In 2024, the Northern Heavy Industries (NHI) Endeavour TBM (Tunnel Bone Mine) set a world record for single-machine tunneling of 26.521 kilometers. This achievement was driven by breakthroughs in multiple core technologies. Previously, TBM main bearings had long relied on imports. NHI, in collaboration with research institutions, conducted hundreds of tests and developed high-strength, wear-resistant main bearings. These bearings offer a 20% longer service life and a 35% lower cost than imported products, effectively breaking the monopoly of foreign technology. The Endeavour TBM’s intelligent geological detection system plays a crucial role in complex geological construction. It analyzes rock hardness, water content, and other data in real time, automatically adjusting the cutterhead speed and thrust. For example, in a mountain tunnel project, when encountering crushed rock, the system quickly switched to “staged cutting” mode, achieving a stable daily tunneling efficiency of over 12 meters, a 40% increase over traditional equipment. Furthermore, the equipment’s modular design reduces cutterhead replacement time from three days to eight hours, significantly reducing project downtime. This provides an efficient solution for long-distance tunnel construction in China and further consolidates my country’s technological leadership in the global shield machine industry.

A XCMG XGC88000 (4,000-ton class) crawler crane demonstrated impressive performance at a large petrochemical project in southern China, precisely lifting a 2,000-ton quenching water tower to a 38-meter-high installation base in just three hours, completing a highly challenging aerial operation. The crane’s core advantage lies in its “super-lift counterweight + variable-luffing boom” design. The super-lift counterweight system features a foldable structure that can be disassembled and loaded onto a truck for transportation, reducing on-site assembly time by 50% compared to similar equipment, completing the project in just two days. The variable-luffing boom automatically adjusts its angle and length based on the load and height. During this lift, the boom was adjusted from 60 to 82 meters. Twelve sets of intelligent sensors monitored the load in real time, ensuring that equipment sway was controlled within 5 centimeters during the lift, maximizing lifting safety and accuracy. Furthermore, its equipped “hoisting path planning system” simulates the entire process in advance, avoiding on-site obstacles and minimizing collision risks. This successful hoisting operation not only ensures the petrochemical project’s on-schedule commissioning, but also demonstrates that my country’s ultra-large tonnage hoisting equipment has reached internationally leading levels, breaking the long-standing monopoly of foreign brands in this field.

MCC Heavy Industry’s 400 MN hydraulic die-forging press, the world’s largest single-cylinder winding precision forging press, is the forger of key components for the China-made C919 large aircraft, providing core support for the production of the C919’s landing gear and large fuselage structures. While traditional multi-cylinder hydraulic presses are limited in forging precision and fuselage rigidity, this hydraulic press utilizes a “single-cylinder + prestressed steel wire winding” structure, increasing fuselage rigidity by 30%. With forging precision controlled to 0.1 mm, it can process large forgings with a maximum diameter of 3.5 meters and a weight of 50 tons. The C919 landing gear forging production process begins with heating the aviation-grade high-strength alloy billet to 1200°C. The hydraulic press then repeatedly forges at a pressure of 400 MN (equivalent to the weight of a 40,000-ton weight), refining the metal’s internal grain size and significantly improving its strength and toughness. After forging, the “intelligent controlled cooling system” slowly cools the forging at a rate of 5°C/minute to prevent cracks caused by large temperature differences. Previously, large aviation forgings in my country had to be imported from abroad, resulting in high costs and lead times of up to six months. The commissioning of this hydraulic press has shortened production cycles to two months, reducing costs by 40%. This has completely ended my country’s dependence on imports for large aerospace forgings and laid a solid foundation for the mass production of large aircraft in China.