UDK 629.1-46:669.

721 ISSN 1580-2949

Professional article/Strokovni ~lanek MTAEC9, 45(6)633(2011)

M. J. FREIRÍA GÁNDARA: RECENT GROWING DEMAND FOR MAGNESIUM IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

RECENT GROWING DEMAND FOR MAGNESIUM IN

THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
RAST POVPRA[EVANJA PO MAGNEZIJU V AVTOMOBILSKI
INDUSTRIJI

María Josefa Freiría Gándara

Xunta de Galicia, Consellería de Educación e Ordenación Universitaria, 15704 Santiago de Compostela, La Coruña, Spain
[email protected]

Prejem rokopisa – received: 2011-04-08; sprejem za objavo – accepted for publication: 2011-06-17

This article summarizes the importance of magnesium and magnesium alloys in the automotive industry. The resources and
properties for magnesium, as well as for magnesium alloys, in manufacturing are concisely treated, taking the SF6 emissions
from magnesium production into account. Moreover, the possibilities of recycling magnesium and magnesium alloys are
considered, ending with the expectations and problems in the wider application of magnesium in motor vehicles.
Keywords: Automotive industry, Mg Alloys, emission SF6, recycling, motor vehicle.

V ~lanku je poudarjen pomen magnezija in magnezijevih zlitin v avtomobilski industriji. Viri in lastnosti magnezija in njegovih
zlitin so na kratko predstavljeni z upo{tevanjem emisije SF6 pri proizvodnji magnezija. Analizirane so tudi mo`nosti recikliranja
magnezija in magnezijevih zlitin. Predstavljena so tudi pri~akovanja in problemi ve~je uporabe magnezija v motornih vozilih.
Klju~ne besede: avtomobilska industrija, Mg-zlitine, emisija SF6, recikliranje, motorna vozila

1 INTRODUCTION try. And these lighter parts come with good deformation
properties, giving the products good dent and impact re-
Although a small amount of magnesium has been sistance, as well as fatigue resistance. The alloys also
used in automobiles for many years, its low density and display good high-speed machinability and good thermal
the constant search for weight savings are encouraging and electrical conductivity 2.
subjects to evaluate more potential applications. The ease Magnesium is a silvery-white metal that is princi-
with which die castings can be produced makes it a fa- pally used as an alloying element for several non-ferrous
voured manufacturing route for most applications 1. Cur- metals (Al, Zn, Pb, etc.). Magnesium is among the light-
rent applications include seat frames, transmission sys- est of all the metals and also the sixth most abundant on
tem casings, air-bag housings and lock bodies. Table 1 earth. The variety of applications of magnesium alloys in
summarises the benefits of using magnesium die castings the automotive industry, aerospace engineering, chemical
for seat frames. industry, etc. contribute to a rapid increase in the produc-
tion of magnesium in the world 3.
Table 1: Benefits of using magnesium die castings for seat frames The production of magnesium in the world increased
Tabela 1: Prednosti pri uporabi tla~nih ulitkov magnezija za okvirje from 20 000 t per year in 1937 up to 400 000 t per year
sede`ev
in year 2000, of which China produced 170 000 t of
Material choice: magnesium in 2000. Magnesium alloys are predicted to
• Lower specific weight than other options continue to grow in popularity (about 15 % per year in
• Better elongation than other die-casting metals the automotive industry alone), but the world’s supply of
• 20–30 % shorter cycle times than aluminium die casting magnesium, like every other natural resource, will be not
• Longer die life (about double) than aluminium die cast-
ing Table 2: US consumption of primary magnesium in 2007 by use
• ability to produce thinner walls than aluminium die cast- Tabela 2: Poraba proizvodov iz primarnega magnezija v ZDA v letu
ing 2007
Economic choice:
USE kt
• Magnesium price stability Magnesium casting 25.9
• Investment cost reduction in comparison to current seats Magnesium wrought products 2.7
Alloying element with aluminium (specially in 28.9
Pure magnesium is about one-third lighter than alu- aluminium cans)
minium, and two-thirds lighter than steel. A lighter Iron and steel desulfurization 9.3
weight translates into greater fuel efficiency, making Others 5.4
magnesium-alloy parts very attractive to the auto indus- Total 72.3

