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5051A Aluminum vs. S82031 Stainless Steel

5051A aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while S82031 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (3, 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 S82031 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 68
200
Elongation at Break, % 18 to 21
39
Fatigue Strength, MPa 51 to 61
490
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
78
Shear Strength, MPa 110
540
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 170
780
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 56
570

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
290
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 190
980
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1430
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 610
1390
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 150
15
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
13

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 39
2.2
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 130
2.5

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
13
Density, g/cm3 2.7
7.7
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.5
2.8
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
39
Embodied Water, L/kg 1190
150

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 24 to 27
280
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 23
820
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 50
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 17 to 18
28
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 25
24
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 63
3.9
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 7.6
22

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 96.1 to 98.6
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.050
Chromium (Cr), % 0 to 0.3
19 to 22
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.050
0 to 1.0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.45
68 to 78.3
Magnesium (Mg), % 1.4 to 2.1
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0 to 0.25
0 to 2.5
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
0.6 to 1.4
Nickel (Ni), % 0
2.0 to 4.0
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0.14 to 0.24
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.040
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.3
0 to 0.8
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.0050
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.1
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.2
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0