MakeItFrom.com
Menu (ESC)

2117 Aluminum vs. SAE-AISI 1040 Steel

2117 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while SAE-AISI 1040 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 2117 aluminum and the bottom bar is SAE-AISI 1040 steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 70
160 to 180
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 71
190
Elongation at Break, % 26
13 to 20
Fatigue Strength, MPa 95
220 to 340
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.29
Shear Modulus, GPa 27
73
Shear Strength, MPa 200
350 to 390
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 300
570 to 640
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 170
320 to 530

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
250
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 220
400
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 650
1460
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 550
1420
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 880
470
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 150
51
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 24
12

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 40
7.0
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 120
8.0

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 10
1.8
Density, g/cm3 3.0
7.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.2
1.4
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
18
Embodied Water, L/kg 1150
46

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 64
79 to 96
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 190
270 to 760
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
13
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 47
24
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 28
20 to 23
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 33
19 to 21
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 59
14
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 12
18 to 20

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 91 to 97.6
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0.37 to 0.44
Chromium (Cr), % 0 to 0.1
0
Copper (Cu), % 2.2 to 4.5
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.7
98.6 to 99.03
Magnesium (Mg), % 0.2 to 1.0
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.4 to 1.0
0.6 to 0.9
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.040
Silicon (Si), % 0.2 to 0.8
0
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.050
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