I am an industrial worker during the War of Resistance

Chapter 33 The Sacrifice of the Steel Eldest Son

Amidst Chen Changzai's incessant complaints, the nickel plating of the four pillars and hydraulic cylinders was finally completed.

After this process is completed, they are placed here, awaiting final installation.

These pillars, hydraulic cylinders, and hydraulic push rods were the first to be produced because the workpieces were not very large.

It was only after being forged, annealed, turned, and finely ground with a large iron hammer that it was brought over for nickel plating.

The three main beams haven't been processed yet; they're still sitting in the yard while we figure out how to relieve the stress on them.

The so-called stress.

During the casting process, the workpiece experiences different cooling times and shrinkage forces in different parts.

Therefore, the arrangement of crystals inside the workpiece becomes chaotic and disordered, with each crystal trying to find its own way out.

The force generated by their competition is called stress.

It's like being in a crowded square or some other space.

Because there were so many people, it was so crowded that everyone wanted to find their own way out.

This results in a chaotic situation of pulling and squeezing.

When chaos occurs, people walk in different directions, which can lead to stampedes.

In a workpiece, the deformation on the outside is caused by the internal stress.

That's roughly the gist of it.

If a stampede is to be avoided, then these crowded people must maintain order, line up properly, and then exit in an orderly manner through a designated exit.

The process of eliminating stress in cast workpieces involves arranging the crystals inside the metal.

The best way to eliminate stress is actually through aging.

This involves placing the casting in a natural environment or underwater, allowing it to naturally release its internal stress.

But this takes too long.

It can take several months for a short time, and several years for a long time.

The machine tools manufactured by machine tool factories nowadays are machine tool bases that have been sitting for four or five months.

The earliest machine tool bases were all made of marble.

Those marble bases would only be used on precision machine tools in later generations; using them on such a crude machine tool would be a waste.

Therefore, marble bases are now used only when manufacturing precision machine tools.

All other machine tools were replaced with cast iron bases.

But now, Chen Changzai really doesn't have the patience to wait another six months, letting the three main beams of the forging press soak underwater for half a year.

He's so eager to get the forging press up by tomorrow.

However, unlike the four pillars and hydraulic cylinders, these three main beams did not undergo forging and annealing with a large iron hammer.

The internal stress has been largely eliminated.

These three rectangular beams cannot be forged to relieve stress, otherwise the beams will be deformed.

However, the many methods for relieving stress that came with it were not applicable at this time.

For example, the furnace temperature aging method requires a temperature-controlled aging furnace.

Vibration aging method requires a high-frequency oscillator.

But there are always ways to solve a problem, even if it involves some risks.

"Master Zhang, how are you feeling?"

We arrived at a corner of the machine shop's yard.

Chen Changzai saw several foundry masters surrounding Master Zhang, who was hammering the forging press base casting.

So he asked Master Zhang.

"It's very difficult."

To prevent it from deforming later, we don't have that much time to leave it sitting for a long time.

It is indeed difficult.

Master Zhang said with a frown.

How about the insulation method?

Chen Changzai asked.

"The insulation method is one solution."

However, we want to heat such a large workpiece evenly to 500-600 degrees Celsius.

First, we don't have a furnace big enough. Second, temperature control is also a problem.

If the temperature is too high, it might soften its weak points.

The effect is not obvious when the temperature is low.

Uneven temperature can easily cause it to deform.

Oh, it was my oversight.

They didn't think ahead about how to deal with this huge thing.

“Master Zhang, what does this have to do with you? I was just anxious.”

If we wait another six months or a year to develop this forging press, then we won't have these troubles anymore.

But I don't want to wait any longer, so I'm willing to take a risk.

We'll use explosives to blow it up.

"Use explosives?" Master Zhang asked, somewhat surprised.

"Yes, blast it with explosives."

This method, although not specifically designed for such large castings.

However, it still has some effect on stress relief for such large castings.

