Development of a bus armrest fabrication process with a high-vacuum, high-pressure die-casting process using the AM60 alloy

Recently, interest in light-weight vehicle research is spreading swiftly across the globe. This is part of efforts to reduce CO2 emissions in many countries of the world, including developed countries. Magnesium alloys represent light-weight, metallic materials with a density of 1.74 g/cc, the lowest of commercial metallic materials. Conventionally, magnesium alloy has a higher viscosity than aluminum alloy and its solidification velocity is remarkably fast. Thus, magnesium alloys can incur more casting defects than aluminum alloys. Traditionally, a die-casting process consists of filling the die cavity with the molten metal under high pressure. Thus mass fabrication process of magnesium alloys is die casting and machining process only, currently. In this study, we focus on the magnesium vacuum die-casting process for the AM60 material for automotive parts. This investigation includes the part design, solidification and structural simulation, mold making, vacuum die-casting process development, a mechanical property test, and a durability test.