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2025 Aluminum vs. SAE-AISI 1086 Steel

2025 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while SAE-AISI 1086 steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 31 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (1, 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 SAE-AISI 1086 steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 110
220 to 260
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 72
190
Elongation at Break, % 15
11
Fatigue Strength, MPa 130
300 to 360
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.29
Shear Modulus, GPa 27
72
Shear Strength, MPa 240
450 to 520
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 400
760 to 870
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 260
480 to 580

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
240
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 190
400
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1460
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 520
1410
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 870
470
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 150
50
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
11

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 40
7.0
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 120
8.1

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 10
1.8
Density, g/cm3 3.0
7.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 7.9
1.4
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
19
Embodied Water, L/kg 1130
45

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 55
79 to 84
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 450
610 to 890
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
13
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 46
24
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 37
27 to 31
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 40
24 to 26
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 58
14
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 18
26 to 30

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 90.9 to 95.2
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0.8 to 0.93
Chromium (Cr), % 0 to 0.1
0
Copper (Cu), % 3.9 to 5.0
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 1.0
98.5 to 98.9
Magnesium (Mg), % 0 to 0.050
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.4 to 1.2
0.3 to 0.5
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.040
Silicon (Si), % 0.5 to 1.2
0
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.050
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.15
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.25
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0