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M. J. FREIRÍA GÁNDARA: RECENT GROWING DEMAND FOR MAGNESIUM IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

be unlimited forever. The solution is, logically, to recy- Alloying means altering a pure metal by melting it
cle. Especially since anywhere between 30 % to 50 % of and adding other elements to it. This method is applied
the metal handled by die casters ends up as scrap. For the to almost all metals. Alloying magnesium improves its
end of life, a consequential approach is used: recycling strength, heat resistance and creep resistance (creep is
the metal will significantly avoid the need to produce defined as deformation at a high temperature and under
primary metal. To optimize the recycling of magnesium, load). For example, AZ-based Mg alloys are well known
an understanding of the current market of primary mag- materials produced by adding aluminium (Al) and zinc
nesium is essential 4. Table 2 is based on a publication of (Zn) to pure Mg. The appropriate amounts of additives
the US Geological Survey. may improve the strength, castability, workability, corro-
sion resistance and weldability of these alloys in a
well-balanced way 5.
2 RESOURCES AND PROPERTIES OF PURE MG
METAL. MANUFACTURING
4 SF6 EMISSIONS FROM MAGNESIUM
The abundance of Mg in the Earth is considered to be
PRODUCTION
the 4th highest metal, following iron, aluminium and sili-
con. The raw ores of Mg are dolomite (MgCO3. CaCO3)
The use of Mg alloys has recently increased. The sur-
and magnesite (MgCO3), and Mg is the second most
face-treatment techniques used to provide highly corro-
abundant metal in seawater, following sodium. There-
sion resistant Mg alloy products have already advanced
fore, it can be said that magnesium is an almost inex-
on the same level as the die casting methods of some car-
haustible resource, and is distributed all over the world.
bon steel plates and aluminium alloy products 6. To put
Magnesium is the lightest of all metals in practical
Mg alloy products to practical use, however, it is neces-
use, and has a density (1.74 g/cm3) of about 2/3 that of
sary to solve the critical problem that magnesium has a
aluminium and 1/4 that of iron.
high activity in the presence of oxygen. For Mg, it is es-
On the other hand, magnesium has shortcomings, sential to prevent the formation of products of reaction
such as insufficient strength, elongation and heat resis- with oxygen in the air. Currently, this is mainly accom-
tance, and a corrosion propensity. Its readiness to cor- plished with sulphur hexafloride (SF6) gas, but is a po-
rode has been found to be due to trace content of metals tential greenhouse gas so alternatives that do not use SF6
such as iron (Fe), nickel (Ni) and copper (Cu). The prob- are now under investigation. The magnesium metal pro-
lem of corrosion has to be solved if the purity of the Mg duction and casting industry uses sulphur hexafluoride
is improved. However, its electrochemical potential indi- (SF6) as a cover gas to prevent the violent oxidation of
cates that magnesium will corrode by contact corrosion molten magnesium in the presence of air. SF6 is a colour-
whenever it is in contact with any other metal. Therefore, less, odourless, non-toxic, and non-flammable gas. The
magnesium is generally surface-treated before it is used. industry adopted the use of SF6 to replace sulphur diox-
The methods for manufacturing Mg can roughly be ide (SO2), which is toxic and requires careful handling,
divided into electrolysis and thermal reduction. The elec- to protect worker safety.
trolysis method involves extracting magnesium chloride Historically, more than half of SF6 emissions from
from Mg ores and then reducing magnesium to its metal- the US magnesium industry have come from the primary
lic form by electrolysis. Thermal reduction involves ex- magnesium industry, and the magnesium recycling in-
tracting magnesium oxide from Mg ores, adding a reduc- dustry, for the most part, continues to employ sulphur di-
ing agent such as ferro-silicon to it, and refining the oxide as a cover gas.
resulting material by heating it to a high temperature un-
In 1999, EPA began the voluntary SF6 Emission Re-
der reduced pressure.
duction Partnership for the Magnesium Industry. SF6 was
introduced to replace SO2, which corrodes casting equip-
3 PROPERTIES OF MAGNESIUM IMPROVED ment also. However, safer SO2 handling procedures and
WITH ALLOYING the relatively low cost of SO2 compared to SF6 makes
SO2 more attractive 7.
The development of magnesium-alloy products has a
long history that dates from 1945. Research has been
conducted on the manufacture of various products, such 5 MAGNESIUM TODAY
as office goods, agricultural machines and tools, tele-
communications equipment and sporting goods. Mg al- The magnesium industry is now experiencing a time
loys have not yet been used as light structural materials of change with the die-casting segment characterized by
for aircraft. However, they have been used for the gear- rapid growth, both in the European and the North Ameri-
box housings of helicopters and other aircraft because can markets. On the supply side, newcomers have started
they are good vibration dampers, a characteristic that has production, several projects are under consideration or at
also brought them into use in the steering wheel cores of the pilot stage, while other suppliers have withdrawn
motor vehicles. from the business 8.

