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WE43B Magnesium vs. S32950 Stainless Steel

WE43B magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys classification, while S32950 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (5, 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 WE43B magnesium and the bottom bar is S32950 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 44
200
Elongation at Break, % 2.2
17
Fatigue Strength, MPa 110
330
Poisson's Ratio 0.29
0.27
Shear Modulus, GPa 17
80
Shear Strength, MPa 140
480
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 250
780
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 200
550

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 330
300
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 180
1100
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1430
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 550
1390
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 960
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 51
16
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 27
13

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 11
2.1
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 53
2.5

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 34
17
Density, g/cm3 1.9
7.7
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 28
3.4
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 250
47
Embodied Water, L/kg 910
180

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 5.2
120
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 430
730
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
15
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 61
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 36
28
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 46
24
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 28
4.3
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 15
21

Alloy Composition

Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.030
Chromium (Cr), % 0
26 to 29
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.020
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.010
60.3 to 69.4
Lithium (Li), % 0 to 0.2
0
Magnesium (Mg), % 89.8 to 93.5
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0 to 0.030
0 to 2.0
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
1.0 to 2.5
Nickel (Ni), % 0 to 0.0050
3.5 to 5.2
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0.15 to 0.35
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.035
Silicon (Si), % 0
0 to 0.6
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.010
Unspecified Rare Earths, % 2.4 to 4.4
0
Yttrium (Y), % 3.7 to 4.3
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.2
0
Zirconium (Zr), % 0.4 to 1.0
0