2018 Aluminum vs. SAE-AISI 8740 Steel
2018 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while SAE-AISI 8740 steel belongs to the iron alloys. 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 2018 aluminum and the bottom bar is SAE-AISI 8740 steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 120 | |
| 170 to 200 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 73 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 9.6 | |
| 11 to 23 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 120 | |
| 270 to 350 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 27 | |
| 73 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 270 | |
| 370 to 400 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 420 | |
| 580 to 670 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 310 | |
| 380 to 570 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 390 | |
| 250 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 220 | |
| 410 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 640 | |
| 1460 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 510 | |
| 1420 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 870 | |
| 470 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 150 | |
| 39 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 22 | |
| 13 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 40 | |
| 7.3 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 120 | |
| 8.4 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 11 | |
| 2.6 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 3.1 | |
| 7.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 8.1 | |
| 1.5 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 150 | |
| 20 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1130 | |
| 50 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 37 | |
| 71 to 120 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 670 | |
| 390 to 850 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 45 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 38 | |
| 20 to 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 41 | |
| 20 to 22 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 57 | |
| 10 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 19 | |
| 17 to 20 |
Alloy Composition
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| Aluminum (Al), % | 89.7 to 94.4 | |
| 0 |
| Carbon (C), % | 0 | |
| 0.38 to 0.43 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0.4 to 0.6 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 3.5 to 4.5 | |
| 0 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 1.0 | |
| 96.5 to 97.7 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 0.45 to 0.9 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0 to 0.2 | |
| 0.75 to 1.0 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0 | |
| 0.2 to 0.3 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 1.7 to 2.3 | |
| 0.4 to 0.7 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.035 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.9 | |
| 0.15 to 0.35 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.040 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 to 0.25 | |
| 0 |
| Residuals, % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |