Chapter 107: Memory metal
Translated by me, edited by drpetro.
Right now, with ~50K glory points on hand, Ye Qing’s hands were itching to get some action.
Preferably it was an electronic product.
Harbouring some unknown anxiety and anticipation, Ye Qing pressed the big draw button on the screen.
10,000 was immediately deducted from the glory total, and the wheel began to spin.
“Electronics! Electronics!” Ye Qing prayed, but as the wheel slowly slowed down, he became even more nervous.
When the wheel finally came to a stop, the red needle pointed to the slot with a pair of glasses in it.
“Congratulations, you have won a pair of Industrial data glasses.”
“Industrial data glasses?” Hearing the name for the first time, Ye Qing couldn’t deduce much from such an ordinary name.
Pressing use, a pair of elegant, but not overbearing, sunglasses appeared in Ye Qing’s hands.
However, when Ye Qing put them on for the first time, a miraculous thing happened. The two dark pieces of glass, just like a chameleon, began to change into a multitude of different colors.
Transparent, bright green, tea green, dark green……
Glasses that change colors under different intensities of UV light do exist, but when Ye Qing put this pair of glasses on, the entire world changed.
When Ye Qing looked at the metal smelting center with this pair of glasses on, all kinds of data began to fly up onto the lenses.
The metal smelting center seemed to have been datafied. It’s every angle and every line’s length were all clearly displayed on the lenses for Ye Qing to view.
Then, taking a look at the peons at the side, they were also immediately datafied, including how fast they could swing their arms, their distance from him, and so on.
The data could be turned off so that it didn’t show up, and the transparency and the color of the lenses could also be either automatically or manually changed. As long as this pair of glasses was worn, then there was no need to worry about any oncoming blazing light while driving at night, because the lense would filter out all of the unnecessary light.
A surprisingly powerful ability, and a very useful ability. But Ye Qing wasn’t near sighted, and wearing a pair of glasses all day long felt super awkward, so he recalled the glasses back into the Monster Factory awaiting further used in the future.
Continuing to draw, he tried two more times.
Ye Qing won another camera, and a small handheld flashlight.
The 3D camera looked just like another everyday camera, but any pictures taken by it were all 3Dized and coordinated, such that any pictures taken by it could be recreated with either a CNC mill or a 3D printer.
Here’s a simple example: currently there exists technology to scan and create an holographic image of a human’s body, which could be recreated when given to a 3D printer. However its precision was seriously lacking and its processing power for detailed parts was beyond abysmal.
In comparison, the 3D camera not only kept with industrial standards, it could also perfectly return any kind of detail back to how it was at the time with zero hiccups.
The holographic scanner must be built within a film studio and needed a ton of sensors and cameras. On the other hand, the 3D camera was as simple as pulling it out and taking a selfie.
The flashlight was called the metal perspective flashlight. Any metal in front of it would become transparent like glass, allowing Ye Qing to see everything that was going on inside.
Three different items, all related to the industry, yet each one of them was more outrageous than the other.
If their abilities were to be utilized properly, then they could allow Ye Qing to save a butt load of material and labour costs.
Packing away these things, Ye Qing then immediately commanded the monsters to smelt the first ever batch of nickel-titanium memory alloy.
The metals needed for the smelting had already been prepared by Ye Qing. Following his order, the master artisan that was watching over the controls, familiarly selected the forge mold necessary for the nickel-titanium memory alloy and placed it in.
The lid to the 50 ton electric furnace automatically opened, then came the giant roars from the mechanisms as the material delivery ramp was rotated into place above the mouth of the furnace.
When the delivery ramp was secured in place above the furnace, two mechanical arms hurriedly shoveled in the necessary raw steel, nickel, titanium, and other metals.
Closing the lid, the furnace began to slowly spin, then the piece of giant circuitry that was hidden away behind a giant slab of steel armor began to spit out terrifying arcs of electricity.
Ye Qing found that all his hairs were standing on end, as if the surrounding air was completely filled with static. The feeling was just like back during school, when he went to visit the science center, put his hand on the glass ball of static electricity, and had all his hair stand up.
