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2124 Aluminum vs. S31254 Stainless Steel

2124 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while S31254 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (5, 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 2124 aluminum and the bottom bar is S31254 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 71
200
Elongation at Break, % 5.7
40
Fatigue Strength, MPa 130
290
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 27
80
Shear Strength, MPa 280
490
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 490
720
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 430
330

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 390
300
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 190
1090
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1460
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 500
1420
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 880
460
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 150
14
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
17

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 38
2.0
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 110
2.3

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 10
28
Density, g/cm3 3.0
8.0
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.2
5.5
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
74
Embodied Water, L/kg 1150
190

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 27
240
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 1290
270
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 46
24
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 45
25
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 46
22
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 58
3.8
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 21
15

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 91.3 to 94.7
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.020
Chromium (Cr), % 0 to 0.1
19.5 to 20.5
Copper (Cu), % 3.8 to 4.9
0.5 to 1.0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.3
51.4 to 56.3
Magnesium (Mg), % 1.2 to 1.8
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.3 to 0.9
0 to 1.0
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
6.0 to 6.5
Nickel (Ni), % 0
17.5 to 18.5
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0.18 to 0.22
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.030
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.2
0 to 0.8
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.010
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.15
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.25
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0