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2117 Aluminum vs. AISI 316L Stainless Steel

2117 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while AISI 316L stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 31 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (4, 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 2117 aluminum and the bottom bar is AISI 316L stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 70
170 to 350
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 71
200
Elongation at Break, % 26
9.0 to 50
Fatigue Strength, MPa 95
170 to 450
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 27
78
Shear Strength, MPa 200
370 to 690
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 300
530 to 1160
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 170
190 to 870

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
290
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 220
870
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 650
1400
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 550
1380
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 880
470
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 150
15
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 24
16

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
19
Density, g/cm3 3.0
7.9
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.2
3.9
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
53
Embodied Water, L/kg 1150
150

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 64
77 to 230
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 190
93 to 1880
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 47
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 28
19 to 41
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 33
18 to 31
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 59
4.1
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 12
12 to 25

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 91 to 97.6
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.030
Chromium (Cr), % 0 to 0.1
16 to 18
Copper (Cu), % 2.2 to 4.5
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.7
62 to 72
Magnesium (Mg), % 0.2 to 1.0
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.4 to 1.0
0 to 2.0
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
2.0 to 3.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0
10 to 14
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0 to 0.1
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.045
Silicon (Si), % 0.2 to 0.8
0 to 0.75
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.030
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.25
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.25
0
Zirconium (Zr), % 0 to 0.25
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0