Recycling of magnesium drive train components

Abstract

With the development of new heat resistant magnesium alloys, the automotive industry has introduced several parts to the drive train. The rising number of large magnesium components will result in a higher quantity of automotive post consumer scrap. It was the aim of this work to find a reasonable alloy system for the recycling of these magnesium drive train components. A matrix of potential recycling alloys based on the magnesium alloy AM50 was prepared via permanent mould casting. The materials were investigated via tensile testing, creep tests and salt spray tests. Three alloys were selected for processing via high pressure die casting and the tests were repeated on the new materials. A promising system for recycling has been isolated and will be investigated more deeply for the influence of impurities.