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2025 Aluminum vs. S46500 Stainless Steel

2025 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while S46500 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 25 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (9, 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 S46500 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 72
190
Elongation at Break, % 15
2.3 to 14
Fatigue Strength, MPa 130
550 to 890
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 27
75
Shear Strength, MPa 240
730 to 1120
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 400
1260 to 1930
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 260
1120 to 1810

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
280
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 190
780
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1450
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 520
1410
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 870
470
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
11

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 10
15
Density, g/cm3 3.0
7.9
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 7.9
3.6
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
51
Embodied Water, L/kg 1130
120

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 55
43 to 210
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 46
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 37
44 to 68
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 40
33 to 44
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 18
44 to 67

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 90.9 to 95.2
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.020
Chromium (Cr), % 0 to 0.1
11 to 12.5
Copper (Cu), % 3.9 to 5.0
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 1.0
72.6 to 76.1
Magnesium (Mg), % 0 to 0.050
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.4 to 1.2
0 to 0.25
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
0.75 to 1.3
Nickel (Ni), % 0
10.7 to 11.3
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0 to 0.010
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.015
Silicon (Si), % 0.5 to 1.2
0 to 0.25
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.010
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.15
1.5 to 1.8
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.25
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0