2024 Aluminum vs. ASTM A387 Grade 21 Steel
2024 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while ASTM A387 grade 21 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 2024 aluminum and the bottom bar is ASTM A387 grade 21 steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 71 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 4.0 to 16 | |
| 21 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 90 to 180 | |
| 160 to 250 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 27 | |
| 74 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 130 to 320 | |
| 310 to 370 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 200 to 540 | |
| 500 to 590 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 100 to 490 | |
| 230 to 350 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 390 | |
| 260 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 200 | |
| 480 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 640 | |
| 1470 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 500 | |
| 1430 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 880 | |
| 470 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 120 | |
| 41 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 23 | |
| 13 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 30 | |
| 7.6 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 90 | |
| 8.8 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 11 | |
| 4.1 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 3.0 | |
| 7.9 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 8.3 | |
| 1.8 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 150 | |
| 23 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1140 | |
| 62 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 20 to 68 | |
| 84 to 110 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 70 to 1680 | |
| 140 to 320 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 46 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 18 to 50 | |
| 18 to 21 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 25 to 49 | |
| 18 to 20 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 46 | |
| 11 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 8.6 to 24 | |
| 14 to 17 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 90.7 to 94.7 | |
| 0 |
| Carbon (C), % | 0 | |
| 0.050 to 0.15 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 2.8 to 3.3 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 3.8 to 4.9 | |
| 0 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 0.5 | |
| 94.4 to 96 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 1.2 to 1.8 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.3 to 0.9 | |
| 0.3 to 0.6 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0 | |
| 0.9 to 1.1 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.025 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.5 | |
| 0 to 0.5 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.025 |
| Titanium (Ti), % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 to 0.25 | |
| 0 |
| Zirconium (Zr), % | 0 to 0.2 | |
| 0 |
| Residuals, % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |