The birth of YLS-1000 surprised Chen Nian. According to his plan, he thought it would take at least three months for this thing to be available.
But I didn't expect that the speed at No. 11 Institute was so fast.
——
But think about it, 11 is also a long-established research institute in the field of electronics. Since the establishment of Spark, each research institute has basically been assigned to large and small projects. Even if it is not the core, it can still get a piece of the soup.
However, the 11th Institute has not made much progress until now because its fields are relatively specialized and the barriers are high.
Now that the YLS-1000 project has finally arrived, how can they not rush forward?
Therefore, it is not too unusual to achieve results within the planned time.
However, based on their feedback, Chen Nian actually knew that this YLS-1000 was not in its complete form yet.
It mainly verifies technologies in thermal management, beam quality management and stability management. As for the high-power fiber pump source itself, there are not many leap-forward breakthroughs.
In terms of optical components, it is even more lackluster.
Including gain media and output mirrors, they are all finished products purchased directly from Carl Zeiss according to standards. With the current domestic technology, even though due to the impact of the photolithography machine project, there has been considerable progress in optical components, but to reach YLS-1000 The requirements themselves are still not enough.
Therefore, the parameters of this laser are not "that good".
It only has a maximum power of 80,000 kilowatts, which is twice as much as the current most advanced commercial high-power laser.
Of course, the YLS-1000 itself is a technology verification laser. Its role is not to pursue the ultimate parameters, but to explore a series of technologies involved in fiber lasers, and eventually lead to the full explosion of laser technology.
Therefore, Chen Nian is not dissatisfied with this result.
However, what is more satisfying than him is a series of domestic manufacturers that have demand for laser equipment.
After the news spread, the entire Chinese machining industry went into overdrive.
Among them, the strongest reactions were from various automobile manufacturers.
You must know that the demand for laser welding technology in the automobile manufacturing industry is extremely strong, including various parts such as frames, doors, seats, etc., all require the use of laser welding technology.
But now, due to the gap in domestic equipment in terms of welding joints and high-power generators, almost all large manufacturers still use imported equipment, and only a handful of equipment comes from Shenyang Industrial Control.
what does that mean?
When the equipment produced by a technology reaches more than 50% of the market share, the monopoly effect this technology can produce is enough to affect the pricing of the entire market.
Under such circumstances, it is not uncommon to hear stories of “one piece of chalk and one line” receiving $10,000.
Like the previous communications industry, the value of the equipment itself is not great, and it cannot drive rapid profit growth. Subsequent spare parts and services are the biggest profit points.
You do not want?
If you don’t sign a service contract, don’t sign an equipment contract either.
At its most exaggerated, the annual license price of a Simatic system can even reach the same level as the equipment price.
No one wants to spend this wronged money, but if you don’t spend this wronged money, you will not even have the opportunity to make money.
Since the establishment of the first laser welding laboratory in Hefei in 1982, an entire generation has been trying to make up for the shortcomings in this field. However, in fact, until around 2020, China's technology in the field of laser industrial application is still on par with the world. There is a big gap in the advanced level.
——
Of course, such history would soon change.
With the birth of YLS-1000, the development of this technology will quickly enter the fast lane.
It won't be long before various manufacturers in China will be able to get rid of the shackles of foreign manufacturers and start to truly use their own, cheap and easy-to-use laser equipment.
Thinking of this, Chen Nian breathed a long sigh of relief.
This is China's first non-military technology attempt after the "truce" with the United States. Its success or failure will determine the direction of subsequent technological development routes.
Let’s wait and see what the result will be.
This is the job of the Office of Civil Development, not something you need to worry about.
Now, the only thing I need to do is to promote the first wall research and development work as quickly as possible, so as to come up with the corresponding technical documents before the coil part is completed.
There are still 1,300 source points left on hand, and the first wall technology requires a total of 1,100 points. According to Chen Nian's estimate, this number must be reduced to at least about 800 points to ensure the stable output of the subsequent divertor and energy export device.
Based on experience, it may take the new Tinder team about two months to conduct research and produce enough results to reduce consumption and increase source points.
It's not easy.
After all, there is a natural difference between the field of materials science and the field of plasma control, that is, the continuity between previous and previous results is relatively weak.
It is impossible that just because you have created metallic hydrogen, you can naturally create other room-temperature superconducting materials with completely different principles and structures, because although they are similar in form and properties, the synthesis paths of the two may even be Unrelated.
As for the first wall material itself, the situation is basically similar.
At present, the most promising directions for first wall materials include carbon nanofibers, carbon fiber composites, titanium alloys, ferritic stainless steel, tungsten and silicon boride, etc. These materials represent the true first wall materials. The primary stage of a wall material.
In other words, if it is just to conduct so-called long-term high-power experiments, using these materials is enough.
However, if a fusion reactor is to be commercialized, it will often require a service life of several decades, and the current ignition duration measured in seconds is simply not in the same order of magnitude.
So which direction is most likely to meet the requirements for the first wall of a commercial fusion reactor?
Nobody knows.
At this point in time in 2010, the first wall material used by Huaxia was a mixture of beryllium, copper, and steel. The innermost material was beryllium, which was mainly used to prevent the reaction between the first wall and radioactive tritium and improve thermal conductivity.
At the same time, in the next time, the mature hot isostatic pressing technology will be used to weld beryllium and copper alloy to ensure heat conduction efficiency and high temperature resistance.
