The new magnesium-lithium alloy developed by Professor Chai Donglang of Xi’an Jiaotong University and his team has been applied in practice and has the characteristics of ultra-light, high specific strength, creative led screen and shock absorption. It has become the lightest metal structure material in the world. This is a big news that the media pays attention to recently.
On December 22, 2016, the high-resolution micro-nano satellite of the first global carbon dioxide monitoring scientific experiment satellite successfully launched by my country almost used this new type of magnesium-lithium alloy material instead of aluminum alloy structural material, which greatly reduced the The weight of its own structure, the payload has been significantly improved.
▲The photo of the first prototype of the CO2 detector
The most green and environmentally friendly revolutionary material
Magnesium-lithium alloy is the lowest density and lightest special alloy among metal structural materials, and is called “ultra-light alloy” in the industry. The lightest ones can float on water and become “floating on water” alloys, which are used to make structural parts of aerospace vehicles.
The densities of magnesium and lithium are 1.73 g/cubic centimeter and 0.53 g/cubic centimeter respectively. This new magnesium-lithium alloy is made by adding lithium element to metal magnesium and adding a small amount of other alloying elements. It has low density, high specific stiffness, Excellent mechanical properties of high specific strength, high damping performance of shock absorption and noise reduction, and anti-radiation and anti-electromagnetic interference performance.
“Magnesium-lithium alloy is a breakthrough point in the development of magnesium alloys. It is at the forefront of magnesium alloy development technology and is known as the most green and environmentally friendly revolutionary material in the future.” Chai Donglang introduced that magnesium alloys are composed of metal magnesium and other metal elements. The alloy is known as “the green metal structure material in the 21st century”, and the magnesium-lithium alloy is a kind of magnesium alloy, which has a lower density than ordinary magnesium alloys, and is the most promising material for aerospace. my country’s magnesium resources account for more than 60% of the world, and the output of primary magnesium accounts for 70% of the world. The main material of my country’s aerospace industry is currently aluminum alloy.
“1 cubic meter of aluminum weighs 2.8 tons, 1 cubic meter of magnesium weighs 1.78 tons, while 1 cubic meter of magnesium-lithium alloy weighs only 1.3 to 1.6 tons, and the weight reduction effect is obvious.” Chai Donglang said that the new Magnesium-lithium alloy, “the same size, the weight is only half of aluminum alloy, but the specific strength is higher than aluminum alloy. Compared with aluminum alloy, it can reduce weight by 40%-50%, and compared with general magnesium alloy, it can reduce weight by 20% %-30%.” Its damping performance is excellent, its attenuation coefficient is more than ten times that of aluminum alloy, the effect of shock absorption and noise reduction is good, and it is outstanding in shielding electromagnetic interference, which fills a gap in China’s new materials.
The expert appraisal committee organized by the Shaanxi Provincial Office of Science and Technology for National Defense agreed that the new magnesium-lithium alloy material has the characteristics of low density, high specific strength, and high plasticity. Aluminum and other aluminum alloy materials in the aerospace field have broad application prospects in aviation, aerospace, military, civil and other fields. The overall technical level has reached domestic leading and international advanced level.
In addition to being used in high-resolution micro-nano satellites, the magnesium-lithium alloy material developed by Chai Donglang and his team was first used on the “Pujiang-1” satellite successfully launched by my country on September 25, 2015. This is the first time that a Chinese satellite uses magnesium-lithium Alloy materials.
Portable, lightweight and environmentally friendly products will enter the lives of ordinary people
It is understood that magnesium-lithium alloy is the best material for manufacturing lightweight components, and its future applications will become more and more extensive. Portable, lightweight, and environmentally friendly products will enter people’s lives, and some advanced electronic products have begun to use Magnesium-lithium alloy.
Chai Donglang said: “Magnesium-lithium alloys are widely used in electronic products, medical equipment, outdoor equipment and other fields, such as notebook computers, mobile phones, video cameras, camera casings, etc., all require light weight. The research and development of products in the civilian field will be The main direction of our later stage.”
“Magnesium alloys have entered the field of automobile manufacturing and are used in steering wheels, instrument panels, etc.; medical magnesium alloys have also begun to be developed and can be used as prosthetics in the future.” Zhang Zhengsong introduced that in addition, such as communication base stations, heat sinks, camera tripods, etc. If it is made of lithium alloy, it can reduce a lot of weight.