Chapter 402: Opening Thunderstrike, Steel Testing

"Polish this sample a bit more finely, calibrate the strength tester once more, and enlarge the font on the price list to size three..." Li Mingyuan directed as he walked, his speech rapid. The staff behind him almost jogged to record his instructions, fine beads of sweat seeping from their foreheads.

"Chief Engineer Li, did you not sleep at all last night?" the exhibition area supervisor asked, wiping away sweat.

Li Mingyuan shook his head, a glimmer of excitement flashing in his eyes: "Sleep? What sleep? This is the first step for Long Country to move toward the world; it cannot tolerate the slightest bit of carelessness."

In his mind, he had already sketched out the scene for today—how those foreign experts who came with suspicion and contempt would be thoroughly shocked by Long Country's steel technology; just thinking about those expressions made his blood boil.

The experience of interning at a steel research institute in his past life was finally going to be put to great use.

"The time is almost up; the foreign guests will be entering at nine o'clock. Go get that suit I prepared," Li Mingyuan said, checking his watch and instructing his assistant.

At 8:50, the delegations from various countries arrived at the exhibition center one after another. The air was filled with a tense and expectant atmosphere. Although yesterday's preview had caused many to harbor doubts, today was the moment of truth.

Li Mingyuan, dressed in a well-tailored dark blue suit, stood at the entrance of the main exhibition hall to welcome the delegations. This attire made him look both like a capable modern business elite and someone who retained the unique simplicity of the fifties.

"Welcome to all of you for traveling from afar to visit the first Long Country Industrial and Military Exhibition." Li Mingyuan delivered the welcome address to the delegations in fluent foreign language, "Today, you will witness the true strength of Long Country's industry, especially our breakthrough achievements in the field of steel."

The head of the Yuegongniu delegation, Williams, nodded slightly in greeting, a polite and restrained smile on his face: "We look forward to Long Country's display being... worthy of its reputation."

The technical experts behind him exchanged a meaningful look, their faces filled with the expression of "let's see how this agricultural country is going to brag."

Li Mingyuan noticed these subtle expressions, and a faint smile curled at the corners of his mouth inadvertently.

"Please follow me; we will visit the steel exhibition area first." He made a "please" gesture and led the representatives into the main exhibition hall.

As soon as they stepped into the hall, many could not help but slow their pace, looks of surprise appearing in their eyes.

The exhibition hall, which was messy and filled with busy workers yesterday, had taken on a brand-new look today—in the center of the spacious and bright hall, a huge steel sculpture shone brilliantly; the surrounding booths were neat and uniform, and steel samples of various specifications shimmered with a cold light under the lamps; most eye-catching was the central area, where, next to a set of complex testing equipment, several huge steel rails and bridge steel plates were arranged neatly.

"Gentlemen, this is the high-strength, low-alloy steel series product newly developed by Long Country." Li Mingyuan pointed to the steel samples and introduced, "From left to right, they are railway rails, steel for large bridges, steel for ship hulls, and steel for special industrial use."

Kovalenko, the chief metallurgical expert from Beijixiong Guo, stepped forward, picked up a steel sample to examine it closely, and then curled his lip in disdain: "The surface finish is good, but this only proves that the polishing process is up to par; it does not prove the internal quality."

Li Mingyuan smiled without directly refuting: "Professor Kovalenko is right; the true value of steel lies in its internal performance. Precisely because of this, we have prepared a series of real-time tests today to let everyone witness the true level of Long Country's steel with your own eyes."

He turned to his assistant: "Start the first test—strength test."

The assistant quickly operated the testing equipment, and a standard-specification steel rail was fixed onto the hydraulic testing machine.

"This piece of equipment is the latest material strength tester we imported from Star-Spangled Country, with precision reaching the top international level." Li Mingyuan explained to the crowd, specifically emphasizing the source of the equipment to dispel any possible doubts.

"The first test is the compressive strength of a standard railway rail. According to international standards, the compressive strength requirement for this specification of rail is no less than 850 megapascals."

The equipment began to operate, and the pressure value climbed continuously on the display screen:

"500 megapascals..."

"700 megapascals..."

"900 megapascals..."

The numbers were still rising, and the expressions of the experts from various countries began to change subtly.

"1100 megapascals..."

"1300 megapascals..."

Kovalenko's brows were tightly locked; he subconsciously took out a notebook to record the data.

"1500 megapascals!" The equipment emitted a prompt sound, and the test ended.

"The compressive strength of this rail reached 1500 megapascals, almost double the international standard." Li Mingyuan announced the result calmly, as if this were just an ordinary number.

There was Silence in the audience, followed by a buzzing sound of discussion.

"Impossible!" Kovalenko shouted, losing his composure, "Ordinary steel cannot reach this strength, unless..."

Li Mingyuan smiled slightly: "Unless special smelting processes and precise composition control are adopted. That's right, this is exactly where the advantage of our Top-Bottom Combined Blowing Converter technology lies."

He turned to his assistant: "Continue to the next item—low-temperature toughness test."

The staff quickly immersed a set of steel plate samples into liquid nitrogen to cool them to minus 196 degrees, then conducted an impact test.

"According to international standards, the impact toughness of steel in a minus 30-degree environment is no less than 27 joules, while our product..."

The test results were quickly displayed—in the extreme environment of minus 196 degrees, the impact toughness of Long Country's steel still reached 58 joules, far exceeding international standards.

The discussion in the audience grew louder, and many experts stood up, scrambling to check the test data. The metallurgical expert from Yuegongniu, Brown, even walked up and requested a re-test to confirm the results.

"Of course." Li Mingyuan readily agreed, "Please, Professor Brown, select the samples yourself and supervise the entire testing process."

Brown selected a steel plate that looked the most unremarkable, and the test was conducted under his full supervision—the result was still astonishing, with an impact toughness reaching 55 joules.

"This... this is not logical..." Brown muttered to himself, "Unless some kind of brand-new alloy formula and heat treatment process were used..."

Li Mingyuan looked at Brown's shocked expression and felt a secret thrill. The materials science knowledge he had memorized while interning at the research institute in his past life had finally come in handy. The Top-Bottom Combined Blowing Converter technology was indeed a mature technology of later generations, but in this era, it was absolutely a subversive existence.

"Gentlemen, this is just the beginning." Li Mingyuan looked around at everyone, "Next, we are going to conduct the most critical test—the ultimate load test of a full-size bridge steel beam."

The staff rolled out a huge steel beam 6 meters long; this was the specification actually used for bridge construction. The testing equipment loaded slowly, and the numbers climbed continuously.