Development of strong, formable, stainless and low-cost magnesium alloys for next generation cars

为下一代汽车开发坚固、可成型、不锈钢和低成本的镁合金

基本信息

批准号：
MR/T019123/2
负责人：
Dikai Guan
金额：
$ 93.49万
依托单位：
University of Southampton
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Fellowship
财政年份：
2022
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2022 至无数据
项目状态：
未结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=MR%2FT019123%2F2
关键词：
Development strong formable stainless low

项目摘要

Light weighting is one of the biggest challenges facing manufacturers today and urgently required for next generation cars to increase fuel efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. Reducing a car's weight by 50 kg decreases emissions by up to 5g CO2/km and increases fuel economy by up to 2%. Being 75% and 33% lighter than steel and aluminium (Al), Mg is becoming more popular with automotive engineers. In theory, Mg alloys offer a promising solution for lightweighting in several industrial sectors. However, Mg components currently only constitute ~1% of a typical car's weight. This is attributed to long-standing issues with Mg alloys such as high production cost, low formability and high corrosion rate, compared to heavier Al and steels. Therefore, designing high performance and low cost Mg alloys is in great demand for automotive industry. Producing strong, formable, stainless and low-cost Mg alloys is recognised to be extremely difficult and has not to date been achieved. Traditional alloy design routes and manufacturing processing are not only time-consuming and not cost-effective, but also cannot guarantee production Mg alloys with high performance. In addition, the highly debated recrystallisation and deformation mechanisms, critical in optimising mechanical and physical properties of Mg alloys, need to be thoroughly explored and established.The overall objective of this fellowship is to develop new routes of alloy design, simultaneously developing innovative manufacturing processes, thereby producing strong, formable, stainless and low-cost Mg alloys(e.g., yield strength >300 MPa, Index Erichsen (I.E.) value indicating stretch formability >8mm, corrosion rate <0.4mg/cm2/day). This will be achieved by understanding how the alloying elements interact with each other and how the developed processes can be used to tailor multi-scale microstructures (e.g., alloys containing ultrafine grains (~1 microns) with weak texture). Equipped with vast state-of-the-art facilities covering alloying designing, manufacturing and processing, testing and characterisation, Royce@Sheffield and Sorby Centre will help me deliver a step change in the discovery and development of new Mg alloy systems, enabling concepts development from early, fundamental research right through to translation to industry and, crucially, covering Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 1 to 6. Recently, a corrosion-resistant Mg-Li alloy was produced, but its high production cost and potential flammability still need to be considered before it can be commercially adopted. My goal is to push the boundaries of high-performance light Mg alloys yet further and I already have evidence that I can increase the strength and corrosion resistance of a commercial Mg alloy, currently approved by U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, without ductility loss using novel thermomechanical processing. This fellowship will address significant challenges in coupling high mechanical properties and corrosion resistance within a single alloy system.The fellowship aims to help industrial project partners accelerate the development of new advanced light alloys. New thermomechanical/manufacturing processes are exportable technology and will permit companies to develop new IP. My research will be further extended to develop products for aerospace, public transport and medical industries and ensure a low carbon economy in the UK. Most importantly, this fellowship will assemble a new UK team of engineering and microscopists with the aim of turning vulnerable Mg into reliable structural/medical materials, thereby accelerating the pace of light weighting in several industrial sectors.

轻量化是当今制造商面临的最大挑战之一，下一代汽车迫切需要提高燃油效率并减少碳排放。汽车重量减少 50 公斤，二氧化碳排放量减少高达 5 克/公里，燃油经济性提高高达 2%。镁比钢和铝 (Al) 轻 75% 和 33%，因此越来越受到汽车工程师的欢迎。理论上，镁合金为多个工业领域的轻量化提供了一种有前途的解决方案。然而，镁合金部件目前仅占典型汽车重量的 1% 左右。这是由于与较重的铝和钢相比，镁合金长期存在的问题，例如生产成本高、成型性低和腐蚀率高。因此，设计高性能、低成本的镁合金是汽车工业的巨大需求。生产坚固、可成型、不锈钢和低成本的镁合金被认为是极其困难的，迄今为止尚未实现。传统的合金设计路线和制造工艺不仅耗时、成本低，而且无法保证生产高性能的镁合金。此外，备受争议的再结晶和变形机制对于优化镁合金的机械和物理性能至关重要，需要进行彻底的探索和建立。该奖学金的总体目标是开发新的合金设计路线，同时开发创新的制造工艺，从而生产出坚固、可成型、不锈且低成本的镁合金（例如，屈服强度>300 MPa，指示拉伸成型性的指数埃里克森（I.E.）值>8mm，腐蚀速率<0.4毫克/平方厘米/天）。这将通过了解合金元素如何相互作用以及如何使用所开发的工艺来定制多尺度微观结构（例如，含有弱织构的超细晶粒（~1微米）的合金）来实现。 Royce@Sheffield 和 Sorby 中心配备了大量最先进的设施，涵盖合金设计、制造和加工、测试和表征，将帮助我在新镁合金系统的发现和开发方面实现重大转变，从而实现概念开发从早期的基础研究一直到转化为工业，最重要的是，涵盖了技术成熟度 (TRL) 1 至 6。最近，生产出了一种耐腐蚀的镁锂合金，但其生产成本高且潜力大在商业化应用之前仍需考虑可燃性。我的目标是进一步突破高性能轻质镁合金的界限，并且我已经有证据表明，我可以使用新型热机械技术提高商用镁合金的强度和耐腐蚀性，目前已获得美国联邦航空管理局的批准，而不会损失延展性加工。该奖学金将解决在单一合金系统中结合高机械性能和耐腐蚀性的重大挑战。该奖学金旨在帮助工业项目合作伙伴加速新型先进轻合金的开发。新的热机械/制造工艺是可出口技术，将允许公司开发新的知识产权。我的研究将进一步扩展到为航空航天、公共交通和医疗行业开发产品，并确保英国的低碳经济。最重要的是，该奖学金将组建一个新的英国工程和显微镜专家团队，旨在将脆弱的镁转化为可靠的结构/医疗材料，从而加快多个工业领域的轻量化步伐。