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2011 Aluminum vs. S45500 Stainless Steel

2011 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while S45500 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 25 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (10, 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 2011 aluminum and the bottom bar is S45500 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 71
190
Elongation at Break, % 8.5 to 18
3.4 to 11
Fatigue Strength, MPa 74 to 120
570 to 890
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 27
75
Shear Strength, MPa 190 to 250
790 to 1090
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 310 to 420
1370 to 1850
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 140 to 310
1240 to 1700

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 390
270
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 190
760
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1440
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 540
1400
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 870
470
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
11

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 11
17
Density, g/cm3 3.1
7.9
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 7.9
3.8
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
57
Embodied Water, L/kg 1150
120

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 29 to 52
45 to 190
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 44
24
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 27 to 37
48 to 65
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 32 to 40
35 to 42
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 14 to 19
48 to 64

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 91.3 to 94.6
0
Bismuth (Bi), % 0.2 to 0.6
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.050
Chromium (Cr), % 0
11 to 12.5
Copper (Cu), % 5.0 to 6.0
1.5 to 2.5
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.7
71.5 to 79.2
Lead (Pb), % 0.2 to 0.6
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0
0 to 0.5
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
0 to 0.5
Nickel (Ni), % 0
7.5 to 9.5
Niobium (Nb), % 0
0 to 0.5
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.040
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.4
0 to 0.5
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.030
Tantalum (Ta), % 0
0 to 0.5
Titanium (Ti), % 0
0.8 to 1.4
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.3
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0