MakeItFrom.com
Menu (ESC)

2025 Aluminum vs. AISI 317 Stainless Steel

2025 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while AISI 317 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 31 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (2, 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 2025 aluminum and the bottom bar is AISI 317 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 110
170 to 220
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 72
200
Elongation at Break, % 15
35 to 55
Fatigue Strength, MPa 130
250 to 330
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 27
79
Shear Strength, MPa 240
420 to 470
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 400
580 to 710
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 260
250 to 420

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
290
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 190
590
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1400
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 520
1380
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 870
470
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 150
15
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
17

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 40
2.3
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 120
2.6

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 10
21
Density, g/cm3 3.0
7.9
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 7.9
4.3
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
59
Embodied Water, L/kg 1130
160

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 55
210 to 260
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 450
150 to 430
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 46
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 37
20 to 25
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 40
20 to 22
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 58
4.1
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 18
12 to 15

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 90.9 to 95.2
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.080
Chromium (Cr), % 0 to 0.1
18 to 20
Copper (Cu), % 3.9 to 5.0
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 1.0
58 to 68
Magnesium (Mg), % 0 to 0.050
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.4 to 1.2
0 to 2.0
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
3.0 to 4.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0
11 to 15
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0 to 0.1
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.045
Silicon (Si), % 0.5 to 1.2
0 to 0.75
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.030
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.15
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.25
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0