37: Chapter 37 The Dimensional Reduction Attack of Materials Science
"Xihe Base," core component manufacturing workshop.
The atmosphere was as heavy as the sea before a storm.
The semi-finished "plasma confinement cavity," like a silent metal behemoth, crouched in the constant temperature and humidity clean room.
Its inner wall needed to be plated with a special ceramic-metal composite coating, only a few dozen atoms thick, yet capable of withstanding the scouring of high-temperature plasma at hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius and intense neutron irradiation.
This coating was one of the most critical and difficult technical barriers in the "Jinwu" design.
According to the process provided by "Patriot X," it required atomic deposition with nanometer-level precision in a near-absolute vacuum environment, assisted by an acoustic field at a specific frequency.
The two core materials required— "high-purity anisotropic silicon carbide fibers" and "self-healing amorphous boron alloy target material"—had such high performance requirements that they almost reached the theoretical limits of existing materials science.
"It still doesn't work!" Chief Engineer Wang, who was in charge of the coating process, ripped off his dust cap and threw it hard onto the console, his face full of anxiety and frustration.
"This is the seventh failure! The deposition uniformity still cannot meet the standard, and the local stress concentration problem cannot be solved! We followed the blueprints, used the country's best equipment and the best technicians, but this material... the performance of the material itself determines that we cannot achieve that precision!"
The workshop was silent.
The joy brought by the success of theoretical verification had long been washed away by the cold and cruel reality before them.
No matter how perfect the blueprint was, if it couldn't be realized, it would ultimately be nothing but a mirage.
Old Chen stood in front of the observation window, his brows locked in a frown.
He could understand the engineers' despair—the feeling of clearly seeing the finish line but being blocked by an invisible wall.
Just then, his encrypted communicator rang.
It was Long Zhantian.
"Old Chen, I just received news from the 'Qianlong' Base.
The industrial mass production of the lc-1 composite material and its several derivatives, previously provided by 'Patriot X,' has achieved a breakthrough.
Jiangnan Materials and Beijiang Special Steel have jointly reported that they are now able to stably produce products that fully meet performance standards, with some batches even slightly exceeding them.
More importantly," Long Zhantian's voice carried a hint of imperceptible excitement, "they used a brand new 'atomic-level defect self-repair' theory included in the 'Patriot X' data to successfully optimize the production process.
This allowed one of the derivative models, 'LC-1 G,' to have high-temperature resistance and radiation resistance performance that can perfectly replace the 'self-healing amorphous boron alloy' required for the 'Jinwu' cavity coating!"
"What?!" Old Chen could hardly believe his ears.
"Performance meets the standard? And it can replace a more advanced material?"
"Yes.
Moreover, a new type of 'nanoscale vapor deposition catalyst' derived from the Lunar Regolith Solidifier technology provided early on by 'Patriot X' has also been proven to greatly improve the preparation purity and efficiency of the 'anisotropic silicon carbide fibers.'
Currently, the relevant companies are operating at full capacity, and the first batch of qualified substitute materials is being urgently transported to the 'Xihe Base'!"
A sudden turn of events!
A glimmer of hope!
Old Chen gripped the communicator tightly, trembling slightly with excitement.
He immediately relayed this great news to Chief Engineer Wang in the workshop.
When the first batch of "LC-1 G" material with a strange luster and the silicon carbide fibers of astonishing purity were sent into the workshop, all the engineers gathered around.
The inspection report was quickly released:
[LC-1 G material, room temperature tensile strength: 5 times that of traditional aerospace titanium alloy; strength retention rate at 1600 degrees Celsius: 95%; neutron radiation resistance: surpasses all existing known materials...]
[New silicon carbide fiber, purity: 99.9999%; diameter dispersion: <0.5%; anisotropy performance: perfectly meets the standard...]
Looking at this dreamy inspection report, Chief Engineer Wang's hands were shaking.
"This... this is simply a miracle of materials science!
With these things, let alone the coating, even if I had to rebuild a more demanding cavity, I would have the confidence!"
Changing to new materials and adjusting the optimized process parameters... The eighth coating attempt began.
When the acoustic field started and, under the action of the new catalyst, the nanoscale material particles attached themselves uniformly and densely to the inner wall of the cavity in the powerful confinement field as if they had been given life, forming a flawless, deep-glowing thin film, all parameters on the real-time monitoring screen fell steadily into the green qualified zone!
"Success! Success on the first try! Uniformity 100%! Stress test passed!" The monitor's voice changed due to extreme excitement.
The whole workshop was quiet for a moment, then erupted into deafening cheers!
Many people hugged and wept; this was the ecstasy of conquering an insurmountable obstacle!
Chief Engineer Wang looked at the perfect coating, tears streaming down his face.
He looked at Old Chen, his voice choked with emotion: "Old Chen... we... we did it!
Relying on the 'legacy' left by 'Patriot X,' we made it across!"
Old Chen nodded heavily, his heart surging.
He deeply felt once again that what 'Patriot X' sent over was not just isolated technologies, but a complete industrial system where everything was interconnected and supported each other!
Starting from the most basic materials, it had paved a smooth road to the pinnacle for the Dragon Kingdom!
As the news spread, morale at the 'Xihe Base' soared!
The manufacturing progress of the confinement cavity proceeded by leaps and bounds!
Meanwhile, at CIA headquarters, James Craig looked at the assessment report submitted by the technical analysis department regarding the 'abnormal leap' in product performance of several Chinese material companies, his face turning livid.
The report pointed out that the scale of these performance improvements did not conform to the normal laws of technological development at all; it was more like... they had obtained some kind of 'answer key'!
"Materials again... Every time it's materials that break through first!" Craig roared irritably.
"Where exactly is the source of their technology?!"
He vaguely felt that a 'dimensional reduction strike' based on materials science was silently dismantling the blockade barriers they had carefully constructed.
And yet, he couldn't even touch the shadow of his opponent!
In the rental apartment, Lin Mo watched the progress bar for [Mission Two] in the system finally climb slowly to 100%, along with the newly credited points and that precious [Fusion Material Irradiation Data Pack], and closed his eyes in satisfaction.