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5051A Aluminum vs. S21900 Stainless Steel

5051A aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while S21900 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (4, 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 5051A aluminum and the bottom bar is S21900 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 68
200
Elongation at Break, % 18 to 21
50
Fatigue Strength, MPa 51 to 61
380
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
78
Shear Strength, MPa 110
510
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 170
710
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 56
390

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
290
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 190
980
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1400
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 610
1350
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 150
14
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
17

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 39
2.5
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 130
2.9

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
15
Density, g/cm3 2.7
7.7
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.5
3.0
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
43
Embodied Water, L/kg 1190
160

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 24 to 27
300
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 23
380
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 50
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 17 to 18
26
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 25
23
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 63
3.8
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 7.6
15

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 96.1 to 98.6
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.080
Chromium (Cr), % 0 to 0.3
19 to 21.5
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.050
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.45
59.4 to 67.4
Magnesium (Mg), % 1.4 to 2.1
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0 to 0.25
8.0 to 10
Nickel (Ni), % 0
5.5 to 7.5
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0.15 to 0.4
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.045
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.3
0 to 1.0
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.030
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.1
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.2
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0