Welcome to MagNET (NSERC Magnesium Network)
Carbon dioxide emissions from the transportation sector contribute 25 percent of Canada’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and that number is growing. The Government of Canada has set a target of reducing total GHG emissions by 45-65 percent by 2050. The North American automotive industry has set the objective to reduce vehicle weight by substituting magnesium in components currently fabricated from steel or aluminum; specifically, by increasing magnesium usage from the current level of 5 kg to 160 kg per vehicle by the year 2020.
The challenges are two-fold: i) to develop a low-cost processing route for magnesium; and ii) to produce magnesium materials that have acceptable strength, formability and joinability. The solution will be found only through an integrated effort that explicitly acknowledges the linkages between processing and properties. Our objective is to develop a magnesium fabrication route for the automotive industry that involves twin roll casting and limited thermomechanical processing, followed by a room temperature stamping operation and finally technologies for joining magnesium to itself or to other metals.
To address this challenge, a Strategic Network entitled “Developing Magnesium Materials for the Transportation Sector” (MagNET) was launched in 2008, backed by a $4.8 million award by NSERC – the Government of Canada’s Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council – and contributions from six Canadian companies and two government laboratories.
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July 8 - 12, 2012
The 9th International Conference on Magnesium alloys and their Applications in Vancouver, BC
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