Chapter 176 A problem occurred with the Hummer prototype, and Huaxia’s pain points were exposed
“When we were producing the transfer case prototype, the first stage of testing revealed that the durability performance of the bearings did not meet the requirements. situation."
"The performance of the entire transfer case cannot meet the requirements specified in the drawings, and the final service life will definitely be greatly affected."
"After preliminary testing. According to analysis, it should be caused by the failure of the bearing material."
As soon as he saw Jiang Hui, Zhu Jiansheng immediately explained the situation.
Lai Yongfeng, who is responsible for the development of chassis parts next to him, also added: "Bearing steel has high and uniform hardness and wear resistance, as well as high elastic limit. The uniformity of the chemical composition of the bearing steel and the absence of non-metallic inclusions The requirements for content, distribution, and carbide distribution are very strict, and it is one of the most stringent steel types in all steel production. "
"At present, our domestic technical level in this regard is still relatively high compared to the international level. There is a big gap. ”
“What is discovered now is that there are certain problems with the bearings in the transfer case and the 4MT manual transmission. The bearings in other places may also have quality problems over time.”< br>
“After all, our Hummer project is quite different from the BJ212, and the weight of the vehicle is quite different.”
Material issues are the most difficult problem, and sometimes it may drag on for several years. Can't figure it out.
It's no wonder that after Zhu Jiansheng and Lai Yongfeng had their preliminary analysis results, they immediately called Jiang Hui over to discuss countermeasures.
“The working environment of bearings is relatively harsh and has relatively high requirements on hardness, toughness, wear resistance, corrosion resistance, contact fatigue strength and other aspects.”
“Currently we The materials used are from Shougang, and their strength in this area really needs to be further improved.”
Hearing that the problem was with the bearing steel, Jiang Hui thought it was normal.
“The improvement of the performance of special steel materials is a big project in the Ministry of Metallurgy, and it is estimated that there will be no results in a short time.”
"But our Hummer project can't wait that long. If it continues to fail, then we may need to consider importing bearing steel from abroad for production."
"But that will waste foreign exchange and there will be no supply. The method is guaranteed, not to mention the price."
Zhu Jiansheng said a little worried.
The Hummer project is now not only the most important project of the Vehicle Engineering Department of Capital Institute of Technology, but also one of the most important projects of the school. It is also a project that the Fifth Machinery Department attaches great importance to.
The original plan was to start assembling prototype cars next year and promote small batch mass production.
If the schedule is postponed due to bearing problems in the gearbox and transfer case, it will definitely be difficult for all parties to accept.
The key is that it will also have a very bad impact on the Department of Vehicle Engineering.
After Zhu Jiansheng, the department head, came to power, it can be said that he devoted the entire department's efforts to the Hummer project.
The school also mobilized teachers from several other departments to promote this project.
If there is a big problem in the middle, it will also have a very negative impact on Zhu Jiansheng's prestige.
"High-end bearing steel is indeed a very difficult steel type, and there are not many steel manufacturers in the world that can master this technology."
"However, the bearings used in our gearboxes and transfer cases, In fact, the difficulty is not particularly high.”
“It is far from the requirements for bearings on Shinkansen lines, nuclear power equipment, etc.”
“Even on many high-precision machine tools. The bearing requirements are much higher than them.”
“I think as long as the domestic bearing steel technology is appropriately improved, we can basically meet our requirements.”
"Even improvements in some heat treatment processes during bearing processing can solve our problems to a great extent."
Feeling the anxiety of his father-in-law, Jiang Hui must first relieve his pressure to avoid It's not good if people are too anxious at their old age.
After all, for Jiang Hui, although it takes some effort to solve this problem, it is not without any ideas.
“That’s it, the key is that we don’t have a special understanding of things like bearing steel.”
“I just talked with Professor Zou Yuan from the Capital Institute of Iron and Steel. After talking on the phone, it turned out that his research on bearing steel is not very in-depth, and he is not confident that he can come up with an improvement plan in a short time.”
