According to the WeChat official account "China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology", on April 29, the first heavy-lift launch vehicle ten-meter-class diameter stainless steel tank prototype developed by the Rocket Institute was successfully completed, which is the largest diameter tank currently under research and development in China.
The successful development of this tank prototype marks a major breakthrough for the Rocket Institute in the field of ultra-large diameter stainless steel tank development, taking a solid first step in the iterative development of large-diameter stainless steel structures for heavy-lift launch vehicles.
Project Chief Engineer Liu Jizhong of the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the National Space Administration, Shen Bo, the院长of the Rocket Institute, and other leaders from higher-level units, relevant departments of the institute headquarters, and affiliated units witnessed the completion of the product together.
At the production workshop site, Shen Bo expressed gratitude on behalf of the institute's leadership to the higher-level units for their strong support and the hard work of the model team day and night. He stated that the successful development of the ten-meter-class diameter stainless steel tank prototype for the heavy-lift launch vehicle has trained the team, boosted morale, verified an innovative model, and achieved demonstrative results. Shen Bo pointed out that the pace of model development should be accelerated, and the design, production, and management models should be innovated to continuously improve manufacturing capabilities and ensure production safety.
Liu Jizhong congratulated the successful development of the tank prototype. He noted that the model team overcame multiple technical challenges and completed key node development tasks ahead of schedule. In the future, the team will face various challenges, further enhancing the automation level of tooling equipment to ensure stable and reliable products, improve production efficiency, and contribute to fulfilling national major engineering tasks.
Stainless steel materials have important application prospects for large-diameter cryogenic propellant tanks aimed at reusability, low cost, and rapid manufacturing. Since determining the use of stainless steel materials for the large-diameter tanks of the heavy-lift launch vehicle model, the team has been tackling issues in materials, design, manufacturing, and testing, continuously advancing stainless steel tank development using the "small steps fast run, rapid iteration" model.
Compared with aluminum alloy tanks, stainless steel tanks have new characteristics such as difficulty in machining, susceptibility to instability, welding deformation, and significant springback. To explore a low-cost, high-efficiency new production mode for stainless steel tanks, the model team broke through several key technologies:
Developed a tank bottom welding device with positioning and shaping functions, specialized lifting tools suitable for flipping large-diameter tank bottom assemblies, and a vertical assembly and welding system for the tank body.
Explored corrective methods for welding deformation in stainless steel materials.
Validated the weldability of stainless steel structural components under extreme assembly conditions.
Overcame assembly and welding technology and forming technology for large stainless steel complex-shaped components.
Determined the basic process route for the production of super-large diameter stainless steel tanks.
The project攻关team established a collaborative mechanism of "inter-departmental linkage, cross-regional collaboration, and cross-industry integration" to concentrate resources and seize new areas of aerospace. Despite insufficient existing capabilities, they created conditions and overcame difficulties to develop simple tooling, completing the assembly and welding of a stainless steel tank with a diameter of 10.6 meters and a height of about 9 meters within 53 days. This achieved process exploration, overcoming "hard nuts" in core technology breakthroughs and winning "decisive battles."
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7498884409085411877/
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