Magnesium alloys are mixtures of magnesium (the least dense structural metal) with other metals (called an alloy), often aluminium, zinc, manganese, silicon, copper, rare earths and zirconium. Magnesium alloys have a hexagonal lattice structure, which affects the fundamental properties of these alloys. Plastic deformation of the hexagonal lattice is more complicated than in cubic latticed metals like aluminium, copper and steel; therefore, magnesium alloys are typically used as cast alloys, but research of wrought alloys has been more extensive since 2003. Cast magnesium alloys are used for many components of modern cars and have been used in some high-performance vehicles; die-cast magnesium is also used for camera bodies and components in lenses. The commercially dominant magnesium alloys contain aluminium (3 to 13 percent). Another important alloy contains Mg, Al, and Zn. Some are hardenable by heat treatment. All the alloys may be used for more than one product form, but alloys AZ63 and AZ92 are most used for sand castings, AZ91 for die castings, and AZ92 generally employed for permanent mold castings (while AZ63 and A10 are sometimes also used in the latter application as well). For forgings, AZ61 is most used, and here alloy M1 is employed where low strength is required and AZ80 for highest strength. For extrusions, a wide range of shapes, bars, and tubes are made from M1 alloy where low strength suffices or where welding to M1 castings is planned. Alloys AZ31, AZ61 and AZ80 are employed for extrusions in the order named, where increase in strength justifies their increased relative costs. Magnox, whose name is an abbreviation for "magnesium non-oxidizing", is 99% magnesium and 1% aluminium, and is used in the cladding of fuel rods in magnox nuclear power reactors. Magnesium alloys are referred to by short codes (defined in ASTM B275) which denote approximate chemical compositions by weight. For example, AS41 has 4% aluminium and 1% silicon; AZ81 is 7.5% aluminium and 0.7% zinc. If aluminium is present, a manganese component is almost always also present at about 0.2% by weight which serves to improve grain structure; if aluminium and manganese are absent, zirconium is usually present at about 0.8% for this same purpose.
Designation
By ASTM specification B951-11(2018), magnesium alloys are represented by two letters followed by two, three, or four numbers and a serial letter. Letters tell main alloying elements as per the table at the right. Numbers indicate respective integer compositions of main alloying elements, from most to least abundant. The serial letter is chosen arbitrarily in order to disambiguate between two alloys with the same designation. Marking AZ91A for example conveys magnesium alloy with roughly 9 weight percent aluminium (between 8.6 and 9.4) and 1 weight percent zinc (between 0.6 and 1.4), and the final A means it was the first alloy with this composition at the time of registration. Exact composition should be confirmed from reference standards. Aluminium, zinc, zirconium, and thorium promote precipitation hardening, manganese improves corrosion resistance, and tin improves castability. Aluminium is the most common alloying element. The numerals correspond to the rounded-off percentage of the two main alloy elements, proceeding alphabetically as compositions become standard. Temper nonstandard designation is usually much the same as in the case of aluminium: using –F, -O, -H1, -T4, -T5, and –T6. Sand permanent-mold, and die casting are all well developed for magnesium alloys, die casting being the most popular. Although magnesium is about twice as expensive as aluminium, its hot-chamber die-casting process is easier, more economical, and 40% to 50% faster than cold-chamber process required for aluminium. Forming behavior is poor at room temperature, but most conventional processes can be performed when the material is heated to temperatures of 450–700 °F (232–371 °C). As these temperatures are easily attained and generally do not require a protective atmosphere, many formed and drawn magnesium products are manufactured. The machinability of magnesium alloys is the best of any commercial metal, and in many applications, the savings in machining costs more than compensate for the increased cost of the material. Magnesium alloys can be spot-welded nearly as easily as aluminium, but scratch brushing or chemical cleaning is necessary before the weld is formed. Fusion welding is carried out most easily by processes using an inert shielding atmosphere of argon or helium gas. Considerable misinformation exists regarding the fire hazard in processing magnesium alloys. It is true that magnesium alloys are highly combustible when in a finely divided form, such as powder or fine chips, and this hazard should never be ignored. Above 800 °F (427 °C), a non-combustible oxygen-free atmosphere is required to suppress burning. Casting operations often require additional precautions because of the reactivity of magnesium with sand and water in sheet, bar, extruded or cast form, however, magnesium alloys present no real fire hazard. Thorium-containing alloys are not usually used, since a thorium content of more than 2% requires that a component be handled as a radioactive material, although thoriated magnesium known as Mag-Thor was used in military and aerospace applications in the 1950s. Similarly, uranium-containing alloys have declined in use to the point where the ASTM B275 "G" designation is no longer in the standard. Magnesium alloys are used for both cast and forged components, with the aluminium-containing alloys usually used for casting and the zirconium-containing ones for forgings; the zirconium-based alloys can be used at higher temperatures and are popular in aerospace. Magnesium+yttrium+rare-earth+zirconium alloys such as WE54 and WE43 (the latter with composition Mg 93.6%, Y 4%, Nd 2.25%, 0.15% Zr) can operate without creep at up to 300C and are reasonably corrosion-resistant. Trade names have sometimes been associated with magnesium alloys. Examples are:
Elektron Magnox Magnuminium Mag-Thor Metal 12 Birmabright Magnalium
Cast alloys Magnesium casting proof stress is typically 75–200 MPa (10.9–29.0 thousand psi), tensile strength 135–285 MPa (19.6–41.3 thousand psi) and elongation 2%–10%. Typical density is 1.8 g/cm3 and Young's modulus is 42 GPa (6.1 million psi). Most common cast alloys are:
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