Hi

I have never studied magnesium myself but I got curios and took a small look around. For what it is worth.

Material damping usually arises from things like internal friction, (micro) plasticity which shows as non-linear effects, changes in energy level etc.

Magnesium itself has a loss factor higher than carbon steel, but does not seem to be exceptionally high, i.e. it is about 1-2%.

Magnesium alloys on the other hand can get structural loss factors up to 15%, i.e. the same ballpark as rubber. I assume that you refer to these?

The explanations I find for high loss in magnesium alloys are

• Dislocation (and impurities affecting internal material order)
• Internal friction
• Grain boundary sliding

Take a look here

https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/matertrans1960/18/3/18_3_277/_article

http://www.ysxbcn.com/down/upfile/soft/2010729/30-p448.pdf

http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/640465.pdf

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233496787_Damping_capacity_of_sand_cast_magnesium_alloy_AZ91

If you have an interest on damping in general, perhaps some of my ramblings can be of use? http://qringtech.com/2014/06/22/designed-damping-types-mechanisms-application-limitation/

Hope this helps

Claes

Article Damping capacity of sand cast magnesium alloy AZ91