Genius of the Rules-Style System

Aviation research and development base.

The westernmost side of the Kunlun engine unit is a large operation room used to display prototype components and debug component performance.

In recent times, the operation room has been busy, and various parts have been transported, making it seem like a large mechanical processing factory. People are coming and going, showing an active scene.

Zhang Gangchuan's team is very busy, several times busier than the same period last year, because they have added new work--

Debugging the WZ-A2 prototype!

The job of the Kunlun Engine Group is to debug the Kunlun engine. Because subsequent improvements do not require too many manpower, some people have been separated, either going to the Wangwu Engine Group, or returning to the original unit to do research and development, etc.

At the group company's meeting on WZ series engines, the Kunlun engine component was assigned to the WZ-A2 prototype debugging work. Zhang Gangchuan and even the entire team were very excited and looking forward to it, but at the same time they also faced an embarrassing problem. Their team was obviously short of manpower. Kunlun The engine improvement work has entered the advanced stage, and many technicians on the team have left midway.

It was too difficult to recruit new people for the engine team, and it was impossible to report it to the group for senior management to help, because the WZ-A1 prototype was also being debugged at the same time, and the War Eagle team had almost no manpower.

Under this situation, Zhang Gangchuan simply decided to transfer all the scattered Kunlun engine prototype teams.

The work related to the Kunlun engine is temporarily suspended, allowing everyone to devote themselves to the assembly and debugging of the WZ-A2 prototype. First, complete the preliminary work together, and wait until the performance of the new engine is more stable and does not require too many manpower to participate, and then restart Return to their respective posts and continue the original Kunlun engine project.

This was not a decision made by Zhang Gangchuan alone, but the result of discussions with several core members of the team.

The Kunlun engine unit was also reported to the group company.

The senior management of the aviation group had no objections to this at all, and even praised the Kunlun engine unit's "decisiveness". After reading the report on the WZ series engines, the senior management no longer looked down upon the Kunlun engine.

Kunlun engine?

Is there any point in continuing to debug an engine that always has various problems and its performance cannot keep up?

The WZ series engine is just a low-end version of the WZ-A2. Its design and performance are also much higher. It can fully catch up with the international advanced level. Even if it takes more manpower, material resources and even time, as long as the engine is built, It's all worth it.

With the support of the top management of the aviation group, Kunlun Engine Group concentrated on the assembly and debugging of WZ-A2.

Their progress is faster than that of WZ-A1, because WZ-A2 is a low-end version, and some parts of the materials are ordinary. There are basically no major problems in the manufacturing process. In addition, they are directly targeting the J-20 fighter. The parts were manufactured earlier, and they had already completed the assembly of the WZ-A2 prototype.

After the first prototype of WZ-A2 was assembled, the Kunlun engine unit immediately underwent operational testing.

The result is failure!

The engine didn't run at all!

Now the Kunlun engine group is making corrections for the problems that occurred during the first run, and they have easily found several major problems.

For example, oil pipelines are somewhat narrow.

For example, there was a small problem in the control system, which did not provide timely feedback on the amount of fuel delivered.

For example, one of the booster blades is not running.

etc.

These are the conclusions reached after more than two weeks of repeated testing.

Now they are busy correcting the problem and re-testing the problematic parts.

Zhang Gangchuan had a rare moment of leisure. He stood in the aisle on the second floor and looked down at the entire operation room. With a smile on his face, he sighed, "It's much faster than Kunlun now. In two weeks, several big problems were solved. .”

Next to him is Zhou Kai, the team leader of the power department.

"yes!"

Zhou Kai put his hands on the railing and said in retrospect, "I had no experience at that time. I remember it took a long time, probably more than two or three months. Now it's only more than half a month, and it won't take a month to solve everything. "

The first test run failed, which is completely expected.

The engine has just been assembled, and the first debugging will definitely fail. Even during the installation process, problems may occur due to improper operation, not to mention problems with parts.

For example, if a booster blade is not running, there may be an installation problem or it may be a quality problem.

Both are possible.

This is not something they can completely control.

Zhang Gangchuan was also very satisfied with the progress of the work. He suddenly said, "I heard that Academician Zhao has also started. It's really fast. I didn't expect it!" He shook his head with a sigh.

That’s a real sigh!

When assigned to the debugging work of WZ-A2, Zhang Gangchuan felt that the aviation group was taking care of his team. After all, they were the group’s ‘old team’ and had rich experience.

The original design of Zhao Yi's team, WZ-A1, can be said to be a top-of-the-line version, targeting the top-of-the-line J-31. However, the design drawings of the J-31 have not been completed, and the engine prototype manufacturing and debugging work is also equivalent to It was postponed.

Zhang Gangchuan believes that it is the consideration of the group's senior management.

The design of the WZ series engines is very high-end, but being too high-end is not necessarily a good thing. For example, manufacturing and debugging will encounter more problems. If the low-end version of WZ-A2 can be successfully debugged, then the WZ-A1 prototype can be manufactured for debugging. , the work arrangement will be more reasonable, and the progress will definitely be faster.

Of course.

These cannot be said directly.

