"Zhang Hongtao, this damn kid!"
"Still talking about design, still, I’ve said I’ve given you chances... This is different from the plan, isn’t it!"
Wang Zhifang sat in his seat awkwardly, looking down at the design, unsure how to begin. His original plan had been to openly disagree and then, as if in a huff, produce this substandard design the next ti Zhao Yi demanded proof of ’low design quality’.
Then, perhaps Zhao Yi would have accepted it.
But the current situation was different from what he had imagined. Zhao Yi had asked for a rigorous design, not a ’low design quality’ critique—had Zhang Hongtao ended up finding this low-quality proof for him?
"What... what should I do?"
"It’s impossible to directly say that I deliberately made such a low-level certification just so my design could be accepted, right?"
Wang Zhifang clenched his teeth, his eyes full of anger as he glared at Zhang Hongtao.
Zhang Hongtao was confused by the look, thinking that Wang Zhifang was insisting on giving young people a chance, hoping that either his or Li Rongmao’s design would be interviewed and used in the experints. He was suddenly very moved and quickly said, "Teacher Wang, you don’t have to give us a chance."
"This is a research project, everything must be focused on the research. Your design is more rigorous, and we all trust you."
His words were sincere.
Li Rongmao chid in, "That’s right, research is the most important. For us, being able to participate in such projects is already a great learning opportunity."
For the mont, Wang Zhifang didn’t know what to say. He paused for a good while before taking a deep breath and explaining awkwardly, "Actually, this design, I made it in my spare ti, it didn’t take long at all, I just thought I should think in reverse as a reference for my main design."
"I have another design..."
"Blah blah blah~~~"
Wang Zhifang rambled on about how he had two designs, this one being very poor, but the others thought he was just being modest or self-deprecating. They imdiately interjected, "Teacher Wang, I can understand you, even designs that are brought out on a whim are very rigorous."
"You have a wealth of experience, especially in design justification."
"Now that you’ve said this, we’re even more excited to see it."
"..."
Wang Zhifang felt an urge to vomit blood and simply began scratching his head in frustration. He gave an outline of the design, which was essentially the experintal process, without going into detail about the steps, and he didn’t seem to expect anyone else to understand.
As he listened for a bit, Zhang Hongtao realized that Wang Zhifang wasn’t talking about the design they had discussed together. He beca more eager, listening intently, only to discover many issues in the design, as though every step warranted a closer question.
"That’s not right..."
Zhang Hongtao thought, "This design is worse than Shen Binghe’s, could Teacher Wang have co up with so new ideas?"
Li Rongmao also noticed the issues, unsure of how to evaluate them, and thought, "Could it be that because of Shen Binghe’s design, which improved the product’s performance, Academician Wang ca up with sothing even more ’surprising’?"
Shen Binghe also listened very carefully, thinking doubtfully, "It seems not to be much stronger than mine, right?"
The three of them kept their thoughts to themselves and said nothing.
He Guilin didn’t have as many reservations. He found an opening and directly voiced his doubt, "Academician Wang, I noticed several places just now where the design seems to be sowhat lax?"
"Cough cough~~~"
Wang Zhifang coughed forcefully several tis, quickly took a sip of water, and then said, "That’s why I said, this design was made as a counter-reference..."
When he said this earlier, others thought he was being modest, but now they really felt the design was backward, perhaps... could Academician Wang really be at this level? Of course not.
Several people imdiately shook their heads.
Wang Zhifang’s abilities were high, not just because of his academic title. In the process of research and experintation, he had done a lot of work, and his ability to solve many problems almost single-handedly spoke to his extensive experience. He was also Zhang Hongtao’s ntor; a teacher who could train a student like Zhang Hongtao certainly wouldn’t lack ability.
So, was this truly a reverse design?
Zhao Yi hadn’t spoken yet. The atmosphere in the eting room was a bit strange, but he could see what was happening. He knew that Wang Zhifang had indeed made two designs, as "Law of Cause and Effect" had directly shown the result.
The design in front of them was obviously not rigorous, just like the doubts He Guilin had raised, which Wang Zhifang had not directly addressed.
"Let’s do this," Zhao Yi finally spoke up, breaking the awkwardness, "Academician Wang, let’s continue our eting tomorrow. Bring both designs, and we will assess them together."
"Sure!"
Wang Zhifang agreed decisively, feeling a sense of relief. ’Zhao Yi is such a good person, knowing my awkward situation and allowing to bring the other design.’
’Zhang Hongtao? This damn kid!’
Wang Zhifang looked at Zhang Hongtao with gritted teeth, blaming him for the embarrassnt he had just suffered.
...
The verification went ahead as usual the next day.
Zhao Yi had asked Wang Zhifang to bring both designs, but Wang Zhifang only brought one. He had almost thrown the other one into the trash can, but then thought it could serve as a nto and simply stashed it at the bottom of his bookcase.
The main design Wang Zhifang presented was indeed very rigorous. Most people couldn’t even find any problems, and it seed certain that its rigorous justification would greatly enhance the final product’s performance.
