On the afternoon of October 15th, the School of Mechanical Engineering specially invited Researcher Ai Junqiang, the former senior deputy chief engineer of the First Aircraft Design and Research Institute of AVIC, to give a special academic report titled Development Trends of Variant Aircraft and Demands and Challenges for Special Structures/Materials. The meeting was presided over by Bai Zhishan, the Party Secretary of the college. Present at the meeting were Geng Chunshu, the Deputy Party Secretary of the college, Zhu Mingliang, the Vice President, Li Bo, a member of the Party Committee and the Director of the Department of Intelligent Manufacturing, Guo Sujuan, the Deputy Director of the Department of Power Engineering, Professor Wen Jianfeng, and young teachers and students from related fields.
Bai Zhishan extended a warm welcome to Ai Junqiang's arrival. He introduced Ai Junqiang's profound background and professional attainments in the field of aircraft structure and materials, and expressed the hope that this report could bring cutting-edge inspiration and in-depth thinking to the teachers and students of the college. Ai Junqiang delivered a rich and broad special report on the cutting-edge field of variant aircraft. Starting from the flight mechanism of birds in nature, he systematically expounded the connotation and classification of variant aircraft, reviewed their process from initial development to rapid growth and then to a flourishing of various types, and deeply analyzed key technologies such as overall comprehensive balance and dynamic aerodynamic force. He particularly pointed out that variant aircraft face three core structural demands: the integral variable drive mechanism needs to be robust and well-structured, the distributed variant shape structure needs to be integrated into the body, and the local variant intelligent materials need to be as flexible as steel. Combining cases of variant aircraft of different scales, he also looked forward to the future application prospects.
During the Q&A session, the teachers and students present actively raised questions and had in-depth discussions with Ai Junqiang on specific issues such as flexible materials, vector engines, structural strength and verification devices. Ai Junqiang pointed out that on the one hand, we should be courageous in exploring new structures and pay attention to experimental verification, applying the advantages of mechanical engineering to new fields. On the other hand, we should draw inspiration from bionics to broaden our research ideas. In response to the student's question of balancing flexibility and firmness, he suggested exploring from two directions: ductile materials and biomimetic structures, and emphasized that scientific research should sort out real problems from the demand side, truly solve problems, and achieve real problem-solving. He hopes that everyone can combine the advantages of mechanical engineering and achieve new accomplishments in fields such as aerospace and Marine vessels.
This report meeting not only broadened the scientific research horizons of teachers and students in the field of variant aircraft, but also stimulated their in-depth thinking on structural innovation, material development and multi-disciplinary integration, injecting new impetus into the scientific research breakthroughs and talent cultivation in related directions of the college.