|
|
|
|
|
|
by icegreentea
3564 days ago
|
|
|
Well, they've almost certainly been trying that. And as the OP said, it hasn't been paying off in a big way. If they've been doing it (I'm guessing they have), then they've probably benefitted, just not enough for the big win. Once you get into materials and fabrication, having a finished example to examine is rarely going to lead to a big win. If the secret sauce is in the fabrication (HOW do you make a single crystal blade? HOW do you inflate corrugated titanium? HOW do get this type of grain structure with this nickel-iron-manganese mix? HOW do you get a laser weld in this impossible again?), then a single example isn't -THAT- useful. Reversing engineering a modern turbofan(remember, the basic principles of turbofans are well known) is more akin to reverse engineering Intel's fab process by peaking at a finished i7 (with AFM and electron microscopes) than reverse engineering say... a sensor fusion module once you get the assembly code. Which is why the technology transfer associated with the engine deal is a big deal. It should (I mean, its possible that the terms are all fucked up) give the Chinese an oppourtunity to learn all of these hows and whys (albeit for a slightly dated design, but still a relatively modern one). |
|
|
Similar to razor blades and little balls that go into writing pens. Few companies can make them well. China has to import little balls from Japan (at least for high quality pens).
Sending over work instructions will help (somewhat). China will need veterans of the process to work with local Chinese vendors, explaining how to do each step.
The Ukrainian staff will resist handing over their work babies. Also, the subcontractors (heat treaters, metal workers) will not hand over their secret sauce.
China will figure it out eventually. This will help. Still many years away from mastering it though. They will have to source from Ukraine for quite a while.