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3104 Aluminum vs. SAE-AISI 4340 Steel

3104 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while SAE-AISI 4340 steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (1, 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 3104 aluminum and the bottom bar is SAE-AISI 4340 steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 70
190
Elongation at Break, % 1.1 to 20
12 to 22
Fatigue Strength, MPa 74 to 130
330 to 740
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.29
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
73
Shear Strength, MPa 110 to 180
430 to 770
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 170 to 310
690 to 1280
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 68 to 270
470 to 1150

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
250
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 180
430
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 650
1460
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 600
1420
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
470
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 160
44
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
13

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 41
7.5
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 130
8.6

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
3.5
Density, g/cm3 2.8
7.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.4
1.7
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
22
Embodied Water, L/kg 1180
53

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 1.6 to 60
79 to 170
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 34 to 540
590 to 3490
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
13
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 50
24
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 17 to 31
24 to 45
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 25 to 37
22 to 33
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 64
12
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 7.6 to 13
20 to 38

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 95.1 to 98.4
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0.38 to 0.43
Chromium (Cr), % 0
0.7 to 0.9
Copper (Cu), % 0.050 to 0.25
0
Gallium (Ga), % 0 to 0.050
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.8
95.1 to 96.3
Magnesium (Mg), % 0.8 to 1.3
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.8 to 1.4
0.6 to 0.8
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
0.2 to 0.3
Nickel (Ni), % 0
1.7 to 2.0
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.035
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.6
0.15 to 0.35
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.040
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.1
0
Vanadium (V), % 0 to 0.050
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.25
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0

Comparable Variants