Current issues in magnesium sheet alloys: Where do we go from here?

Critical issues relating to the strength and formability of Mg sheet alloys are assessed. It is shown that Mg alloys in general have slow aging kinetics and even the most formable Mg alloys have less than optimum orthotropic texture. It is suggested that future research and development efforts should be concentrated on identifying the alloying elements and optimizing the related processes that can accelerate the age-hardening response and modify the texture to be weak and symmetric in the sheet plane.