Application of magnesium alloy in the automobile field

Currently, the automobile industry is facing pressure and constraints from resources, energy, and the environment, and the competition in the automobile field is becoming more and more fierce. Lightweight automobiles are gradually replacing steel materials with lightweight materials for the manufacture of high-performance and complex components. It is already an inevitable trend. Therefore, magnesium alloys, which are lightweight, recyclable, and have good casting ability, have become the first choice for automotive materials

At present, the application parts of magnesium alloys in automobiles can be classified into two categories.

(1) Shell class. Such as clutch housing, valve cover, instrument panel, gearbox body, crankcase, engine front cover, cylinder head, air conditioner casing, etc.

(2) Brackets. Such as steering wheel, steering bracket, brake bracket, seat frame, mirror bracket, distribution bracket, etc.

Magnesium alloys for automobiles have a good weight loss effect

Almost all companies try to find a solution from the perspective of the body frame when addressing the problem of vehicle lightweighting. Because the body frame occupies the largest proportion of the total amount and area, it is more convenient for the OEM to spread the selling point of the model.

At present, magnesium and aluminum alloys are two ideal materials for lightning automobiles. According to the report of the American Aluminum Institute, if magnesium alloy machininghe car uses 0.45Kg of aluminum, the body weight can be reduced by 1Kg. Taking the body-in-white as an example, if aluminum alloys are used instead of steel and high-strength steel, the weight of the body is 230kg, and the maximum weight can be reduced by 40%. However, magnesium alloy has better performance in weight reduction. Since its weight is about 2/3 of that of aluminum alloy, it is only 153kg, and its weight reduction ratio can exceed 50%.

Not only in terms of weight, but magnesium alloys also have the advantages of low density, high specific strength, high specific stiffness, shock resistance, easy recycling, and easy processing. Comparing the specific stiffness of each metal with the same mass and similar interface components, magnesium alloy is 18.9 times that of steel and more than twice that of aluminum alloy, ranking first among the three lightweight metals.

At present, the manufacturing cost of magnesium alloys is gradually declining, and the processing technology has also made breakthroughs, making it more and more widely used, and the demand has also increased. However, the current automotive market is still the main driving force for its growth. According to statistics in 2016, the average magnesium consumption of automobiles in my country is about 3kg, which is far from the average magnesium consumption of automobiles in North America, which is 10kg. At present, magnesium for automobiles in my country is still mainly in the field of automobile steering wheels. In the future, the potential penetration of instrument panel brackets, automobile wheel hubs, and automobile headlight brackets will be huge.