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3003 Aluminum vs. AISI 321H Stainless Steel

3003 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while AISI 321H stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 31 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (5, 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 3003 aluminum and the bottom bar is AISI 321H stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 28 to 65
190
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 70
200
Elongation at Break, % 1.1 to 28
40
Fatigue Strength, MPa 39 to 90
200
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
77
Shear Strength, MPa 68 to 130
400
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 110 to 240
580
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 40 to 210
230

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
290
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 180
940
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 650
1430
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 640
1380
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 180
15
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
17

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 44
2.4
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 140
2.7

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
16
Density, g/cm3 2.8
7.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.1
3.2
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
46
Embodied Water, L/kg 1180
140

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 0.95 to 63
190
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 11 to 300
140
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 50
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 11 to 24
21
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 18 to 30
20
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 71
4.0
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 4.7 to 10
12

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 96.8 to 99
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0.040 to 0.1
Chromium (Cr), % 0
17 to 19
Copper (Cu), % 0.050 to 0.2
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.7
65.4 to 74
Manganese (Mn), % 1.0 to 1.5
0 to 2.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0
9.0 to 12
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.045
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.6
0 to 0.75
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.030
Titanium (Ti), % 0
0 to 0.7
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.1
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0