5 Magnesium alloy - ultra-thin aesthetic design
Magnesium is an extremely important non-ferrous metal, which is lighter than aluminum and can form high-strength alloys with other metals. Magnesium alloys have advantages such as light specific gravity, high specific strength and stiffness, good thermal conductivity, good damping and electromagnetic shielding performance, easy processing and molding, and easy recycling. However, for a long time, due to expensive prices and technological limitations, magnesium and its alloys have only been used in a small amount in aviation, aerospace, and military industries, thus being referred to as "noble metals". Nowadays, magnesium is the third largest metal engineering material after steel and aluminum, and is widely used in fields such as aerospace, automotive, electronics, mobile communication, metallurgy, etc. It can be expected that due to the increase in production costs of other structural metals, the importance of magnesium metal will become even greater in the future.
Magnesium alloy accounts for 68% of aluminum alloy, 27% of zinc alloy, and 23% of steel. It is commonly used in automotive parts, 3C product casings, building materials, etc. Most ultra-thin laptops and mobile phone casings are made of magnesium alloy. Since the last century, humans still have an indelible love for the texture and luster of metals. Although plastic products can form a metal like appearance, their luster, hardness, temperature, and texture still differ from those of metals. Magnesium alloy, as a new type of metal raw material, gives people a feeling of high-tech products.
The corrosion resistance of magnesium alloy is 8 times that of carbon steel, 4 times that of aluminum alloy, and more than 10 times that of plastic. Its corrosion resistance is the best among alloys. The commonly used magnesium alloy has non flammability, especially when used in steam turbine parts and building materials, which can avoid instantaneous combustion. Magnesium ranks 8th in reserves in the Earth's crust, and most of its raw materials are extracted from seawater, so its resources are stable and sufficient.
Material characteristics: lightweight structure, high rigidity and impact resistance, excellent corrosion resistance, good thermal conductivity and electromagnetic shielding, good non flammability, poor heat resistance, and easy recycling.
Typical use: Widely used in fields such as aerospace, automotive, electronics, mobile communication, metallurgy, etc.
6 Copper - Human Companion
Copper is simply an incredible versatile metal that is so closely related to our lives. Many early tools and weapons of humanity were made of copper. Its Latin name "cuprum" originated from a place called Cyprus, an island with abundant copper resources. People named this metal material after the abbreviation Cu, which gave copper its current code name.
Copper plays a very important role in modern society: it is widely used in building structures as a carrier for transmitting electricity. In addition, for thousands of years, it has been used as a raw material for making body decorations by people from different cultural backgrounds. From the initial simple decoding and transmission to the crucial role it played in complex modern communication applications, this ductile and orange colored metal has accompanied our development and progress all the way. Copper is an excellent conductor, with conductivity second only to silver. From the perspective of the time history of people using metal materials, copper is the oldest metal used by humans, second only to gold. This is largely because copper mines are easy to mine and the copper industry is relatively easy to separate from copper mines.
Material characteristics: excellent corrosion resistance, excellent thermal conductivity, conductivity, hardness, flexibility, ductility, unique effect after polishing.
Typical uses: wires, engine coils, printed circuits, roofing materials, pipeline materials, heating materials, jewelry, cooking utensils. It is also one of the main alloy components for making bronze.
7 Chromium - High gloss aftertreatment
The most common form of chromium is used as an alloying element in stainless steel to enhance its hardness. The chromium plating process is usually divided into three types: decorative coating, hard chromium coating, and black chromium coating. Chromium plating is widely used in the engineering field, and decorative chromium plating is usually used as the outermost layer outside the nickel layer. The plating has a delicate and mirror like polishing effect. As a decorative post-treatment process, the thickness of the chromium coating is only 0.006 millimeters. When planning to use the chromium plating process, it is important to fully consider the hazards of this process. In the past decade, the trend of hexavalent decorative chromium water being replaced by trivalent chromium water has become increasingly evident, as the former has strong carcinogenicity, while the latter is considered to be relatively less toxic.
Material characteristics: very high smoothness, excellent anti-corrosion performance, hard and durable, easy to clean, and low friction coefficient.
Typical use: Decorative chromium plating is a coating material for many automotive components, including door handles and bumpers. In addition, chromium is also used for bicycle parts, bathroom faucets, furniture, kitchen utensils, tableware, and more. Hard chrome plating is more commonly used in industrial fields, including random access memory in job control blocks, jet engine components, plastic molds, and shock absorbers. Black chrome plating is mainly used for instrument decoration and solar energy utilization.
8 titanium - lightweight and sturdy
Titanium is a very special metal, with a very lightweight texture, but it is also very tough and corrosion-resistant, maintaining its own color tone for life at room temperature. The melting point of titanium is not much different from that of platinum, so it is commonly used in aerospace and military precision components. After adding current and chemical treatment, different colors will be produced. Titanium has excellent resistance to acid and alkali corrosion. After soaking in "aqua regia" for several years, it still shines brightly and shines brightly. If titanium is added to stainless steel, adding only about 1% will greatly improve its rust resistance.
Titanium has excellent properties such as low density, high temperature resistance, and corrosion resistance. Titanium alloys have a density half that of steel and a strength similar to that of steel; Titanium is resistant to both high and low temperatures. It can maintain high strength within a wide temperature range of -253 ℃ to 500 ℃. These advantages are essential for space metals. Titanium alloy is a good material for making rocket engine shells, artificial satellites, and spacecraft, and is known as the "space metal". Due to these advantages, titanium has become a prominent rare metal since the 1950s.
Titanium is a pure metal, and because of its purity, substances do not undergo chemical reactions when in contact with it. That is to say, due to its high corrosion resistance and stability, titanium does not affect its essence even after long-term contact with humans, so it does not cause allergies in humans. It is the only metal that has no effect on human plant nerves and taste, and is known as a "biometallic metal".
The biggest drawback of titanium is that it is difficult to extract. This is mainly because titanium can combine with oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, and many other elements at high temperatures. So people used to consider titanium as a "rare metal", but in fact, its content accounts for about 6 ‰ of the weight of the Earth's crust, more than 10 times higher than the sum of copper, tin, manganese, and zinc.
Material characteristics: very high strength, excellent corrosion resistance by weight ratio, difficult to cold work, good weldability, approximately 40% lighter than steel, 60% heavier than aluminum, low conductivity, low thermal expansion rate, and high melting point.
Typical uses: golf clubs, tennis rackets, portable computers, cameras, luggage, surgical implants, aircraft skeletons, chemical equipment, and maritime equipment. In addition, titanium is also used as a white pigment for paper, painting, and plastics.