Chapter 549 A Masterpiece in the Field of Materials

In the smart era, the problems that Yuanhang needs to face are:

Mo Dao didn't start thinking until humans woke up from this hibernation and entered the intelligent age.

Starting from this life, and even earlier, there was also the life in which the Research Institute existed,

Thinking about this issue has already begun.

Further research directions in energy technology,

It's always relatively certain,

Other more imaginative sources of energy are too illusory.

The only one that is more reliable is the next generation, the third generation of controllable nuclear fusion technology, heavy nuclear fusion.

Relying on the technology accumulation of first-generation deuterium-tritium fusion and second-generation helium-3 fusion,

At least there is some basic understanding of the theory of heavy nuclear fusion.

Unlike some more micro-level energy release methods, the margins are not touchable at all.

However, it is also extremely difficult to achieve heavy nuclear fusion.

From the reaction temperature alone, we can probably get a glimpse of some difficult manifestations.

The critical temperature of deuterium and tritium fusion is probably tens of millions of degrees.

And helium 3 has already risen to hundreds of millions of degrees.

As for the heavy nuclear fusion that we want to achieve at this moment,

Reaction temperatures may require billions of degrees.

It can be said that it has climbed to another level.

And this is still an estimate. How many degrees will be needed in actual experiments cannot yet be determined.

At a reaction temperature of billions of degrees, before deuterium and tritium fusion was realized, many of the problems that had arisen in the realization of controllable nuclear fusion have come around again.

The initial difficulty was how to achieve ignition at such a high temperature.

If you want to lower this temperature requirement, you need to increase the internal pressure of the reactor. How to continue to pressurize?

Under the current performance of related materials, the pressure during the reaction process of a helium 3 reactor is already at the limit. This is ultimately a material issue.

Then,

Even if the ignition can be successful,

How to constrain, maintain, and control reaction temperatures of billions of degrees?

The constraint scheme that relies on room temperature superconducting materials in helium 3 reactors is already the limit of what is currently technically possible.

Now it needs to go up another level.

The most critical thing is that in the end, this third generation of controllable nuclear fusion and heavy nuclear fusion reactors will need to be installed on long-distance spacecraft.

This is also a difficulty.

In addition to energy,

On the issue of speed,

is more complicated.

How to realize the propulsion of a very large spacecraft at 8% of the speed of light and maintain it for decades.

Curvature engine, a true propellant without working fluid?

If you can really achieve one of them,

Many problems are quite simple.

It can even be said that not only the solar system, but also a wider range and a wider star field,

Human civilization has the foundation for rule and development.

However, the curvature engine, or the engine without working fluid, is even more out of reach.

Even now, in the era of intelligence,

There is still no possibility of realization, even, so far,

There are no truly feasible theories.

When thinking about this issue,

Mo Dao thought of He Huai, his undergraduate roommate from his previous life.

That is, people who want to devote themselves to the research of grand unified theory,

In this life, until now, the grand unified theory has still not been realized.

The biggest obstacle blocking the unified theory is the introduction of gravity into the basic forces.

If you want to implement a curvature engine, at the very least, you need to implement a grand unified theory.

Going forward, in order to take advantage of curvature, human civilization must at least be able to feel the warp in space.

For this kind of research, it’s good to have a lot of problems to solve.

The biggest problem is that there are no problems to solve at all, because there is no direction and even asking questions cannot be done.

final,

Mo Dao and the related fields team of Qiusuo Research Institute,

The choice is still the most practical direction.

It is to make a breakthrough in the current electric propulsion technology.

Try to significantly reduce the working fluid required during its advancement,

In fact, its "push to weight ratio" has been greatly improved.

The best option is actually to link it with the energy system, that is, the heavy nuclear fusion reactor, which still has not made much progress at the moment.

Using by-products from the heavy nuclear fusion process as working fluid,

This can actually create a situation where the long-distance spacecraft does not need to carry additional propulsion medium separately.

However, even if it is decided to continue to advance this route through electricity,

But the current situation has basically proven that

Under the existing basic framework of electric propulsion engines, the possibility of realizing the electric propulsion system desired by Mo Dao and Qiusu Research Institute is very low.

In other words, the most basic theoretical structure used in the electric propulsion engine from room temperature -1 to the most advanced room temperature -6 at present must be broken.

Reconstruct a new electric propulsion engine framework that can meet the needs of Mo Dao and Qiusu Research Institute,

This basic framework does not lie in the appearance or even the internal structure.

But it went down to the theoretical level,

It is equivalent to the difference between tokamak and stellarator in the field of controllable nuclear fusion.

Although the overall design plans of deuterium-tritium fusion and helium-3 fusion are completely different, the most basic implementation theory is the same.

As for the electric propulsion engine, in the same situation, the range from room temperature one to room temperature six is ​​theoretically continued.

But now we need to break completely and find a new path.

The difficulties are imaginable.

In addition, this new electric propulsion engine must also need a more powerful new material to support it.

Otherwise, let alone pushing the spacecraft to accelerate to 8% of the speed of light,

it can't even bear the acceleration process.

At the same time, this new structural design also needs a new material to support it,

just like the third material of room temperature superconducting material to the room temperature series electric propulsion engine.

So,

During this period of time, Mo Dao faced the two problems in these two fields at the moment,

most of the time, he was still doing research on material problems.

…

After the intelligent era,

the field of material research in the Qiusuo Research Institute has basically been involved in Suigu.

For Mo Dao, basically, Mo Dao defines a range on the theoretical level,

and then gives it to Suigu to conduct exhaustive experiments.

This is also an advantage of the intelligent era.

Not only data simulation, but also specific experimental operations can be completed by Suigu by operating several intelligent robots or intelligent devices at the same time according to the determined experimental process.

Then after collecting relevant data, it returns to Mo Dao,

then Mo Dao will think about the data again,

and then re-define a range.

Then conduct the next round of material tests.

Even with the assistance of Sui Gu, this part of the experimental work has been much faster. The research on materials has also stuck Mo Dao for more than ten years.

Mo Dao is almost customizing a few materials from the vast ocean of materials for the new electric propulsion system.

...

In addition, Mo Dao has never given up on the theoretical research on the realization of heavy nuclear fusion.

At least, based on his turbulence theory, he needs to give a more perfect model to apply to the constraints of heavy nuclear fusion.

For the electric propulsion engine, he needs to lead the relevant research team of the Qiusuo Institute to complete a new structure that is at least theoretically feasible.

Time, in this process, keeps passing.

70 years, 71 years.

Mo Dao is not very impatient, but he is relatively calm every day, thinking about the same few problems repeatedly, and trying them repeatedly from different angles.

The researchers of the relevant teams in various fields under the leadership of Mo Dao are not too impatient. They always have some blind confidence in Chief Engineer Mo.

In addition, for Mo Dao, the progress is slow. For a group of researchers, such a super project can feel that it is always moving forward, rather than always standing still, which is enough to make people excited.

And for the general public of the Qiusuo Institute, there is no need to rush. They can still feel that there are various technologies that may not transcend the times, but new technologies are born every day in the intelligent era, and life is still changing.

Then,

In this case,

the solution of the two key problems in the long-distance goal has finally gradually had some opportunities.

In 1973, Mo Dao came up with a new room-temperature superconducting material.

In addition to the higher critical temperature, it also has considerable strength and excellent properties in many other aspects.

It is also a masterpiece that Mo Dao has been studying for more than ten years.

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