Since the start of the speed skating competition of the Beijing Winter Olympics, whenever the Olympic athletes are seen galloping on the ice surface of the "ice ribbon" of the National Speed Skating Hall, Kang Xitang has mixed feelings, and the emotions of excitement, pride and nervousness have haunted his heart.
The "aorta" needs a "big heart"
"When I first received the order, I only knew that it was used to support the construction of the Winter Olympic venues, but I did not expect it to be used for the construction of the 'ice ribbon'." Kang Xitang is the chief engineer of The Stainless Steel Pipe Company of Baowu Taigang Group in China, and when he talks to reporters about the past, the scenes are still vividly remembered for him.
One day in April 2020, the company suddenly received a supply contract from Beijing Urban Construction Company for the manufacture of stainless steel refrigeration pipes for the construction of the ice making system of the speed skating stadium. This is undoubtedly a glorious mission, but it is also a difficult task.
Stainless steel pipes produced by TISCO Group. People's Daily reporter Wang Fan photographed
"The pipelines we made are the main pipes of stainless steel refrigeration pipes in the entire ice rink, with a total length of about 12 kilometers and a weight of 135 tons." Li Peng, minister of the Ministry of Manufacturing and Technology, told reporters that the only newly built ice competition venue "Ice Ribbon" for this Winter Olympics is the world's first winter Olympic speed skating venue using carbon dioxide transcritical direct cold ice making technology. As the "aorta" of the 120-kilometer stainless steel refrigeration pipe of the entire ice rink, the new technology has brought new requirements for products, and the first problem to be overcome is that the standard of the pipeline is higher than before, and it needs to have more corrosion resistance, low temperature resistance, high pressure resistance and other characteristics.
"According to the normal production in the past, it takes three months from the preparation of materials to the factory." Li Peng told reporters that this batch of order pipeline specifications, small batch, divided into 4 batches, 26 specifications, including seamless steel pipes and welded steel pipes. In the steel pipe production process, the constant replacement of specifications will affect the overall production schedule, and the contract requires delivery within two months, and the seamless steel pipe production process is relatively complicated. "Seamless steel pipes require high dimensional accuracy of steel pipes, and if there is a slight deviation, the temperature uniformity of each point cannot be guaranteed." Li Peng said.
"Big heart" energy "aorta"
To achieve that everything is responsible, everything is supervised, everything has rules to follow, and everything is well documented is the standard that the company has always adhered to. In order to ensure the delivery on schedule, the company set up a supply team at the first time, and after coordinating the supply of raw materials with the relevant units, each node arranged special personnel to be responsible for the work and laid off after work.
"We have made a special design for this batch of products, the production level is high, and the pipes have the characteristics of high steel purity and low impurities, which ensures the durability of the material." In the production process, Li Peng and his team constantly optimized the production process, refined the production organization plan, and strictly compared the standards of military and nuclear power pipes for process inspection; and closely followed the progress of the contract, put into use multi-unit to ensure supply, opened a green channel by relying on the front row, and held daily production progress meetings to check the production progress and quality.
The quality inspector conducts a quality inspection of the stainless steel pipe. People's Daily reporter Wang Fan photographed
"According to the technical requirements and inspection standards of the contract, the non-destructive test only carries out eddy current inspection, but in order to strengthen the quality inspection check, the quality inspection department has increased the inspection level and increased the ultrasonic testing process." Guo Lei, a technician in the quality inspection department, is one of the quality inspectors of this batch of pipelines, and after his quality inspection, this batch of pipelines has passed three meticulous inspections: surface inspection, non-destructive testing and water pressure inspection.
Finally, the stainless steel refrigeration pipes used in the "Ice Ribbon" ice making system project of the National Speed Skating Hall embarked on their Journey to the Beijing Winter Olympics in June 2020 with quality and quantity as scheduled.
Aerospace materials power the Winter Olympic snowmobile
The machine is running roaring, and tens of kilometers away from TISCO Stainless Steel Pipe Company, another high-tech material that will help the Beijing Winter Olympics is continuously produced here. One of the highlights of this Winter Olympics is the domestic carbon fiber snowmobile unveiled at the training ground of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, and the carbon fiber that makes up the main structure and shell material of the snowmobile is produced here.
In June 2021, China Baowu Tisteel Group Shanxi Steel Branch Carbon Material Company was invited to participate in the "Low Wind Resistance High Reliability Carbon Fiber SnowMobile" project, mainly undertaking the construction task of "T800 Carbon Fiber 100-ton Stable Production Technology and Production Line" and carrying out the "T800-level Carbon Fiber 100-ton Stable Production Technology".
In the Winter Olympics snowmobile project, the speed of the snowmobile can reach 160 kilometers per hour, which requires the carbon fiber snowmobile to meet a series of requirements such as low wind resistance, high reliability and maneuverability. This kind of high-strength carbon fiber used in the snowmobile, because of its excellent mechanical properties and processing technology, can greatly reduce the weight of the structure, increase the payload, and significantly improve the safety factor and sports performance of athletes.
Lee Teng-wah showed reporters carbon fiber composite sheets. People's Daily reporter Wang Fan photographed
"Previously, the technology and products of foreign high-performance carbon fiber were monopolized by Japan and the United States and other countries, and T800 carbon fiber, as the iconic reinforcement material of the second generation of advanced composite materials, was first achieved by Japan to achieve technological breakthroughs and supply the market." Li Denghua, director of the Technology Research and Development Department, told reporters that after a series of scientific research and research, Shanxi Iron and Steel Successfully developed the TG800 domestic carbon fiber that benchmarked the Japanese Toray T800. Through the TG800 carbon fiber developed by its own production line, it solves a series of technical problems such as the stable production of high-performance carbon fiber, and achieves the two major goals of applicability verification of the main structure of the snowmobile and the stable supply of TG800 carbon fiber.
Now, the carbon fiber materials produced by Shanxi Iron and Steel Have become irreplaceable key materials in many cutting-edge fields, providing a material foundation and technical guarantee for the development of sports equipment to lightweight and high reliability.
"The material has a carbon content of more than 95%, a density of only one-fifth of steel, but a strength of 4 to 5 times that of steel, and this material has also been successfully applied in the continental aerospace field." Li Denghua said that a number of high-level carbon fiber development and production platforms established with Shanxi Steel and Other Enterprises as the main body have already possessed a good carbon fiber engineering development and production capacity, contributing to the successful application of domestic carbon fiber composite materials in key areas.