Extrusion Method Improves Structural Properties of Magnesium

Magnesium is 75 percent lighter than steel, 33 percent lighter than aluminum, and is the fourth most common element on Earth behind iron, silicon, and oxygen. But despite its light weight and natural abundance, automakers have been halted in their attempts to incorporate magnesium alloys into structural car parts. To provide the necessary strength has required the addition of costly rare elements such as dysprosium, praseodymium, and ytterbium.