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 M. J. FREIRÍA GÁNDARA: RECENT GROWING DEMAND FOR MAGNESIUM IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

In today’s marketplace, magnesium die-casting The rapid growth of magnesium alloy die-casting has
means the production of parts in compliance with the triggered numerous developments of post-casting treat-
stringent requirements of high-purity alloy standards. ments. Equipment is readily available for trimming, vi-
This is the basis for the successful applications of bratory finishing, blasting and machining. New, environ-
die-cast parts for use in corrosive environments without mentally friendly conversion coatings have been
complicated and cost-adding surface treatments. It is a developed, as well as improved painting and anodizing
paradox that magnesium die-cast alloys are melted in processes.
steel crucibles, when we know that iron is an impurity
with a strong negative influence on corrosion. This can
only be done when the whole production sequence, in- 6 MAGNESIUM ALLOYS
cluding the processing of ingots, is performed with close
Due to their low density (1.8 g/cm3), magnesium al-
attention to the thermodynamic principles involved in loys offer distinct advantages for weight saving in auto-
keeping iron at an acceptable level throughout the pro- motive applications 9. It is fair to say that the 1990s have
cess. seen a growth of magnesium applications, among which
A number of applications, especially in the automo- are found steering-column assemblies, steering wheels,
tive field, require the ability to absorb energy without the instrument panels, seat frames, valve covers and even a
formation of a fracture. Typical examples are provided manual transmission-case application. The need for fur-
by steering-wheel cores, instrument panels/cross-car ther weight reduction is extending the future use of mag-
beams, seat parts and door parts. These are typical exam- nesium to critical components such as transmission and
ples where material properties, processing and design in- engine parts. Magnesium faces a challenge in meeting
teract strongly in determining the properties of the prod- the performance requirements of these components, for
uct. The safe handling of magnesium requires an elevated-temperature (150 °C) strength and creep resis-
understanding of the basic processes that can cause haz- tance, as well as adequate corrosion resistance. The most
ardous events. The most common reactions involved are economic use of Mg in the automotive industry at the
the following: moment is in die-cast applications and this is because of
1) Burning/oxidation the high productivity of the die-casting process, which
2Mg + O2 = 2MgO upsets the cost of the magnesium metal.
2) Rapid evaporation (expansion) of water entrapped by The 1990s have seen renewed activity in the develop-
liquid magnesium ment of elevated-temperature Mg die-casting alloys. In
Mg(liq.) + H2O(liq.) = H2O(vap.) + Mg 1994–1997 there have been patent applications on
rare-earth and calcium containing alloys. These alloy
3) Water reaction/hydrogen explosion
systems have very good creep properties, such as
Mg + H2O = MgO + H2 creep-resistance and bolt-load retention, but contain the
2H2 + O2 = 2H2O expensive rare-earth additions and their die-castability is
4) Thermite reaction not known. Also, in 1994-95 a cost-effective Mg-Al-Ca
3Mg + Fe2O3 = 3MgO + 2Fe alloy system was developed and a patent application was
5) Silica reaction filed.
2Mg + SiO2 = 2MgO + Si There is presently an ongoing worldwide effort to de-
There is a growing emphasis on environmental as- velop more optimum elevated-temperature Mg alloys.
pects when materials are selected. Magnesium, like alu- Work is underway on the development of new alloys
minium, is an energy-intensive material to produce, and with a potential application in automotive parts requiring
it is not obvious that use of this material will be benefi- elevated temperature performance, such as engine com-
cial. With a full analysis of the environmental impact of ponents and automatic transmission cases. The commer-
production, use and recycling, a life-cycle assessment cial success of these alloys will require Mg producers to
(LCA) can be performed. Hydro magnesium has issued a focus their efforts and address issues related to cost and
comprehensive life cycle inventory (LCI) for the produc- recyclability. In collaboration with part producers and
tion of magnesium die-casting alloys. This inventory has end users they will also need to address die-castability
been used to make a comparative analysis of the parts and manufaturability.
produced in die-cast magnesium alloys and other alloys.
It follows that recyclability is a necessary prerequisite to 7 POSSIBILITIES FOR THE RECYCLING OF
release the full environmental benefits of using magne- MAGNESIUM AND MAGNESIUM ALLOYS
sium. Another important factor is to reduce or eliminate
the consumption of the potent greenhouse gas SF6. Re- Simultaneously with the increasing applications and
cent research has shown that applying a dilute mixture of consumption of magnesium, significant quantities of new
SO2 in dry air is a viable method for replacing SF6. SO2 scrap are generated; scrap from production as well as
must be added as a 0.5–1.5 % mixture in dry air by using postconsumer scrap. As a result of this anticipated in-
a well-designed gas distribution system supplied from a crease in new scrap generation, companies are planning
special mixing unit. new magnesium recycling plants or they are expanding

