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AM50A Magnesium vs. AISI 309 Stainless Steel

AM50A magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys classification, while AISI 309 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 309 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 58
180 to 210
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 45
200
Elongation at Break, % 11
34 to 47
Fatigue Strength, MPa 70
250 to 280
Poisson's Ratio 0.29
0.27
Shear Modulus, GPa 17
78
Shear Strength, MPa 120
420 to 470
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 210
600 to 710
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 120
260 to 350

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 350
290
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 120
980
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
15

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 16
2.2
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 88
2.5

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 12
19
Density, g/cm3 1.7
7.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 23
3.6
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 160
51
Embodied Water, L/kg 990
170

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 19
200 to 230
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 150
170 to 310
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 15
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 71
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 35
21 to 25
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 47
20 to 23
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 39
4.3
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 13
14 to 16

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 4.4 to 5.4
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.2
Chromium (Cr), % 0
22 to 24
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.010
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.0040
58 to 66
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
12 to 15
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