Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

Nanshan Special Steel is a relatively special existence in China's steel industry.

In terms of production capacity, Nanshan Special Steel, which does not even have a blast furnace, has a production capacity of less than 2 million tons of special steel.

This data may be very impressive in some small countries.

In ancient times, it could kill the whole world instantly.

But in China, it is completely inadequate.

Throughout China, the combined output of various steel companies can reach more than 600 million tons.

If you don’t have a production capacity of tens of millions, you won’t be ranked at all!

But even such a manufacturer, whose production capacity is not ranked high, is invincible in the field of special steel.

In terms of bearing steel for automobiles, Nanshan Special Steel ranks first in China.

High-speed rail bearing steel, Nanshan Special Steel ranks first in China.

In terms of high-end mold steel, Nanshan Special Steel ranks first in China.

There are also various other special steels. The level of Nanshan Special Steel is among the best in the industry.

Even some technologies are in a leading position in the world.

With this unique position, Nanshan Special Steel has become a presence that no one dares to underestimate in the Chinese steel industry.

It is also for this reason that the aircraft carrier team has been unable to solve the aircraft carrier steel plate, so they want to let Nanshan Special Steel cooperate with Anshan Iron and Steel to conquer this technology in the shortest possible time.

Time waits for no one, and China's aircraft carrier construction can no longer wait for various special aircraft carrier steels.

"Mr. Cao, the expert group for this review is all authoritative experts from all sides. At the same time, China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation also has many technicians who are proficient in production. They will make the final confirmation and review of the performance of the aircraft carrier steel plates."

"As long as we pass this review, we in China will have completely mastered the aircraft carrier steel plate technology."

"We no longer need to go around begging for help and importing aircraft carrier steel plates at high prices."

As the general manager of Nanshan Special Steel, Xie Lingyun naturally accompanied Cao Yang to Anshan Steel today to participate in such an important event.

Aircraft carrier steel plates are really important.

Especially the steel plates used on the flight deck. If the steel plates used on the flight deck cannot be fixed, building your own aircraft carrier will be an impossible task.

Take the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier as an example. Its flight deck is only 38 mm thick, which may appear thin at first glance and may easily cause concern.

However, in fact, this thickness is designed to ensure the high strength and heat resistance of the deck, not the thickness itself.

As long as the flight deck has high strength and high heat resistance, it has the ability to withstand attacks.

In addition, excessive thickness will increase the weight of the aircraft carrier and affect its operating speed.

In this case, aircraft carrier steel plates are naturally required to have higher yield strength, tensile strength, impact toughness, fracture toughness, corrosion resistance, wear resistance, heat resistance and fire resistance than ordinary steel.

Because aircraft carrier steel needs to withstand huge weight, pressure, impact and friction to prevent deformation and fracture.

It also needs to resist impacts and explosions from the outside, as well as temperature changes and stress concentrations inside, to prevent cracking and embrittlement.

In addition, aircraft carrier steel also needs to have higher corrosion resistance and wear resistance than ordinary steel to cope with corrosive factors such as salt, oxygen, and microorganisms in seawater.

The most important thing is that the steel used for aircraft carriers needs to have higher heat resistance and fire resistance than ordinary steel to withstand the high temperatures generated by aircraft engine tail flames and the high temperature radiation generated by nuclear weapon explosions.

In order to solve these problems, Xie Lingyun led his team to make countless efforts day and night.

During this period, Cao Yang often participated in it personally.

Cao Yang made great contributions to some of the alloy element formulas and the settings of some processing parameters of this aircraft carrier steel plate.

Of course, Cao Yang no longer needs such credit.

It is more in Cao Yang's interest to give these credits to Xie Lingyun and to various engineers.

"We have already done all the testing projects beforehand."

"And we compared the various properties of the aircraft carrier steel plates announced by the United States. All the properties of the special steel we developed have reached or exceeded the aircraft carrier steel plates from the United States."

"Today's review is more of a process, and there will definitely be no problem with the final result."

Zhou Mulan is not nervous at all now.

As the general person in charge of the aircraft carrier steel plate project, she is very clear about this year's research results.