He Guilin and Li Rongmao did ask a few questions, but they were mainly about things they didn’t understand, rather than pointing out any issues with the design itself.
The plan was confird.
Next, it was ti to dive right into the experints.
Wang Zhifang’s design involved seven modifications to the process, making the experintal preparations quite complex. He personally, along with Zhang Hongtao and He Guilin’s team, stayed busy for a week, and Li Rongmao and Shen Binghe also spent a lot of ti in the factory helping out. It took a full week to finish preparing.
Then ca the experint.
This ti, it took three days from transporting the basic materials from the 307 Steel Plant to manufacturing the finished product. After finally obtaining the product, it was sent to the tal materials laboratory for testing.
"lting point, 1445 degrees."
"The strength has slightly decreased..."
After several consecutive tests, Zhang Hongtao announced the results weakly.
Li Rongmao, Shen Binghe, and He Guilin also participated in the testing, but they were hesitant to announce the results. The experintal design had increased the lting point by a dozen degrees or so, but the strength had decreased, essentially aning no performance enhancent.
If Shen Binghe’s design hadn’t existed previously, the results might have been acceptable. Such outcos, where performance doesn’t improve, are common in alloy material research and happen often. No matter how perfect the theory is, reality is always much more complex.
However, when compared to Shen Binghe’s design, the difference was clear. Wang Zhifang’s design also employed the controlled cooling technique, but the performance of both products was nearly identical, which ant that adding the controlled cooling step was pointless.
Wang Zhifang felt sowhat disappointed; he had been very hopeful.
Zhao Yi, on the other hand, felt alright because he didn’t care about the results. No design, no matter how perfect, could allow the finished product to exceed their currently developed performance, which was a lting point of 1650 degrees Celsius. Therefore, the specific performance of the product didn’t really matter to him.
He cared about the process.
In Wang Zhifang’s design, there were three modifications identified by the "Law of Cause and Effect" as beneficial to the performance of the product. Moreover, all three were entirely different from Shen Binghe’s design, aning they could be added to Shen Binghe’s design.
"Two of the three modifications involve adding rhenium, which could increase the final content of rhenium to over six percent?"
"Perhaps it could reach seven percent..."
"However, increasing the proportion of rhenium is indeed a good thod of raising the lting point."
The rise in product performance is due to the addition of rhenium. If rhenium can be perfectly integrated into the alloy, it will definitely increase the alloy’s lting point, without causing the strength to decrease.
From a microscopic perspective, the way rhenium atoms interlock determines the highest lting point of the alloy.
Specifically, if rhenium atoms are on the very outer layer of all the elents in the alloy, it can significantly increase the alloy’s lting point. In such cases, the lting point of the alloy could match the lting point of rhenium.
This is how rhenium exerts its influence.
Conversely, if rhenium is encapsulated within the innermost layer of other elents, it almost plays no role at all.
With a higher proportion of rhenium, there’s also a higher probability that it will "resist" high temperatures, thereby increasing the lting point of the finished alloy.
After Wang Zhifang’s experintal design, Zhao Yi imdiately gathered everyone for a eting to swiftly co up with a plan: integrate the three beneficial aspects of Wang Zhifang’s design into the improved plan based on Shen Binghe’s design.
Zhao Yi decided on this plan single-handedly without asking for input or spending much ti discussing it.
The others were a bit perplexed.
From the start of the research to the present, each mber of the research group had felt a strong sense of involvent. They had determined the designs and conducted the experintal work. It seed that Zhao Yi had only been acting as a ’decision maker’, while most ideas ca from them.
Now, Zhao Yi suddenly changed his style and made a decision about the experintal design on his own, which was sowhat baffling.
Zhao Yi offered no further explanation but directed everyone to prepare.
The next experint began swiftly.
This experint was a combination of Shen Binghe and Wang Zhifang’s designs. Although the others were at a loss, they devoted themselves to the experint, eager to see the final result.
When the results of the product testing ca in, no one had doubts any longer.
Li Rongmao shouted in amazent, "It’s over 1700 degrees!"
"1700?"
"Really over 1700?"
Zhang Hongtao also quickly provided results, "Just over 1700, I’m not sure exactly how much, but it seed to lt once it went over 1700."
"1700..."
"Sigh~~~"
Everyone continued to wait for the results in astonishnt.
Soon enough.
He Guilin’s team conducted the testing and ca up with an accurate result: the product’s lting point was 1708 degrees Celsius, and he emphasized seriously, "The error is no more than 2 degrees!"
"No change in strength!"
After announcing the results, his face showed excitent, "It’s over 1700! Does that et our objective? Academician Zhao, can this be considered a result?"
Everyone turned to look at Zhao Yi.
They were all eager to announce the results to the public, believing it would surely astonish everyone.
Zhao Yi revealed a relaxed smile, nodding affirmatively, "Of course!"
"Now, I declare that in the developnt of alloy material K03A, we have achieved a milestone."
"I’ll report this imdiately!"
"Everyone can start preparing their reports!"
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