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AZ91A Magnesium vs. S43940 Stainless Steel

AZ91A magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys classification, while S43940 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 31 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 AZ91A magnesium and the bottom bar is S43940 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 63
160
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 46
200
Elongation at Break, % 5.0
21
Fatigue Strength, MPa 99
180
Poisson's Ratio 0.29
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 18
77
Shear Strength, MPa 140
310
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 240
490
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 160
280

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 360
280
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 130
890
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 600
1440
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 470
1400
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 990
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 73
25
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 26
10

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 10
2.9
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 52
3.4

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 12
12
Density, g/cm3 1.7
7.7
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 22
2.6
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 160
38
Embodied Water, L/kg 990
120

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 11
86
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 280
200
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 15
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 69
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 38
18
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 49
18
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 42
6.8
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 14
18

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 8.3 to 9.7
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.030
Chromium (Cr), % 0
17.5 to 18.5
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.1
0
Iron (Fe), % 0
78.2 to 82.1
Magnesium (Mg), % 88.2 to 91.2
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.13 to 0.5
0 to 1.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0 to 0.030
0
Niobium (Nb), % 0
0.3 to 0.6
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.040
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.5
0 to 1.0
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.015
Titanium (Ti), % 0
0.1 to 0.6
Zinc (Zn), % 0.35 to 1.0
0