Magnesium has a long tradition of use as a lightweight material in the field of commercial and speciality automotive construction. Racing cars used magnesium parts in the 1920's, but magnesium castings were not extensively used in commercial vehicles until 1936 when the Volkswagen Beetle was introduced. The car contained around 20kg of magnesium in the powertrain and during its peak production in 1971, consumption of magnesium reached 42,000 tonnes per annum.
Consumption then declined but over the past 10 years, there has been significant growth of magnesium in the high pressure diecasting sector, averaging almost 20% per annum worldwide; and it's the use of magnesium as a strategic lightweight material in the automotive industry that is the driving force behind this growth. With the necessary technological advances in alloy performance being made in the mid 1980's and the continuous drive to minimise weight and fuel consumption, today, there is an exciting synergy between what the automotive industry is demanding and what the magnesium industry has to offer.
Further growth is forecast over the next 10 years. In Europe, the increase in using magnesium as a structural lightweight material is being led by the Volkswagen Group of companies, with the material also being used by other leading manufacturers including DaimlerChrysler (Mercedes Benz), BMW, Ford and Jaguar. Presently, around 14kgs of magnesium are used in the VW Passat, Audi A4 & A6. All those vehicles use magnesium transmission casings cast in AZ91D, offering a 20%-25% weight saving over aluminium. Other applications include instrument panels, intake manifolds, cylinder head covers, inner boot lid sections and steering components which utilise the more ductile AM50A & AM60B alloys. In North America, the use of magnesium for auto applications is more advanced. The GM full sized Savana & Express vans use up to 26kg of magnesium alloy.
The motorsport industry worldwide has long recognised the advantages to be gained from using the sand cast high performance alloys originally developed for the aerospace industry. Their lightweight and high strength to weight ratio provide many teams with a competitive advantage. Elektron®21 is becoming more widely used in motorsport applications, for example replacing Elektron®RZ5 (ZE41) gearboxes. Elektron®WE43 and Elektron®WE54 alloys in cast and wrought form are being used increasingly in motor racing engines, often due to the very high operating stresses and temperatures.
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