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2024 Aluminum vs. SAE-AISI 1020 Steel

2024 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while SAE-AISI 1020 steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (3, in this case) are not shown. Please note that the two materials have significantly dissimilar densities. This means that additional care is required when interpreting the data, because some material properties are based on units of mass, while others are based on units of area or volume.

For each property being compared, the top bar is 2024 aluminum and the bottom bar is SAE-AISI 1020 steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 71
190
Elongation at Break, % 4.0 to 16
17 to 28
Fatigue Strength, MPa 90 to 180
180 to 250
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.29
Shear Modulus, GPa 27
73
Shear Strength, MPa 130 to 320
280
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 200 to 540
430 to 460
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 100 to 490
240 to 380

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 390
250
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 200
400
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1460
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 500
1420
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 880
470
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 120
52
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
12

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 30
11
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 90
12

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 11
1.8
Density, g/cm3 3.0
7.9
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.3
1.4
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
18
Embodied Water, L/kg 1140
45

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 20 to 68
72 to 100
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 70 to 1680
150 to 380
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
13
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 46
24
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 18 to 50
15 to 16
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 25 to 49
16 to 17
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 46
14
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 8.6 to 24
13 to 14

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 90.7 to 94.7
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0.18 to 0.23
Chromium (Cr), % 0 to 0.1
0
Copper (Cu), % 3.8 to 4.9
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.5
99.08 to 99.52
Magnesium (Mg), % 1.2 to 1.8
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.3 to 0.9
0.3 to 0.6
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.040
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.5
0
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.050
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.15
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.25
0
Zirconium (Zr), % 0 to 0.2
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0