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AISI 304 Stainless Steel vs. ZE63A Magnesium

AISI 304 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while ZE63A magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys. There are 31 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (6, 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 AISI 304 stainless steel and the bottom bar is ZE63A magnesium.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 170 to 360
73
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 200
46
Elongation at Break, % 8.0 to 43
7.7
Fatigue Strength, MPa 210 to 440
120
Poisson's Ratio 0.28
0.29
Shear Modulus, GPa 77
17
Shear Strength, MPa 400 to 690
170
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 580 to 1180
300
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 230 to 860
190

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 290
330
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 710
170
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 1450
510
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1400
390
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 480
950
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 16
110
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 17
27

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 2.4
31
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 2.7
140

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 15
22
Density, g/cm3 7.8
2.0
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 3.0
24
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 43
180
Embodied Water, L/kg 150
920

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 86 to 250
20
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 140 to 1870
400
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
12
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 25
58
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 21 to 42
40
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 20 to 32
48
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 4.2
57
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 12 to 25
17

Alloy Composition

Carbon (C), % 0 to 0.080
0
Chromium (Cr), % 18 to 20
0
Copper (Cu), % 0
0 to 0.1
Iron (Fe), % 66.5 to 74
0
Magnesium (Mg), % 0
89.6 to 92
Manganese (Mn), % 0 to 2.0
0
Nickel (Ni), % 8.0 to 10.5
0 to 0.010
Nitrogen (N), % 0 to 0.1
0
Phosphorus (P), % 0 to 0.045
0
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.75
0
Sulfur (S), % 0 to 0.030
0
Unspecified Rare Earths, % 0
2.1 to 3.0
Zinc (Zn), % 0
5.5 to 6.0
Zirconium (Zr), % 0
0.4 to 1.0
Residuals, % 0
0 to 0.3