Magnesium alloy applications in automotive structures

The use of magnesium alloys in structural applications has great potential for the lightweighting of transportation vehicles. Research within the CAST Cooperative Research Centre has tackled some of the important issues related to the use of magnesium in structural applications. To this end, a new alloy with extrudability and properties similar to 6000 series aluminum alloys has been developed. Furthermore, a method of laser heating magnesium alloys before self-piercing riveting has enabled high-integrity joining between magnesium components or between magnesium and dissimilar metals. In this paper, new technologies and improved understanding of the deformation behavior of wrought magnesium alloys are discussed in light of key metallurgical features such as alloy composition, grain size, and work hardening rate.