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238.0 Aluminum vs. AISI 321 Stainless Steel

238.0 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while AISI 321 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 29 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (4, 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 238.0 aluminum and the bottom bar is AISI 321 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 76
200
Elongation at Break, % 1.5
34 to 50
Fatigue Strength, MPa 110
220 to 270
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 28
77
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 210
590 to 690
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 170
220 to 350

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 430
290
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 170
870
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 600
1430
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 510
1400
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 840
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 100
16
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 21
17

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 25
2.4
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 67
2.7

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 12
16
Density, g/cm3 3.4
7.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 7.4
3.2
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 140
45
Embodied Water, L/kg 1040
140

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 2.9
190 to 230
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 180
130 to 310
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 12
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 42
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 17
21 to 25
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 23
20 to 22
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 37
4.1
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 9.1
13 to 15

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 81.9 to 84.9
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.080
Chromium (Cr), % 0
17 to 19
Copper (Cu), % 9.5 to 10.5
0
Iron (Fe), % 1.0 to 1.5
65.3 to 74
Magnesium (Mg), % 0 to 0.25
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0
0 to 2.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0
9.0 to 12
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0 to 0.1
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.045
Silicon (Si), % 3.6 to 4.4
0 to 0.75
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.030
Titanium (Ti), % 0
0 to 0.7
Zinc (Zn), % 1.0 to 1.5
0