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2011 Aluminum vs. S46500 Stainless Steel

2011 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while S46500 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 25 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (8, 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 S46500 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 71
190
Elongation at Break, % 8.5 to 18
2.3 to 14
Fatigue Strength, MPa 74 to 120
550 to 890
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 27
75
Shear Strength, MPa 190 to 250
730 to 1120
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 310 to 420
1260 to 1930
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 140 to 310
1120 to 1810

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 390
280
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 190
780
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1450
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 540
1410
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 870
470
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
11

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 11
15
Density, g/cm3 3.1
7.9
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 7.9
3.6
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
51
Embodied Water, L/kg 1150
120

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 29 to 52
43 to 210
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 44
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 27 to 37
44 to 68
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 32 to 40
33 to 44
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 14 to 19
44 to 67

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 91.3 to 94.6
0
Bismuth (Bi), % 0.2 to 0.6
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.020
Chromium (Cr), % 0
11 to 12.5
Copper (Cu), % 5.0 to 6.0
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.7
72.6 to 76.1
Lead (Pb), % 0.2 to 0.6
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0
0 to 0.25
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
0.75 to 1.3
Nickel (Ni), % 0
10.7 to 11.3
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0 to 0.010
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.015
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.4
0 to 0.25
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.010
Titanium (Ti), % 0
1.5 to 1.8
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.3
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0