This article focuses on the variety of alloys, furnaces, and associated melting equipment as well as the casting methods available for manufacturing magnesium castings. These methods include sand casting, permanent mold casting, die casting, thixomolding, and direct chill casting. The article discusses the flux process and fluxless process for the melting and pouring of magnesium alloys. It describes the advantages and disadvantages of green sand molding and tabulates typical compositions and properties of magnesium molding sands. The article provides information on the machining characteristics of magnesium and the applications of magnesium alloys.

This article discusses the effects of heavy metal impurities, environmental factors, the surface condition (such as as-cast, treated, and painted), and the assembly practice on the corrosion resistance of a magnesium or a magnesium alloy part. It provides information on stress-corrosion cracking and galvanic corrosion of magnesium alloys, as well as the surface protection of magnesium assemblies achieved by inorganic surface treatments.

Magnesium and magnesium alloys are used in a wide variety of structural and nonstructural applications. This article provides information on selection and application of magnesium and magnesium alloys, mainly, casting alloys and wrought alloys. It also provides tabulated data for the composition, properties of these alloys, including compressive strength, bearing strength, shear strength, hardness, wear resistance, and fatigue strength. The article describes the selection of product forms (castings, extrusions, forgings) for structural applications which is based on mechanical property requirements, cost, availability, and fabricability. It also discusses the types of inserts used in magnesium. The article also deals with the joining of magnesium alloys by welding, adhesive bonding, and riveting. It concludes by describing the formability and machinability of magnesium and magnesium alloys, and explains the role of magnesium in design and weight reduction.

Magnesium is machined in low-volume production on small, manually operated machine tools and on large, specially built, completely automated transfer machines operating at high production rates. This article focuses on the factors that affect the machining of magnesium. It discusses chip formation and distortion due to thermal expansion, cold work, and clamping and provides information on magnesium-matrix composites. The article describes materials, design, and sharpness as factors for selection of tool for machining magnesium. It illustrates turning and boring, planing and shaping, broaching, drilling, reaming, counterboring, milling, sawing, and grinding operations performed on magnesium. Safety measures related to machining, handling of chips and fines, and fire extinguishing are also discussed.

Magnesium and magnesium alloys have been employed in a wide variety of structural applications because of their favorable combination of tensile strength, elastic modulus, and low density. Providing a brief section on occurrence, production, and uses of magnesium, this article describes alloy and temper designations of cast and wrought magnesium alloys. The role of mechanical properties and fabrication characteristics in selection of product forms for structural applications is covered. The article explores the use of magnesium alloys as a substitution for heavier metals such as steel and aluminum alloys to reduce weight in structural parts.

Magnesium alloys are used predominantly for high-pressure die-cast applications in which the use of a deliberate heat treatment is uncommon. This article provides information on the heat treatment designations for magnesium alloys. It describes the effects of grain size on magnesium alloys and the relationship between hardness and mechanical properties of the alloys. The article discusses the effects of elements such as aluminum, zinc, manganese, rare earths, and yttrium, on precipitation hardening. It describes the types of heat treatment for magnesium alloys, including annealing, stress relieving, solution treating and aging, and reheat treating. The article also discusses the preventive measures for the common problems encountered in heat treating magnesium alloys; and the evaluation of the effectiveness of heat treating procedures. In addition, it presents the processing steps involved in the heat treatment of magnesium alloys and in the prevention and control of magnesium fires.

In terms of forming, magnesium alloys are much more workable at elevated temperatures due to their hexagonal crystal structures. This article describes the deformation mechanisms of magnesium and provides information on the hot and cold forming processes of magnesium alloys and the lubricants used in the processes. It discusses the various forming processes of magnesium alloys. These include press-brake forming, deep drawing, manual and power spinning, rubber-pad forming, stretch forming, drop hammer forming, and precision forging.

This article discusses the forging processes and equipment and forging practice associated with the forging of magnesium alloys. It describes the workability of magnesium alloys. The article concludes with a discussion on the inspection of magnesium alloy forgings.

This article begins with a discussion on the corrosion characteristics of unalloyed magnesium and two major magnesium alloy systems. It shows the effects of iron and 13 other elements on the saltwater corrosion performance of magnesium in binary alloys with increasing levels of the individual elements. The article illustrates the effect of increasing iron, nickel, and copper contamination on the standard ASTM B 117 salt-spray performance of the die-cast AZ91 test specimens as compared to the range of performance observed for cold-rolled steel and die-cast aluminum alloy 380 samples. It discusses the effect of heat treating and cold working on the corrosion rates of the die-cast AZ91 alloy. The article concludes with a description on the causes of corrosion failures in magnesium alloys.

This article summarizes the fatigue and fracture resistance of selected magnesium alloys. It reviews the effects of surface condition and test variables on fatigue strength. The article also provides an overview of the fatigue crack growth, fracture toughness, and stress-corrosion cracking of magnesium alloys.

Surface treatments are applied to magnesium parts primarily to improve their appearance and corrosion resistance. Mechanical and chemical cleaning methods are used singly or in combination, depending on the specific application and product involved to ensure repetitive reliability. This article focuses on mechanical finishing methods, namely, barrel tumbling, polishing, buffing, vibratory finishing, fiber brushing, and shot blasting. It provides useful information on process control and difficulties with chemical and anodic treatments of magnesium alloys. The use and applications of plating and organic finishing of magnesium alloys are also reviewed. The article concludes with a description of health and safety precautions to be followed during the surface treatment process.

Most magnesium alloys can be joined by gas-tungsten arc welding (GTAW) and gas-metal arc welding (GMAW). This article describes relative weldability ratings and provides information on joint design and surface preparation and the use of filler metals and shielding gases suitable to arc welding of magnesium alloys. The article describes the repair welding of castings, with examples. It concludes with a discussion on heat treatment of castings after welding.

This article is a compilation of property data for standard grades of wrought magnesium and cast magnesium alloys. Data are provided for mechanical, physical, thermal, and electrical properties. Valuable information is provided regarding the applications, chemical compositions, relevant specifications, fabrication characteristics and mass characteristics of each alloy.

This article begins with a discussion on the environmental factors that induce corrosion in magnesium alloys. It reviews the factors that determine the severity of different forms of localized corrosion, namely, galvanic corrosion, corrosion fatigue, and stress-corrosion. The article discusses corrosion protection in magnesium assemblies and the protective coating systems used in corrosion protection practices. Protection schemes for specific applications and the production of novel magnesium alloys with improved corrosion resistance are also reviewed. The article concludes with a discussion on the corrosion of bulk vapor-deposited alloys and magnesium-matrix composites.