Al and Mg-Based Lightweight Metallic Materials for Automobile Applications

The need for the development of eco-friendly and fuel efficient transport devices demands the use of high performance lightweight materials. A few attractive features of lightweight materials include low density and high specific strength and modulus. There are a number of material systems in this category including Al- and Mg- based alloys and their composites, Al foam, sandwich panels etc. In this study, an attempt has been made to highlight some of our R&D efforts pertaining to the development of Al metal matrix composite (MMC), Mg alloys, Al foam and components thereof like automobile brake drum, crash box etc. Al foam could be used for crash box and noise and vibration attenuation applications. It is evident from the results that the metal foam has the highest loss factor and damping coefficient as compared to the other investigated materials. Foam filled tubes exhibit damping capacity ∼9 to 10 times higher than the dense steel bars or hollow steel tube. Al MMC has drawn considerable attention of the automobile sector for developing brakedrums, pistons, cylinder liners, connecting rods etc. because of their interesting combination of properties such as high specific strength and specific modulus, better wear resistance, good corrosion resistance etc. The developed MMC brake drum is in a process of being tested. Mg alloys also find applications in the transportation sector in the form of engine/gear box casings, bearing covers etc. Rolling behaviour of Mg alloys has also been studied with improvement in properties after rolling.