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AZ91A Magnesium vs. AISI 317 Stainless Steel

AZ91A magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys classification, while AISI 317 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 31 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (4, 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 AZ91A magnesium and the bottom bar is AISI 317 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 63
170 to 220
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 46
200
Elongation at Break, % 5.0
35 to 55
Fatigue Strength, MPa 99
250 to 330
Poisson's Ratio 0.29
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 18
79
Shear Strength, MPa 140
420 to 470
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 240
580 to 710
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 160
250 to 420

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 360
290
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 130
590
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 600
1400
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 470
1380
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 990
470
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 73
15
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 26
17

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 10
2.3
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 52
2.6

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 12
21
Density, g/cm3 1.7
7.9
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 22
4.3
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 160
59
Embodied Water, L/kg 990
160

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 11
210 to 260
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 280
150 to 430
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 15
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 69
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 38
20 to 25
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 49
20 to 22
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 42
4.1
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 14
12 to 15

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 8.3 to 9.7
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.080
Chromium (Cr), % 0
18 to 20
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.1
0
Iron (Fe), % 0
58 to 68
Magnesium (Mg), % 88.2 to 91.2
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.13 to 0.5
0 to 2.0
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
3.0 to 4.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0 to 0.030
11 to 15
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0 to 0.1
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.045
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.5
0 to 0.75
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.030
Zinc (Zn), % 0.35 to 1.0
0