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The demand for magnesium prototypes is growing very rapidly with the increasing number of new applications for magnesium die castings. Plaster mold casting is becoming more used amongst all other prototyping methods because it can produce castings with thin walls, smooth surface finish and close dimensional tolerances. However plaster mold casting of magnesium alloys has only been used until now by a few foundries because of the risks of violent reaction if the process is not carefully controlled. For this reason, very little quantitative information about properties of plaster cast magnesium alloys is available in the literature. In this study, mechanical, corrosion resistance and microstructural properties of alloy AZ91E are reported as a first phase of the work being conducted at the Institute. As cast (F), solution annealed (T4) and solution annealed and aged (T6) properties of 12,5 mm (1/2 inch) diameter test bars were studied.

Prototypes are a vital link between a mechanical or conceptual drawing and the tooling needed to produce a sucessful diecasting. Past experience has shown that during the prototyping phase of a component development program, quality, timing, flexibility and cost are very important elements. For these reasons, sand cast and plaster cast magnesium parts are often used to produce prototypes for magnesium diecastings which reproduce as much as possible the specified form, function and performance requirements (1). This paper outlines the magnesium sand casting and plaster casting process technologies, the differences between the prototypes produced by each method and examples of succesfully prototyped magnesium applications.