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AZ91A Magnesium vs. S45500 Stainless Steel

AZ91A magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys classification, while S45500 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 26 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (11, 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 S45500 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 63
280 to 500
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 46
190
Elongation at Break, % 5.0
3.4 to 11
Fatigue Strength, MPa 99
570 to 890
Poisson's Ratio 0.29
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 18
75
Shear Strength, MPa 140
790 to 1090
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 240
1370 to 1850
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 160
1240 to 1700

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 360
270
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 130
760
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 600
1440
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 470
1400
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 990
470
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 26
11

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 12
17
Density, g/cm3 1.7
7.9
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 22
3.8
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 160
57
Embodied Water, L/kg 990
120

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 11
45 to 190
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 15
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 69
24
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 38
48 to 65
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 49
35 to 42
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 14
48 to 64

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 8.3 to 9.7
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.050
Chromium (Cr), % 0
11 to 12.5
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.1
1.5 to 2.5
Iron (Fe), % 0
71.5 to 79.2
Magnesium (Mg), % 88.2 to 91.2
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.13 to 0.5
0 to 0.5
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
0 to 0.5
Nickel (Ni), % 0 to 0.030
7.5 to 9.5
Niobium (Nb), % 0
0 to 0.5
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.040
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.5
0 to 0.5
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.030
Tantalum (Ta), % 0
0 to 0.5
Titanium (Ti), % 0
0.8 to 1.4
Zinc (Zn), % 0.35 to 1.0
0