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3104 Aluminum vs. S32520 Stainless Steel

3104 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while S32520 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 30 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 3104 aluminum and the bottom bar is S32520 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 70
200
Elongation at Break, % 1.1 to 20
28
Fatigue Strength, MPa 74 to 130
460
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.27
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
80
Shear Strength, MPa 110 to 180
560
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 170 to 310
860
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 68 to 270
630

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
300
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 180
1100
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 650
1440
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 600
1400
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 160
15
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
13

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 41
2.2
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 130
2.5

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
20
Density, g/cm3 2.8
7.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.4
4.0
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
55
Embodied Water, L/kg 1180
180

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 1.6 to 60
220
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 34 to 540
960
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 50
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 17 to 31
31
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 25 to 37
26
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 64
4.1
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 7.6 to 13
24

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 95.1 to 98.4
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.030
Chromium (Cr), % 0
24 to 26
Copper (Cu), % 0.050 to 0.25
0.5 to 2.0
Gallium (Ga), % 0 to 0.050
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.8
57.3 to 66.8
Magnesium (Mg), % 0.8 to 1.3
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.8 to 1.4
0 to 1.5
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
3.0 to 4.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0
5.5 to 8.0
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0.2 to 0.35
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.035
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.6
0 to 0.8
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.020
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