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AZ91A Magnesium vs. S21460 Stainless Steel

AZ91A magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys classification, while S21460 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 27 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 AZ91A magnesium and the bottom bar is S21460 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 63
250
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 46
200
Elongation at Break, % 5.0
46
Fatigue Strength, MPa 99
390
Poisson's Ratio 0.29
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 18
77
Shear Strength, MPa 140
580
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 240
830
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 160
430

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 360
290
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 130
920
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 600
1380
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 470
1330
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 990
480
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 26
18

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 12
14
Density, g/cm3 1.7
7.6
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 22
3.0
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 160
43
Embodied Water, L/kg 990
160

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 11
320
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 280
460
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 15
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 69
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 38
30
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 49
26
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 14
17

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 8.3 to 9.7
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.12
Chromium (Cr), % 0
17 to 19
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.1
0
Iron (Fe), % 0
57.3 to 63.7
Magnesium (Mg), % 88.2 to 91.2
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.13 to 0.5
14 to 16
Nickel (Ni), % 0 to 0.030
5.0 to 6.0
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0.35 to 0.5
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.060
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.5
0 to 1.0
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.030
Zinc (Zn), % 0.35 to 1.0
0