MakeItFrom.com
Menu (ESC)

3003 Aluminum vs. S43940 Stainless Steel

3003 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while S43940 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 3003 aluminum and the bottom bar is S43940 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 28 to 65
160
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 70
200
Elongation at Break, % 1.1 to 28
21
Fatigue Strength, MPa 39 to 90
180
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
77
Shear Strength, MPa 68 to 130
310
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 110 to 240
490
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 40 to 210
280

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
280
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 180
890
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 650
1440
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 640
1400
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 180
25
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
10

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 44
2.9
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 140
3.4

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
12
Density, g/cm3 2.8
7.7
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.1
2.6
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
38
Embodied Water, L/kg 1180
120

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 0.95 to 63
86
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 11 to 300
200
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 50
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 11 to 24
18
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 18 to 30
18
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 71
6.8
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 4.7 to 10
18

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 96.8 to 99
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.030
Chromium (Cr), % 0
17.5 to 18.5
Copper (Cu), % 0.050 to 0.2
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.7
78.2 to 82.1
Manganese (Mn), % 1.0 to 1.5
0 to 1.0
Niobium (Nb), % 0
0.3 to 0.6
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.040
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.6
0 to 1.0
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.015
Titanium (Ti), % 0
0.1 to 0.6
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.1
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0