Optimum design of fatigue-critical automotive components made of magnesium alloys

为了应对即将到来的燃料消耗和温室气体排放方面的环境法规变化，全球汽车行业通过在汽车制造中广泛采用轻质材料，在汽车结构领域发生了革命性的变化。镁作为最轻的商业金属，最近作为钢和铝的潜在替代品，在轻量化研究中发挥了核心作用。随着多材料汽车结构概念在汽车设计理念中的出现，镁等超轻材料应该被用在它们性能最好的结构部件上。变形镁合金表现出优异的疲劳性能，因此是设计和制造疲劳关键的汽车零部件的可行候选者，这些零部件以疲劳强度为关键性能指标。 滑铁卢大学、Multimatic Inc.、福特汽车公司、Centerline Windsor和CanmetMATERIALS实验室之间建立了独特的多学科研究合作，以设计、制造和验证由镁制成的汽车疲劳关键部件。这个端到端的项目涵盖了锻造镁合金的热机械行为、耐久性能和寿命提高、腐蚀保护策略和性能、金属智能结构和计算机辅助工程设计的发现级基础知识。通过这项研究，为镁疲劳关键部件的优化设计提供了必要的技术支持，为模具锻造和零件设计制定了稳健的策略。 该项目的关键发现将为制造高性能、轻量化的镁悬浮部件提供所需的基础知识和方法。这项研究的一个重要成果将是制定在汽车悬架部件中使用锻造镁合金的设计指南。该项目将从根本上减少汽车对环境的影响，同时保持或改善车辆的性能。在悬架部件制造中使用镁将显著减少车辆的未弹簧质量，从而提高乘坐舒适性、操纵性能、更好的燃油经济性，并减少温室气体排放。该项目的行业合作伙伴对确保该项目产生的知识及时转化为商业实践有着浓厚的兴趣，使他们处于先进悬浮技术的前沿，提高了加拿大和海外的竞争力。

In response to impending environmental regulation changes in fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emission, the global automotive sector has undergone revolutionary changes in the area of automotive structures through the widespread adoption of lightweight materials in the manufacture of vehicles. Magnesium, as the lightest commercial metal, has recently played a central role in light weighting research as potential substitute for steel and aluminum. With the multi-material vehicle architecture concept emerging in automotive design philosophy, ultra-light materials like magnesium should be used in the structural parts for which they perform best. Wrought magnesium alloys have shown excellent fatigue performance and hence are viable candidates for the design and manufacture of fatigue-critical automotive components, components with fatigue strength as their key performance indicator. Unique multidisciplinary research collaboration between the University of Waterloo, Multimatic Inc., Ford Motor Company, Centerline Windsor, and CanmetMATERIALS laboratory has been established to design, build and validate an automotive fatigue-critical component made of magnesium. This end- to- end project covers discovery-level base knowledge of thermomechanical behaviour, durability performance and life enhancement, corrosion protection strategies and performance, metallic smart structures, and computer aided engineering design of forged magnesium alloys. Through this research enabling technology necessary for the optimum design of magnesium fatigue-critical components, robust strategies for die forging and part design are developed. The key findings of this project will provide the base knowledge and methodology required for the fabrication of a high performance, lightweight magnesium suspension part. A critical outcome of this research will be the development of design guidelines for the use of forged magnesium alloys in automotive suspension parts. This project will contribute in a fundamental way to reducing the environmental impact of automobiles while maintaining or improving vehicle performance. The use of magnesium in the manufacture of suspension components will result in significant reduction in the unsprung mass of vehicles, thereby leading to improved ride comfort, handling performance, greater fuel economy, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Project's industrial partners have a strong interest in ensuring that the knowledge generated from this project is transferred into commercial practice in a timely fashion, putting them at the forefront of advanced suspension technologies, boosting competitiveness both in Canada and abroad.