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2025 Aluminum vs. S31260 Stainless Steel

2025 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while S31260 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 S31260 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 110
260
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 72
200
Elongation at Break, % 15
23
Fatigue Strength, MPa 130
370
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.27
Shear Modulus, GPa 27
80
Shear Strength, MPa 240
500
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 400
790
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 260
540

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
300
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 190
1100
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1450
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 520
1400
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 870
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 150
16
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
13

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 10
20
Density, g/cm3 3.0
7.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 7.9
3.9
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
53
Embodied Water, L/kg 1130
180

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 55
160
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 450
720
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
15
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 46
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 37
28
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 40
24
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 58
4.3
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 18
22

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 90.9 to 95.2
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.030
Chromium (Cr), % 0 to 0.1
24 to 26
Copper (Cu), % 3.9 to 5.0
0.2 to 0.8
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 1.0
59.6 to 67.6
Magnesium (Mg), % 0 to 0.050
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.4 to 1.2
0 to 1.0
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
2.5 to 3.5
Nickel (Ni), % 0
5.5 to 7.5
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0.1 to 0.3
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.030
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
Tungsten (W), % 0
0.1 to 0.5
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.25
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0