in later generations.

That's because Chen Changzai doesn't have polyester or nylon fibers now.

In the chemistry lab, his students have an endless stream of experiments to do every day.

Many materials and equipment also need to be obtained by themselves or outsourced for manufacturing.

To produce polyester and nylon fibers, a great deal of equipment is needed, and the process is very complex.

Therefore, we can only postpone it.

While hemp fiber is not as stable as synthetic fiber, it can still be used as a substitute.

In fact, the earliest tires were made with a frame of hemp fiber.

The idea of ​​adding thin steel wires to tires was first proposed by the British in 1913.

However, due to the adhesion problem between the rubber and the steel wire, this idea has not yet been realized.

It wasn't until 1946 that the French company Michelin finally realized this idea.

The key process for achieving this bonding technology is high-temperature vulcanization.

High-temperature vulcanization causes a series of chemical reactions between the rubber and the copper plating on the steel wire, allowing the rubber to penetrate into the micropores on the surface of the steel wire.

This tightly connects the rubber and the steel wire together.

The process of cold-drawing steel wire was not a big problem for Chen Chang at all.

The manufacturing process of steel wire is actually a continuous process of drawing a thick steel bar into a thin steel wire through multiple shrinkage and cold drawing processes.

After clearly understanding the manufacturing principles of the equipment in tire manufacturing plants from later generations from my memory,

Chen Changzai finally began to draw.

From rubber mixers to tablet presses to pre-forming patch rollers.

Then it goes to the final high-temperature vulcanization molding machine.

The four core components of tire manufacturing gradually moved from his pen to blueprints.

The last and most important part of this equipment set is the high-temperature and high-pressure vulcanization molding machine.

The complete set of drawings includes everything from the high-temperature and high-pressure molding mold to the blown soft inner liner and the high-temperature and high-pressure steam pipes.

This set of equipment is the most complex.

However, Chen Changzai still managed to simplify things as much as possible while ensuring safety.

All the automatic actions in later generations were changed to be done manually.

The high-pressure locking mechanism is designed to be very robust.

We can imagine this as a pressure cooker containing a circular steel mold consisting of six movable mold pieces.

That’s probably what it means.

It took Chen Changzai five days to actually complete this entire set of equipment drawings.

When he walked out of the cave with the blueprints...

The extreme testing of the two new guns and the determination of the manufacturing process for the tricycle were all completed. "The testing of the new guns is finished?" Chen Chang asked after handing the blueprints to Master Liu at the machine shop.

He asked the students who came to report to him with new guns and test reports.

"Yes, teacher, the extreme testing of the new gun has been completed."

Both of our new guns passed the extreme testing.

"Hmm, very good." Chen Changzai nodded as he looked at the test data on the report.

Actually, this result was within his expectations.

When he designed these two new guns, he adopted the technical requirements that were used in later automatic rifles.

Although the two types of guns have some differences in use.

However, according to the technical requirements of later generations, these two bolt-action rifles and submachine guns were produced.

If even this simple test cannot be passed.

Then Chen Changzai has truly lived in vain.

Now that the gun test has been passed.

Then we can start small-batch production of this gun.

Only through small-batch production can we know what problems might arise during mass production.

So Chen Changzai once again gathered together the factory managers and craftsmen from various factories related to gun manufacturing.

A small mobilization meeting was held, and an order was issued to mass-produce one hundred rifles and one hundred submachine guns.

The production equipment for these factories is now in place, and they are just waiting for the final testing to be completed before mass production begins.

After receiving Chen Changzai's order, it took five full days to mass-produce all two hundred guns.

The reason for the slow speed is mainly because during the mass production stage, we need to constantly identify various problems that were not discovered before and make fine adjustments to the process flow.

After these one hundred rifles and one hundred submachine guns completed their final factory calibration and testing...

Chen Changzai's work in the field of firearms has come to a temporary end.

These two hundred guns will be sent to headquarters.

Let the leaders at headquarters make the final decision on finalization and mass production.

Chen Changzai can do anything he wants technically, and can also decide on small-batch trial production.

However, the final decision still needs to be made by the leaders at headquarters.

Just as Chen Changzai was discussing tire manufacturing equipment with Master Liu and Master Zhang.

The leaders at headquarters, however, were all beaming with joy as they looked at the new rifles and submachine guns in their hands.

As veterans who have fought their way through the battlefield, they have an innate intuition for judging the quality of a gun.

What does it feel like to hold this gun in your hands? Can it become a deadly weapon?

They can tell the difference as soon as they start working with it.

Now, the leaders feel that these two guns are "good guns, good guns that can decide the outcome of the battle, and absolutely deadly weapons."

While all the leaders were looking at the new guns in their hands.

The top leader, however, was looking at the gun extreme test report in his hand.

This is a report co-written with Chen Changzai, outlining the future development prospects of semi-automatic and fully automatic rifles.

There is also a report recommending the configuration of weapons for light infantry.

This mentions, under current conditions, the ratio of manual to automatic weapons, and the ratio of light to heavy automatic weapons.

The role of light artillery in light infantry operations, development plans, and future prospects for artillery development.

And the role and development of light vehicles in future military operations.

Finally, he briefly outlined the future development direction of the military.

This includes four main categories: command, combat, communications, and logistics.

In addition to these two reports.

He also wrote a separate document outlining preliminary development plans for light armored vehicles, light tanks, and fighter jets.

And the feasibility study report.

These reports were actually based on Chen Changzai's assessment of the current situation of the team and the state of industrial development.

The report is ongoing and constantly being revised.

The industrial base in Wujiabao has now developed into a basic industrial structure.

Therefore, Chen Changzai also felt that this report could be released now.

The top leader was engrossed in reading the three-part report.

Even the other leaders outside the cave dwelling didn't notice the gunshots during the test firing.

It wasn't until the leaders outside came into the cave that they said to the top leader, "Sir, these are really two good guns."

These are two absolutely excellent guns.

We should finalize the design immediately and begin mass production right away.

This finally snapped the top leader out of his deep thought while reading the report.

　Thank you to all my friends who have supported me.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)