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ASTM A387 Grade 21 Steel vs. 5182 Aluminum

ASTM A387 grade 21 steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while 5182 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys. There are 30 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 ASTM A387 grade 21 steel and the bottom bar is 5182 aluminum.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 190
68
Elongation at Break, % 21
1.1 to 12
Fatigue Strength, MPa 160 to 250
100 to 130
Poisson's Ratio 0.29
0.33
Shear Modulus, GPa 74
25
Shear Strength, MPa 310 to 370
170 to 240
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 500 to 590
280 to 420
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 230 to 350
130 to 360

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 260
390
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 480
180
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 1470
640
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1430
590
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 470
900
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 41
130
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 13
24

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 7.6
28
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 8.8
94

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 4.1
9.5
Density, g/cm3 7.9
2.7
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 1.8
8.9
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 23
150
Embodied Water, L/kg 62
1180

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 84 to 110
2.6 to 49
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 140 to 320
120 to 950
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 24
51
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 18 to 21
29 to 44
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 18 to 20
36 to 47
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 11
53
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 14 to 17
12 to 19

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 0
93.2 to 95.8
Carbon (C), % 0.050 to 0.15
0
Chromium (Cr), % 2.8 to 3.3
0 to 0.1
Copper (Cu), % 0
0 to 0.15
Iron (Fe), % 94.4 to 96
0 to 0.35
Magnesium (Mg), % 0
4.0 to 5.0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.3 to 0.6
0.2 to 0.5
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0.9 to 1.1
0
Phosphorus (P), % 0 to 0.025
0
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.5
0 to 0.2
Sulfur (S), % 0 to 0.025
0
Titanium (Ti), % 0
0 to 0.1
Zinc (Zn), % 0
0 to 0.25
Residuals, % 0
0 to 0.15

Comparable Variants