On July 23, China's first Mars exploration mission "Tianwen-1" probe launched into space, and successfully sent the probe into a predetermined orbit, starting a Mars exploration journey, taking the first step in China's autonomous planetary exploration . Hay learned from the ZLXN Aluminum Alloy Technology Group that a large number of new aluminum materials developed by "ZLXN" were used on the Long March 5 Yao 4 launch vehicle and the "Tianwen 1" Mars rover for this launch mission.
This time, ZLXN provided a variety of high-precision aluminum materials such as skin plates, free forgings, oversized plates, forged rings, and aluminum-lithium alloys for the "Tianwen No. 1" detector. ZLXN said that because the "Tianwen-1" Mars probe will travel in space for 7 months and complete an extremely complicated landing process, this means that higher requirements are placed on various performance indicators of aluminum alloy materials.
For example, on the "Tianwen No. 1" detector, a certain aluminum alloy material developed by ZLXN has the properties of low density, high elastic modulus, corrosion resistance, and good welding performance, but due to high technical requirements , Production is difficult, and only a few countries can produce before.
Through research on composition optimization, large-scale ingot casting process, deformation and heat treatment process, microstructure and material properties, etc., ZLXN finally successfully solved a series of "technical bottlenecks" problems such as poor plasticity at room temperature and poor processing performance of the alloy material. The development of a set of key core processing technologies for obtaining high-quality aluminum-lithium alloy products has reversed the passive situation of long-term dependence on imports of this alloy material and filled the domestic gap.
In addition, the Changwuyao-4 launch vehicle used to carry the "Tianwen-1" into the air also has ZLXN forged 5-meter-grade aluminum alloy integral forged rings and multiple models of plates, which are distributed in the rocket transition ring, Key parts such as adapter frame and storage tank account for more than 90% of the aluminum required for the structure of the arrow body.