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M. J. FREIRÍA GÁNDARA: RECENT GROWING DEMAND FOR MAGNESIUM IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

existing capacity. The principal long-term effect is that or more than 50 times the current demand. This leads to
after an automobile is scrapped the magnesium-contain- significant amounts of magnesium scrap. Depending on
ing parts may be removed from the automobile and recy- the die-casting process used, and the design of the part,
cled. These additional magnesium-containing parts between 80 % to 100 % of the net weight of the casting
would result in additional quantities of old scrap as a can be scrap. To realize this growth, magnesium has to
source of supply. The projected increase in the use of be economically and environmentally acceptable. All op-
magnesium in this application has prompted developed tions for reusing pre- and post-consumer magnesium
countries such as Germany, Japan, Great Britain, USA scrap in alternative markets, or for recycling, need to be
and Canada to install additional magnesium recycling ca- evaluated. The growing demand for magnesium alloys in
pacity. In USA in 1998 the recycling efficiency rate for the automobile industry necessitates increasing recycling
magnesium was estimated to be 33 %. capacities. In this respect, the recycling process is today
New magnesium-based scrap is typically categorized still basically related to the clean casting returns. How-
into one of the four types. Type I is high-grade scrap, ever, there is an ever greater need to recycle other resid-
generally materials such as gates, runners and drippings ual magnesium materials as well. The reuse or recycling
from die-casting operations that is uncontaminated with of these residual materials continues to be a problem, in
oils. Types II, III and IV are lower-graded materials. particular with regard to environmental issues. The
Type II is oil-contaminated scrap, type III is dross from re-melting of painted casting returns results in consider-
magnesium-processing operations, and type IV is chips able quantities of dioxin. These must be recorded quanti-
and fines. Old magnesium-based scrap or postconsumer tatively and, using an appropriate filter, must be removed
scrap consists of such materials as automotive parts, heli- from the waste gases down to a content of 0.1 mg/m3.
copter parts, lawnmower decks, used tools and the like. This demands a relatively large investment in filter tech-
This scrap is sold to scrap processors. In addition to nology.
magnesium-based scrap, significant quantities of magne- Today, the "dross" arising in the die-casting foundries
sium are contained in aluminium alloys that can also be is also recycled, i.e., the more or less salt-free magne-
recycled. In particular, magnesium has a lower specific sium scrapings that occur when the crucible surface is
heat and a lower melting point than other metals. This skimmed. The chips arising in the production process to-
gives the advantage of using less energy in recycling, day are contaminated with either oil or oil-water emul-
with recycled Mg requiring as little as about 4 % of the sions. Even with long draining times, it is not possible to
energy required to manufacture new material. At present, reduce the oil content to below 10 %. In this form, the
however, recycling procedures are still not fully devel- chips cannot be re-melted using any of the melting tech-
oped. For example, an experimental investigation of the niques applied so far. They burn (to a greater or lesser
processing of non oil-contaminated metal scrap based on extent), producing black oil-smoke clouds in the melting
magnesium and its alloys was carried out. Experimental crucible, resulting in extreme emissions of dioxins, total
investigations were conducted on a laboratory scale and C, HCl and Mg oxide, as well as scrapings that have to
the results were verified on an industrial scale. The in- be disposed of in an expensive process. This is a very
vestigations show that: processing of this kind of scrap is high-cost method of destroying magnesium chips. A
possible with a metal-extraction efficiency rate in range technique was developed, it consists of pressing the mag-
45–90 %, depending on the quality of the scrap; and for nesium chips in a hot condition at > 300 °C, which not
the purpose of achieving satisfactory techno-economical only removes the oil thermally, but also causes the chips
effects it is necessary to have suitable processing tech- to cake in such a way that a re-melting process can be
nology, which includes the preparation, metallurgical carried out without any major loss during red heat. Until
processing, smelting and refining. An electrolytic pro- now, this technique has only been applied rarely, and the
cess to recycle low-grade and post-consumer magnesium quantities to be pressed per unit of time are relatively
scrap was developed to recover magnesium from magne- small.
sium oxide, unlike the traditional electrolytic process In addition to protecting the environment, the main
that uses magnesium chloride as a feed material 10. objective, of course, is to manufacture a clean alloy,
which can be reused in the automobile industry and, if
possible, has a high-purity (HP) quality. To achieve this
8 THE RECYCLING OF MAGNESIUM
it requires a type-specific separation and collection of the
Magnesium scrap is being melted and refined under casting returns at the die caster’s plant, and a fault-free
strict control. After the removal of oxides and compo- handling/transport at the disposing/recycling company. If
sitional adjustments, magnesium alloys of at least the these prerequisites are satisfied, the recycling process
same quality as primary metal are cast into ingots. will result in an alloy that complies with the standards.
The magnesium die-casting industry has grown sig- Today we distinguish between four different recycling
nificantly over recent years and this growth is projected categories:
to continue with automotive applications leading the 1) "in-cell" recycling
way. The current consumption of magnesium is about 2 2) "in-house" recycling
kg per vehicle worldwide, and over the next 20 years, the 3) End of Life Vehicle (ELV) recycling
automotive industry could use almost 100 kg per vehicle, 4) industrial (external) recycling/service.

