MakeItFrom.com
Menu (ESC)

2025 Aluminum vs. S38815 Stainless Steel

2025 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while S38815 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 27 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 2025 aluminum and the bottom bar is S38815 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 110
190
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 72
190
Elongation at Break, % 15
34
Fatigue Strength, MPa 130
230
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.29
Shear Modulus, GPa 27
74
Shear Strength, MPa 240
410
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 400
610
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 260
290

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
370
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 190
860
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1360
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 520
1310
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 870
500
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
15

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 10
19
Density, g/cm3 3.0
7.5
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 7.9
3.8
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
54
Embodied Water, L/kg 1130
140

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 55
170
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 450
220
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 46
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 37
22
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 40
21
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 18
15

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 90.9 to 95.2
0 to 0.3
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.030
Chromium (Cr), % 0 to 0.1
13 to 15
Copper (Cu), % 3.9 to 5.0
0.75 to 1.5
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 1.0
56.1 to 67
Magnesium (Mg), % 0 to 0.050
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.4 to 1.2
0 to 2.0
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
0.75 to 1.5
Nickel (Ni), % 0
13 to 17
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.040
Silicon (Si), % 0.5 to 1.2
5.5 to 6.5
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.020
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.15
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.25
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0