"These purchased finished materials are not good. The test results show that the strength and toughness do not meet our requirements."
Wang Dali picked up several small black cylindrical tubes on the table, played with them for a while, and said with a frown.
The engineer next to him said with a wry smile.
"Boss, the only common giant magnetostrictive material on the market is Terfenol-D. This material has been available for decades. The production process is very mature and can be produced domestically."
"Manufacturers can supply various finished products such as rings, tubes, rods, and powders at low prices. They can also provide processing such as slotting and lamination to reduce losses."
"This is actually enough for an ultrasound transducer."
"You know, Johnson & Johnson's ultrasonic scalpels use piezoelectric ceramics. We can use magnetostrictive material rods, which are already more advanced than Johnson & Johnson's products."
Wang Dali shook his head: "But its own strength is not high, it is very brittle, and it cannot be processed deeply. At the same time, it cannot maintain high-intensity work under high power."
"Otherwise, let's look at other functional materials."
The engineer said with a grimace: "We have tried Galfenol (iron-gallium alloy), iron-cobalt-vanadium alloy and some iron-nickel alloys, but we can't find any better materials."
He asked cautiously: "Otherwise, we should consider piezoelectric ceramics?"
Wang Dali shook his head even more: "No, Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic all use piezoelectric ceramics as transducers."
"These guys are all masters of ultrasonic surgery, especially Johnson & Johnson. The first ultrasonic surgery was made by them. It was the ancestor of ultrasonic surgery. It's been decades now, and piezoelectric ceramics can still be used. What's the trick?"
“Believe it or not, the patent pool alone has been filled with holes, and you can’t get around it at all.”
"You follow others and you can only step on their footprints. How can you fight with them?"
"So, we can only change our research and development ideas and use magnetostrictive ultrasonic scalpel."
The engineer rubbed his forehead and said worriedly: "There are only these ready-made civilian materials, and the choices are very limited. Is it possible for manufacturers to improve and develop materials themselves? That would be too difficult. I don't think they have the strength."
Wang Dali chuckled and said: "We don't need them to develop it, we have our own ready-made material formula."
The engineer was immediately overjoyed: "Great, then just ask them to order it."
Wang Dali asked back: "Do you think that with the level of these manufacturers, they can create a brand new rare earth alloy based on the formula?"
"This..." The engineer was immediately speechless. He also knew the level of these private rare earth material enterprises. They could only provide ready-made materials or finished products. To produce new super magnetostrictive materials, the process alone had to be eliminated. More than half.
Wang Dali thought of the rare earth alloy material in the ultrasonic scalpel information and couldn't help but have a headache.
The complicated formula and manufacturing process inside made him dizzy just by looking at it.
"It seems we can only ask the national team for help."
“Leave professional matters to the experts.”
****
China Iron and Steel Research Institute, a subsidiary of the Functional Materials Research Institute.
As the research and development base for new materials in China's metallurgical industry, it develops and produces a large number of key materials for key projects such as launch vehicles and manned spacecraft. It is a top international research and development center in the field of materials.
Feng Qihang is the vice president in charge of scientific research. Not long after he arrived at the office that day, he had just drank two mouthfuls of water when he heard someone knocking on the door.
"Come in!"
The person who responded was a researcher, holding a piece of paper in his hand, with an expression of shock and a hint of joy on his face.
"Feng Yuan, we have received a request for technical cooperation from an enterprise. They want to produce a super magnetostrictive material for use as an ultrasonic transducer. Can we provide a batch of samples first?"
"Oh?" Feng Qihang raised his head curiously and asked: "Which alloy company is it? Saturn Rare Earth? Or China Rare Earth?"
The researcher shook his head: "No, it's the Sanqing Group."
Feng Qihang was immediately surprised: "Is it that pharmaceutical group Sanqing? Aren't they a pharmaceutical company? How can they research rare earth alloys?"
The researcher explained: "Sanqing Group also makes medical devices. They recently developed an ultrasonic scalpel and want to use super magnetostrictive materials in their own ultrasonic transducers."
Feng Qihang nodded: "I see, why don't they use existing products on the market? Can't Terfenol-D?"
"It is said that it does not meet the requirements of their products, so they want to cooperate with us to produce a new material."
Feng Qihang couldn't help but frown: "Terfenol-D is already a very mature product with a wide range of uses. If it doesn't meet the requirements, their standards for new materials must be very high."
"I'm afraid it's difficult to develop this new material."
The researcher interjected: "They are not looking to us for research and development, but for production. They have already developed a new rare earth alloy. Because they have strict requirements on the production process, they approached us for cooperation."
"What?" Feng Qihang stood up from his chair in shock: "Can Sanqing develop new materials? Or super magnetostrictive materials?"
He couldn't wait to ask: "Do you have any performance parameters? Show them to me."