Anyway, that's how Zhang Gangchuan understood it, but what he didn't expect was that Zhao Yi could actually take over the aircraft design job and come up with a stunning design that impressed the group's senior management and the military.

He did not attend that meeting and did not know how advanced the Warhawk-1 was, but looking at the group's senior management's subsequent support for the WZ-A1, he knew that he had completely changed his mind.

However, Zhang Gangchuan still believes that debugging the WZ-A2 prototype is more important and the most core work.

No matter how amazing a fighter jet design is, it is just a design. It takes who knows how long to build it. It is even said that most high-end designs can only remain on paper due to various reasons.

The WZ-A1 engine is also too high-end, with many designs and requirements that are too high. Even if the parts are 'pieced together' and the whole body is glued together to assemble the engine, a large number of problems will arise during debugging, and even some that cannot be solved at all. question.

The WZ-A2 engine is different.

Because many high-end designs have been modified, the difference between WZ-A2 and WZ-A1 is very big. There are no designs that are far higher than the manufacturing capabilities, so there will naturally be no major problems such as "unmanufacturability".

After the WZ-A2 engine is debugged, it can be assembled on the J-20 fighter. Even if it is assembled on the J-15 again, it will be enough to support the group company's continued investment and enable the WZ-A2 engine to achieve mass production.

WZ-A2 engine has a bright future!

And WZ-A1…

"How long will it take for them to achieve their first test flight?" Zhang Gangchuan asked Zhou Kai thoughtfully.

Zhou Kai sneered and said, "I think? Three years, four years? Maybe it can't be completed. It's still far away. Our Kunlun has been used for two years, and the 'No. 1' is so high-end..." He suddenly thought that he couldn't finish it. Having said that, he turned around and said, "However, Academician Zhao is really capable. Maybe he can overcome some difficulties."

"So, three years? If we can get to that point in three years, it will be really great. That design is really unimaginable!"

"But it can be faster. For example, after we have completed the first phase of debugging, we can send a group to film..."

Zhang Gangchuan nodded and continued to ask, "What about us?"

"One year is enough!"

Zhou Kai said confidently, "We have experience, but there are some shortages in technical personnel. After all, the WZ series was not designed by us."

Zhang Gangchuan nodded and said, "It's not our design, but when it comes to engine debugging, we are the most professional. One year... I think it can be done in less time, maybe ten months?"

"I hope so. Anyway, try your best!"

"Try your best!"

…

When the Kunlun engine unit was put into debugging the WZ-A2 prototype, the WZ-A1 of the Warhawk engine unit was also assembled.

The assembly time of WZ-A1 was slower than expected.

The reason lies in Zhao Yi.

Zhao Yi's plan was to come to the factory to participate in the debugging work after the prototype was assembled. Later, because his wealth was revealed by Forbes, he was always ridiculed by people familiar with him, and a lot of troubles came to him, so he simply went ahead of time Came to the factory.

After arriving, he found that he was right to come early.

During the assembly process of the prototype, Zhao Yi discovered many problems. For example, the fuel pipe in the No. 1 combustion chamber was made narrower. The difference was not that big. It was difficult to see with the naked eye, but he made a loss. Oil test, the gap immediately came out after a period of time.

This is not a big problem.

The biggest problem Zhao Yi discovered was the cracking of two turbine blades. Because the manufacturing requirements are relatively good, the turbine blades are directly formed in one piece. The dense holes in the blades can easily cause quality problems in the blades, and the factory inspection is also difficult. It can't be that precise. Fortunately, there are some extra parts sent, so it's easy to replace two turbine blades.

Although most of the problems found were minor problems, the concentration of minor problems was enough to cause the assembled prototype to stop running immediately after the first test.

After all the problems with each component have been eliminated, there are still many problems in the assembled engine, the most important of which is the coordination of the components, because there is a gap in performance between the manufactured components and the original design, and the differences between the components vary. They are not the same, which leads to coordination problems. .

When the prototype had been assembled and was about to start testing, Zhao Yi walked around the engine and suddenly said, "Remove the compressor."

"ah?"

Several engineers around were stunned.

Zhao Yi continued, "I'll do it as soon as I ask you to do it."

No one else knew what was going on, but the engineers still felt that it was already the afternoon after the compressor was disassembled, and the planned debugging that morning would definitely not be completed.

After the compressor was disassembled, Zhao Yi had someone remove a supercharger blade, use smelted raw metal material to block the hole inside the blade, and polish it carefully before reinstalling it on the engine.

This operation is incomprehensible.

Zhao Yi explained, "I thought about it carefully and found that the performance index of the compressor is still too high, which may create pressure on the discharge holes. If it is at a high power point, there may be a risk of explosion."

"Squirting, is it so serious?"

Blowout means that the pressure inside is too high, which directly opens the vent valve, allowing high-pressure, high-heat air to rush into the vent passages in large quantities, which will directly cause damage to the vents.

If it's more severe, the high-pressure, high-heat impact will recoil back to the front end of the engine, causing damage to the entire engine.

This matter is too serious.

Zhao Yi must point it out in advance, otherwise it will definitely affect the debugging progress, and there may even be casualties.

