“Now that we have shown this is possible, it
opens the door to a lot of applications.
”
—Jeff Moyer, vice president of business development and engineering, Meridian Magnesium Products of America
Berkmortel said. “If this would have been a mainstream steel design, and they had run into a weight issue and come to us then, they wouldn’t have been able to do this.” Indeed, Ford had been explor-
ing the possibilities of a magnesium liftgate inner panel for several years; the Lincoln MKT wasn’t the first car model targeted for the component. And magnesium is being used in certain structural applications else- where on automobiles, including seat frames, cross car beams and front end modules. Other door structures also have been produced in magne- sium, but never before had this large of a component been capable of exhibiting the strength necessary to meet the crash requirements placed on the rear of a vehicle. Now, design- ers that want to look into a similar structural design have a model to follow, according to Moyer. “For vehicle applications that are
roughly 50,000 units or less, this tends to be a good option from a business standpoint [because of the] tooling requirements and the total amount of money spent over the life of the pro- gram,” he said. Moyer said additional testing might
be needed on certain applications for magnesium to continue to grow, but the rear lifgate inner panel is yet another step in the expansion of the material in the automotive industry. “I think [designers] have a comfort-
able understanding of what magnesium can do,” he said. “That’s why it was clearly recognized and why we recog- nized the benefits of the collaboration. That has opened the opportunity to go to other customers and for additional programs for Ford.”
METAL July/August 2010 MetAl CAsting Design AnD PurChAsing 33
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