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SAE-AISI 1021 Steel vs. 1050 Aluminum

SAE-AISI 1021 steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while 1050 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys. There are 30 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 SAE-AISI 1021 steel and the bottom bar is 1050 aluminum.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 190
68
Elongation at Break, % 17 to 27
4.6 to 37
Fatigue Strength, MPa 190 to 300
31 to 57
Poisson's Ratio 0.29
0.33
Shear Modulus, GPa 73
26
Shear Strength, MPa 310 to 320
52 to 81
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 480 to 530
76 to 140
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 260 to 450
25 to 120

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 250
400
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 400
170
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 1460
640
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1420
650
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 470
900
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 52
230
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 12
24

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 7.0
61
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 8.0
200

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 1.8
9.5
Density, g/cm3 7.9
2.7
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 1.4
8.3
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 18
160
Embodied Water, L/kg 46
1200

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 84 to 110
5.4 to 22
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 180 to 530
4.6 to 110
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 24
50
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 17 to 19
7.8 to 14
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 17 to 18
15 to 22
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 14
94
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 15 to 17
3.4 to 6.2

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 0
99.5 to 100
Carbon (C), % 0.18 to 0.23
0
Copper (Cu), % 0
0 to 0.050
Iron (Fe), % 98.8 to 99.22
0 to 0.4
Magnesium (Mg), % 0
0 to 0.050
Manganese (Mn), % 0.6 to 0.9
0 to 0.050
Phosphorus (P), % 0 to 0.040
0
Silicon (Si), % 0
0 to 0.25
Sulfur (S), % 0 to 0.050
0
Titanium (Ti), % 0
0 to 0.030
Vanadium (V), % 0
0 to 0.050
Zinc (Zn), % 0
0 to 0.050