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SAE-AISI 5140 Steel vs. 2124 Aluminum

SAE-AISI 5140 steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while 2124 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (1, 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 5140 steel and the bottom bar is 2124 aluminum.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 190
71
Elongation at Break, % 12 to 29
5.7
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
280
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 560 to 970
490
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 290 to 840
430

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 250
390
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 420
190
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 1460
640
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1420
500
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 470
880
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 45
150
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 13
23

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 7.2
38
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 8.3
110

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
8.2
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 19
150
Embodied Water, L/kg 49
1150

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 76 to 180
27
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 220 to 1880
1290
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
13
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 24
46
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 20 to 34
45
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 19 to 28
46
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 12
58
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 16 to 29
21

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 0
91.3 to 94.7
Carbon (C), % 0.38 to 0.43
0
Chromium (Cr), % 0.7 to 0.9
0 to 0.1
Copper (Cu), % 0
3.8 to 4.9
Iron (Fe), % 97.3 to 98.1
0 to 0.3
Magnesium (Mg), % 0
1.2 to 1.8
Manganese (Mn), % 0.7 to 0.9
0.3 to 0.9
Phosphorus (P), % 0 to 0.035
0
Silicon (Si), % 0.15 to 0.35
0 to 0.2
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