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WE54A Magnesium vs. S31727 Stainless Steel

WE54A magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys classification, while S31727 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 27 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (9, 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 WE54A magnesium and the bottom bar is S31727 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 85
190
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 44
200
Elongation at Break, % 4.3 to 5.6
40
Fatigue Strength, MPa 98 to 130
240
Poisson's Ratio 0.29
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 17
78
Shear Strength, MPa 150 to 170
430
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 270 to 300
630
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 180
270

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 330
290
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 170
1010
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1440
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 570
1390
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 960
470
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 25
16

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 34
24
Density, g/cm3 1.9
8.0
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 29
4.7
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 260
64
Embodied Water, L/kg 900
180

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 10 to 14
200
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 360 to 380
190
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 62
24
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 39 to 43
22
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 49 to 51
20
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 18 to 19
14

Alloy Composition

Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.030
Chromium (Cr), % 0
17.5 to 19
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.030
2.8 to 4.0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.010
53.7 to 61.3
Lithium (Li), % 0 to 0.2
0
Magnesium (Mg), % 88.7 to 93.4
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0 to 0.030
0 to 1.0
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
3.8 to 4.5
Nickel (Ni), % 0 to 0.0050
14.5 to 16.5
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0.15 to 0.21
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.030
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.010
0 to 1.0
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.030
Unspecified Rare Earths, % 1.5 to 4.0
0
Yttrium (Y), % 4.8 to 5.5
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.2
0
Zirconium (Zr), % 0.4 to 1.0
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.3
0