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4115 Aluminum vs. AISI 321 Stainless Steel

4115 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while AISI 321 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 31 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (2, 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 4115 aluminum and the bottom bar is AISI 321 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 38 to 68
170 to 210
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 70
200
Elongation at Break, % 1.1 to 11
34 to 50
Fatigue Strength, MPa 39 to 76
220 to 270
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
77
Shear Strength, MPa 71 to 130
420 to 460
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 120 to 220
590 to 690
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 39 to 190
220 to 350

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 420
290
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 160
870
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1430
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 590
1400
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 160
16
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
17

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 41
2.4
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 140
2.7

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
16
Density, g/cm3 2.7
7.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.1
3.2
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
45
Embodied Water, L/kg 1160
140

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 2.1 to 10
190 to 230
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 11 to 270
130 to 310
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 50
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 12 to 23
21 to 25
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 20 to 30
20 to 22
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 66
4.1
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 5.2 to 9.9
13 to 15

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 94.6 to 97.4
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.080
Chromium (Cr), % 0
17 to 19
Copper (Cu), % 0.1 to 0.5
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.7
65.3 to 74
Magnesium (Mg), % 0.1 to 0.5
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.6 to 1.2
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), % 1.8 to 2.2
0 to 0.75
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.030
Titanium (Ti), % 0
0 to 0.7
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.2
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0