Zhu Jiansheng didn't feel any relaxed after listening to Jiang Hui's words.
On the contrary, thinking about the technical level of domestic bearing steel, the wrinkles on his forehead became a little more wrinkled.
"I'll take a look at the specific test report first, and then discuss how to improve it."
Jiang Hui's calm look gave everyone some confidence. .
Thinking of his past achievements, Zhu Jiansheng and Lai Yongfeng felt a little more confident.
This matter may not be that serious.
While Jiang Hui was confirming the test report, the Capital Gear Factory was also holding a meeting to discuss this issue.
"Li Factory, our original plan was to directly supply the mass-produced 4MT manual transmission to the 618th Factory for the Hummer project."
"But because of the Hummer This military vehicle is very different from the BJ212. The weight of the vehicle is more than double, so the requirements for the gearbox are actually higher.”
“The torque of our existing gearbox needs to be increased. , the strength of gears and bearings needs to be further improved.”
"The problem that arises in the first phase of testing is that the bearing durability is not up to standard. The main reason is that the performance of the bearing steel does not meet the requirements."
Ji Hua is the chief engineer of the Capital Gear Factory and is also responsible for the 4MT manual transmission project actual person in charge.
Now that there is a problem with the supporting equipment of this key project of Hummer, we must give a good report to the factory director Li Nanhai.
“We purchase raw materials such as bearing steel from outside. The technical staff in the factory are definitely not as professional in steel processing as other steel factories.”
“In the end, the problem can be solved If we can’t solve it, we have to rely on the steel mill, right?”
Although Li Nanhai was not born in the field of technology, as the director of the Capital Gear Factory, he must have a relatively in-depth understanding of the gearbox situation.
Now that there is a problem with 4MT, we must think about how to solve it.
It's just that the current problem doesn't seem to be something they can solve.
“It really depends on the steel mill. I also reported this situation to the Capital Institute of Technology.”
“But after all, the problem was with our gearbox. In the end, they They will definitely not let us go easily.”
"This product is a cooperation project between Capital Institute of Technology and us. If we don't actively coordinate and respond, the other party may take this opportunity to cooperate with other gearbox manufacturers, or even build a gearbox factory themselves. It's possible, after all, the 4MT technology is completely in their hands."
When Ji Hua said this, Li Nanhai immediately became nervous.
4MT manual transmission is now the flagship product of Capital Gear Factory. Their life has been so comfortable in the past year because of the development of 4MT.
If this is taken back by the Capital Institute of Technology, even if they can continue to produce 4MT, it will definitely have a big impact on them. When there is competition, whether it is price or other aspects, it will be greatly affected.
Even when technology is upgraded in the future, it will be embarrassing for others to simply leave themselves behind.
“This is indeed a problem. We have to find a way to transfer this pressure to the steel mills.”
“If Shougang fails, we will find other steel mills to cooperate. If it doesn’t work, just report the problem to the First Machinery Department and ask the Metallurgical Department to coordinate.”
Li Nanhai is also an experienced factory director and knows how to kick the ball out.
No matter whether the problem can be solved or not, the final responsibility cannot fall on yourself, or the main responsibility cannot be borne by yourself.
"Well, I have made an appointment with people from Shougang for a meeting tomorrow morning to see what solutions they can come up with."
"Then try to report to the Capital Institute of Technology as soon as possible, otherwise we may not Is there any bad influence?”
Li Nanhai naturally has no objection to Ji Hua’s statement.
“By the way, I have another idea that may turn this bad thing into a good thing.”
Ji Hua is a person who pursues technology and is less than fifty years old. He became the chief engineer of the Capital Gear Factory at a young age, which is considered young and promising.
So many times, his mentality is very different from Li Nanhai's.
“What do you think?”
Li Nanhai was naturally very interested when he heard Ji Hua said that he could turn bad things into good things.
