Military Technology

Yes, Lin Jiaming nodded and explained: "We know that the triangular structure is the most stable, so when we printed, we used this triangular structure inside the body materials for reinforcement, thus forming countless honeycomb-like structures. Triangular structure. This triangular honeycomb structure will be able to greatly improve the strength, toughness, compression and tensile resistance of the entire printed body. And because it is a polymer composite material, there is no need to consider metal fatigue.

In addition, because it is printed in one piece, the entire body is very smooth and will not be like the rivet skin used in traditional aircraft manufacturing, which not only adds weight but also causes metal fatigue over time. Deformation occurs due to expansion and contraction of metal, etc.

We can see that the fuselages of many old aircraft are very uneven and pitted, which is caused by deformation of the skin and body structure.

The new body material we printed using polymer composite materials does not have this problem and will always remain outstanding.

And because the fuselage does not have so many rivets on the skin, it can not only reduce the overall weight, but also keep the surface of the fuselage smooth, reduce the resistance of the airflow of the fuselage, thereby improving the overall performance of the aircraft.

In addition, this new printed body is more conducive to the body's stealth. We know that if we want to achieve aircraft stealth, we must reduce the reflection area of ​​radar waves on the aircraft body so that it cannot be detected by the detection radar.

Generally speaking, if you want to reduce the reflection area of ​​radar waves on an aircraft body, you mainly start from two parts. On the one hand, of course, the large-angle body shape design is adopted, which can change the reflection angle of the radar waves shining on the surface of the body, reducing the reflected radar waves received by the radar, which can effectively reduce the reflection area of ​​the body's radar waves.

On the other hand, of course, we need to start with the paint of the aircraft body. Use paint that can absorb radar waves to spray the surface of the entire aircraft, so that the radar waves that hit the surface of the aircraft body are absorbed and the radar waves that are reflected back are reflected. There will be fewer waves, and the reflection area of ​​radar waves can also be reduced.

The two combined can achieve good radar stealth performance of the aircraft.

This kind of printed polymer composite body can be mixed with absorbing materials during printing. In this way, the body itself has certain wave-absorbing properties. Coupled with the sprayed absorbing material, its ability to absorb radar waves is greatly enhanced, effectively reducing the reflection of radar waves and reducing its radar detection indicators.

On the other hand, compared to this kind of body that is manufactured and assembled bit by bit, the quality control of this kind of printed body is better, and it also reduces the tolerances produced in the traditional manufacturing process, making the shape angle of its body more accurate. This can improve the scattering performance of radar waves on the surface of the aircraft and reduce the reflectivity of radar waves.

Finally, of course, production is simple and fast, which can greatly improve production efficiency. In the past, we needed to produce these airframes from scratch according to the drawings and then assemble them together. But now, we can completely omit these steps. We can directly print the entire aircraft body into some large parts, and then splice and assemble them together. . This not only simplifies the manufacturing process, but also shortens the entire manufacturing time and reduces costs. "

After listening to Lin Jiaming's introduction, Wu Hao and Zhang Jun both nodded involuntarily. According to him, this new body structure and manufacturing process are indeed very good and more advanced than traditional processes.

But soon, Wu Hao thought of the problems with this manufacturing process and materials.

"The traditional airframe skin rivet technology can facilitate the subsequent maintenance and upkeep of the aircraft. But if the airframe produced by your manufacturing process is used, then I am afraid that future maintenance will be more difficult and the cost will increase. "

"No, in fact, subsequent maintenance is easier and faster, and the cost will be cheaper." Lin Jiaming shook his head and replied.

"Although it uses new manufacturing industries and new body materials, it does not affect its maintenance and upkeep. In the follow-up maintenance, it is basically the same as the maintenance of traditional aircraft, that is, if something is broken, repair it or replace it. With only such a specialized 3D printer, we can print out the relevant fuselage parts on site and replace them.

We can even disassemble the original damaged fuselage part and put it into the 3D printer. The intelligent system of the 3D printer will evaluate the damaged fuselage part and then carry out targeted printing repairs. The repaired fuselage is as good as new, with almost no traces of repair visible.

Of course, there is no need for every airport to be equipped with such a 3D printer. It can be shipped from the manufacturer. Air express can also be used to arrive in the fastest time.

And another advantage of this is that it never has to worry about the production line shutting down and lack of parts. Traditional aircraft rely on production line manufacturing, so when the production line is closed, the supply of aircraft parts will be problematic.

In order to maintain the supply of parts for these aircraft, we can only keep the production lines running, which is wasteful. But we can’t waste it so much, so many times we have no choice but to shut down the production line. This has also led to problems with the subsequent supply of these aircraft parts, forcing the military forces that use them to tear down the east wall to make up for the west wall. Dismantle some aircraft in poor condition and use their parts for the maintenance of other aircraft.

For example, the famous F22 is said to have fallen into such a situation. "

Haha, after hearing Lin Jiaming's last example, Wu Hao and Zhang Jun couldn't help laughing.

Indeed, there are such rumors. I heard that it cost money to maintain the production line, so it was closed down in order to save military expenses. This resulted in difficulties in the subsequent supply of parts for the F22, and several old F22s had to be dismantled to meet the daily parts supply needs of the F22 fighter force.

Of course, this is just a rumor. Most of the information was disclosed by foreign media. It may also be the rhetoric of the Mi Air Force crying out for poverty. I don’t know whether it is true or not. It shouldn’t be so miserable. Who knows? Woolen cloth?

Lin Jiaming, who had been paying attention to Wu Hao and Zhang Jun's reactions, laughed when he saw the two of them. He finally felt at ease, and then continued to introduce with a smile.

"In fact, the fuselage produced with this material and process has another advantage, that is, it has strong corrosion resistance. We know that most traditional fuselage materials use metal riveting processes, so the corrosion resistance is relatively limited."