Is Magnesium ok?

[DonRotolo]

As many have noted, Magnesium in typical form is no more dangerous than any other metal - even underwater. However, smaller chips or particles are able to be ignited, and then become extremely difficult to extinguish.

Yes a class D extinguisher has a chance, but hav limited effectiveness and are costly.

If you use the metal and don't need to machine it, you'll be fine. But if it needs to be machined, you are better off avoiding it. The risk is small but the consequences very large.

[BBray_T1296]

Originally Posted by Mike Schreiber

Wasn't the housing on the NI cRIO magnesium? No one started any fires - although hopefully no one was machining it.

No, it was almost certainly certainly steel. Those things were heavy!

[InFlight]

One of the reasons magnesium (and it's alloys) isn't used much is because it corrodes at a very high rate in comparison to aluminum.

In terms of strength to weight ratio, both Titanium and Alluminum are ahead of Magnesium.

Magnesium prices tend to be volatile, cost is typically quite a bit more than Alluminum but less than Titanium. Magnesium tends to be used for castings and occasionally forgings;, but not normally drawn bar/sheet or extrusion stock.

[Nate Laverdure]

Originally Posted by Mike Schreiber

Wasn't the housing on the NI cRIO magnesium? No one started any fires - although hopefully no one was machining it.

Originally Posted by BBray_T1296

No, it was almost certainly certainly steel. Those things were heavy!

Nope, it's aluminum.

[barevalo]

Last time I checked, Magnesium is Mg not Ok.

[IronicDeadBird]

Originally Posted by barevalo

Last time I checked, Magnesium is Mg not Ok.

Beat me to it...

[InFlight]

Originally Posted by barevalo

Last time I checked, Magnesium is Mg not Ok.

"Magnesium is OK" when it's used in Aluminum Alloys. Both the very common 6061 & 7075 aluminum alloys contain Magnesium.

Magnesium is also used in almost all Steel & Stainless Steel Alloys. MG isn't used in Titanium alloys, as it's not soluble with the any of the TI phases.

[RacerX]

Our racecar has many magnesium parts, injector, supercharger case, valve covers and manifold. The entire body was made of magnesium sheet.

We have done quite a bit of machining, drilling and tapping of these parts, and never had any issues. But, we did make sure that all shavings were disposed of properly, and were kept from any ignition sources.

It does corrode if left untreated. Most all of our parts were Dow 7 dipped for a coating. They looked nice....

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/at...d=14648864 51

[Clem1640]

Originally Posted by Cory

I see no real safety risk associated with magnesium in the operation of the robot or in the pits at an event.

That being said, you could burn your shop down if you are milling/turning/sawing it and create fine chips that accumulate and aren't cleared out of the machines.

Cory accurately identifies the hazard of working with magnesium. It's not so much with the robot in competition.

My camera body is cast magnesium, due to the weight benefits provided.

[Mark Holschuh]

I once proposed to make some small engine parts out of magnesium alloy. Our company's insurance company threatened to cancel our policy immediately if we machined them in house. (They didn't work very well.)

[PAR_WIG1350]

Originally Posted by Mark Holschuh

I once proposed to make some small engine parts out of magnesium alloy. Our company's insurance company threatened to cancel our policy immediately if we machined them in house. (They didn't work very well.)

The engine parts, or the insurance company?

[Mechvet]

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

As many have noted, Magnesium in typical form is no more dangerous than any other metal - even underwater. However, smaller chips or particles are able to be ignited, and then become extremely difficult to extinguish.

Yes a class D extinguisher has a chance, but hav limited effectiveness and are costly.

If you use the metal and don't need to machine it, you'll be fine. But if it needs to be machined, you are better off avoiding it. The risk is small but the consequences very large.

This is a line of reasoning that's excellent. Risk v. reward is always an excellent comparison to run before selecting something outside the "norm."

Originally Posted by Mark Holschuh

I once proposed to make some small engine parts out of magnesium alloy. Our company's insurance company threatened to cancel our policy immediately if we machined them in house. (They didn't work very well.)

Seems like a rather uninformed reaction for an insurance company. Magnesium has applications all over, and can be machined and used quite safely.

Just get a Bromotrifluoromethane extinguisher (Halon 1301) for areas where swarf and chips can gather, and all will be well. I've personally used a CBrF3 extinguisher on several fully ignited systems (one jet engine, two transmissions, and one interior cabin fire involving vaporized JP5) with great success.

[ctt956]

Originally Posted by Mechvet

Seems like a rather uninformed reaction for an insurance company. Magnesium has applications all over, and can be machined and used quite safely.

Just get a Bromotrifluoromethane extinguisher (Halon 1301) for areas where swarf and chips can gather, and all will be well. I've personally used a CBrF3 extinguisher on several fully ignited systems (one jet engine, two transmissions, and one interior cabin fire involving vaporized JP5) with great success.

Wow, that's a lot of fires! Halon hasn't been produced in over 20 years, but it's still legal to use if you can find some; end of first section here.

[techhelpbb]

Fine silicon sand works but not instantly and you need enough sand to bury the fire and cut off the oxygen.

The sand will also take heat from the magnesium helping to bring the mass below ignition.

Be very careful: you need to keep adding sand for some time while eliminating other things that can ignite and this means you need to be close to a hot fire. The sand itself can be fuel in small quantites mixed into the magnesium dust. You need to bury and not mix.

There are several YouTube videos that show mixtures of magnesium dust and sand flaring up: in these cases the sand to magnesium ratio is too low and the 2 are mixed.

[adciv]

Originally Posted by Mechvet

Just get a Bromotrifluoromethane extinguisher (Halon 1301) for areas where swarf and chips can gather, and all will be well. I've personally used a CBrF3 extinguisher on several fully ignited systems (one jet engine, two transmissions, and one interior cabin fire involving vaporized JP5) with great success.

USAF?