Chapter 189: Chapter 192: Recognition from Top Materials Engineers

The group of people all gathered around.

Lu Li, holding a pen, was writing diligently in his notebook.

The first thing that caught their eyes was the chemical composition:

C: 0.98-1.10.

MN: 0.25-0.45.

Si: 0.15-0.35.

S…

A dozen different chemical compositions immediately caught the attention of everyone present.

The majority of them, including President Liu, Vice President Hu, and others, certainly didn’t understand these proportions, but there were quite a few material engineers here.

President Liu, puzzled, quickly turned his head to ask, “Engineer Xu, do you think these chemical compositions have the potential to forge new steel?”

Vice President Hu, Wang Jun, Engineer Fu, and the remaining dozens of people all turned their gaze towards Engineer Xu’s face.

Engineer Fu might not know how impressive Engineer Xu was, but Vice President Hu, Wang Jun, and others certainly did. It could be said that among countless material engineers across the country, while not claiming to be a leading figure, Engineer Xu was at least in the first batch — a truly top-tier material engineer!

Naturally, everyone wanted to hear Engineer Xu’s insights.

Engineer Xu didn’t look at the crowd at all; his gaze was fixed on Lu Li’s notebook, blurting out in amazement, “This chemical composition is somewhat similar to that of G50986 bearing steel, but also with many differences. Although I haven’t seen the forging process yet, and don’t know if it’s possible to develop a new kind of steel, just looking at this ratio, if it really can forge new steel, its strength will surely be higher than that of current aerospace steel!”

What?

If steel forged according to this ratio could indeed have higher strength than aerospace steel?

President Liu was taken aback.

Initially, seeing that Lu Li was so young, he didn’t think he understood much about materials.

After all, researching materials takes time.

Generally speaking, material engineers reach their peak in their thirties or forties, starting to develop new steel.

However, after hearing Engineer Xu’s analysis, President Liu finally realized that the strikingly handsome young man before him, in terms of material research, might not have reached a master’s level but was certainly not much inferior to Engineer Xu!

Engineer Xu is one of the top-tier elite among domestic material engineers.

He spent decades researching to reach this level.

As for Lu Li?

He looked only about twenty-five or twenty-six.

He actually reached a level comparable to Engineer Xu?

Hence, President Liu was understandably shocked.

Vice President Hu and a group of engine design engineers also looked incredulous upon hearing Engineer Xu’s words.

Like President Liu, they couldn’t believe that Lu Li, at the age of twenty-five or twenty-six, had such an achievement in materials.

Of course, the most shocked was Engineer Fu.

He had already admired Lu Li’s design of the Escherichia coli engine.

But now, seeing Lu Li designing new steel on the spot, he realized how broad and proficient Lu Li’s knowledge truly was.

Wang Jun’s reaction was somewhat different from the others.

He intently stared at Lu Li’s profile.

If the steel designed by Lu Li could indeed meet the harsh demands of a 150,000 RPM internal combustion engine.

Then, Wang Jun had reason to believe that the Escherichia coli engine truly had the potential to be manufactured.

What would happen once the Escherichia coli engine is built?

It would certainly cause a massive upheaval in the global internal combustion engine industry.

And, it would etch a place in history!

Thinking of this, Wang Jun couldn’t help but swallow his saliva, his whole body trembling slightly.

However, for now, Lu Li had only written down the chemical composition.

The processes, among other things, were not yet written down.

No one knew if it would ultimately work out.

Therefore, Wang Jun suppressed his impulsive excitement, continuing to watch Lu Li.

Lu Li remained calm and composed, sitting at the workbench, writing down the forging process.

1. Initial forging temperature: 1150 degrees Celsius (1120 degrees Celsius); final forging temperature: 850 degrees Celsius (800 degrees Celsius).

2. Remove surface defects before forging, preheat as much as possible before rapidly heating.

3. During warm processing, avoid the 200 to 400-degree Celsius blue brittleness zone. During hot processing, avoid entering the high-temperature brittleness zone (greater than 1250 degrees). Avoid the hot brittleness zone when possible (800 to 900 degrees).

Seeing this forging temperature, Engineer Xu nodded slightly, “This forging temperature is also somewhat similar to that of G50986 bearing steel, but with subtle differences.”

Engineer Fu’s eyes lit up.

President Liu and Vice President Hu exchanged a glance upon hearing this.

Wang Jun and the remaining dozens of people seemed to ponder deeply.

If, as Engineer Xu said, and combined with the chemical ratio Lu Li just wrote down, this kind of steel indeed could be forged, and its strength would be tremendously high.

While everyone was quietly discussing, Lu Li had already moved on to writing about post-forging heat treatment, quenching, and other aspects.