If this fails to pass the review, it would be unreasonable.

Today she personally accompanied Cao Yang to visit Anshan Steel, and then came to the review site to see which projects the experts were confirming.

Therefore, this review is mainly for products, rather than theoretical confirmation, so Zhou Mulan and Xie Lingyun do not need to answer too many questions.

As long as the product performance meets the requirements, then anything is easy to say.

On the contrary, your theoretical knowledge is of no use.

"That's true. As long as the tests are performed normally, there is nothing to worry about."

"Among the aircraft carrier steel plates we developed this time, in addition to those used on the flight deck, there are also steel plates used on the cabin."

"Even some steel plates can be used to make the shells of nuclear submarines, which can be regarded as bringing the level of special steel for our country's ships directly to the international advanced level."

Xie Lingyun and Zhou Mulan kept talking to each other, and everyone felt quite relaxed.

The most stressful time is when the project has just started. At that time, no one knows whether the research and development tasks can be completed on time.

After all, there is a big gap between the domestic level of special steel for ships and the international advanced level.

Seeing the huge disparity in figures, no one has full confidence.

After nearly a year of hard work, these gaps were finally closed.

While they were communicating in low voices, the experts were confirming one test after another with surprise on their faces.

Corrosion resistance, yield strength, tensile strength, electromagnetic properties, weldability, formability and machinability...

Some indicators are tested on site, and some require detailed confirmation of test reports.

No matter which one it is, the end result is perfect!

pass!

pass!

Still passed!

In the end, the review lasted for three days and passed smoothly.

Because everyone believes that there are already several countries in the world that can manufacture steel for aircraft carriers and submarines, including the United States, Japan, France and Polar Bear. Among them, Polar Bear and the United States are at the highest level. China has only caught up with the technology of decades ago.

Therefore, the successful research and development of aircraft carrier steel plates jointly conducted by Nanshan Special Steel and Anshan Iron and Steel was not treated with very special confidentiality.

That night, China Radio reported the news that we had successfully developed aircraft carrier steel plates.

Although the news did not provide a particularly detailed introduction to the information on aircraft carrier steel plates, it also mentioned several parameters that the United States had announced to the outside world, indicating that we have already achieved them.

Even after this news, China Television specially arranged a team to conduct interviews on the development process of aircraft carrier steel plates and prepare to make a special documentary.

The more people know about the steel industry, the more they know that it is not easy to develop aircraft carrier steel plates.

This project is totally worthy of being turned into a documentary.

However, with the announcement of this news, it naturally caused quite a stir.

"Gong Liu, Anshan Iron and Steel and Nanshan Special Steel cooperated to successfully develop aircraft carrier steel plates. It is estimated that Anshan Iron and Steel's advantageous position in ship steel will become more obvious in the future."

"Is it possible for us to cooperate with Nanshan Special Steel to jointly develop special steel used on civilian merchant ships, especially steel plates used by special ships such as LNG ships?"

As the general manager of Baosteel Southern, Lai Liang has actually had a good life in the past few years.

Although Nanshan Special Steel competes with Baosteel in the special steel market, Baosteel has developed rapidly in automobile sheets and other businesses and has made a lot of money.

However, as the market grew larger, Lai Liang naturally began to pursue other things.

For example, aircraft carrier steel plates, Lai Liang naturally understands the importance of this.

Baosteel's strength is not military products, but civilian products.

Therefore, the high-end special steel used on LNG ships and other ships has entered his field of vision.

"Nanshan Special Steel will cooperate with Anshan Iron and Steel this time because the cooperation project is aircraft carrier steel plates."

"If we go to them, they probably won't talk to us easily."

"They must also be worried that during the cooperation process, the technology will be learned from us, and in the end he will not gain any benefits."

As a senior engineer of Baosteel Southern, Liu Jianguo is naturally very aware of the situation of Nanshan Special Steel.

It’s not like Baosteel has never thought about cooperating with Nanshan Special Steel, and some people even have complicated thoughts.

But no matter what your thoughts are, Nanshan Special Steel just ignores you, which makes Baosteel lose its temper.

