Development of a Thin-Wall Magnesium Automotive Door Inner Panel

Authors Abstract
Content
Cast magnesium (Mg) door inner panels can provide a good combination of weight, functional, manufacturing, and economical requirements. However, several challenges exist including casting technology for thin-wall part design, multi-material incompatibility, and relatively low strength versus steel. A project was supported by the US Department of Energy to design and develop a lightweight frame-under-glass door having a thin-wall, full die-cast, Mg inner panel. This development project is the first of its kind within North America. The 2.0 mm Mg design, through casting process enablers, has satisfactorily met all stiffness and side-impact requirements, with significant mass reduction and part consolidation. In addition, a corrosion mitigation strategy has been established using industry-accepted galvanic isolation methods and coating technologies. The performance of the Mg design has been demonstrated through component and vehicle tests.
This article is an updated publication of a previously published International Mg Association (IMA) proceedings paper [1] (with agreement from the Association).
Meta TagsDetails
DOI
https://doi.org/10.4271/05-13-03-0016
Pages
10
Citation
Wang, G., MacKenzie, K., Sweet, C., Carter, J. et al., "Development of a Thin-Wall Magnesium Automotive Door Inner Panel," SAE Int. J. Mater. Manf. 13(3):199-208, 2020, https://doi.org/10.4271/05-13-03-0016.
Additional Details
Publisher
Published
Aug 11, 2020
Product Code
05-13-03-0016
Content Type
Journal Article
Language
English