327: Chapter 327 A New Direction for the WS-15?

"Zhao Yang, I didn't come today for the coating matter. The acceptance for the coating has all passed, and the higher-ups are very satisfied."

General Li sat down across from Zhao Yang and said with a smile while looking at him.

"I'm here for something else."

Zhao Yang didn't speak; he looked at General Li and waited for him to continue.

"WS-15. You should have heard of this name."

Of course Zhao Yang had heard of it. The WS-15, a new generation of domestically produced high-thrust turbofan engines, was the matching power core for the j-20. This project had been underway for several years since its inception.

"Currently, the prototype verification engine has passed, and quite a bit of test run data has been accumulated."

General Li paused at this point, a trace of helplessness flashing in his eyes as he looked at Zhao Yang.

"But to be honest, the actual results aren't that good. The thrust and thrust-to-weight ratio have met the standards, but the surge margin in the high-altitude, high-speed range has been consistently narrow, the ignition stability of the afterburner is also less than ideal, and the fuel efficiency is more than one percentage point worse than the design baseline.

Individually, these problems aren't fatal, but when piled together, the overall performance has a significant gap compared to the F119. The Chief Designer's side believes it might be a technical route issue; currently, it uses the classic configuration of a conventional Axial-flow Compressor plus an Annular Combustion Chamber, and the potential of this configuration has been almost fully tapped out under current technical conditions."

After listening, Zhao Yang fell silent for a moment, hesitated slightly, and said helplessly to General Li.

"General Li, I am currently researching rocket engines. Although turbofan engines and rocket engines are both aero-engines, their core principles and engineering logic are too far apart. I've basically never touched the intake and compressor systems of a turbofan engine."

General Li gave an embarrassed smile.

"I know. I didn't expect you to solve all the problems as soon as you arrived. I'm just here to ask—ask if you're interested in joining the WS-15 research group. Even if it's just to help with some data analysis and system modeling. After that coating matter, several Chief Designers at the top highly recognize your judgment on technical difficulties."

WS-15. Zhao Yang weighed the name over and over in his mind. He was, of course, interested in the WS-15.

Aero-engines have always been called the 'jewel in the industrial crown'; any breakthrough in this field has immeasurable value for the entire country's industrial system.

But this thing is different from a rocket engine. The WS-15 is the heart of a fighter jet and belongs to the top-secret category. Once he officially joins the research group, his scope of movement and information exchange will be strictly restricted. He had already seen the terms of those non-disclosure agreements once in the coating project, and for the WS-15, they would only be stricter.

More importantly, this matter isn't linked to any system tasks. No task rewards, no experience points, no positive feedback from the system level. With a pile of unfinished tasks currently on his hands, investing time into a top-secret project with no system returns doesn't align with the principle of optimal efficiency.

"General Li."

Zhao Yang said calmly, looking at General Li.

"I won't participate in the WS-15 for now. On the aero-engine side, I still have the test run verification for the Four-Thrust-Chamber Configuration to finish, and I have many tasks on hand. I really can't fit it into my schedule."

General Li didn't speak immediately after hearing this. He leaned back in his chair, tapped his fingers on his knee a few times, and then sighed.

"I guessed as much. Before coming, I spoke with Chief Engineer Sun on the phone, and he said the number of projects you're advancing simultaneously can't be counted on one hand. Fine, I won't force you. But remember, the door to the WS-15 research group is always open to you. Whenever you want to come, just tell me."

Zhao Yang nodded. General Li stood up, shook hands with him, and then turned and walked out.

After seeing General Li off, Zhao Yang returned to the conference room. Zhou Hao and several others from the group were already waiting for him. Following the experimental plan Zhao Yang had previously arranged, they had finished running all the scaled model test data for the Four-Thrust-Chamber Configuration.

"Teacher Zhao, all the test data is in this log."

Zhou Hao placed a thick stack of printed experimental logs in front of Zhao Yang.

"The spectrum analysis of thrust chamber pulsation coupling, the transient response of the turbopump axial force balance, and the uniformity testing of the flow distributor under different operating conditions are all finished. The data looks much better than expected."

Zhao Yang took the log and flipped through it page by page. The experimental log was recorded in great detail, with conditions, data, and abnormalities marked for every test.

He read very carefully, sometimes stopping on a page to stare at a certain number for a few seconds before continuing to flip through.

After flipping through the last page, Zhao Yang began his calculations. He imported the experimental data into the computer, opened the analysis script he had written earlier, and started verifying item by item.

The spectrum peaks of the thrust chamber pulsation coupling were evenly dispersed among the four thrust chambers; those abnormal peaks that had repeatedly appeared in the dual-engine parallel scheme were hardly detected in this configuration.

The turbopump's axial force balance remained within the safety margin under all test conditions, and the uniformity deviation of the flow distributor under rated conditions was less than 0.5%. All key indicators met the standards, and several were even better than the optimal values predicted during the initial theoretical simulation.

Zhao Yang organized the calculation results into a short report and then took it to Chief Engineer Sun. Chief Engineer Sun was in his office reading a failure analysis report for a Liquid Hydrogen Pump when he looked up at the sound of knocking. Zhao Yang placed the report on his desk.

"The scaled model verification results for the Four-Thrust-Chamber Configuration are out, and the data is very good. For the next step, I want to use the supercomputer for full-scale simulation modeling."

Zhao Yang said, looking seriously at Chief Engineer Sun.

Hearing Zhao Yang's words, Chief Engineer Sun picked up the report and flipped through it. He read quickly, but he clearly slowed down when he reached the pages with the comparison tables. After finishing, he closed the report and took off his reading glasses, placing them on the desk.

After a moment of silence, Chief Engineer Sun spoke to Zhao Yang.

"There happen to be some free slots at the Supercomputing Center recently; I'll approve it for you."

"Great! Thanks, Chief Engineer Sun!"

Hearing Chief Engineer Sun agree, a smile appeared on Zhao Yang's face.

Zhao Yang brought the model data to the Supercomputing Center. The technician on duty helped him power up the machine, allocated enough computing nodes, and then retreated to the nearby console. Zhao Yang uploaded the analysis script to the supercomputing cluster, called up the full-scale 3D flow field model of the Four-Thrust-Chamber Configuration, and began running the simulation.

The grid partition maps on the screen unfolded layer by layer; the intake's shock wave system, the thrust chamber's combustion flow field, and the turbopump's rotor dynamics model were all integrated into the same simulation framework. The sound of the supercomputer's fans was prominent, the humming much louder than before.

Zhao Yang stood before the main console, his eyes fixed on the constantly refreshing stream of data on the screen.