Now seeing the news on China Channel, Lai Liang was stimulated again and began to wonder if he could cooperate with Nanshan Special Steel.

Even if there are some terms that can be compromised appropriately and the benefits can be distributed to Nanshan Special Steel.

Otherwise, as Anshan Iron and Steel's status continues to rise, Baosteel's influence in the domestic steel industry will not be so great.

"The main products of Nanshan Special Steel are various special steels, which basically do not include steel plates used on ships."

"This time they cooperated with Anshan Iron and Steel, mainly because they collaborated on technology research and development, and most of the production matters were handed over to Anshan Iron and Steel."

"So whether the technology is learned by us or not, the impact on them is actually very limited."

Lai Liang kept looking for reasons for himself, trying to find reasons that could convince Nanshan Special Steel.

However, Liu Jianguo is not optimistic at all.

Of course, after working for so many years, he is not that stubborn.

Since the boss is interested in contacting Nanshan Special Steel, let’s have a chat first.

…

Just when China had finished the aircraft carrier steel plate and aircraft carrier-related topics attracted a lot of attention, two major events happened one after another in the United States.

A submarine faced scrapping after "colliding with an undersea mountain" causing damage to its sonar cabin and ballast water tank.

Immediately afterwards, the "Nimitz" discovered that the nuclear power plant on the aircraft carrier had "minor material defects."

At this time, China reported that it had completed the aircraft carrier steel plate, and also mentioned some parameters.

The United States specifically tested steel plates for nuclear submarines and aircraft carrier steel plates, and the results were surprising.

They found that the performance of the steel plates they used did not meet the marked data, and there was a clear gap with what was announced by China.

Soon, the United States discovered that half of the steel supplied to shipyards by steel plants had falsified inspection data.

After further investigation, steel plant inspector Elaine Marie Thomas pleaded guilty to fraud.

Because she forged at least 240 test reports on submarine steel and aircraft carrier steel plates from 1985 to 2010, and tampered with the steel strength and toughness test results as "passed."

As soon as this news came out, public opinion was in an uproar!

"Mr. Cao, have you heard about the falsification of data on American aircraft carrier steel plates and submarine steel plates?"

Zhou Mulan couldn't help but call Cao Yang directly.

During the process of developing aircraft carrier steel plates this year, Cao Yang also stayed up late many times to do experiments with Zhou Mulan and others, and the relationship between the two parties was considered very familiar.

In the process, Zhou Mulan also saw Cao Yang's R\u0026D strength.

People who engage in research may not have much respect for people with high management positions.

But for people with strong R\u0026D capabilities, they will definitely take a high look.

Otherwise, she would not have called Cao Yang directly this time when she heard about the fraud at the American Steel Plant.

"I've seen it too. This really refreshed everyone's understanding."

"We used to think that America's special steel plate technology was the most advanced in the world, especially in the field of ships. They developed very advanced steel plates in the 1980s and 1990s, but we didn't catch up until decades later. superior."

"Now it seems that the situation is not entirely like that."

Cao Yang did not expect that the counterfeiting of American aircraft carrier steel plates and nuclear submarine steel plates would be exposed in advance.

I guess this also dealt a severe blow to China's public intellectuals.

You advocate America every day, but you get slapped in the face, right?

"When I confirmed the yield strength and tensile strength of steel plates before, I always felt that it was very, very difficult to achieve the data they published."

"Especially at extremely low temperatures, it is even more difficult to maintain a certain yield strength."

"This time the American nuclear submarine will be damaged. The relatively low temperature of the environment is a very important reason."

Zhou Mulan was obviously very angry about this matter.

The American Steel Works cheated and cheated her.

If the data was not fraudulent, she felt that she had already developed the aircraft carrier steel plate a few years ago.

Where do I need to wait until now?

However, it seems that now Anshan Iron and Steel has achieved the data that was falsely announced, and its technical level in aircraft carrier steel plates has surpassed that of the United States?

Thinking about it this way, Zhou Mulan was no longer so angry.

After all, China has finally broken through the technical barriers.

