⚡Magnesium is 75% lighter than steel and approximately 33% lighter than aluminum,. It will soon begin to be used in automobile chassis production.
🟢Today, magnesium casting machines are generally used in the production of parts weighing a few kilograms. LK Machinery and iDRA have made significant technological developments in this field. Both announced that they can produce magnesium casting parts up to 20 kg with their new machine called ‘Giga Plast’, paving the way for its use in the automotive industry. The same two companies had previously developed #Tesla’s giant single-piece aluminum casting machines.
⚙️ These machines are first used to transform the structural elements of various electric vehicles. They are made possible by TPI technology, in which a type of semi-molten magnesium called ‘Thixomolding’ is simultaneously heated and compressed and pressed into the casting chamber.
🏭 Apart from the Chinese LK Machinery and its Italian iDRA, some other companies are also working on magnesium casting machines. It is expected that this technology will start to find a place in electric car chassis manufacturing by 2025.
🚙Considering that Tesla’s single-piece aluminum chassis weighs 60-80 kg, it seems difficult for magnesium to replace giant chassis parts in the near future. However, the fact that magnesium casting technology can be integrated into existing Giga Presses shows that this may be possible with the development of 40, 60 kg systems.
⚡The transition from steel chassis to magnesium in conventional cars will provide a weight reduction of up to 75%. However, in the near and medium term, the idea of using aluminum + magnesium chassis parts together is more dominant.
