What’s New at LMA May – 2008

Light Metal Age has released a new database. The Magnesium Article Archive is an easily searchable database of almost 600 magnesium-focused articles from the pages of Light Metal Age magazine from May 1943 to June 2008 on a compact CD. In addition, an introductory article exclusive to the CD by Joe Benedyk is also included. The article summarizes the content of the CD and gives a distinct look at the evolution of magnesium.

The database features a wide selection of magnesium articles spanning 65+ years, for example:

• “Magnesium Assn’s. New York Meeting” which covers the first meeting of the Magnesium Association on October 3-4, 1944. Highlights of the meeting covered in the article include a campaign to have government controls on magnesium lifted, the outlook for magnesium in postwar years, and magnesium’s readiness to be used in everyday applications. The luncheon held at the meeting is picture below.
• “Fabricating the Magnesium Star of the Festival of Britain,” published in October 1951, details the design and construction of one of the most ambitious magnesium alloy structures ever attempted at the time by Essex Aero, Ltd.

• “Die Cast Magnesium Crankcase for Porsche,” published in June 1968, reveals one of the many advancements magnesium has provided for automobiles, a crankcase for a Porsche engine, making it one of the most complex magnesium production die cast assemblies ever made.
• “Characteristics of Structural Change in the Process of Deformation and Recrystallization of Magnesium Alloy Sheets,” published in December 1973, relates the structure and micro-hardness in the surface and central layers of hot rolled and annealed magnesium alloy sheets.
• “Magnesium in the Volkswagen,” published August 1980, covers the use of magnesium in the history of Volkswagen, including die casting for VW engines and transmission housings, economic limits of magnesium applications, and the influence of heavy metal impurities on the corrosion behavior of magnesium alloys.
• “Magnesium Ingot By Ohno Continuous Casting Process,” published June 1988, describes the basic principles of the Ohno Continuous Casting Process and its application to pure magnesium. This unique process produces magnesium ingots free of macro-segregation impurities, gas holes, and grain boundaries.
• “Recycling: The Catchword of the 90s,” published February 1992, looks at recycling, its role in future industry, and how magnesium is poised to play a significant role in that future.

• “Effect of Processing and Environment on Mechanical Properties of Die Cast Magnesium Alloys,” published December 2000, presents the experiments, results, discussion, and conclusions of an investigation on the effect of die casting variables and corrosive media on impact, fatigue, and creep behavior on magnesium alloys.
• “Magnesium Research in Australia,” published April 2008, describes the different kinds of on-going magnesium research, as well as recent breakthroughs and discoveries that have come out of Australia, such as alloy development, casting process technology, corrosion and coating technology, and joining technology.

This archive is an encyclopedic look at the magnesium industry, covering everything from the history, process development, and technological advancements to the market outlooks, new products and applications, and more about magnesium.