The day of the group discussion arrived. The small conference room was packed. Group leader Chen Siyuan sat at the head of the table, with Zhou Wei, Sun Mei, and several other group members seated on either side. Fu Jingchen, from the theory group, also attended. The atmosphere was somewhat subdued. Several proposals were discussed, but none were deemed too idealistic or too time-consuming to implement, and no consensus was reached.
The topic has circled back to that long-standing problem—deformation during the processing of thin-walled parts. The data reported by several collaborating factories is alarming; the scrap rate remains stubbornly high, severely hindering the development of new textile machinery.
“We still need to look for solutions in terms of materials,” a bespectacled team member pushed up his glasses, “to find alloys with better thermal stability…”
"The heat treatment process also needs to be optimized; the current annealing process may not completely eliminate stress," another person added.
Zhou Wei frowned: "Improving the precision level of machine tools is also a direction, but the investment is too large and it is difficult to popularize in the short term."
Everyone chimed in, each offering their own perspective, but it all seemed to be circling around the issue without getting to the heart of the matter. Team Leader Chen listened, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the table, his expression grim.
Liu Li sat near the door, her palms slightly sweaty. Open in front of her was a notebook filled with notes, containing drafts of their repeatedly revised ideas. She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. The pent-up energy she'd been holding in for the past few days was now rising in her throat.
During a brief pause in the discussion, she raised her hand and spoke in a soft but clear voice: "Team Leader Chen, comrades, I... have a somewhat immature idea that I would like to share with you."
In an instant, all eyes were focused on her, the usually quiet newcomer. A hint of surprise flashed in Zhou Wei's eyes, and Sun Mei also put down her pen and looked at her. Fu Jingchen, sitting across the table, gave her an encouraging look.
Team Leader Chen raised his hand: "Comrade Liu Li, you go ahead."
Liu Li composed herself, pushed her sketchbook to the center of the table, and began to speak. She didn't immediately throw out the concept of "prestressed" material, but instead started by talking about the practical difficulties she faced in processing thin-walled sleeves at the Hongxing Factory. She described how those things were "bullying the weak and fearing the strong," and how they would "cowardly" at the slightest touch of a knife. She also talked about how Master Wang used copper sheets and aging techniques, and how the results were unstable.
She described the pain points in practice in the simplest language, which made some of her colleagues from research institutes, who were used to starting from theory, frown slightly, as if they thought it was a bit "rustic".
But Liu Li abruptly changed the subject, bringing up the ideas in those Russian documents. "I was thinking, could we try a different approach? Instead of directly confronting it (the transformation), could we... go along with it, or even utilize it?"
She picked up a pen and began sketching: "Could we design a special clamping method that applies a force to the workpiece before finishing, so that it undergoes a slight deformation in the clamping state that is exactly opposite to the direction of the machining deformation we are worried about?"
She noticed that someone's brows were furrowed even more.
She continued her explanation, speaking slowly but clearly: "For example, if we're worried that the workpiece will bulge outwards when machining the outer diameter, we'll pre-calculate it to be slightly 'flattened' inwards during clamping. This amount of 'flattening' is calculated in advance. Then, we machine it in this pre-deformed state. After machining, when we release the clamp, the workpiece will spring back on its own. This springing back perfectly cancels out the bulging deformation that occurred during machining!"
She tried to use a simple analogy: "It's like kneading dough. If you put force on one side, it will definitely bulge on the other side. If we gently push on the other side beforehand, it won't bulge as easily, or it won't bulge as much."
This bold, somewhat unconventional idea was like a stone thrown into calm water.
A brief silence fell over the meeting room.
Immediately, doubts arose.
"Pre-deform it? That...that sounds too risky! If it's not controlled properly, the workpiece will be scrapped!"
"How can the applied force be precisely controlled? This requires extremely complex mechanical calculations and precision mechanisms!"
"Yes, and the deformation patterns are different for different materials and structures, so how can we guarantee the universality of this method?"
"Russian materials? Their technical approach might not be suitable for our actual situation..."
Doubts arose one after another, mostly focusing on the feasibility of the theory and the difficulty of implementation. Even Zhou Wei, who had previously been relatively polite to Liu Li, couldn't help but speak up: "Comrade Liu Li, your idea is very... novel. But isn't it a bit far-fetched? We haven't even figured out a stable processing technology yet, and going straight to such a complex active control system, isn't that taking too big a step?"
As Liu Li listened to these doubts, she gradually calmed down. She had expected this.
She didn't argue, but waited until everyone's voices subsided before looking at Team Leader Chen, her tone calm but firm: "Team Leader Chen, I know this idea is not perfect and there are risks involved. But I believe it directly addresses the core contradiction of 'stress leading to deformation.' Rather than passively chasing after deformation to remedy it, it's better to actively guide and utilize it. I'm willing to conduct a more in-depth analysis and necessary principle verification of this approach."
She turned her gaze to the colleagues who had raised the most vehement questions earlier: "The issues of control precision and versatility raised by the teachers are precisely what we need to focus on researching and resolving next. It is indeed difficult, but perhaps it's worth a try?"
The meeting room fell silent again, and everyone looked at Chen Siyuan, who was sitting at the head of the table.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com