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AISI 321 Stainless Steel vs. AM60A Magnesium

AISI 321 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while AM60A magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys. There are 31 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (2, 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 321 stainless steel and the bottom bar is AM60A magnesium.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 170 to 210
62
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 200
45
Elongation at Break, % 34 to 50
8.8
Fatigue Strength, MPa 220 to 270
70
Poisson's Ratio 0.28
0.29
Shear Modulus, GPa 77
18
Shear Strength, MPa 420 to 460
130
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 590 to 690
230
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 220 to 350
130

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 290
350
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 870
120
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 1430
620
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1400
550
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 480
1000
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 16
62
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 17
26

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 2.4
13
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 2.7
69

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 16
12
Density, g/cm3 7.8
1.7
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 3.2
23
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 45
160
Embodied Water, L/kg 140
990

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 190 to 230
17
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 130 to 310
190
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
15
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 25
71
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 21 to 25
37
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 20 to 22
49
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 4.1
37
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 13 to 15
14

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 0
5.5 to 6.5
Carbon (C), % 0 to 0.080
0
Chromium (Cr), % 17 to 19
0
Copper (Cu), % 0
0 to 0.35
Iron (Fe), % 65.3 to 74
0
Magnesium (Mg), % 0
91.8 to 94.4
Manganese (Mn), % 0 to 2.0
0.13 to 0.6
Nickel (Ni), % 9.0 to 12
0 to 0.030
Nitrogen (N), % 0 to 0.1
0
Phosphorus (P), % 0 to 0.045
0
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.75
0 to 0.5
Sulfur (S), % 0 to 0.030
0
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.7
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0
0 to 0.22