Electrolytic Production of Magnesium & Magnesium Alloys

Abstract

INDUSTRIAL growth of magnesium industry has been meteoric since the last War. Magnesium is somewhat lighter than aluminium and possesses excellent castability and machin-ability. It is, however,not as strong as aluminium in ten-sile strength and its relative corrosion resistance is also somewhat inferior. In recent years, however, the metal has acquired potential industrial importance by virtue of its ability to yield useful engineering alloys. The demand for manufacture of a wide variety of magnesium-base light alloys has steadily been on the increase. Apart from its use as a war-time material in incendiaries and in aircraft, missile parts, magnesium is assuming an increasingly important role in peaceful civilian uses. Magnesium is the fifth most abundant engineering metal in the earth following silicon, aluminium, iron and copper and constitutes 2.24% of earth's crust.