The last layer of stainless steel mainly plays the role of support and heat dissipation.
Under such a design, this type of prototype can reach a surface heat load of 4.7MW. Compared with ordinary heat-loaded wall panels in Europe during the same period, the performance is improved by more than 80%.
But even so, it's not the final solution for the first wall.
Even based on Chen Nian's current knowledge, he also knew that W-ZrC was a more suitable lining material than pure beryllium.
After all, the high hardness and low expansion coefficient of this thing are far beyond what pure beryllium materials can achieve.
Chen Nian's brows furrowed tightly. He combed through the known directions in his mind one by one, but in the end he found helplessly that each of these directions looked very reliable, but the prospects of each one were different. Still hidden in the darkness.
If it were not for the blessing of the system, how long would it take for humans to find the truly correct answer?
At least, not within ten years.
What I have to do is to compress these "ten years" or even "decades" of time into two months.
On the other side, just as Chen Nian was preparing to launch the exploration of the first wall materials, in the office of the EAST project team headquarters, Li Jiangang was having a special communication with a special guest.
"So according to your plan, have we really lost the opportunity to regain more shares in the future?"
"You know, it's not fair to us."
"We have the strongest technical foundation and the largest number of scientific researchers, and can bring far more benefits to the EAST project than other countries."
"But now, you are imposing technical sanctions on us for some unreasonable reasons and without logic. This is simply unreasonable."
"Of course, I'm not attacking you - in fact, to some extent, I can understand your overreaction."
"After all, in the past few years, the confrontation between our two sides has indeed been fierce."
"But I still say that technology has no borders, especially a technology like nuclear fusion that can change the destiny of the entire human race, and it should not be hijacked by so-called political factors."
"So, I still have to present our demands to you."
"We hope to increase our country's share of the EAST project to 20% - this request doesn't seem that excessive, right?"
The speaker's name is William Brown. He is an international collaborative scholar in the EAST project and is responsible for work related to the development of first wall materials.
In the past few months, he has been conscientiously doing what he should do, fully maintaining the "purity" that a scholar should have, and this is why he was able to meet Li Jiangang on behalf of the United States and also The only reason why the United States can raise its demands.
After hearing his words, Li Jiangang shook his head and replied:
"Rebalancing shares is out of the question."
"Mr. William, you should also know that the EAST project and the ITER project are fundamentally different."
"The ITER project is a true 'technical cooperation' project. In this project, no one knows whether they are right or whether their team can achieve results."
"But what about the EAST project? It's clear that we have accomplished most of the theoretical breakthroughs. The purpose of the cooperation is not so much to 'acquire knowledge', but rather that we need a large number of talents to 'execute' the knowledge we hold and transfer it Apply it to the project specifically.”
"To put it more bluntly, the vast majority of scholars participating in this project are actually not much different from ordinary workers. They are all disadvantaged parties receiving technical assistance."
"In this case, we have the right to choose yes or no."
"I admit that at the beginning, China was indeed very interested in your technology accumulation, and also opened the application entrance for the EAST project to you."
"But your people's performance is really poor."
"Technological progress is slow and stability is weak. Some scholars even do not believe that EAST can be successfully born. The only reason for coming here is to add a bright touch to their resume."
"I want to ask, do we really need to give such a person and such a team a larger share?"
"If you think about it from my perspective, even you wouldn't be able to take advantage of me like this, right?"
William Brown on the opposite side nodded silently.
He admitted that what Li Jiangang said was right, but the problem was that he did not think that his side was necessarily wrong.
Yes, we did show some shrinkage and swaying in the early stage, but so what?
In the face of such a huge gamble, who can guarantee that he will follow through from beginning to end?
Occasionally questioning is quite reasonable, right?
It was related to the future development of fusion technology in the United States, and even the fate of the entire country. He obviously couldn't give up, so after a brief thought, he continued:
"Mr. Li, as I said before, we understand your concerns and your mood."
"But I still have to say that it is extremely irrational to make such a decision in this way."
"I can even say it to be more extreme. This is completely the result of being hijacked by populism."
"It doesn't mean anything to us or to you."
"If that's the case, why do you still insist on having your own way?"
Li Jiangang slowly shook his head and replied:
"This is not a willful decision, it is the result of careful consideration."
"Isn't there any possibility of changing the decision?"
William asked.
"No."
"Even if we come up with more exchange conditions, even if we make greater concessions, it's still impossible?"
"impossible."
Hearing this, William took a deep breath.
"So, this is your true purpose."
"From the beginning, you had no intention of involving us in this project."
"You have opened the door to the future for everyone, but you want to keep us out?"
"With all due respect, this is pure technical bullying!"
"If you are really not going to change your decision, then I think maybe we have to go back to another negotiating table."
This sentence contained a strong threat, but Li Jiangang couldn't help laughing.
He really couldn't understand the brain circuit of the man opposite him.
Tech bullying?
Are you worthy of saying such a thing?
If we are technological bullies, then what are you?
However, Li Jiangang did not say these words in front of William.
He just looked directly into the other person's eyes, and then said word by word:
"Yes, this is technology bullying."
"But what can you do to us?"
"Are you going to have another confrontation at sea?"
"I don't know what kind of commitment the people behind you gave you when you came here today."
"But now, I can make you a promise - or advice."
"That is, play this game according to our rules."
"You don't want the Julang-3 we just successfully test-fired to aim in the direction of Washington, right?"
(End of chapter)
