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AM50A Magnesium vs. S21904 Stainless Steel

AM50A magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys classification, while S21904 stainless steel belongs to the iron 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 AM50A magnesium and the bottom bar is S21904 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 58
210 to 300
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 45
200
Elongation at Break, % 11
17 to 51
Fatigue Strength, MPa 70
380 to 550
Poisson's Ratio 0.29
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 17
78
Shear Strength, MPa 120
510 to 620
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 210
700 to 1000
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 120
390 to 910

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 350
290
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 120
980
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 620
1400
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 570
1350
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 1000
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 65
14
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 26
17

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 16
2.5
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 88
2.9

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 12
15
Density, g/cm3 1.7
7.7
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 23
3.0
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 160
43
Embodied Water, L/kg 990
160

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 19
160 to 310
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 150
380 to 2070
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 15
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 71
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 35
25 to 36
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 47
23 to 29
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 39
3.8
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 13
15 to 21

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 4.4 to 5.4
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.040
Chromium (Cr), % 0
19 to 21.5
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.010
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.0040
59.5 to 67.4
Magnesium (Mg), % 93.7 to 95.3
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.26 to 0.6
8.0 to 10
Nickel (Ni), % 0 to 0.0020
5.5 to 7.5
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0.15 to 0.4
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.045
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.1
0 to 1.0
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.030
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.22
0