Baotou institute marks progress in rare earth applications

The Baotou Research Institute of Rare Earth has successfully produced a large size rare earth magnesium alloy rod with a diameter of 550 millimeters -- marking new progress in reducing costs for large size and high-quality forged wheels and extruded profiles, according to news agency Xinhua.

Magnesium alloys are widely used in rail transportation, the auto industry, the aerospace sector and in 3C products -- computers, communications and consumer electronics.

Rare earth elements can effectively improve the mechanical properties and heat resistance of magnesium alloys, so die-casting magnesium alloy products containing rare earth elements have a broad market prospect.

According to staff at the Baotou Research Institute of Rare Earth, the grain size control of magnesium alloy is one of the most fundamental and significant technical methods for regulating the properties of magnesium alloy materials.

The institute has obtained encouraging research results for high efficiency grain refinement of magnesium alloy in the early stage -- which experts say is of great significance for the industrialization of rare-earth magnesium alloy ingot products and is the basis for the production of large-size rare-earth magnesium alloy rods.

The institute has independently developed semi-continuous casting technology in cooperation with Northeastern University and Shanghai Jiaotong University.

Officials said that through technical integration, breakthroughs have been made to solve technical difficulties -- such as large internal stresses in large-size rare earth magnesium alloy rods, large differences in radial grain sizes and uneven mechanical properties.

In addition, the institute has developed the QC830 cold-chamber die-casting system, relying on the pilot test platform, to achieve a production capacity of 300 tons of rare earth magnesium alloy thin-walled devices and accelerate the downstream end-use applications of rare earth magnesium alloy materials.