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2018 Aluminum vs. EN 1.4521 Stainless Steel

2018 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while EN 1.4521 stainless steel belongs to the iron 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 2018 aluminum and the bottom bar is EN 1.4521 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 73
200
Elongation at Break, % 9.6
23
Fatigue Strength, MPa 120
230
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 27
78
Shear Strength, MPa 270
330
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 420
520
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 310
340

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 390
290
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 220
930
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1460
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 510
1410
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 870
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 150
23
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 22
10

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 40
2.2
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 120
2.5

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 11
12
Density, g/cm3 3.1
7.7
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.1
2.8
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
39
Embodied Water, L/kg 1130
130

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 37
100
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 670
280
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 45
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 38
19
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 41
19
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 57
6.2
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 19
18

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 89.7 to 94.4
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.025
Chromium (Cr), % 0 to 0.1
17 to 20
Copper (Cu), % 3.5 to 4.5
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 1.0
74.6 to 81.1
Magnesium (Mg), % 0.45 to 0.9
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0 to 0.2
0 to 1.0
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
1.8 to 2.5
Nickel (Ni), % 1.7 to 2.3
0
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0 to 0.030
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.040
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.9
0 to 1.0
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.015
Titanium (Ti), % 0
0.15 to 0.8
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.25
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0