High-tech torch lights up relay leading to Beijing 2022
The high-tech torch with carbon fiber composite, unveiled by Shanghai-based Donghua University for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, is the product of an advanced three-dimensional weaving technique.
The technology used to make the torch's outer shell has attracted wide interest as the Games' three-day torch relay continues in the lead-up to Friday's opening ceremony.
The torch, feiyang, has a furled ribbon shape, an artistic design applied to a high-dimensional curved surface.
It was made using a 3D high-performance sphere weaving machine developed by Sun Yize, a leading Donghua University professor in weaving technology, and his team.
The Beijing Winter Olympic Games' torch was made by an 8-meter diameter weaving machine developed by a research team at Donghua University.
The 8-meter-in-diameter machine can weave large structural parts for big modes of transport such as aircraft and high-speed trains. It can also make precise and specially shaped structural parts such as propellers and drones.
"The weaving process can be described as 'perilous,' as each moving spindle has 14 possible collisions at every moment," Sun said.
"It is like being on a four-lane expressway, with hundreds or even thousands of vehicles crossing quickly, not only running at high speed, but also constantly crossing. We have to make precise calculations and transfer orbital control to prevent 'traffic accidents.'"
Sun and his team repeatedly discussed, researched, modified and polished the torch to give the industrially produced item a soft and elegant appearance. They eventually realized the original design by using 3D weaving and automatically polishing the outer streamer.
The technology used in the project not only fills a domestic gap in the field of weaving technique research, but has also set a world standard.
"Our researchers tried several mathematical models for the streamer outside the torch," Sun said.
The team made a breakthrough in automatic weaving technology for special textures in 2018. Its research has been used to develop special rescue materials and communication cables.
It helped China's self-developed manned submersible, the Jiaolong, to complete 5,000-meter and 7,000-meter deep-sea diving tests, and supported the scientific research ship Kexue (Science) to successfully complete a comprehensive inspection of the tropical Western Pacific.
The furled ribbon shape torches on the production line.
