Magnesium Alloys for Sustainable Weight-Saving Approach: A Brief Market Overview, New Trends, and Perspectives

Abstract

In the transportation sector, weight-saving strategies emphasize greenhouse gas reductions by improving fuel efficiency. Furthermore, it is a fact that consumers appreciate less-consuming vehicles. Lighter battery electric vehicles (BEV) mean higher travel distance covered with the same battery charge. Still, the fuel range of BEV is today not a secondary issue for choosing an e-vehicle as a unique family vehicle. Weight-saving strategies are also a priority for hydrogen gas-fuelled vehicles. Until hydrogen fuel for the transport sector is not produced at affordable costs in fully renewable pathways, increased fuel efficiency is critical for the product appeal. Magnesium is an environmentally compatible and biodegradable material with a similar density to structural plastics. On the contrary, plastics are responsible for nonbiodegradable microplastics in deep-marine environments when not recycled or correctly treated at their end of life. Due to the costly usage of lightweight materials, priority is given to activities to reduce costs by developing new materials and increasing the affordability of manufacturing costs. In this chapter, magnesium is presented from much perspective point of view: we will base it on comprehension of the past, considering the present, but with some ambition to propel hearts over today’s obstacles.

Applications of High-Pressure Die-Casting (HPDC) Magnesium Alloys in Industry

“…The side bolsters provide a more supportive and comfortable seat frame on the competition sport model [36]. Figure 5(b) shows the 2015 Mercedes-Benz SLK AM50 magnesium seat which demonstrates a 30% weight saving and received the 2015 "Automotive Cast Design Product" Award of Excellence at the International Magnesium Association (IMA) 72nd Annual World Magnesium Conference [37]. Manufacturing a seatback frame with one-piece HPDC magnesium alloy can have advantages over injection molding using fiber reinforced composite which is another alternative solution for lightweighting.…”

“…Figure 6(b) and (c) illustrates the HPDC AM60 display bracket and steering column manufactured by Meridian Lightweight Technologies. Figure 6(d) and (e) demonstrates the AM50 front and back center console on Audi A8 [37] and AM60 center stack on JLR Defender manufactured by GF Casting Solutions [45].…”

“…Figure 5. Images showing backseat applications: (a) 2014 Chevrolet corvette seatback (courtesy of GM); (b) 2015 Mercedes-Benz SLK seatback[37] (courtesy of GF casting solutions) and (c) 2014 BMW i3 seatback[38] (courtesy of BASF).…”

The Effect of Thermoplastic Elastomer and Fly Ash on the Properties of Polypropylene Composites with Long Glass Fibers

“…Because there are currently few technologies available to increase fuel efficiency, alternative solutions, such as reducing the weight of automotive components, are needed. A study conducted by D'Errico and Ranza [1] estimated that every 10% reduction in automobile weight would improve fuel economy by 7%. Weight reduction of automobile parts is the most cost-effective method to reduce fuel consumption and can be achieved through the optimization of structure, improving the functionality of components, and employing lightweight materials.…”

Lightweight Materials for Automobiles

“…European Directive on end-of-life vehicles requires the reuse and recovery be a minimum of 95% by an average weight per vehicle and year [15]. Researchers are working on tighter loop and closed-loop recycling for aluminum alloys [16] and magnesium alloys [17], which would decrease primary production-related emissions.…”