Properties and advantages of Magnesium Alloy

Magnesium Alloy often used for many purposes, about its properties and advantages, we'll give you a brief introduction next so that you can better judge whether magnesium alloy is the best choice.

Low density

Die casting magnesium has low density which is only 2/3 of aluminum and 1/4 of steel, but its specific strength and specific stiffness are much better than iron, aluminum alloy and engineering plastic. In many application fields, die casting Mg is a competitive light structural material.

Good Vibration absorption

Die casting magnesium has good function of vibration attenuation and noise reduction. For example, under the same stress level 35MPa, the attenuation coefficient of AZ91D is 25% while only 1% for A380. When stress level reach to 100MPa, this data become to 53%, 72% and 70% for AZ91D、AM60、AS41 while only 4% for A380.

Higher thermal conductivity

Die casting Mg (60-70W/m-1 K-1) is second only to aluminum alloy (100-70W/m-1 K-1）in thermal conductivity.

Abrasive Resistant

In order to reduce noises, magnesium die casting is used to make housings; the application in car seats and wheel boss decreases vibration, improves driving safety and comfortableness. Die casting Mg is considered to be suitable casting material for auto spare parts and also effective car’s lightweight material with its light weight, stable size, good shock absorption ability, nice casting character and long die life.

Current situation of die casting Mg in automobile industry

With the development of automotive lightness, there is an increasing need of light alloy casting year by year. Since 1990, automobile Mg had been developing rapidly at an average annual growth of 20%. Magnesium alloy has become one important field with the development of automotive materials technology. Its cyclic utilization and less chip especially meet the requirements of circular economy, low carbon, energy saving and cleaner production.

Main challenges of magnesium alloy in promoting application

Low corrosion resistance, high cost and high scrap rate are the obstacles to popularization of magnesium alloy. There are some problems such as high casting cost, high scrap rate and hidden danger of production of magnesium alloy automobile parts.

Magnesium is a very reactive element with poor corrosion resistance, and the technical ability to resist corrosion of magnesium alloy parts is a little poor in our country. In addition, magnesium is prone to combust and explore during processing, and there are safety production problems. The production site strict management is needed to ensure safe production on site.

With the acceleration of urbanization, energy becomes more and more scarce and environmental pollution becomes more and more serious. Energy conservation and emission reduction is an important issue related to the national economy and people's livelihood. Both the traditional car and the emerging new energy vehicles pay great attention to the lightweight design of the body in order to achieve the goal of energy conservation and environmental protection.

With the rapid rise of magnesium alloy, the process of magnesium alloy die casting is becoming more and more mature, and the application scope is expanding. The large magnesium alloy die-casting automobile parts will promote the process of lightweight automobile.