636 Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 45 (2011) 6, 633–637

 M. J. FREIRÍA GÁNDARA: RECENT GROWING DEMAND FOR MAGNESIUM IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

Depending on the structure of the installation, the an- that CO2 emission shall not exceed 140 g/km in 2012 and
nual capacities of the recycling plants vary between 120 g/km in 2014. According to previous analysis, it will
2 000 t per year and 10 000 t per year. be necessary to reduce the mass of vehicles by about
"In-cell" recycling takes place directly at the plant of 10 %. To attain such a great reduction in mass, it will
the die-caster, who immediately puts the clean, initial probably be necessary to replace steel with Mg alloys as
castings into the melting crucible again. "In-house" recy- the structural material. For this reason, much attention is
cling may become interesting for die-casters with high now focused on Mg alloys as structural materials or parts
throughput quantities. ELV recycling still poses a chal- for motor vehicles.
lenge. By 2015, automobile manufacturers will be forced To work towards a sustainable society, it is absolutely
to reuse 95 percent of the materials used in the car and, necessary to develop energy-saving technologies that
what is more, in the same area of applications. contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions. It is espe-
The traditional technology is melting and refining cially important to reduce the amount of energy that is
with salt, also called flux refining. The casting returns consumed simply to enable a vehicle to carry its own
are melted down in an open steel crucible (heated by gas weight around. Therefore, the weight reduction of trans-
or electricity) while salt is added. port equipment is one of the most important technical
The Salt Furnace Technology was developed, using challenges. It is anticipated that activities will be acceler-
super-heated salt to melt the returns and cleaning the ated to develop and commercialize Mg alloys that con-
melt by settling in a multi-chamber furnace. In the one- tribute to the weight reduction of structural materials for
furnace version of this technology, ingots are cast di- transport equipment.
rectly from the recycling furnace. There will be a con- Although Mg alloys possess a variety of desirable
stant increase in the demand for the recycling of residual physical properties, including lightness, they have had a
magnesium materials. The statutory regulations will be limited range of applications because they also have per-
ever more oriented towards a closed-loop cycle in which formance shortcomings, such as low strength, low heat
all the residual materials are, if at all possible, reused. resistance and low corrosion resistance. In recent years,
The utilization of larger quantities of "post-consumer however, advanced basic research on Mg alloys has en-
scrap" must be prepared and new applications must be larged the range of applications 14.
created for the use of "non-HP alloys".

9 EXPECTATIONS AND PROBLEMS IN THE

WIDER APPLICATION OF Mg TO MOTOR 10 REFERENCES
VEHICLES
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