"Yes." The researcher handed over the paper in his hand, with some parameters of the new material simply written on it.
Feng Qihang grabbed it and immediately scanned it.
Magnetostriction coefficient: ≥10000PPM
Tensile strength: ≥250Mpa
Compressive strength: ≥2600Mpa
Curie temperature: 1080℃
Density: 7.05g/cm3
Energy density: 140~250KJ/m3
Response speed: <0.1μs
"This..." Feng Qihang's eyes widened, as if he had seen a ghost, and he shook his head repeatedly: "This is impossible."
"This performance is at least ten times stronger than Terfenol-D. It is impossible to have such an alloy material."
There was a "pop" sound.
He slapped the paper on the table and stared at the researcher opposite, with a hint of anger on his face.
"Are you sure this is true? Didn't you receive a scam call?"
The researcher was startled and waved his hands hurriedly: "No, no, it's really the Sanqing Group's call. It seems to be a technical person in charge of equipment, named Wang Dali. He also said that the matter is of great importance, and he must bring technology with him." Come over for the interview with the information.”
Feng Qihang suddenly turned from anger to joy: "Since you are coming in person, you must not be a liar."
"But the performance described here is too exaggerated. How is it possible to achieve it?"
"Could it be that the technology was bought from somewhere, was deceived, and then wanted to make it for us in a whimsical way."
His heart suddenly sank, and he felt that this situation was not impossible.
So he pondered for a moment and then ordered: "Let's do this. You agree first. After he comes and sees the technical information, we can discuss it together and study whether it is feasible."
"Remember, don't talk too much. Don't agree to anything before seeing the information, lest they have unrealistic fantasies."
A few days later, Feng Qihang welcomed Wang Dali and his party in the office.
Both parties sat down separately in the conference room.
Before Feng Qihang opened his mouth, Wang Dali handed over a document with a smile.
"Sorry, because this involves our company's top-secret technology, please sign a confidentiality agreement."
Feng Qihang couldn't help but want to laugh when he saw the serious look on the other party's face.
He also had a straight face, nodded and said: "Since your company takes this new material so seriously, then I will listen to you."
At his signal, several participants from the Functional Materials Research Institute signed confidentiality agreements.
Wang Dali breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "Thank you very much. Let's get to the point."
He took out his computer, connected to Sanqing's remote network through the key, and showed a prepared ppt in front of everyone.
"This?" Feng Qihang read a few pages and suddenly lost his composure.
Especially after seeing the alloy ratio and analysis, he was completely shocked.
"It's true! Such a powerful giant magnetostrictive material actually exists!"
"Oh my god, this is a great discovery that shocks the world!" He was so excited that his whole body trembled.
Several other technicians at the institute also stared blankly at the ppt, unable to say a word.
Wang Dali explained the PPT with all his strength and did not notice anything strange about the others.
This involves a lot of professional knowledge, but he knows it but doesn't know why, so he talks with difficulty and skips a lot of technical content.
After finally finishing speaking, he showed an awkward yet polite smile, rubbed his hands and said, "That's pretty much it."
"Dean Feng," he looked at Feng Qihang expectantly: "What do you think of this material? Is it difficult to produce it in the laboratory?"
Feng Qihang looked at the screen with a mesmerized expression, as if he hadn't heard him speak.
"Dean Feng? Dean Feng?" Wang Dali called out in a low voice several times.
Feng Qihang finally came to his senses as if he had just woken up from a dream.
"Bah bang bang!"
He immediately stood up and clapped excitedly.
"Mr. Wang, you Sanqing have really come up with something incredible."
"This is a breakthrough achievement. Since Terfenol-D was developed at the Naval Laboratory in Eagle Country, the world has been developing super magnetostrictive materials. However, in recent years, research and development has been somewhat stagnant."
"Although industrial applications are very wide and the prospects are promising, there have been no major breakthroughs in the most cutting-edge research."
"Until now, Sanqing Group has quietly made such a major breakthrough. It's so surprising. It is definitely the biggest achievement of our materials industry in recent years!"
"With it, our country will usher in new developments in aerospace, national defense, industry, medical and other major fields. It is really gratifying."
"Come, everyone applaud with me and express warm congratulations and sincere gratitude to the comrades of Sanqing!"
Everyone else immediately stood up and applauded enthusiastically.
Wang Dali was stunned when he saw the scene in front of him.
"No, Dean Feng, you are saying, don't, don't, don't, we will never take it seriously."
With great difficulty, he pressed the other party down on his seat. Seeing everyone's excited expressions, Wang Dali smiled empathetically.
He recalled the scene when he had just seen the information about ultrasound surgery, and he was so surprised and excited.
However, Feng Qihang's next words made his smile freeze instantly on his face.
