3004 Aluminum vs. AISI 305 Stainless Steel
3004 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while AISI 305 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 32 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (2, 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 3004 aluminum and the bottom bar is AISI 305 stainless steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 45 to 83 | |
| 170 to 220 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 70 | |
| 200 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 1.1 to 19 | |
| 34 to 45 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 55 to 120 | |
| 210 to 280 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.28 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 26 | |
| 77 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 100 to 180 | |
| 400 to 470 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 170 to 310 | |
| 580 to 710 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 68 to 270 | |
| 230 to 350 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 400 | |
| 290 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 180 | |
| 540 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 650 | |
| 1450 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 630 | |
| 1400 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 900 | |
| 480 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 160 | |
| 16 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 24 | |
| 17 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 42 | |
| 2.4 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 140 | |
| 2.7 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 9.5 | |
| 16 |
| Calomel Potential, mV | -750 | |
| -70 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 2.8 | |
| 7.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 8.3 | |
| 3.2 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 150 | |
| 45 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1180 | |
| 150 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 3.2 to 27 | |
| 200 to 210 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 33 to 540 | |
| 130 to 320 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 50 | |
| 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 18 to 31 | |
| 20 to 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 25 to 37 | |
| 20 to 23 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 65 | |
| 4.2 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 7.6 to 13 | |
| 13 to 15 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 95.6 to 98.2 | |
| 0 |
| Carbon (C), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.12 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 | |
| 17 to 19 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 to 0.25 | |
| 0 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 0.7 | |
| 65.1 to 72.5 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 0.8 to 1.3 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 1.0 to 1.5 | |
| 0 to 2.0 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 | |
| 10.5 to 13 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.045 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.3 | |
| 0 to 0.75 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 to 0.25 | |
| 0 |
| Residuals, % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |