Based on the auspicious cloud pattern, it gradually transitions to the paper-cut style snowflake pattern from bottom to top, rotating and rising, such as ribbon dancing, and finally incarnating into a flying flame at the top… On the morning of February 2, the Beijing Winter Olympic torch relay was launched in the Olympic Forest Park, and more people have to feel the charm of the “flying” torch from a close distance.
As the most important element of the Winter Olympic Games other than the emblem and mascot, the design and manufacture of the Winter Olympic torch has been listed as the key content of the scientific and technological Winter Olympic Games by the Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee. In April 2020, the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee publicly solicited the appearance design of the torch for the whole society. The scheme provided by Alibaba’s design team stood out from 182 effective schemes solicited by the whole society.
“The silver and red of the main body of the torch symbolize the meeting of ice and fire. Passion flies to illuminate the ice and snow and warm the world.” Said Li Jianye, designer of the torch for the Beijing Winter Olympics.
The appearance of “flying” is extremely simple. A dynamic and elegant red line runs around the torch up and down. The ice and snow track, which symbolizes passion, also shows the longing for light, beautiful and vigorous vitality, and expresses the hope of human beings for endless life, peace and excellence and the power of the Olympic movement. Li Jianye introduced that the overall appearance of the torch echoes the shape of the main torch tower of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, reflecting the inheritance and development of Beijing’s double Olympic city.
When the two torchbearers handed over, the two “flying” snuggled up to each other and crossed slightly, just like shaking hands, showing the vision of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, which makes the world know and integrate more. “We also think about the significance of the torch when designing. I think at the moment of the global epidemic, the torch may be like what IOC President Bach said: she is the light at the end of the dark tunnel.” Li Jianye said.
The reporter learned that most of the design teams of Alibaba torch project are industrial designers from the field of electronic consumption, but the design requirements of the torch should first jump out of the pattern of industrial design. Under the careful guidance of Lin Cunzhen, the cultural activities department and art director of Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee, the team quickly learned and deepened its understanding of Chinese culture and humanistic design. According to statistics, the team has completed more than 40 versions of the internal modification scheme and formally submitted the 11 version scheme to the Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee. The project team was stationed in Beijing in the later stage and completed nearly 10000 hand-painted sketches. The final documents for approval were nearly 2 feet thick. “Feiyang” finally realized the transformation from industrial design to national ritual vessels.
carbon fiber “flying” dream
“Feiyang” not only has a flexible and novel appearance, but also the shell and core of the torch are imbued with the spirit of continuous innovation and the pursuit of excellence, transmitting the light of science and technology.
After the appearance was finalized, the carbon fiber material was quickly locked into the preferred material for manufacturing the torch. Because the quality of carbon fiber is only about a quarter of that of steel, but its strength is 7 to 9 times that of steel. It is lighter and stronger to make a torch with it.
Previously, carbon fiber has been widely used in the aerospace field, known as “black gold”. Since 2008, Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Company Limited(600688) under China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation(600028) has carried out research on carbon fiber technology, formed the innovation ability of the industrial chain from precursor, pre oxidation, carbon fiber to composite materials, and has a complete set of technologies with independent intellectual property rights. The major mission of manufacturing carbon fiber torch naturally falls on Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Company Limited(600688) .
The irregularity of flare shell is the first difficulty in flare manufacturing. The research team decided to adopt three-dimensional weaving, which is a high-tech. Each bundle of carbon fiber is composed of 12000 carbon fiber filaments. Three dimensional compilation is to directly weave the carbon fiber into a torch shape from three dimensions, and then form it with special resin. After three-dimensional weaving, the final woven torch shell can not see any seams and pores, and the whole shape is integrated. The three-dimensional weaving not only greatly increases the torch strength, impact resistance and wrestling resistance, but also has a more three-dimensional appearance.
can withstand 800 high temperature baking
The second difficulty in torch manufacturing is to enable the torch to withstand 800 high temperature baking.
Carbon fiber material can withstand high temperature and is also very soft, but it can be as strong as steel only after compounding with resin material. But the vast majority of resin materials can not stand the flame, and will turn to ashes when the temperature reaches 500. Moreover, the flame outlet temperature of the Winter Olympic torch is close to 800. At a time when there was nothing to do, a small and micro enterprise in Jinshan District, Shanghai entered the vision of the torch manufacturing team. The third generation of resin materials developed by them have the characteristics of strong organic adhesion and high temperature resistance of inorganic materials. After repeated firing tests, Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Company Limited(600688) team finally successfully solved the major problem of combustion resistance and high temperature resistance of carbon fiber composites.
In this winter Olympics, the fuel burned by the torch was changed from propane to hydrogen. As a clean energy, hydrogen will only produce water after combustion, which is green and environment-friendly. However, to maintain the same combustion time, the storage space of hydrogen is twice as large as that of propane. The “flying” torch is composed of an outer streamer and an inner streamer, with a narrow internal space. To place a hydrogen storage tank and a complete set of burners in the torch, the smaller the hydrogen storage tank must be, the better. At the same time, it must ensure that the torch burns for a long time. The Aerospace Hi-Tech Holding Group Co.Ltd(000901) team finally found the solution of “mini” fuel system after countless repeated research and tests. They made the hydrogen storage tank smaller and increased the storage pressure to increase the hydrogen capacity. At the same time, it is equipped with a miniature pressure reducing valve. When in use, open the pressure reducing valve to reduce the pressure of 420 kg to 1 kg.
“Feiyang”, which contains a number of Chinese scientific and technological wisdom, finally appeared in a perfect posture and became the most beautiful scenery to ignite people’s passion for the Winter Olympics in winter.
