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3203 Aluminum vs. SAE-AISI 4340 Steel

3203 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 3203 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, % 4.5 to 29
12 to 22
Fatigue Strength, MPa 46 to 92
330 to 740
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.29
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
73
Shear Strength, MPa 72 to 120
430 to 770
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 110 to 200
690 to 1280
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 39 to 190
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 620
1420
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
470
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 170
44
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
13

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 43
7.5
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 140
8.6

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.0
3.5
Density, g/cm3 2.8
7.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.1
1.7
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
22
Embodied Water, L/kg 1180
53

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 8.0 to 25
79 to 170
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 11 to 250
590 to 3490
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
13
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 50
24
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 11 to 20
24 to 45
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 19 to 28
22 to 33
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 70
12
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 4.9 to 8.8
20 to 38

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 96.9 to 99
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0.38 to 0.43
Chromium (Cr), % 0
0.7 to 0.9
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.050
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.7
95.1 to 96.3
Manganese (Mn), % 1.0 to 1.5
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
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.1
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0

Comparable Variants