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S45500 Stainless Steel vs. WE54A Magnesium

S45500 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while WE54A magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys. There are 26 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (10, 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 S45500 stainless steel and the bottom bar is WE54A magnesium.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 280 to 500
85
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 190
44
Elongation at Break, % 3.4 to 11
4.3 to 5.6
Fatigue Strength, MPa 570 to 890
98 to 130
Poisson's Ratio 0.28
0.29
Shear Modulus, GPa 75
17
Shear Strength, MPa 790 to 1090
150 to 170
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 1370 to 1850
270 to 300
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 1240 to 1700
180

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 270
330
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 760
170
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 1440
640
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1400
570
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 470
960
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 11
25

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 17
34
Density, g/cm3 7.9
1.9
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 3.8
29
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 57
260
Embodied Water, L/kg 120
900

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 45 to 190
10 to 14
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
13
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 24
62
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 48 to 65
39 to 43
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 35 to 42
49 to 51
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 48 to 64
18 to 19

Alloy Composition

Carbon (C), % 0 to 0.050
0
Chromium (Cr), % 11 to 12.5
0
Copper (Cu), % 1.5 to 2.5
0 to 0.030
Iron (Fe), % 71.5 to 79.2
0 to 0.010
Lithium (Li), % 0
0 to 0.2
Magnesium (Mg), % 0
88.7 to 93.4
Manganese (Mn), % 0 to 0.5
0 to 0.030
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0 to 0.5
0
Nickel (Ni), % 7.5 to 9.5
0 to 0.0050
Niobium (Nb), % 0 to 0.5
0
Phosphorus (P), % 0 to 0.040
0
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.5
0 to 0.010
Sulfur (S), % 0 to 0.030
0
Tantalum (Ta), % 0 to 0.5
0
Titanium (Ti), % 0.8 to 1.4
0
Unspecified Rare Earths, % 0
1.5 to 4.0
Yttrium (Y), % 0
4.8 to 5.5
Zinc (Zn), % 0
0 to 0.2
Zirconium (Zr), % 0
0.4 to 1.0
Residuals, % 0
0 to 0.3