AG mobile phones and laptops, mag taps, mag door handles, mag car trim, even mag power tools are set to transform the look, performance, feel and durability of hundreds of familiar items, thanks to a discovery by Australian scientists.
A new Australian magnesium alloy featuring mirror finish, strength and lightness is gaining huge interest among manufacturers and designers around the world.
AM-lite is a magnesium high-pressure die casting alloy developed by an international research team led by Australian firm Advanced Magnesium Technologies (AMT), and the CAST Cooperative Research Centre (CAST CRC).
AM-lite is the first magnesium alloy that can be readily electroplated, and is lighter, more affordable, stronger and more suitable for decorative applications than competitors including zinc, plastics, aluminium and existing magnesium alloys.
“It has huge potential for virtually any component requiring a decorative finish, such as chrome plating in a motor vehicle or motorbike,” AMT managing director Ian Hartnell said.
“Market research indicates that people who buy quality cars prefer real metal to metal-look-alike coated plastic.”
Hartnell says the product is popular with Asian electronics companies looking for cost effective solutions to manufacturing problems with materials currently used in the production of casings for mobile phones, laptop computers and cameras.
From chrome plated bathroom fittings, door-knobs and taps, to metallic trim on mobiles, cameras and laptops, decorative magnesium is also suitable for the home and office.
It has also attracted interest from makers of power tools, chainsaws, fishing tackle and other metallic products where style, strength, lightness, cost and functionality are important.
The development of AM-lite began with a serendipitous discovery.
“We were actually trying to develop a low-cost magnesium alloy that resisted deformation for use in engine blocks,” CAST CRC chief executive Professor David StJohn said.
“This particular one didn’t work out for that purpose, but we noticed that castings of the alloy gave a beautiful surface finish.”
The discovery was made by researcher Monash University’s Dr Trevor Abbott, who now heads the AMT research team helping commercialise the new technology.
There was drama when AM-lite underwent initial casting trials in Europe. The first two trials showed the alloy was promising but that some essential properties were not up to market requirements.
Following a flurry of international scientific exchanges and the burning of midnight oil, the team solved the problem and the third trial was a triumph.
Hartnell says partner companies in China, Japan, Europe and Canada will produce the AM-lite technology under licence. It will be marketed worldwide under the AMT brand.
While retaining advantages common to magnesium alloys, AM-lite diecastings have superior surface quality and definition, and thinner sections can be cast than for other magnesium alloys. It is particularly suited for decorative electroplating, powder coating and electrophoretic painting.
Compared with zinc, the alloy is 70% less dense, produces three times more parts per unit weight of metal, and diecast parts cost 10-30% less.
Prof. Gordon Dunlop, Advanced Magnesium Technologies, 07 3510 4524.
Dr Sue Keay, CAST CRC, 07 3365 3574.