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2024 Aluminum vs. SAE-AISI 5160 Steel

2024 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while SAE-AISI 5160 steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (2, 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 5160 steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 71
190
Elongation at Break, % 4.0 to 16
12 to 18
Fatigue Strength, MPa 90 to 180
180 to 650
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.29
Shear Modulus, GPa 27
73
Shear Strength, MPa 130 to 320
390 to 700
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 200 to 540
660 to 1150
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 100 to 490
280 to 1010

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 390
250
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 200
420
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1450
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 500
1410
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 880
470
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 120
43
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
13

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 30
7.2
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 90
8.3

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 11
2.1
Density, g/cm3 3.0
7.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.3
1.4
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
19
Embodied Water, L/kg 1140
50

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 20 to 68
73 to 160
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 70 to 1680
200 to 2700
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
13
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 46
24
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 18 to 50
23 to 41
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 25 to 49
22 to 31
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 46
12
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 8.6 to 24
19 to 34

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 90.7 to 94.7
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0.56 to 0.61
Chromium (Cr), % 0 to 0.1
0.7 to 0.9
Copper (Cu), % 3.8 to 4.9
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.5
97.1 to 97.8
Magnesium (Mg), % 1.2 to 1.8
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.3 to 0.9
0.75 to 1.0
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.035
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.5
0.15 to 0.35
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.040
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

Comparable Variants