AZ81A Magnesium vs. ASTM A217 Cast Steel
AZ81A magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys classification, while ASTM A217 cast steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (5, 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 AZ81A magnesium and the bottom bar is ASTM A217 cast steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 55 | |
| 160 to 210 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 46 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 3.0 to 8.8 | |
| 21 to 27 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 78 to 80 | |
| 200 to 320 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.28 to 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 18 | |
| 73 to 75 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 160 to 240 | |
| 540 to 710 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 84 | |
| 270 to 460 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 350 | |
| 250 to 270 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 130 | |
| 410 to 600 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 600 | |
| 1450 to 1460 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 500 | |
| 1410 to 1420 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 990 | |
| 470 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 84 | |
| 26 to 50 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 27 | |
| 13 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 12 | |
| 7.3 to 9.2 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 65 | |
| 8.4 to 11 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 12 | |
| 2.4 to 7.0 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 1.7 | |
| 7.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 23 | |
| 1.5 to 2.1 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 160 | |
| 20 to 28 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 990 | |
| 47 to 87 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 4.0 to 17 | |
| 110 to 130 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 77 to 78 | |
| 190 to 570 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 15 | |
| 13 to 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 70 | |
| 24 to 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 26 to 39 | |
| 19 to 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 38 to 50 | |
| 19 to 23 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 50 | |
| 6.9 to 14 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 9.1 to 14 | |
| 16 to 20 |