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8021 Aluminum vs. S81921 Stainless Steel

8021 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while S81921 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 29 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 8021 aluminum and the bottom bar is S81921 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 70
200
Elongation at Break, % 2.3
29
Fatigue Strength, MPa 61
370
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
79
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 160
710
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 130
500

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
290
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 170
990
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 650
1430
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 640
1390
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 220
15
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
13

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 56
2.2
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 180
2.5

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.0
14
Density, g/cm3 2.8
7.7
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.1
2.9
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
41
Embodied Water, L/kg 1180
150

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 3.4
180
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 130
630
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 49
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 16
25
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 23
23
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 88
4.0
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 7.0
20

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 98 to 98.8
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.030
Chromium (Cr), % 0
19 to 22
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.050
0
Iron (Fe), % 1.2 to 1.7
66.7 to 75.9
Manganese (Mn), % 0
2.0 to 4.0
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
1.0 to 2.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0
2.0 to 4.0
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0.14 to 0.2
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.040
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.15
0 to 1.0
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.030
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0