Chapter 157: The Mindset of the Poor

After thinking through the intricacies of the situation, Yang Hui felt a profound sense of melancholy. It was hard to tell whether the Hongqi Factory was being overly petty or if the deep-seated blood feud between the two sides had simply blinded them both.

All of this had stemmed from the cancellation of the engine project. If the WS-9 had continued, there would have been no need for cooperation between Hongqi and Liming; if the WS-6 had succeeded, the WS-14 would never have been launched. It was truly a cruel twist of fate.

Yang Hui could not comment on the actions of the Hongqi Factory, but now that they had provided their technology, they were honored guests of the base and legitimate partners.

"If this is the case, our project has even more promise. Our new aircraft is waiting for its engine to be ready; it’s certainly a matter of urgency."

Having seen the most critical high-temperature turbine blades, Yang Hui felt refreshed. As he followed Director Bai toward the office, he spotted "Big Brother Bo"—who had been so desperate for research funding when Yang Hui first arrived that he had considered selling tea eggs—now busy with a flourishing annular combustion chamber project. Seeing him so occupied, Yang Hui felt it would be intrusive to disturb him.

Finally, they reached the fan research group. The turbine fan was another critical component of the engine, requiring the design of a highly efficient compressor; the stronger the compression efficiency of the fan, the higher the overall engine efficiency.

Standing outside, Yang Hui did not want to interrupt the research, so Director Bai provided a brief introduction.

"We designed the second and third stages of the engine fan ourselves. The first stage is more difficult, so we are working on it together with the Hongqi Factory. Since we are dealing with a medium-thrust engine with strict dimensional constraints, the first-stage fan needs high compression efficiency, so we have chosen to optimize the fan blade profile to improve performance."

Optimizing the blade profile was a good way to increase efficiency without increasing size. However, without a revolutionary blade design, no startling breakthrough was possible. Fortunately, this was just a small bypass turbofan, and as long as the fan size wasn't increased too significantly, optimizing the profile would suffice.

The afterburner, the new engine casing, and the control system did not require much attention; as long as the funding was there, the institute's current technical capabilities were sufficient to handle them.

Walking to the new engine research data room, Yang Hui finally grasped the progress of each project. Just then, Director Bai spoke to him mysteriously.

"Yang Hui, come with me. I want to show you something. It's a project that is giving me a massive headache right now, and I still haven't found a way to resolve it."

Director Bai's mysterious air successfully piqued Yang Hui's curiosity. If something could give the director a headache, it had to be significant. He decided it was worth a look.

Opening the door, they walked to the back of the data room, where several thick stacks of books were piled up. They appeared to be English originals, which was intriguing. Why were these here instead of in the library?

Yang Hui walked over, picked up a thick volume, and examined it carefully. Once he understood what it was, he realized this was a hot potato.

"Director, did this come from the Hongqi Factory? The British engine development technical standards are not exactly easy to play with. What's going on here?"

Knowing Yang Hui understood the significance, Director Bai didn't mince words. "Exactly. These are the engine development specifications from Rolls-Royce. Chief Engineer Yu handed them to me, insisting that for our new engine, we shouldn't rely entirely on old domestic standards. Our technical standards were inherited from the Soviet Union and are no longer suited to new requirements."

Hearing this, Yang Hui deeply agreed. Old technical standards could not guide the development of a new generation of engines; each generation of development standards corresponds to a specific philosophy.

The old domestic standards were outdated, and the specifications provided by Rolls-Royce were not exactly cutting-edge either, as the Spey engine was developed in the 1960s, a time when aerospace design philosophies were somewhat behind current mainstream thinking.

In the 1960s, after experiencing several major accidents in the 1950s, people had identified not only aerodynamic causes but also many structural design flaws in aircraft.

Before the 1960s, aircraft design was based on the old "static strength" philosophy, which, in simple terms, meant calculating and designing structures based on material properties, assuming that as long as the structure could support its own weight and maximum load, it was sufficient.

However, this did not account for the operating environment. During flight, various external forces applied repeatedly to the aircraft caused deformations, leading to fatigue. For example, when an aircraft is on the ground, the wings sag under the weight of the aircraft and its under-wing payloads. Once airborne, lift causes the wings to bend upward. Through these repeated cycles, coupled with special high-G maneuvers, the material suffers fatigue damage. Once this damage reaches a certain point, the structure fails, leading to inevitable crashes.

This was "fatigue damage," only recognized in the 1960s. As it was understood, various mechanical industries benefited, and the concept was introduced into engine manufacturing.

In summary, this was the "Safe-Life" design philosophy—the very philosophy used for the Spey engine. It was expressed through design specifications that guided engine design and testing.

The Safe-Life philosophy continued to develop from the 1960s onward and remained in use. However, the Safe-Life philosophy assumes that a structure should have no defects; if a defect is found, the part is scrapped.

This philosophy permeated the design of the Spey, and the Soviet standards imported by the Republic were the same: if a crack or defect appeared, the part was immediately discarded.

Products designed under the Safe-Life philosophy were reliable but incredibly wasteful. Often, a part with a crack still had a long usable life remaining. To scrap it immediately was a waste.

What could be done? Thus, a new design philosophy emerged: Damage Tolerance and Durability (Economic Life).

This approach was incredibly efficient. Products designed this way were not scrapped the moment a crack appeared; they remained in service.

Cracks were no longer terrifying. Engines designed under the Damage Tolerance philosophy used data from design tests to determine exactly when a part would fail after damage occurred. They would continue to be used, monitored through frequent inspections, and overhauled at the factory according to a schedule.

Products designed this way had longer service lives, squeezing every bit of utility out of the components. This was why the service life determined by this design philosophy was known as "economic life."

After all this, it finally hit him. Such an economical design philosophy was exactly what a poor country needed. An aircraft designed this way would be the favorite of the Republic's military, which was currently in its leanest years, desperate to stretch every penny.

Being able to save funds for the military while ensuring product quality was a godsend.

The design philosophy was excellent, but in 1983, Damage Tolerance was still in the exploratory stage. No country had truly introduced it into the design of new aircraft yet, and naturally, design specifications still relied on the old Safe-Life philosophy. In Yang Hui’s view, this was outdated and ill-suited to the Republic's situation.

In his previous life, the U.S. military had introduced this philosophy in the mid-to-late 1980s, and the Republic had followed suit in the early 1990s. 1983 was the eve of the dawn; being the first to introduce this concept would undoubtedly be the best choice. After all, the early bird catches the worm.