As told at the Togliatti State University (TSU), the ignition temperature of the new magnesium casting alloy is 200 ° C higher than that of the best samples of similar alloys. The developed material is capable of increasing the operational safety of aircraft, in the structures of which magnesium alloys are used to reduce weight.
Case in the consortium
The consortium “New technologies for magnesium alloys” was established at the end of December 2020 at the initiative of TSU. It includes the Institute for Problems of Superplasticity of Metals of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Ufa), the Institute of Strength Physics and Materials Science of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Tomsk), the Mordovian State University named after M.V. NP Ogareva, Samara State Medical University (SamSMU), as well as Solikamsk Experimental Metallurgical Plant LLC (SOMZ LLC) – as an industrial partner (an enterprise that produces goods and services using its own resources – approx. TASS).
The format of the consortium, the TSU explains, allows creating a flexible scientific and technological chain for the development and manufacture of innovative products. In this case, we are talking about the rapid introduction to the market of products from magnesium alloys that can be used in medicine, mechanical engineering and the aerospace industry.
Two-faced magnesium
Magnesium is considered one of the lightest metals. That is why alloys based on it are in demand in mechanical engineering, aviation and astronautics – they are used to reduce the weight of a product. In this case, the alloy must be strong, ductile, fireproof, as well as resistant to corrosion, wear and temperature.
Magnesium is a biocompatible material: it is incorporated into the human body and does not cause serious side effects. And it is also bioresorbable, that is, it can dissolve in a living organism. Such properties of magnesium open up wide opportunities for the manufacture of bioresorbable medical structures from it.
Competencies matter
To take full advantage of the advantages of magnesium and create alloys based on it that would have the desired properties, competence, technology and production capabilities are required. At the same time, the development, testing of the material and the production of products from it must take place in a short time – such conditions are dictated by serious competition in the international market.
The answer to these challenges was the creation of the consortium “New Technologies for Magnesium Alloys”, which concentrated all the necessary scientific and technological competencies in a single executive space.
Thus, three scientific groups work with magnesium at TSU. Since 2005, research has been conducted to improve the corrosion resistance, heat and wear resistance of the surface of products, including those made of magnesium alloys. Since 2019, methods have been developed to produce magnesium foam – a high-strength porous material from magnesium and its alloys, which better absorbs impact energy in a collision and mechanical vibrations, thanks to which it can be used in the automotive and aerospace industries. Also, TSU has competence in the field of welding products from magnesium, which may be in demand for the development of 3D printing technology.
“The advantage of consortia is that they allow you to combine efforts and achieve common results that cannot be achieved individually. We are a medical university. TSU creates, we test samples,” says the rector of Mordovia State University. N.P. Ogareva Nikolay Pyataev.
The university, within the framework of the consortium, will be engaged in preclinical testing of magnesium alloys to determine the rate of their resorption, that is, resorption, under various conditions of use.
According to the chief freelance specialist in maxillofacial surgery of the Ministry of Health of the Samara region, head of the department and clinic of maxillofacial surgery and dentistry of Samara State Medical University, Professor Ivan Bayrikov, the need for new scientific data on magnesium alloys is extremely high.
“Of course, I hope that we will be able to use magnesium alloys not only in maxillofacial traumatology, but also in other branches of medicine,” Bayrikov explains. filled with either stem cells or autologous bone (fragments of the patient's own bone – approx. TASS). As the magnesium alloy in the implant inserted into the body begins to dissolve, the bone material will consolidate, fuse and restore the damaged bone. This is important in tumor processes and reconstructive operations on bones “.
Since Samara State Medical University has extensive experience in preparing permits for admitting products for medical use, it is responsible for clinical trials and the development of treatment methods using magnesium implants within the consortium.
Positions in the global market
According to experts, Russia's position in the global magnesium technology market is still inferior to a number of countries.
“The created consortium will help bring the development of magnesium technologies in Russia to a new, higher quality level, improve the position of our country in the world market in this direction,” says Evgeny Kolubaev, director of the Institute of Strength Physics and Materials Science of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IPPM SB RAS).
The institute has the necessary competencies to use fire-safe technology for 3D printing products from magnesium alloys. “Magnesium is a complex material, highly flammable, not easy to work with. Nevertheless, it is very promising. Our electron-beam 3D printer is best suited for creating products from magnesium alloys,” says Kolubaev.
Since 2012, TSU has been studying the mechanisms of deformation and fracture of promising magnesium alloys. Thanks to the accumulated experience on the basis of the laboratory “Physics of Strength and Intelligent Diagnostic Systems”, a line of magnesium alloys has been developed, a technology has been created for the simultaneous increase of their plasticity, strength and fatigue properties.
“Today, the world leaders in magnesium are China, the USA, Japan, Australia and other countries. The rapid growth of interest in magnesium occurred in the early 2000s, TSU joined later, but thanks to close international cooperation with the universities of Seoul, Prague and Kumamoto we were able to quickly eliminate a significant gap from the world level, and in some areas, for example, in medicine and fire safety, even surpass competitors, “says Dmitry Merson, director of the Research Institute of Progressive Technologies of TSU. According to him, a memorandum of cooperation was signed between the Magnesium Research Center of Kumamoto University in Japan and Togliatti State University, which was extended for five years in 2020.
Production and investment
The industrial partner and member of the consortium Solikamsk Experimental Metallurgical Plant LLC will be engaged in the smelting of new high-purity magnesium alloys. For this, the plant has special equipment, and most importantly – extensive experience.
“In Soviet times, we were at the forefront of magnesium technologies, and now Russia is very far behind foreign countries. Companies and institutions that work in this direction want to create some new product, technology. Our plant is a manufacturer of alloys, it is important for us to be I am aware of everything that is being done in the country on the magnesium topic, and to promote it in every possible way. As for the TSU scientists, we believe that they are working for the future, and I believe that we will have good results in the consortium, “says the director of the LLC” SOMZ “Ivan Irtegov.
The necessary investments for the commercialization of the developments of the consortium “New technologies for magnesium alloys” are estimated at 360 million rubles. The first product sales are scheduled for 2023.
