Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

"President Qin, you've finally arrived. Take a look at our engine." Old Zhu said with a smile, "Some of the technology we developed for tank engines, when applied to commercial vehicles, surprisingly has such good results."

Generally speaking, military technology is the highest, after all, military technology doesn't consider cost, and all kinds of high-precision technologies are piled on.

The same is true for tank diesel engines. Now, by applying tank diesel engine technology to civilian engines, at the cost of sacrificing some lifespan, the engine's performance has seen rapid development.

"Yes, our technical staff is very capable." Qin Yang said, "With this engine, our wheeled infantry fighting vehicle will have reliable power! How did you manage to do it?"

"President Qin, the main thing is that the turbocharger and high-pressure oil pump are very advanced," Zhao Zhiqiang said excitedly.

"To increase strength, we used cast steel pistons and strengthened the connecting rod system, allowing the engine to withstand the impact. At the same time, we added a layer of plasma-sprayed anti-wear coating to the inner wall of the cylinder…"

Nowadays, pistons are mostly made of aluminum alloy. This type of piston has a small mass, and the inertia of reciprocating motion is small. However, if you want to squeeze out power, cast steel pistons are more reliable, after all, they can withstand higher temperatures and greater pressure.

"Will cast steel pistons increase weight?" Sure enough, someone asked.

"Yes, in the initial experiments, the weight increased a lot. Later, we put the cast steel blanks on the die forging press for processing, and then achieved products with the same weight as aluminum alloy pistons, and the lifespan was also greatly improved."

Die forging press! The 45,000-ton die forging press at Factory 960! This is simply using a sledgehammer to crack a nut! Putting this kind of blank on it and pressing it, the strength immediately goes up!

"Not only pistons, but also crankshafts and connecting rod blanks, we have processed them on the die forging press. This engine has undergone five hundred hours of continuous testing in our factory without any problems," Zhao Zhiqiang continued.

This is the advantage of a large-tonnage die forging press. Aircraft landing gear and beams can be pressed, and small piston connecting rod crankshaft blanks can also be pressed. As long as it's pressed, the performance can be improved by a grade!

Anyway, for us, it's just a matter of spending more electricity. Just turn it on for five more minutes before getting off work, and it's done! Foreigners can only envy us!

Ordinary car factories are already very impressive if they have a 10,000-ton press. Ordinary engine factories are good if they have a 5,000-ton press. It is impossible to use a 45,000-ton die forging press to forge workpieces.

Qin Yang nodded with satisfaction: "Good, as long as it works. In the future, the cast blanks for this type of diesel engine that is produced can be sent over and handed over to us for processing!"

"President Qin, do you think this engine can be used to improve our 59 tanks?" Someone next to him asked.

Small size, high power, long life, it seems to be the most suitable choice.

Qin Yang shook his head: "No, if it's used as a tank diesel engine, the power is still too small."

"The 59 tank originally had a 500-horsepower diesel engine. Although this diesel engine is 490 horsepower, it's almost the same. If you don't care about the lifespan, increasing the speed a little will definitely meet the power requirements." The person who asked the question didn't quite understand.

They are both 500 horsepower, why doesn't this one work?

"If we want to improve the 59 tank, then we can't compare it with the old tanks, we have to compare it with modern advanced levels." Qin Yang said, "Our 59 tank needs to be replaced with a 105mm gun to solve the firepower problem. At the same time, our 59 tank also needs to be equipped with additional armor to solve the protection problem. In this way, the tank's weight will increase significantly, and a 500-horsepower diesel engine is not enough. Six or seven hundred horsepower is the most suitable."

Qin Yang's vision is very long-term, and he sees problems very deeply. It's meaningless to only modify the power. To modify it, it must be a major modification, and if it's a major modification, all aspects must be taken into consideration.

"Six or seven hundred horsepower engines are very difficult." Zhao Zhiqiang frowned. Do trucks need such a large horsepower? Definitely not. They don't need to develop it specifically for tanks.

Qin Yang smiled. If he were to talk to people now about the truck engines of later generations, everyone would definitely not believe it.

The old Jiefang trucks used to have less than 100 horsepower. After introducing Steyr, the power of truck engines was increased to more than 200 horsepower. In the 1990s, 290 horsepower truck engines were still mainstream. It was already very good to run at an economical speed of 60-70 kilometers per hour on the highway.

However, after entering the new century, the horsepower of trucks became larger and larger, 350, 380, 420, and soon it increased to 400 horsepower. At this time, trucks mainly ran on highways and needed to have plenty of power.

Generally speaking, 400 horsepower was already a lot, but more than ten years after the new century, the power of truck engines quietly increased to more than 500 horsepower, and various manufacturers had more than 500 horsepower engines available.

Shaanxi Auto is the best, the strongest has reached 660 horsepower, using Weichai's 15-liter engine, and there is also a 580 horsepower engine, Weichai 13-liter engine. That's right, a 13-liter engine can already have this kind of strong power output, and it also has a super long service life.

Foton used Cummins' 13-liter engine, 560 horsepower, and FAW used its own 13-liter engine, also 560 horsepower. The mainstream heavy trucks in China have all entered this super power field.

As for the international market, the strongest European heavy trucks have exceeded 700 horsepower. For example, the Volvo FH16 already has a 750 horsepower diesel engine, and Scania's V8 engine has even increased the power to 770 horsepower.

Think about how much effort Dongfang put in to develop the 730 horsepower engine for the 80 tank, and then look at later generations, and it makes people sigh at how rapid the progress of technology is.

Of course, it is not realistic to talk about this kind of horsepower engine now. The power of this 12-liter engine in front of me has been increased to 490 horsepower, which is already against the sky.

"If you want to add two cylinders, it is easy to achieve. However, if you want to add two cylinders, you have to use a V-shaped structure. When Steyr engines were introduced, it would have been great if the V8 engine had also been introduced!"

China introduced the WD615, which is a six-cylinder engine, while Steyr's strongest heavy truck engine also has a V8 structure WD815. The cylinder diameter of this engine is still 126 mm, and the stroke is reduced to 120 mm. It can be seen that this engine belongs to the large-cylinder diameter short-stroke engine. This design method is prepared for high speeds, and the torque is also very strong. It can output 1300 Nm of torque at 1400 rpm, and the maximum power can also reach 320 horsepower.

This engine was developed in the mid-1970s. At that time, it could be said to be a powerful engine, but it was outdated in the 1980s. Later, Steyr no longer developed its own engines and directly used MAN heavy truck powertrains.

And for Dongfang, this engine is also very advanced.