Its hexagonal crystal structure offers few active slip planes at room temperature, so it has little ductility cold and cracks on tight bends. Heating to roughly 200 to 300 degrees Celsius activates additional slip systems and the material becomes genuinely formable, allowing deep draws and small radii that are impossible cold.

AZ31B in the great majority of cases - a magnesium-aluminium-zinc alloy that balances strength, formability and weldability better than the alternatives. It is stocked in H24 temper for strength and O temper where maximum formability is needed. Higher-strength wrought alloys exist but are mostly extrusion rather than sheet products.

It depends entirely on temperature, which is why a radius quoted without one is not useful. Cold, the minimum radius is several times material thickness and cracking is likely at tighter bends. Warm formed at 200 to 300 degrees Celsius, radii approaching one to two times thickness become achievable depending on temper and gauge.

Dry, interleaved and off the floor, with the supplied protective coating or oil left in place until fabrication. Bare magnesium corrodes readily in humid and salt-laden air, and stacked sheet traps moisture between faces, which produces staining and pitting that has to be removed before any coating is applied.

Fine chips and dust are, though bulk stock is difficult to ignite. Use sharp tooling and feeds that generate chips rather than powder, collect swarf dry and keep it clear of the machine, and have a class D extinguisher available. Never use water on a magnesium fire, as it liberates hydrogen and intensifies it.

In almost every application, yes. Chromate or chrome-free conversion coatings, anodising and paint systems are all used, and the choice follows the environment. Any joint to steel or aluminium also needs galvanic isolation - insulating washers, sleeves or sealant - because bare contact makes the magnesium corrode sacrificially.

Yes, by TIG or MIG under argon or helium, and AZ31B welds well. Success depends on cleanliness, since oxide films and residual forming lubricant cause porosity, and on managing distortion, because the combination of low melting point and high thermal expansion moves thin sheet readily. Fixturing and heat input control are the practical concerns.