We just need to eliminate its stress as much as possible so that it can last for six months to a year.

By then, our new castings will be fully usable.

And it was the key to our initial success.

After listening to Chen Changzai's explanation, Master Zhang, an experienced foundry worker, immediately understood the intricacies of the matter.

"Yes, using explosives can indeed temporarily slow down its deformation. As long as it can hold on for a year or two."

The beams that we recast now can be left underwater for more than six months.

That way, we can free our hands.

However, this little guy, who was just coming out and seeing this world for the first time, had to make its sacrifice.

What a pity.

Chen Changzai fully understood Master Zhang's feelings.

Master Zhang and his team put in a lot of effort to bring these three beams into the world.

These three main beams are like their own children to Master Zhang and his colleagues.

This child was originally supposed to live to be a hundred years old.

But in order to support his younger siblings who were born later.

The only option was to have the eldest son, whose skeletal structure hadn't fully developed yet, start working immediately to earn money and support the family.

Master Zhang also knew that doing this would shorten his eldest son's life, and he might leave this world at the age of twenty.

Although it is just a steel object, the life of many things is given by the human heart.

When people believe it has life.

Even a stubborn rock can give birth to a stone monkey.

"Well, let's give it a try then," Master Zhang said with a sigh.

In a valley near a machine shop.

It took a lot of effort to get these three large beams here and place them on the ground.

They were placed on wooden blocks near the center, while the surrounding area was suspended in mid-air.

This is to ensure that when the explosive detonates, its shockwave resonates as much as possible with the casting.

This is the only way to eliminate as much stress as possible.

And these explosives weren't just randomly tied together.

It's just like when Master Zhang was tapping these main beams with a small hammer.

Master Zhang uses the different sounds produced when tapping to determine where the main stress points of these castings are located.

Master Zhang needs to find these points.

Then Chen Changzai personally set the amount of explosives.

He needs to calculate how much explosive to place at which point.

This wasn't just left lying around.

Because these three main beams are not all solid, in order to reduce weight as much as possible.

All three main beams have openwork sections, and these openwork sections also contain relatively weak joints.

If too much explosive is used, it may deform the main beam.

That would be troublesome.

That's why Chen Changzai said it was a risky move.

After all, the success rate isn't 100%.

After confirming that all the explosives had been attached to the stress points identified by Master Zhang.

Everyone was moved to a safe location.

A long rope was attached to a flaming box.

The fuses from the three castings were all tied together, and the ends of the fuses were also pulled into the fuse box.

This can save as much fuse as possible.

After seeing everyone enter the hidden ditch, Chen Changzai suddenly pulled the rope in his hand.

The fuse in front immediately ignited the fuse connected to the box.

As time slowly passed.

A dozen seconds later, explosions rang out in a sequence that was almost impossible to discern.

The order of the explosions was also calculated.

After the explosion stopped.

Chen Changzai ordered everyone to stay in the ditch and not leave.

Until three minutes later.

He then led everyone out of the hidden ditch.

You can come out, but Chen Changzai won't let anyone near the blast zone.

He wanted to check if there were any remaining explosive charges.

At this point, no one agreed.

Master Zhang immediately hugged him and called his apprentice over to check on him.

His apprentice didn't hesitate either, and immediately ran to the casting area.

After a while, his apprentice shouted, "Master, all the explosives have exploded, there's nothing left."

Only then did Master Zhang and his group release Chen Changzai.

At this moment, Chen Changzai could only smile bitterly; he couldn't say anything else.

"The overall structure is not deformed, but the sound at the stress points changes dramatically, and the stress disappears very quickly."

This method works, Director Chen, your method really works.

I feel that if we do it two more times, we can eliminate 80% of the stress, and then it will be usable.

Master Zhang said excitedly, holding the hammer.

"It's working, that's good! Hahaha, looks like these three big guys will last a long time. Hahaha!"

Chen Changzai also said excitedly.

　Thank you to all my friends who have supported me.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)