Im getting ready to start making a gearbox for one of our school projects, and was wondering if there were any advantages that magnesium would have over aluminum other than weight savings? Where else has magnesium been used in production and / or race vehicles?
Not quite. Magnesium is stronger than aluminum. But, the problem with it is that it will work harden and crack. It is also nearly impossible to weld (alot like cast iron- crack chasing). But as shown in VW cases it may take a long time to be a problem. VW transmissions are also magnesium. They are quite sout and long lived. I think for gearboxes it is a great material. But I don't know whether the strength and weight issue will be enough benefit to outweigh the cost. Sounds like a great project keep us informed with the progress.
You can get a piece of mag burning in a good campfire pretty easily. I was just doing this over the 4th. As noted above, some transfer cases use magnesium housings. My 2001 GMC truck has an NP261 with a mag case.
a lot of dirt bike cases were made of Mag too. I once sealed my case from dripping oil with a quarter, and some JB weld. 80' Yamaha 125cc, ran great afterwards until sold.
P.S. Dirt bike cases can be used for smaller fires.
Shaggy
You ever hear of "mag" wheels? It's good to use plenty of coolant when machining magnesium, you wouldn't want to get it too hot (another manufacturing handicap)
If you really need a bright ,red fire, Road flares work too, a little more controllable than a hunk of burning metal.
Lots of dirt bikes used it for the cases in the late 70's and 80's.
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