Madison, IL, USA & Manchester, UK - 21st December 2009. Magnesium Elektron has played a key role in the European consortium research program MagForming as the sole material supplier.
Magnesium Elektron was the sole material supplier of magnesium sheet and plate into the MagForming project.
The project was a 38 month development program funded by the European Union under Framework Six Priority 4 Aeronautics and Aerospace. The aim was to advance the state of the art in forming methods for a range of magnesium alloys in extruded, forged, sheet and plate forms using aerospace prototypes as demonstrators.
The program was a collaboration between 12 different partners including Airbus, European Aerospace Defense and Space Company (EADS), Liebherr Aerospace, Israeli Aviation Industries (IAI), and Palbam to name a few.Magforming was divided into a series of work packages, each targeting a specific area of forming. This included forging, superplastic forming, roll bending, pad forming, deep drawing, and creep forming. The project aimed to develop best practices for all of these methods via the production of aerospace prototype parts. This not only acted to demonstrate the forming process and its application to magnesium alloys, but also resulted in the production of useful parts for testing, potentially leading to the use of magnesium in the system and structure areas from which the parts had been taken.
A total of nine parts have been fabricated using novel approaches to forming methods. Of particular interest were a compressor scroll formed using superplastic forming and an antenna cover from Eurocopter, deep drawn in a single step.
The results from Magforming have showcased the ability to apply different forming technologies to produce complex components that are significantly lighter than their aluminum equivalents. The advances in forming technologies developed in Magforming, in conjunction with Magnesium Elektron’s ongoing work with the regulatory bodies, is enabling the application of magnesium in aerospace engineering solutions.
The Magnesium Elektron Division is a world leader in the production of high performance magnesium alloys and products. The company is part of the Luxfer Group, an international manufacturer of high performance engineering materials including magnesium alloys, zirconium products and high pressure lightweight gas cylinders.
For further details contact:
Dr. Bruce Davis, Magnesium Elektron North America, Madison, Il: Bruce.Davies@Magnesium-ElektronUSA.com
Nick Jeal, Magnesium Elektron UK, Manchester, UK: Nick.Jeal@Magnesium-Elektron.com
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