People’s Daily online 03.12.2024 3:57 p.m.
The Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), capital of Heilongjiang province (northeast China), announced a significant breakthrough on December 1: Professor Yuan Shijian’s team has developed a very high-speed forming technology. low temperature for an integrated tank base, which contributed to the successful maiden flight of the Long March-12 carrier rocket. China sent the rocket into space on the evening of November 30 from the commercial launch site in Hainan (south China).
The rocket’s 4-meter diameter fuel tank base has exceeded the capacity of China’s largest fluid forming machines, posing a significant challenge in its development. Professor Yuan’s team in the School of Materials Science and Engineering solved this problem by inventing ultra-low temperature forming technology based on their discovery of the unique properties of aluminum alloy. This innovation significantly reduces forming payloads compared to traditional methods.
China sent the Long March-12 rocket into space on the evening of November 30 from the commercial launch site in Hainan (south China). (Luo Yunfei/China News Service)
Working with the Shanghai Aviation Equipment Manufacturing Plant, the team overcame challenges related to temperature control and wall thickness in just five months. They produced China’s thin-walled, maximum diameter tank base using relatively low forming payloads, eliminating a critical bottleneck in the development of the Long March-12 rocket and ensuring its rapid launch and succeeded.
China sent the rocket into space on November 30 evening from the commercial launch site in Hainan.
The Long March-12 is currently the country’s largest single-core carrier rocket in terms of payload capacity, with a carrying capacity of more than 10 tons to low Earth orbit.
(Web editor: Sun Hongyu, Yishuang Liu)