"Does this low temperature really have such a big impact on the properties of steel?"

Don't look at it. Cao Yang often comes up with some very innovative ideas when doing joint research and development.

But when it comes to basic knowledge, he is definitely not as solid as Zhou Mulan.

He has been studying steel plates for ships for more than 20 years, and he is familiar with every technical requirement.

"Steel will undergo a physical phenomenon called 'cold brittleness' at low temperatures. When it reaches a certain temperature, its toughness will drop sharply and it will break when touched."

"Most American nuclear submarines use HY-45 alloy steel, and the 'Seawolf' class fast attack nuclear submarines use HY-100 steel. These are low alloy steels with high hardness and high yield strength."

"Like two sides of the same coin, the higher the hardness and yield strength of steel, it means it is less tough and more brittle, and some types of steel become harder and more easily broken when they reach a certain low temperature."

"The displacement of a submarine is often thousands of tons. It is made of many steel plates that are bent and welded. This kind of steel plate has poor welding performance, and the welds are more likely to break at low temperatures."

"For the United States, if it has to compete with polar bears, the Arctic Ocean is an unavoidable battlefield. Therefore, the cold brittleness index of steel at low temperatures must be qualified. Otherwise, once it hits an iceberg, it will leak water or fall apart, causing the boat to crash and kill people. tragedy."

"The United States requires steel plants to test the toughness of steel at minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit, which is -73.3 degrees Celsius. The testers at that steel plant thought this requirement was stupid because it almost does not exist in nature."

"After all, the coldest areas on our planet are the Antarctic and the North Pole. Some places in the Antarctic can reach as low as -100°C, but they are high-altitude areas in the Antarctic interior, so submarines cannot reach them."

"The lowest temperature in the Arctic Ocean in winter can reach below -50°C, the lowest ice surface at the North Pole is less than -70°C, and the seawater under the ice generally does not drop below -1.5°C."

"So people make fake claims, and it's hard to find out."

Zhou Mulan didn't talk too much about the technical analysis to Cao Yang. After all, at this time, he was just gossiping about the American Steel Plant.

Of course, why does steel become brittle when cold?

This is also a lifelong headache for many people engaged in metallurgy, because there are so many reasons that cause steel to become cold and brittle.

The chemical composition, metallographic structure, grain size, smelting method, heat treatment process, etc. of steel may cause it to become like glass at a certain temperature, and it is almost impossible to cover everything and use a "perfect" steel plate to create a perfect one. The product.

If Zhou Mulan wanted to explain this completely, it couldn't be done in a few minutes.

Steel is an alloy made by adding a certain proportion of carbon to iron. High-carbon steel is harder and more brittle.

Some carbon steels become vulnerable when the temperature drops to -50°C.

Adding a certain proportion of nickel, manganese and other elements to steel can adjust the performance of the steel at low temperatures, but it may also mean that it becomes something you don't want at room temperature.

From a microscopic perspective, all factors in the steel manufacturing process will affect the arrangement of atoms inside the steel, and the way the atoms are arranged is the real reason for its performance at normal and low temperatures.

Solid metals are crystals. When the steel crystal atoms are arranged in a body-centered cubic shape, it is more likely to suffer from low-temperature brittleness. Steel in which the crystal atoms are arranged in a face-centered cubic shape is called austenite, which basically does not change due to lowering of temperature. crisp.

But face-centered cubic metal is softer and not suitable for building submarines.

Rapid quenching of austenitic steel will form martensite, and the atoms will be rearranged into a body-centered cubic structure. Due to the formation of irregular slip planes between atoms, martensite becomes hard and brittle.

And as the temperature decreases, the thermal movement of atoms decreases, and the crystal dislocation movement ability further decreases, so the material becomes harder.

The hardness of the material is opposite to the toughness, so martensitic steel will become brittle at a certain low temperature.

For submarines that need to dive deeply, the underwater pressure is very high. Each square meter of the hull is subject to hundreds of tons of pressure. If the steel is not strong enough, it will easily be crushed. Therefore, high-strength steel is required to build a submarine.

