MakeItFrom.com
Menu (ESC)

AM60A Magnesium vs. AISI 384 Stainless Steel

AM60A magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys classification, while AISI 384 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 25 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (8, 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 AM60A magnesium and the bottom bar is AISI 384 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 62
150
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 45
200
Poisson's Ratio 0.29
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 18
76
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 230
480

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 350
290
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 120
910
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 620
1420
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 550
1380
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 1000
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 62
16
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 26
16

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 13
2.2
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 69
2.5

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 12
20
Density, g/cm3 1.7
7.9
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 23
3.7
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 160
52
Embodied Water, L/kg 990
150

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 15
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 71
24
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 37
17
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 49
17
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 37
4.3
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 14
11

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 5.5 to 6.5
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.040
Chromium (Cr), % 0
15 to 17
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.35
0
Iron (Fe), % 0
60.9 to 68
Magnesium (Mg), % 91.8 to 94.4
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.13 to 0.6
0 to 2.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0 to 0.030
17 to 19
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.045
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.5
0 to 1.0
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.030
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.22
0