Additive manufacturing of magnesium alloy



Research areas


Magnesium (Mg) alloys have the lowest density (1.74 g/cm3) of the engineering metals, approximately 65% the density of aluminium alloys and 25% that of steels. The high specific strength of Mg alloys makes them attractive materials for light-weighting in automotive, consumer electronics, and aerospace. Additive manufacturing (AM) of Mg alloys is of growing interest in the community due to it enabling design capabilities not achievable with traditional manufacturing. The ability to produce complex internal and external geometries with high precision enables the development of geometrical features (which for example, if used as biomaterials would promote cell growth, proliferation and bone regeneration; or provide very high surface areas for Mg electrodes). This project provide students with opportunity to study additive manufacturing of a novel alloy, and establish an understanding of advanced manufacturing for metallic materials



This project aim to explore the microstructure and mechanical property, and effect of post-AM heat treatment on the mechanical property of AM-WE43 (Mg-Y-RE-Zr) alloy, comparing with conventional extruded WE43 alloy.



Basic knowledge in metal, solidification, and plastic deformation



Magnesium, additive manufacturing, mechanical property

