From February 13 to 20, the bobsleigh race will be held at the Beijing Winter Olympics with a total of four gold medals (men's doubles, women's singles, women's doubles, four-person snowmobiles).
What is a snowmobile race? Liu Junyi, director of the Key Laboratory of Ice and Snow Projects in Jilin Province and professor at the School of Physical Education of Northeast Normal University, said that snowmobiles, also known as "rudders", originated in Switzerland in the late 19th century. The bobsleigh sport is a sport that glides on an ice track on a steerable snowmobile, which is a combination of skill and technology. Although the snowmobile has no engine, its average speed is about 100 kilometers per hour, and the maximum speed can reach 160 kilometers per hour, which is called "Ice F1" and is a veritable "king of speed" of the Winter Olympics.
Liu Junyi introduced that the snowmobile project has a long history, and was adopted as an official competition project in the first Winter Olympics, which is a veritable "elder" in the Winter Olympics. After Beijing successfully bid for the Winter Olympics in 2015, the Chinese snow team was officially established through cross-border cross-sports selection, filling the gap in China's project.
"Snowmobile equipment manufacturing technology is high, the manufacturing process is complex, has been monopolized by foreign countries, in the field of sports equipment is also a 'card neck' technology." Due to the lack of its own domestic snowmobile, which affected the development of the project in the mainland, in the past, snowmobile training needed to rent equipment and venues in other countries. Liu Junyi said.
In 2019, in order to accelerate the urgent need for ice and snow equipment for the Winter Olympics such as snowmobiles, the Ministry of Science and Technology issued the second batch of scientific research project declaration guidelines for the Winter Olympics of Science and Technology, including the research and development and manufacturing of snowmobile equipment.
In March 2021, entrusted by the State General Administration of Sport, China FAW and China Aerospace Science and Technology Group jointly tackled key problems to build domestic snowmobiles.
In the face of almost zero data accumulation, the R&D team first started from user needs, structural engineers, performance engineers and more than 20 Chinese snow team coaches and athletes have conducted 11 special interviews, divided the use scenarios into 3 major scenarios and 10 sub-scenarios, and decomposed 46 functional requirements and 26 performance requirements list.
The snowmobile runs at a top speed of up to 160 kilometers per hour, and in the event of an accident, the consequences are unimaginable. Therefore, how to be fast, stable and safe has become the top priority of research and development. In the field of research and development alone, the division of labor has been refined into 8 major areas such as general layout, modeling, body, chassis, CAE, trial production, testing, and painting.
After careful polishing, the domestic snowmobile finally "broke the shell" out. The R&D team has overcome more than 20 key technologies such as carbon fiber shell, chassis, brake, steering and vehicle design and manufacturing one by one, focusing on solving 5 key technical problems such as welding durability analysis, fastener selection, structural strength optimization, carbon fiber optimization, CAE analysis and working condition setting, etc.; the aerodynamic design, system design, ergonomics and key technical indicators of autonomous snowmobiles have reached the international advanced level, breaking foreign technical barriers in one fell swoop.
On September 10, 2021, the domestic snowmobile jointly tackled by China FAW and China Aerospace Science and Technology Group was delivered to the Winter Games Center of the General Administration of Sport. The domestic snowmobile with low wind resistance, high reliability and easy to control has broken the monopoly of foreign countries in one fell swoop, achieved the breakthrough of "zero" of domestic snowmobiles, and gained the reputation of "big country business card, stunning appearance, fast as lightning, light as a swallow, and solid as a rock".
As the cradle of new Chinese automobiles, FAW, the place where the first domestic truck and the first domestic car were born, produced the first domestic snowmobile.
At present, the domestic snowmobile is in the stage of functional prototypes. R & D personnel are constantly optimizing, and strive to put into use domestic snowmobiles as soon as possible.
Liu Junyi said that with the opportunity of the Beijing Winter Olympics, under the support of China's self-developed snowmobile equipment, combined with the new track "Snow Dragon" of the National Snowmobile Bobsleigh Center, the Chinese snowmobile project will open a new chapter. In the "post-Winter Olympic era", this project is likely to soon integrate into the lives of the masses and become a mass leisure and entertainment project.
(Guangming Daily all-media reporter Ren Shuang)
Source: Guangming Daily all-media reporter Ren Shuang
Photo: Courtesy of FAW
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