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AM50A Magnesium vs. S31655 Stainless Steel

AM50A magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys classification, while S31655 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 S31655 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 58
210
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 45
200
Elongation at Break, % 11
39
Fatigue Strength, MPa 70
300
Poisson's Ratio 0.29
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 17
78
Shear Strength, MPa 120
490
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 210
710
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 120
350

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 350
290
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 120
1010
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 620
1430
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 570
1380
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 1000
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 65
15
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 26
16

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
17
Density, g/cm3 1.7
7.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 23
3.3
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 160
46
Embodied Water, L/kg 990
160

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 19
230
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 150
310
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 15
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 71
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 35
25
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 47
23
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 39
4.0
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 13
16

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 4.4 to 5.4
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.030
Chromium (Cr), % 0
19.5 to 21.5
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.010
0 to 1.0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.0040
63.2 to 71.9
Magnesium (Mg), % 93.7 to 95.3
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.26 to 0.6
0 to 2.0
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
0.5 to 1.5
Nickel (Ni), % 0 to 0.0020
8.0 to 9.5
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0.14 to 0.25
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.045
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.1
0 to 1.0
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.015
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.22
0