Ignition of Magnesium and its alloys

Oxidation of magnesium alloys at elevated temperatures in air: A review

“…Fassel et al [47] reported an increase of the ignition temperature of Mg alloys alloyed with Mn. However, this was contradicted by Bobryshev et al [45] found a slight reduction in the ignition temperature of pure Mg alloyed with 2 wt.% Mn. To clarify these contradictory results, further investigations would be useful.…”

“…Because of the exothermic nature of Mg burning, the ignition temperature has been measured as the temperature associated with a sharp increase of the alloy temperature [26,27,43] when the Mg alloy was subjected to a temperature ramp in air in a furnace. The ignition temperature of pure Mg ranged from 620 C to 650 C [45][46][47], which is close to or equal to the melting temperature of pure Mg of 650 C. For Mg alloys, ignition may occur at lower temperatures, either below or slightly above the solidus, because localized melting of the alloy significantly accelerates the Mg evaporation rate.…”

The Ignition Behavior of a Ternary Mg–Sr–Ca Alloy

“…The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report “Evaluating the Flammability of Various Magnesium Alloys During Laboratory and Full‐Scale Aircraft Fire Tests‐DOT/FAA/AR‐11/3” describes a full‐scale flammability experiment . Commercial alloys such as AZ91 and AM50 have even lower ignition temperatures than pure Mg, and their use would mean an increased risk of postcrash fire as the addition of Al and Zn reduces the ignition resistance of Mg …”

“…The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report "Evaluating the Flammability of Various Magnesium Alloys During Laboratory and Full-Scale Aircraft Fire Tests-DOT/FAA/AR-11/3" describes a full-scale flammability experiment. [6] Commercial alloys such as AZ91 and AM50 have even lower ignition temperatures than pure Mg, and their use would mean an increased risk of postcrash fire [6] as the addition of Al and Zn reduces the ignition resistance of Mg. [7] The ignition resistance of Mg is considered to be composition dependent, [8] as the addition of different alkaline earth (AE) and rare earth (RE) elements increases the ignition resistance of Mg and its alloys. [9] Mg has a higher oxygen affinity than other metals such as Fe and Al and, therefore, it would be oxidized preferentially, resulting in the formation of a porous MgO scale.…”