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AM50A Magnesium vs. AISI 304 Stainless Steel

AM50A magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys classification, while AISI 304 stainless steel belongs to the iron 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 AM50A magnesium and the bottom bar is AISI 304 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 58
170 to 360
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 45
200
Elongation at Break, % 11
8.0 to 43
Fatigue Strength, MPa 70
210 to 440
Poisson's Ratio 0.29
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 17
77
Shear Strength, MPa 120
400 to 690
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 210
580 to 1180
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 120
230 to 860

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 350
290
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 120
710
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 620
1450
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 570
1400
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 1000
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 65
16
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 26
17

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 16
2.4
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 88
2.7

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 12
15
Density, g/cm3 1.7
7.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 23
3.0
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 160
43
Embodied Water, L/kg 990
150

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 19
86 to 250
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 150
140 to 1870
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 15
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 71
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 35
21 to 42
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 47
20 to 32
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 39
4.2
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 13
12 to 25

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 4.4 to 5.4
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.080
Chromium (Cr), % 0
18 to 20
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.010
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.0040
66.5 to 74
Magnesium (Mg), % 93.7 to 95.3
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.26 to 0.6
0 to 2.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0 to 0.0020
8.0 to 10.5
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0 to 0.1
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.045
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.1
0 to 0.75
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.030
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.22
0