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2024 Aluminum vs. S32520 Stainless Steel

2024 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while S32520 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (6, 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 S32520 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 71
200
Elongation at Break, % 4.0 to 16
28
Fatigue Strength, MPa 90 to 180
460
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.27
Shear Modulus, GPa 27
80
Shear Strength, MPa 130 to 320
560
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 200 to 540
860
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 100 to 490
630

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 390
300
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 200
1100
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1440
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 500
1400
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 880
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 120
15
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
13

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 30
2.2
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 90
2.5

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 11
20
Density, g/cm3 3.0
7.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.3
4.0
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
55
Embodied Water, L/kg 1140
180

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 20 to 68
220
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 70 to 1680
960
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 46
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 18 to 50
31
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 25 to 49
26
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 46
4.1
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 8.6 to 24
24

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 90.7 to 94.7
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.030
Chromium (Cr), % 0 to 0.1
24 to 26
Copper (Cu), % 3.8 to 4.9
0.5 to 2.0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.5
57.3 to 66.8
Magnesium (Mg), % 1.2 to 1.8
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.3 to 0.9
0 to 1.5
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
3.0 to 4.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0
5.5 to 8.0
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0.2 to 0.35
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.035
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.5
0 to 0.8
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.020
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