Magnesium alloy is a new lightweight alloy material in the 21st century. Most people know or have heard of this material, but some users do not know the advantages and disadvantages of this material. This article will introduce the advantages and disadvantages of magnesium alloy.
What is magnesium alloy?
Magnesium alloy is a high-performance lightweight structural material based on magnesium and composed by adding other alloying elements. Its specific gravity is similar to plastic, and its stiffness and strength are no less than aluminum. It has strong anti-seismic, anti-electromagnetic, thermal and conductive properties, and it can be fully recycled and pollution-free.
Advantages of magnesium alloy:
1. Low density, one-third lighter than aluminum, its specific strength (tensile strength to density ratio) is higher than aluminum alloy
2. High fatigue limit
3. Can withstand greater impact load than aluminum alloy
4. Good thermal conductivity
5. Good casting; Good dimensional stability
6. Easy to recycle
7. Good cutting ability
8. Good vibration damping performance
9. It is superior to engineering plastics in many aspects and can replace engineering plastics; High corrosion resistance in kerosene, gasoline, mineral oil and alkali
Disadvantages of magnesium alloy
10. Flammability
Magnesium has a great affinity with oxygen, and it is easy to react with oxygen in the air at high temperature or even in a solid state, releasing a lot of heat, and the generated magnesium oxide has poor thermal conductivity, the heat can not be dispersed in time, and then promote the oxidation reaction further, forming a vicious cycle, and magnesium oxide is loose and porous. Can not effectively block the invasion of oxygen in the air.
11. Poor corrosion resistance
Magnesium has high chemical activity, its equilibrium potential is very low, and it is easy to have galvanic corrosion when it comes into contact with different metals, and it acts as an anode. At room temperature, the surface of magnesium reacts with the oxygen in the air to form a magnesium oxide film. However, because the magnesium oxide film is relatively loose, its density coefficient is only 0.79, that is, the volume of magnesium oxide generated after oxidation shrinks, so the corrosion resistance is very poor.
In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of magnesium alloy are still to be developed, and some disadvantages can be realized in different environments.