AZ81A Magnesium vs. SAE-AISI 1021 Steel
AZ81A magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys classification, while SAE-AISI 1021 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 AZ81A magnesium and the bottom bar is SAE-AISI 1021 steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 55 | |
| 130 to 150 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 46 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 3.0 to 8.8 | |
| 17 to 27 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 78 to 80 | |
| 190 to 300 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 18 | |
| 73 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 91 to 130 | |
| 310 to 320 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 160 to 240 | |
| 480 to 530 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 84 | |
| 260 to 450 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 350 | |
| 250 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 130 | |
| 400 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 600 | |
| 1460 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 500 | |
| 1420 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 990 | |
| 470 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 84 | |
| 52 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 27 | |
| 12 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 12 | |
| 7.0 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 65 | |
| 8.0 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 12 | |
| 1.8 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 1.7 | |
| 7.9 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 23 | |
| 1.4 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 160 | |
| 18 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 990 | |
| 46 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 4.0 to 17 | |
| 84 to 110 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 77 to 78 | |
| 180 to 530 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 15 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 70 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 26 to 39 | |
| 17 to 19 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 38 to 50 | |
| 17 to 18 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 50 | |
| 14 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 9.1 to 14 | |
| 15 to 17 |
Alloy Composition
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| Aluminum (Al), % | 7.0 to 8.1 | |
| 0 |
| Carbon (C), % | 0 | |
| 0.18 to 0.23 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 | |
| 98.8 to 99.22 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 89.8 to 92.5 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.13 to 0.35 | |
| 0.6 to 0.9 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 to 0.010 | |
| 0 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.040 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.3 | |
| 0 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.050 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0.4 to 1.0 | |
| 0 |
| Residuals, % | 0 to 0.3 | |
| 0 |