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AISI 309 Stainless Steel vs. 2018 Aluminum

AISI 309 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while 2018 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys. There are 31 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 AISI 309 stainless steel and the bottom bar is 2018 aluminum.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 180 to 210
120
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 200
73
Elongation at Break, % 34 to 47
9.6
Fatigue Strength, MPa 250 to 280
120
Poisson's Ratio 0.27
0.33
Shear Modulus, GPa 78
27
Shear Strength, MPa 420 to 470
270
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 600 to 710
420
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 260 to 350
310

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 290
390
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 980
220
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 1450
640
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1400
510
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 480
870
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 16
150
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 15
22

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 2.2
40
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 2.5
120

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 19
11
Density, g/cm3 7.8
3.1
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 3.6
8.1
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 51
150
Embodied Water, L/kg 170
1130

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 200 to 230
37
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 170 to 310
670
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
13
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 25
45
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 21 to 25
38
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 20 to 23
41
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 4.3
57
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 14 to 16
19

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 0
89.7 to 94.4
Carbon (C), % 0 to 0.2
0
Chromium (Cr), % 22 to 24
0 to 0.1
Copper (Cu), % 0
3.5 to 4.5
Iron (Fe), % 58 to 66
0 to 1.0
Magnesium (Mg), % 0
0.45 to 0.9
Manganese (Mn), % 0 to 2.0
0 to 0.2
Nickel (Ni), % 12 to 15
1.7 to 2.3
Phosphorus (P), % 0 to 0.045
0
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.75
0 to 0.9
Sulfur (S), % 0 to 0.030
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0
0 to 0.25
Residuals, % 0
0 to 0.15