“The gearboxes we produced in the past were mainly supplied to the BJ212. This time the 4MT is mounted on the Hummer, and there is no way to meet the requirements.”
“Taking this opportunity, will we Can you consider developing gearboxes for trucks? ”
"The weight of the Hummer can already catch up with most light trucks, and even some medium-sized trucks, which are just that heavy."
"The country produced 149,000 vehicles last year, and most of them are still heavy. Trucks.”
“If we can produce a gearbox for trucks, the future is worth looking forward to.”
Ji Hua quickly explained his thoughts.
Although the structures of gearboxes are similar, gearboxes used in passenger cars and gearboxes used in commercial vehicles actually have many different requirements.
The main usage scenarios of trucks are completely different from those of cars.
This requires adjustments to the structure of the gearbox, and some parts also need to be strengthened.
“Do we have the technology to develop a gearbox for trucks?”
Li Nanhai is well aware of the R&D strength of the factory.
Although Ji Hua, the chief engineer, is not very bad, the overall team R&D strength is still relatively weak.
He is not very confident in relying on the factory's own strength to develop a new product.
“We will definitely have a lot of difficulties on our own, but if we can continue to cooperate with Capital Institute of Technology, I think it is still very possible.”
“As long as we show positivity If they have a problem-solving attitude, they definitely don’t have to go through so much trouble to produce their own gearboxes.”
“When the time comes, they will provide us with some technical solutions, and maybe we will have another one in our factory. A hit product."
When Ji Hua said this, Li Nanhai immediately said: "Then you should sort out this idea as soon as possible and report it to Director Zhu and the others together."
...
"Lao Zhu, Xiao Jiang, to tell you the truth, special steel such as bearing steel is the weakest link in our domestic steel industry."
"Especially because of the high technical level requirements For some special steels, the gap between domestic and international advanced levels is very huge.”
“To put it bluntly, we can now produce a lot of special steels that the United States and Germany were able to produce thirty years ago. It cannot be produced yet, and it may not even be produced in another ten years.”
“Most of the domestic factories produce ordinary crude steel, which is mainly used for various construction purposes. The level is relatively poor, and the duplication of construction is serious. ”
"This has led to an embarrassing situation in the domestic steel industry, that is, there is a certain degree of overcapacity in some crude steel fields."
"But in various special steel fields, it is common There is insufficient production capacity or there is no production capacity in this area at all.”
The Hummer project has problems with the bearings of the gearbox and transfer case because the performance of the bearing steel is not satisfactory.
After learning the news, Zou Yuan also came directly to the Capital Institute of Technology to communicate with Zhu Jiansheng and the others.
Everyone has the same idea of improving the technical level of the domestic steel industry, but the reality is a bit grim.
"I understand what you are saying, but if the technical level of special steel cannot be improved, then many of our good designs will not be implemented."
' Even some simple parts can be produced If we don’t come out, this will be very detrimental to the development of our entire industry. ’
Zhu Jiansheng is a very ambitious person. He has great ideas about his own future and the future of China as a whole.
Especially since his son-in-law gave him a lot of help later, his thoughts became even more different.
“I don’t think everyone should be so pessimistic. There is indeed a big gap between China and the international advanced level in various industries.”
"But our population base is so large, the potential is huge."
"And we actually already have a complete industrial system, which only the United States and polar bears can do in the world."
"As long as a certain amount of time is given, under the background of reform and opening up, breakthroughs and progress in various technologies will be very fast."
Seeing the sad faces of the two professors, Jiang Hui began Saying comforting words on the side.
He has already read the test report just now.
The situation is actually not as severe as imagined.
With a little effort, adjusting the formula of the bearing steel and the heat treatment plan for subsequent bearing processing, it can basically be solved.
"Xiao Jiang, from what you say, there seems to be a solution?"
Zou Yuan decoded some information from Jiang Hui's tone, and his face immediately became full of expectations. .
(End of this chapter)