Magnesium Elektron, Inc.

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Stephen L Bradshaw

John F King

William Unsworth

Magnesium alloys for castings having good tensile properties at both ambient and high temperatures and good resistance to creep contain 1.5-10% of yttrium or an yttrium/heavy rare earths mixture and 1-6% of neodymium or a neodymium/lanthanum/praseodymium mixture. The alloys may be heat treated to improve their properties.

Magnesium alloys

A magnesium alloy contains the following additives: A1 1-9%, Zn 0-4%, Sn 0.1-5%, Mn 0-1%. It is useful as an anode in cells operating with a salt water electrolyte, especially in batteries powering equipment for deep-sea use in which a pulsed power source is required.

Primary electric cell having magnesium alloy anode

A magnesium-based alloy for casting contains at least 88% magnesium, 1.6-3.5% silver, 0.1-2.3% of rare earth metals comprising at least 60% neodymium, 0-2.3% thorium and 0.1-2.5% yttrium. When no more than 0.5% of yttrium is present the minimum amount of thorium is given by the equation ##EQU1## Other elements may be present to improve the alloy properties.

Magnesium alloys having favorable tensile properties contain silver, copper and neodymium. The alloys are subjected to a solution heat treatment followed by ageing to give optimum properties.

Magnesium alloys having favorable mechanical properties at high temperatures contain silver, neodymium and thorium, the permissible content of neodymium varying inversely according to the content of the thorium. The alloys are subjected to solution heat treatment followed by ageing to give optimum properties.

Magnesium alloys having improved high-temperature properties, especially improved resistance to creep, contain from 1.25 to 3.0% silver, 0.5 to 2.5% of rare metals including at least 60% neodymium and from 2.5 to 7.0% thorium. Optimum properties are obtained by high-temperature solution treatment followed by aging at a lower temperature.

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Bolton, United Kingdom

Stephen L Bradshaw