Ye Qing hurriedly retreated nearly 20 meters before the feeling of static electricity disappeared.
The insides of the furnace was filled with flashing lightning and roaring thunder. The rapidly spinning furnace had become a giant ball of light, and used unimaginable centrifugal force to separate the junk from the metal.
Ye Qing hopped onto a nearby raging miner, to use as a meat shield in case of anything, and dumbfoundedly stared at the humongous smelting center.
Huaxing Heavy Industry also had a steel smelting furnace for manufacturing purposes. It was just that when that thing was compared to this metal smelting center, the difference was as clear as night and day. With those furnaces, not only was the heating slow as all heck, it could also only take in small amounts of materials at a time. Only when the materials inside had completely melted could workers begin to pour it into previously prepared molds.
Loud noises, thick smoke, and intense heat were all unique characteristics of forging.
Except no trace of black smoke could be found from the smelting center, there was only the sound of the spinning furnace.
Not only could the centrifugal force separate out the junk, it could also make the crystallization process of the metal much more standardized, and much tighter.
After about enough time to finish a pot of tea, the furnace finally stopped spinning, then it raised its lid, and white hot molten steel alloy flowed into the center of the smelting center for further processing and molding.
After being cast into the molds, the metal, still retaining an orangey red glow, was put under the million ton automated forging press for further shaping.
*Bang*
Sparks flew everywhere as the 50 centimeters thick alloy plate was forcefully pressed to 35 centimeters, increasing its structural strength and toughness.
Then finally came the last step, dropping the metal into the nearby quench tank filled with silvery white liquids for a rapid cooling.
Metal plates, one after the other, were sent into the quench tank. When the forging hammer finally stopped, Ye Qing counted 100, no more no less, pieces of memory alloy plates made out of nickel and titanium.
The quenching liquid truly lived up to the Monster Factory name. The molten hot memory alloy plates, when dropped into the liquid, didn’t even break a bubble.
After 5 minutes of soaking, the memory alloy plates were all fished out by mechanical arms, looking like giant silver ingots.
This production speed……
Ye Qing couldn’t really comment because he didn’t major in [Monster engineering], but he knew that with regular specialize steel forges, even with 10 added together, they still wouldn’t be able to keep up with the metal smelting center at all.
Not only could it make nickel-titanium memory alloy, as long as he had the blueprints or the needs, Ye Qing could manufacture any alloy known to man.
Furthermore, its quality still remained number one in the world!
So what could the memory alloy, which was able to slowly return to its original form even after being twisted into a dough twist, really do?
Ye Qing immediately thought of one. The next morning, Ye Qing drove the Lagonda into the yard and had two master artisans carefully take the gray carbon fiber casing off.
Most luxury car exteriors were made from carbon fiber due to their lightness and anti corrosive property.
However……
Those kind of properties, when put in front of the memory alloy, literally becomes more funny than being turned into a kid’s toy.
The critical flaw to the carbon fiber was its fragileness. Generally, with even a little scratch or bump, the area surrounding the immediate area would fracture like an egg shell.
The nickel-titanium memory alloy, on the other hand, could be smashed head on into a tractor trailer and still be able to slowly return back to its original shape.
Using the memory alloy to create a new casing for the Lagonda was definitely a brilliant idea.
So, who other than the 500 plus horse powered Lagonda could be able to easily carry the extra weight of these alloys?
Titanium alloys could be said to be the best material for making the exterior for luxury cars. It was just that, currently, luxury car makers haven’t been able to make any major breakthroughs on techniques necessary for mass producing and processing titanium alloy.
They don’t possess the technology, however Ye Qing does.
However, Ye Qing, at the present time, was only prepared to enjoy its benefits alone. Although making luxury car cases with nickel-titanium memory alloy would make a killing, but in the end that was still other people’s car brands.
When he has the ability to produce world-class luxury cars by himself, using it there wasn’t late at all.
Taking out the 3D camera, Ye Qing took pictures of the entire outer structure, as he was preparing to first recreate the Lagonda to be the first luxury car with memory alloy casing. At the same time to help himself, Ye Qing was also able to gain much needed experience in creating world-class luxury cars.