"I'm sorry, your new material is too powerful. It may be classified. I have to report it to my boss."
****
Kunming City, Sanqing Headquarters.
"Buzz buzz~" The mobile phone on the table rang.
Wei Kang picked up the phone and looked at it, and immediately connected the call.
"Hello, Mr. Wang, why are you free to call me today?"
It was Wang Guiqing on the other end of the phone, smiling and saying: "Mr. Wei, you are a very busy man. How can I usually disturb you?"
"But I didn't expect that you, Sanqing, would cause such a big deal just after you started making medical devices."
Wei Kang asked in confusion: "What's going on? Several medical devices have been developed recently, but there's nothing surprising about them."
He secretly thought to himself that among these new projects, the artificial heart was more of a gimmick and could attract people's attention, but it wouldn't make the superiors call him specially.
Wang Guiqing laughed and said: "Oh, listen to Mr. Wei's tone. It's nothing surprising. It's such an understatement. He deserves to be the King of Chinese Medicine."
Someone seemed to chuckle and whisper a few words next to him.
Wang Guiqing continued: "Mr. Wei, I heard that Sanqing has developed an ultrasonic scalpel. The transducer inside uses a super magnetostrictive material? Did you develop this material yourself?"
Wei Kang's heart moved and he said casually: "Yes, as expected of Mr. Wang, he is well informed."
Although he has obtained a lot of high technology from the system, he does not fully understand many of the technical details. Basically, he leaves it to his subordinates to develop and learn.
When I heard this, I immediately understood that this transducer material must have attracted the other party's strong attention.
"It's not that I'm well-informed, but I was told by the China Iron and Steel Research Institute. They said that Sanqing Group came to cooperate in the production of a new material. It has made a huge breakthrough in the field of super magnetostrictive materials and can be used in Aerospace, as well as the Navy’s sonar system, so we report to the top.”
Wang Guiqing smiled and said: "No, the superiors sent me to ask."
Wei Kang secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "It does happen. You also know that when it comes to rare earth alloy research and manufacturing, the Iron and Steel Research Institute is the national team and the strongest. We can't produce it ourselves, so we can only look to them. Cooperate.”
"But for this material, my initial purpose was just to make a transducer for Sanqing's ultrasonic scalpel. I had no other ideas."
"You also know that foreign companies are relatively strong in the field of medical equipment. We have to snatch meat from the mouths of a group of wolves, so naturally we have to work hard to develop new technologies."
"Mr. Wei, did you use too much force to grab the meat?"
A rich man's voice suddenly said with a smile.
Before Wei Kang could react, Wang Guiqing hurriedly explained: "Mr. Wei, when the people from the Navy heard about this, they rushed over immediately and are right next to me. How about we talk together?"
"People from the navy?" Wei Kang was a little surprised.
The rich voice with a hint of vicissitudes continued: "Hello, Mr. Wei, please allow me to introduce myself. I am Ouyang Du from the Naval Equipment Research Institute. It's a pleasure to meet you. I have heard that Sanqing technology is very strong. , I only really saw how strong it is today.”
His voice was filled with admiration: "You guys, Sanqing, are really awesome. You just made such a big fuss just by researching an ultrasonic scalpel."
"Let me ask, have you applied for a patent for this giant magnetostrictive material?"
Wei Kang nodded: "That's natural, but the Patent Office just told me this morning that this patent will be converted into a confidential patent."
"It seems that the patent office has done its job very well." Ouyang Du said with a smile: "Giant magnetostrictive materials are national strategic functional materials, which are of great significance and have immeasurable development prospects in the field of national defense."
"Whether it is the invention or early application of this material, it is directly related to the military industry, especially the navy."
"In fact, the first giant magnetostrictive material, Terfenol-D, was born at the Eagle Nation Naval Weapons Laboratory. It was used decisively in the early days and became a strategic material prohibited from export."
"We now have a very urgent need for related materials, especially in the development of sonar systems and ultrasonic weapons."
"The advent of this new material is like giving us a pillow for sleeping. We need it urgently. Thank you very much."
"Mr. Wei, in addition to ultrasonic surgery, why don't Sanqing also expand its business and support national defense construction? How about it?"
Wang Guiqing suddenly interrupted: "There is also the aerospace industry. I guess Academician Xie will call you soon."
Wei Kang grinned: "As it should be, the development of Sanqing cannot be separated from the support of the country. It is natural to be able to contribute to aerospace and national defense."
"It's just that the extent of support depends on the output of the steel group."
"Hahaha~"
The three of them laughed in unison at the same time.
The General Iron and Steel Research Institute is the research center of Sinosteel Group. Basically all new aerospace and military materials are developed by them, including but not limited to the Shenzhou spacecraft, Chang'e lunar probe, etc.
(End of chapter)