High-strength steel tends to become brittle at low temperatures, so during the manufacturing process, the toughness of steel under extreme low temperatures has become an extremely important assessment indicator.

These things are not like math problems that can have standard answers to calculate what should be done.

Instead, we need to make speculations based on various situations, and then conduct experiments to verify them.

Why materials science is said to be a basic discipline is because it involves too many basic experiments.

When you see a successful high-end special steel, it may be the result of many years of experimentation.

And when developing special steel, the development time is really like Schrödinger's cat, full of uncertainty.

It's bad luck that you can't find the recipe you want after ten years of experimentation.

With any luck, you'll find results within a few months.

Zhou Mulan has the most say in this characteristic of steel.

"This wave of steel fraud in the United States has probably depressed some of our domestic experts, right?"

Cao Yang also saw some news reports on this matter in his previous life, and was somewhat impressed by some of the information.

Zhou Mulan is a professional in ship steel plates and must know many experienced experts.

"Don't mention it!"

"My teacher has been studying steel for ships all his life, especially steel for submarines, which is the focus of his research."

"After he heard the news a few days ago, he felt very worried and had mixed feelings in his heart. He sighed and said: What are you doing!"

When Zhou Mulan said this, she felt speechless in her heart.

She would call Cao Yang to complain today, and it had something to do with what happened to her teacher.

She desperately wanted to find someone to talk to about this matter.

"Your teacher is probably happy and unhappy when he sees this news, right?"

Cao Yang tried to put himself into the role of an old expert and felt that his mood must be quite complicated.

"Yes, my teacher has been engaged in steel research all his life. When he entered this industry on the first day, he lamented the power of the United States. Looking at the steel products and data of the United States, he could only look at the sky and sigh. He felt that the gap was too big. It’s so big that you can’t even see the other person’s back.”

"But one great advantage of their generation is that they are never discouraged and have the courage to compete with the sky."

“Although they are high-spirited, they are down-to-earth in their work.”

"Although there was a huge gap with the United States more than 20 years ago, they believed that others could do it, and they could do it too."

"In this way, China has been making progress in this field, but the United States is also making progress."

"First it caught up to 50% of the American level, then 60%, and when my teacher retired, the gap was only narrowed to 80%."

"At that time, he was still unwilling. He once complained to himself: If God gives me another 10 years, I will definitely be able to achieve 90% of the level of American steel." "

"But time has not waited for me. Although the teacher is unwilling, there is nothing he can do."

"When I communicated with the teacher later, he still felt that decades had passed and although China had made great progress, the United States was still so powerful."

"Facing those beautiful steel data, my teacher only thought about narrowing the gap with the United States as much as possible, and never thought about surpassing it."

"Because it is too difficult to surpass. Whenever we make a breakthrough in steel, there will also be a major breakthrough in the United States. Unless the American steel companies stand there and wait, we will have the possibility to catch up."

"However, this time it was revealed that the steel data was falsified in the United States, which means that the real steel quality is far from the literal level."

"Based on this situation, we have unexpectedly surpassed ourselves in aircraft carrier steel plates and submarine steel plates, becoming world-class in this field."

When Zhou Mulan said this, she couldn't help laughing.

This first came a bit suddenly and unexpectedly.

But it tastes so delicious!

"Chief Engineer Zhou, I actually feel that I deserve this first place!"

"Your teachers and their generation have done enough and are excellent enough. It is precisely because of his and their generation's efforts that they have laid a solid foundation for our country in many fields."

“Coupled with your efforts, Mr. Zhou, we have achieved today’s transcendence!”

"And it can be seen from this incident that even nuclear submarine and aircraft carrier materials that are related to national security dare to fake. What else does the United States dare not to fake?"

"Is the United States really as strong as it seems?"

"I don't think so!"

“If we all work together, we may be able to create more miracles!”

Cao Yang is very confident about the future.

This kind of confidence definitely exceeded Zhou Mulan's imagination.

People of the older generation often see gaps and feel that they are much worse than others and cannot catch up easily.

But after chasing after it, I actually found that although the gap is there, it is not that big!