Magnesium alloy products in aerospace applications

2025 04/08

The aerospace industry requires a high degree of material lightweighting, and reducing the weight of a vehicle can help improve fuel efficiency, increase payload, and enhance range. The density of magnesium alloy is about 2/3 of that of aluminum, which makes it an ideal material to realize the lightweight design of aircraft. With the continuous progress of science and technology, the development of aerospace field is more and more inseparable from the participation of magnesium alloy.

Fuselage Structural Components

Fuselage Frames and Skins: Magnesium alloys are used in the manufacture of fuselage frames and skins, which reduce the weight of the structure while maintaining sufficient strength and rigidity. Especially in some non-load-bearing parts, the application of magnesium alloy can significantly reduce the total weight of the vehicle.

Engine Components

Engine cover: Magnesium alloy engine cover is lightweight and has good heat dissipation performance, which can effectively protect the engine and improve its operating efficiency.

Compressor and turbine components: Magnesium alloys are used to manufacture compressor and turbine components, which have good high temperature performance and fatigue strength, and help to improve the performance and reliability of the engine.

Cabin equipment

Seat frames: Magnesium alloy seat frames are characterized by high strength and light weight, which help reduce the weight of cabin equipment and improve passenger comfort and safety.

Baggage racks and hatches: Magnesium alloy baggage racks and hatches can significantly reduce weight and improve the aircraft's passenger and cargo carrying capacity while ensuring structural strength.

Flight control and missile systems

Electronic equipment shell: magnesium alloy is used to manufacture electronic equipment shells for flight control and missile systems, with excellent electromagnetic shielding effect and heat dissipation performance, to ensure the stable operation of the equipment in a high-intensity working environment.

Missile casing: magnesium alloy missile casing is lightweight and high strength, which helps to improve the maneuverability and range of missiles.

Extreme conditions under which aerospace products operate. The special nature of the work of aerospace products results in the following demanding performance requirements for materials:

①Low density.
Since the mass of a vehicle directly affects its maneuverability, and the mass of space stations and satellites determines the requirements and costs of delivery vehicles, aerospace requires materials to be as lightweight as possible, i.e. as low-density as possible. The chart below shows the economic benefits of each 0.45kg mass reduction in aerospace materials. The fuel cost savings from reducing the same mass of a commercial airplane and an automobile are nearly 100 times greater for the former than for the latter, while the fuel cost savings for a fighter jet are again nearly 10 times greater than for a commercial airplane. What's more, its improved maneuverability can greatly improve combat effectiveness and survivability. Therefore, the low density of magnesium alloy provides better conditions for its application in aerospace.

② Stiffness and thermal conductivity.
Specific stiffness and thermal conductivity of a material are very critical parameters. Magnesium alloys have high specific stiffness and high thermal conductivity. It can make some parts of the vibration (airplane wings) and in the low gravity, high vacuum space environment, can avoid the sun exposure makes electronic equipment overheating and burned.

③Vibration damping ability.
Magnesium alloy has good vibration damping ability, can ensure that aerospace products to withstand a large vibration load; magnesium alloy also has a high specific strength, anti-radiation, good dimensional stability, electromagnetic shielding, can resist short-wave radiation and high-energy particles of the “bombardment”. Aerospace industry requirements for material performance:

Structural weight reduction and integration of structural load-bearing and function are important directions for the development of aircraft airframe structural materials. Aviation and aerospace fields require magnesium alloys with excellent mechanical properties and high temperature performance, good corrosion resistance and good overall performance. Suitable alloys include AZ91E, QE22 (MSR), ZE41 (RZ5), EQ21, (ZRE1), WE43, etc., and their performance comparison is shown in the figure below. From the figure, it can be seen that various chassis bodies, transfer boxes and power supply units of aircraft, parts of helicopters' main transfer systems, and propeller systems can be manufactured using ZE41 and QE22 alloys; while parts serving at high temperatures can be manufactured using WE43 or EQ21 alloys. In addition, WE43 alloy has excellent corrosion resistance and can be used for aircraft propeller housings.The Mc Donnell Dougles MD50 helicopter utilizes WE43 alloy for the gearbox housing.

Currently, commonly used aerospace cast magnesium alloys and their properties and uses are shown below.

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