The white equipment in front of us is 2.4 meters long, 1.6 meters wide and 2 meters high. It is a "big piece", but it has done "embroidery work" - it is the first four-dimensional X-ray microscope in China, which is developed and manufactured by the Yangtze River Delta Advanced Materials Research Institute in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. It can clearly see holes, cracks and other defects in the material at the micron scale, and can also simulate ultra-high temperature, low temperature Corrosion and other complex working conditions, comprehensively evaluate material performance in actual application scenarios.

How important is this microscope?

"With the development of China's manufacturing industry, more and more materials need to have a 'health certificate' under extreme conditions of use in order to 'work'. Only professional equipment can do 'physical examination' for materials." Yang Shangjing, a system engineer of the Yangtze River Delta Advanced Materials Research Institute, introduced that testing materials in extreme environments poses great technical challenges, Even imported equipment cannot fully meet the demand.

In November 2020, the Yangtze River Delta Advanced Materials Research Institute established a project team dedicated to the design of X-ray microscope. On the one hand, the team purchased detectors, protective sheds and other components from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and other places to cultivate the high-end analytical characterization instrument industry chain; On the other hand, it links the innovation resources of the Yangtze River Delta, builds an innovation chain with Shanghai Light Source, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Nanjing University of Technology, etc., and carries out collaborative research.

The integration of the whole machine after the parts are purchased, especially the precision improvement, is the most difficult part. X-ray is invisible light. To achieve accurate imaging, it is equivalent to hitting the "bull's eye" in the dark. To judge whether it is hit, it depends on whether the X-ray passes through the standard sample and hits the detector. The ideal diameter of the standard sample is only 1 μ m, less than 1/60 of a hair.

"The Shanghai team has experience in imaging technology. We took advantage of design and material research and development to create calibration materials through innovative processes, and gradually improved the accuracy to the target value after three months of repeated attempts." Yang Shangjing introduced that the team produced the first four-dimensional X-ray microscope principle prototype in August 2021, and sold the first in December 2022. At present, the company's annual sales exceeded 20 million yuan.

As a new research and development institution connecting technology and industry at one end, the Yangtze River Delta Advanced Materials Research Institute is a vivid epitome of strengthening the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation.

"The Yangtze River Delta is a gathering place in the field of materials across the country. Not only are the supply side scenes of special steel and carbon fiber rich, but also the application side of ships and automobiles are huge. In Jiangsu, the new material cluster is one of the 16 advanced manufacturing clusters that the province focuses on cultivating, and will achieve a revenue of 1.6 trillion yuan in 2023." Huang Ping, deputy director of the Department of Industry and Information Technology of Jiangsu Province, introduced.

With the in-depth implementation of the integrated development strategy of the Yangtze River Delta, the Advanced Materials Research Institute of the Yangtze River Delta continues to link the innovation chain and enable the industrial chain: not only tackle major equipment, but also support the development of science and technology; It is also oriented to the actual development of enterprises, funded by enterprises, and talents and technologies from research institutes, to jointly build joint laboratories, and connect upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain with colleges and universities to meet the development needs of enterprises and industries.

In March this year, a leading stainless steel enterprise in Zhejiang found the research institute and proposed to jointly build a joint laboratory to solve the technical problem of smelting high-strength steel.

In a laboratory of the Yangtze River Delta Advanced Materials Research Institute, the temperature in the vacuum induction melting furnace is as high as 1570 ℃, in which high-strength steel plate is undergoing pilot test. "The original innovation 'from 0 to 1' has been basically completed, and the next step is to carry out mass production 'from 1 to 10 and then to 100' in enterprises." Sun Mingyue, vice president of the Yangtze River Delta Advanced Materials Research Institute, said that up to now, the Institute has docked more than 200 enterprises in the field of service materials and major engineering equipment, explored 60 demands for manufacturing, processing, performance evaluation, practical application, etc., and implemented more than 40 cooperation projects, Provide technical support for the development of new industries, new business forms and new models in the Yangtze River Delta.