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AISI 420 Stainless Steel vs. 7021 Aluminum

AISI 420 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while 7021 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (4, 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 420 stainless steel and the bottom bar is 7021 aluminum.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 190
69
Elongation at Break, % 8.0 to 15
9.4
Fatigue Strength, MPa 220 to 670
150
Poisson's Ratio 0.28
0.32
Shear Modulus, GPa 76
26
Shear Strength, MPa 420 to 1010
270
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 690 to 1720
460
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 380 to 1310
390

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 280
380
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 620
200
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 1510
630
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1450
510
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 480
870
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 27
150
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 10
24

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 3.0
38
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 3.5
120

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 7.5
9.5
Density, g/cm3 7.7
2.9
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 2.0
8.3
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 28
150
Embodied Water, L/kg 100
1140

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 88 to 130
41
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 380 to 4410
1110
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
13
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 25
47
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 25 to 62
44
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 22 to 41
45
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 7.3
59
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 25 to 62
20

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 0
90.7 to 93.7
Carbon (C), % 0.15 to 0.4
0
Chromium (Cr), % 12 to 14
0 to 0.050
Copper (Cu), % 0
0 to 0.25
Iron (Fe), % 82.3 to 87.9
0 to 0.4
Magnesium (Mg), % 0
1.2 to 1.8
Manganese (Mn), % 0 to 1.0
0 to 0.1
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0 to 0.5
0
Nickel (Ni), % 0 to 0.75
0
Phosphorus (P), % 0 to 0.040
0
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 1.0
0 to 0.25
Sulfur (S), % 0 to 0.030
0
Titanium (Ti), % 0
0 to 0.1
Zinc (Zn), % 0
5.0 to 6.0
Zirconium (Zr), % 0
0.080 to 0.18
Residuals, % 0
0 to 0.15