Engineer Xu, observing from the side, repeatedly praised, as if this new steel, although not yet forged, had already taken shape before his eyes.

President Liu, Vice President Hu, and the dozens of others realized, observing Engineer Xu’s expression, that the young man sitting at the workbench, writing about the new steel, truly had solid skills. Otherwise, merely writing chemical compositions and processes wouldn’t have impressed Engineer Xu so much.

At this moment, Lu Li had already finished writing down the chemical composition of the steel and the process.

Logically speaking, he should have stopped by now.

However, everyone saw that the ballpoint pen in Lu Li’s hand still hadn’t stopped; he was drawing patterns on his notebook.

The most unbelievable thing was that many patterns that typically need tools to draw, like circles and straight lines, were drawn by Lu Li without using any tools, all in one go.

Actually, circles and straight lines are manageable.

Many experienced engineers can also draw them with their own penmanship.

But there would undoubtedly be some deviation, which would be corrected later with a computer scan.

However, the pattern he was drawing looked somewhat like a ball bearing design, with many complex patterns that usually require a computer to draw. Yet at this moment, Lu Li was able to draw them effortlessly?

Engineer Xu was dumbfounded watching this!

Wang Jun was also shocked by the scene before him.

Engineer Fu and numerous engineers were all truly stunned on the spot.

OMG!

Are you even human!

You drew patterns that only a computer could create with a ballpoint pen?

A group of engineers almost fainted.

Lu Li simply didn’t care what everyone thought.

After finishing the latest ball bearing design he created, he stood up directly.

He handed the notebook in his hand to Wang Jun, “Find someone to forge the steel I wrote according to the material ratio and each detailed procedure, then use the newly forged steel to complete the ball bearing I drew below. Later, try to see if this bearing can work at 150,000 RPM. It’s getting late, I’m heading back to the hotel to sleep.”

After saying that, Lu Li waved his hand at Engineer Fu and walked straight out.

Lu Li and Engineer Fu indeed left.

Wang Jun, President Liu, Vice President Hu, Engineer Xu, and others from FAW, almost fainted.

No matter if this steel can be forged, whatever the final test result is, it’s still a commercial secret.

How could you hand it over to Wang Jun so casually, like throwing away garbage, and not fear someone stealing your achievements?

Although everyone was speechless at Lu Li’s indifferent attitude, they all knew now was not the time for speechlessness.

The most important thing was to forge this kind of steel as soon as possible.

Then, according to Lu Li’s instructions, manufacture the ball bearing to see if it could operate at 150,000 RPM.

President Liu immediately gave orders: “Quickly send this data to our steel supplier and have them produce samples overnight!”

An old bald officer immediately said, “I will contact them right away.”

President Liu looked at the others, “Everyone, go home and rest first. By morning we should know the results.”

“Understood, President Liu.”

“I’ll head back to sleep now.”

“I can’t sleep even if I go back. I really want to know if it works or not.”

“There’s no use rushing it. From the chemical composition and forging process Mr. Lu provided earlier, it will take at least seven or eight hours to forge the samples. Fortunately, the forging process is not too complex; otherwise, it would take at least three to seven days.”

“Seven or eight hours is quite short for steel forging, but why does it feel so long to me?”

“Maybe because we want to see if the steel works quickly. After all, if it’s truly as Mr. Lu said, this steel could potentially shake the global internal combustion engine industry.”

“Not just the global internal combustion engine industry. If it truly meets the requirements, even the aerospace sector will scramble for the authorization.”

A group of engineers chatted eagerly as they walked out, their tone filled with impatience.

They really wanted to know if the new steel designed by Lu Li could meet such stringent requirements.

After all, if it could, they would be the witnesses to the birth of a new type of steel that would rock the global steel industry!

…

Time ticked away second by second.

Finally, after a night passed, the sky gradually brightened.

As the President of FAW, President Liu truly hadn’t closed his eyes all night.

He was eager to know whether this new steel could be forged, and the specific effects.

Because if this new steel could indeed be like what Lu Li said, whoever seized the opportunity would definitely stand out in the industry.

President Liu was very keen to make FAW shine during his tenure and leave a significant mark on his resume.

Naturally, he was so eager to know that he stayed up all night pondering over the new steel.

He was even endlessly flipping and checking his phone.

To see if there were any calls or messages from the unit.

His wife was somewhat annoyed, scolding him several times.

President Liu pretended not to hear and continued doing as he pleased.

Around 5:30 in the early morning.

Suddenly, the phone on the bedside table rang loudly.

President Liu immediately sat up straight and quickly picked up the phone to answer: “How did it go?”

On the other side of the line, Engineer Xu’s voice came through, slightly excited and thrilled: “The samples have been manufactured, and they will be delivered to us soon!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep