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SAE-AISI 5140 Steel vs. 2025 Aluminum

SAE-AISI 5140 steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while 2025 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys. 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 5140 steel and the bottom bar is 2025 aluminum.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 170 to 290
110
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 190
72
Elongation at Break, % 12 to 29
15
Fatigue Strength, MPa 220 to 570
130
Poisson's Ratio 0.29
0.33
Shear Modulus, GPa 73
27
Shear Strength, MPa 360 to 600
240
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 560 to 970
400
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 290 to 840
260

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 250
400
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 420
190
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 1460
640
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1420
520
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 470
870
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 45
150
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 13
23

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 7.2
40
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 8.3
120

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 2.1
10
Density, g/cm3 7.8
3.0
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 1.4
7.9
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 19
150
Embodied Water, L/kg 49
1130

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 76 to 180
55
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 220 to 1880
450
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
13
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 24
46
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 20 to 34
37
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 19 to 28
40
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 12
58
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 16 to 29
18

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 0
90.9 to 95.2
Carbon (C), % 0.38 to 0.43
0
Chromium (Cr), % 0.7 to 0.9
0 to 0.1
Copper (Cu), % 0
3.9 to 5.0
Iron (Fe), % 97.3 to 98.1
0 to 1.0
Magnesium (Mg), % 0
0 to 0.050
Manganese (Mn), % 0.7 to 0.9
0.4 to 1.2
Phosphorus (P), % 0 to 0.035
0
Silicon (Si), % 0.15 to 0.35
0.5 to 1.2
Sulfur (S), % 0 to 0.040
0
Titanium (Ti), % 0
0 to 0.15
Zinc (Zn), % 0
0 to 0.25
Residuals, % 0
0 to 0.15