It took more than a day to replace the compressor blades, and it was already the morning of the third day to reinstall them.

All personnel gathered at a distance.

When the running test was about to begin, Zhao Yi walked to the engine again and walked around the engine several times, which made many people fearful, lest they hear another problem and disassemble the engine...

Fortunately, Zhao Yi didn't do that.

He waved to the people in the distance and walked over immediately, leaving only the engineering staff on the spot and said, "Let's get started!"

"call!"

Everyone present breathed a sigh of relief.

"The test begins!"

"Prepare!"

"ignition!"

There are no such complicated commands for the engine operation test. After most of the personnel are away, the engineers control the problem of placing the engine in a suitable position, and use high-pressure fans to simulate the wind of fast flight in the air, and then go to a distance to control the official ignition.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The noise of aircraft engines is unavoidable, and the huge noise suddenly fills all spaces.

When the people around heard the "boom, boom" sound, they became even more excited, because the continuous roar meant that the engine was operating normally and there was no problem.

After the engine is officially started, you can only see the flames spurting out from behind, and the sound is continuous, but the decibels of the sound have been significantly reduced, indicating that the engine has finished warming up and has entered the process of normal operation.

Some people clapped.

Soon everyone clapped, and everyone had excitement on their faces, because the scene in front of them was already something to be proud of.

This is the first test!

For most engines, it’s amazing if they can start in the first test. WZ-A1 is a very high-end engine. It only existed in imagination before. But after it is actually manufactured, it can start and operate normally in the first test. Let’s talk about it. It is hard to believe that they all say that a good start is half the battle, and they are even more looking forward to completing the debugging.

The engine is scheduled to run for about half an hour, and at one point will strive to reach maximum power.

This is a difficult problem.

When reaching maximum power, the engine is likely to fail.

In this regard, people from Yuan Haitao's team have a strong say. Many of them have participated in the testing of the Kunlun engine. Not to mention the first test of the No. 1 engine. Before the No. 2 engine was moved to the power engineering laboratory, the maximum power had not yet been solved. In the event of a problem, when the No. 2 unit is tested, the highest power test will simply not be performed to prevent any serious accidents.

After the engine ran for a while, everyone looked at Zhao Yi standing in the middle.

Zhao Yi waved his hand calmly and commanded, "Activate the highest power!"

Everyone's hearts were lifted.

"boom!"

As the engineers adjusted the wind speed and fuel delivery control, the engine suddenly made a loud roar that lasted for more than a minute.

Zhao Yi then commanded, "That's it."

The engineering staff immediately lowered the parameters, and the roar of the engine also slowly decreased.

The next step is the ‘high deceleration’ test.

The 'high deceleration' test simulates the rapid deceleration of a fighter jet. The WZ-A1 is designed to almost stop the fuel delivery, and release the high-pressure gas in the compressor through the holes to the jet nozzle to form a certain amount of power, while ensuring the stability of each component of the aircraft. normal operation.

The advantage of this method is to 'save fuel'. In addition, only when the main jet is not working can the maximum deceleration be achieved, and it can also improve the flexibility of the fighter when decelerating.

In the 'high deceleration' test, there is no need to worry about any major problems. The main purpose is to obtain various parameters of the engine operation during the test.

This is true for the remaining projects.

Let the engine simulate various conditions in the air. During the process, the thrust provided by the engine and the temperature of each component are tested, while data such as fuel delivery speed and wind speed are recorded.

This data is what the test wants to get.

The process of engine completion is to strive to achieve the most perfect balance point among various data, which also requires adjusting the performance of each component to make them operate more harmoniously.

Of course.

This is a case where there are no major problems with the engine.

If the engine stalls during a certain test session, or the thrust provided is abnormally reduced or increased, it is not only necessary to coordinate the performance of the components, but also to solve the problem.

The reason why the Kunlun engine is slow to be perfected is because there are always various big problems. For every big problem, it takes a long time just to find out the problem and demonstrate it.

Half an hour passed quickly.

When the last test was over, Zhao Yi also decisively announced, "Let's stop here!"

The engineering personnel responsible for the control immediately stopped the oil supply. After the engine ran for a period of time, the roar gradually stopped.

Zhao Yi looked around and clapped with a smile.

"Hula~~"

Everyone immediately clapped and started talking excitedly, "This is the first test, it's perfect!"

“Don’t see any problem!”

"When the power reaches the highest level, my heart feels like it's going to pop out, and I'm afraid of exploding suddenly..."

"Bad luck! Don't say such things!"

"Anyway, it was a success!"

"I have been in the Kunlun team before and participated in several tests. I could find problems every time. I feel that the prototype we just assembled is already more complete than the Kunlun No. 3 machine."

"I can't imagine it!"

"The first test was so successful, so we worked very quickly, right? How long do you estimate it will take for the test flight to be completed?"

"Three months?"

"No! Two months is enough!"

"I have already said that the Kunlun engine No. 3 is not as perfect as it is. When Kunlun built the No. 3 engine, the test flight was already over..."

"So I think you can apply for the test machine now!"