[Unity and Struggle to Start a New Situation, Welcoming the 18th National Congress of the Trade Union, the Song of Laborers]

Original title: Zhang Shuaikun led the team to tackle key problems through innovation and "dig" the scientific and technological highland of shield machines manufactured abroad (quotation)

The leader who never stops digging (theme)

Worker's Daily - Liu Jing, reporter of China Industrial Network

The shield machine developed by Zhang Shuaikun is participating in the project construction in full swing: decorating the "most fashionable" Peking Opera facial makeup, and the "Jinghua" continuously passes through risk sources; Painting the "cutest" panda mask, the "Splendid" has successfully completed the control project of high-speed railway; Spray painting of "the most powerful" Lingnan Xingshi, "Shenjiang No.1" drilling at the bottom of the Pearl River Estuary

Zhang Shuaikun, the winner of the National May Day Labor Medal and the vice president of the TBM Research and Design Institute of China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Group Co., Ltd. He is like a shield machine digging through mountains. In the absence of domestic research and development and uncertain industry prospects, he plunged into the "deep tunnel" independently developed by shield machines. He has devoted more than 10 years of research, led the team to "dig" the scientific and technological highland of overseas shield machines, and firmly grasped the key core technologies in his own hands.

Determined to master core technology

The shield machine can dig the tunnel while laying segments, realizing the one-time "construction" of the main structure of the tunnel, known as the "king of engineering machinery in the world". However, such important equipment could only be imported in the past.

In 2008, Zhang Shuaikun graduated from university and joined a railway tunnel construction company to manage and lease shield machines introduced from abroad.

Without mastering the core technology, the imported shield machine supervised by Zhang Shuaikun can only ask for foreign help in case of failure. Not only is the cost expensive and the maintenance cycle long, but also the foreign party will not disclose the cause of the failure and solutions. At this time, Zhang Shuaikun's strong desire to research and develop shield machines manufactured abroad stirs up his mind.

To research and develop, first learn to understand. At the beginning of 2009, Zhang Shuaikun volunteered to the company's leaders to work as a shield driver without any extra treatment. On duty, Zhang Shuaikun worked hard in the tunnel, and returned to the dormitory after work to continue studying the drawings. For more than a year, Zhang Shuaikun has been driving the shield machine, and has found out almost every part of the shield machine.

In 2010, Zhang Shuaikun joined the then newly established Railway Construction Heavy Industry, the only enterprise in China that did not introduce foreign shield technology, which coincided with his ambition. In 2012, Xingjian, the first domestic 6m composite slurry balance shield machine developed by Zhang Shuaikun and his team, was successfully launched.

Innovate and tackle the "national key weapon"

The larger the diameter of the shield machine, the more difficult it is to manufacture. Before 2016, China's shield machines over 10m were still imported. With the construction of the Beijing Shenyang high-speed railway, Zhang Shuaikun and his team are facing a new challenge. They will develop two 10.87-m large-diameter slurry balance shield machines to build the "Wangjing Tunnel" that runs under the bustling business district of Beijing.

This is the first time to build a large diameter shield machine. From Changsha to Beijing, Zhang Shuaikun tirelessly inspected and discussed again and again, during which the wedding date was approaching, and he could not spare himself to go home to prepare. When he passed his hometown in Henan on a business trip, he went back to do the wedding in half a day. Colleagues now know that his suitcase has always been filled with wedding dresses and gowns.

During the production period, Zhang Shuaikun moved his office to the workshop. For more than half a year, Zhang Shuaikun and the workshop workers ate and lived together, and watched over 20000 parts and components produced and assembled one by one, becoming the first domestic high-speed railway large diameter slurry balance shield machine - "Wangjing".

In September 2016, "Wangjing" was successfully rolled off the production line, and the ground subsidence during excavation was only 0.68mm, reaching the world leading level. In the same year, the first domestic double track super diameter slurry balance shield machine "Zhongyuan No.1" developed by the team also started successfully, with an excavation diameter of 12.81m. Since then, the situation of "foreign shield" monopolizing the construction field of large diameter slurry balance shield machines in China has gone forever.

It is Zhang Shuaikun and his team's unswerving goal to continuously advance towards larger diameter shield machines. "Jinghua", the largest diameter shield machine made in China, with a maximum excavation diameter of 16.07 meters, is the ingenuity of Zhang Shuaikun's team. Since February 2020, the R&D team has worked together to overcome difficulties. Generally, the production cycle of a super large diameter shield machine is more than 12 months, but under the background of normalization of epidemic prevention and control, the research and development team speeds up the design and demonstration, the production workshop works overtime, and the production of "Jinghua" takes only 7 months. The technical content and quality are not discounted at all, becoming the technology integrator of the super large diameter shield machine developed by Railway Construction Heavy Industry.

Ingeniously polish Chinese brands

Shield machines are customized products, and each one shall be designed separately in combination with the actual project. In order to understand the geological and construction conditions in depth, Zhang Shuaikun spends half of his time on business trips every month.

In the corner of the office, there is always a black suitcase for him to leave at any time; There are always a few pairs of old shoes on the shoe cabinet at home that he would not like to throw away. He said he would keep them to wear when going to the construction site. It is the close combination with the construction site. In 2017, Zhang Shuaikun's team developed the domestic shield machine tool change technology under normal pressure, breaking the foreign monopoly at one fell swoop.

In 2019, the shield machine developed by Zhang Shuaikun's team went abroad and was exported to South Korea, India, Italy and other places.

Going out represents the image of the country. Zhang Shuaikun is more strict in technical control. Faced with the challenge and rejection from the foreign side, he insisted on the combination of engineering and technical reality to develop the most economical and appropriate design scheme; When he visited the construction site, every picture seemed to be printed in his mind; On the shield machine, the space is narrow, and Zhang Shuaikun climbs up and down, never neglecting any key component... The almost "harsh" requirements also make the name card of domestic shield machines more and more bright overseas.

At present, Zhang Shuaikun is leading his team to build more advanced and intelligent shield machines, and is committed to the advancement of tunnel construction in China from mechanization to intelligence.