Gnaw down the hard bone of scientific research! From a big tungsten resource country to a powerful tungsten manufacturing country, they have been persisting for decades
There were 18 technicians who did not rest that summer in 1991. They translated the basic documents of foreign equipment, such as reduction furnace and airflow disperser, in the field of tungsten and gold manufacturing word by word.
Break the "tungsten" curse
Tungsten is a rare metal, three times as dense as iron and close to gold. The hardness of tungsten carbide alloy made by adding cobalt into tungsten is comparable to that of diamond. Because of this characteristic, it is also an important raw material for aerospace equipment.
Deep financial reporters learned that China controls 50% of the world's tungsten resources, but it is only a big resource country, not a powerful tungsten manufacturing country. Many years ago, only low-end tungsten concentrate could be exported for foreign exchange, and even tungsten powder would not be processed. At that time, the export of a ton of tungsten concentrate was only 70000 yuan, but the import of a ton of pure tungsten powder could reach up to 800000 yuan. The high-end technology was completely controlled by foreign enterprises.
In 2008, 2011 and 2014, their high-performance tungsten powder carbonization, tungsten key technology and ion exchange method won the first and second prizes of national science and technology progress award. China's Curse of only exporting primary raw materials of tungsten ore was broken. This enterprise officially took the first key to export advanced tungsten carbide materials Step.
With high-quality tungsten powder, they are not satisfied, they have to make high-quality tungsten gold cutting tools. Cemented carbide is called the "tooth" of industry. This kind of tool seems ordinary, but it is a necessary tool for the manufacture of spacecraft and large aircraft. Its successful research and development marks the break of 30-year foreign technology monopoly.
Deep financial reporters see that now, engineers are challenging to make miniature cutters with a diameter of only 0.03mm, which is the smallest spiral edge end mill in the world. The utility model relates to a special tool used for the manufacture of Aerospace Military instruments. In the first conference room of the grinding plant, senior engineer Li Lingxiang and his team spent nearly a year's sleepless night in this room to overcome the difficulty of 0.03mm spiral edge end mill.
Combined with the continuous exploration of grinding process parameters for hundreds of times, this 0.03mm high-precision two edge spiral end mill has been tested under an electron microscope with a magnification of 3000 times, and all indicators have reached the standard. After the realization of world-class precision control of grinding process, it brings about the improvement of work efficiency.
With the development of raw materials and grinding technology, engineers set their next target on coating technology. Coating is an effective means to ensure that modern cutting tools become high-tech products. Ultra thin and ultra smooth high hardness coating can enhance the cutting performance and service life of alloy cutting tools, so as to enter the high-end alloy cutting tool market.
All along, the core technology of coating process has been mastered and blocked by foreign companies. But Chinese engineers are still trying our own research and development, firmly gnawing this hard bone of scientific research.
After coating, tungsten cutting tools are continuously used in the manufacture of high-end Aerospace instruments such as large aircraft and fighter planes in China. After this deep processing, it is equivalent to raising the value of the most basic tungsten ore to 6 million tons. Their cutting tools are exported to more than 30 countries and regions, including the United States and Europe. In the changing external environment, technological advantages give enterprises a wider range of choices.
