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3004 Aluminum vs. AISI 308 Stainless Steel

3004 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while AISI 308 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 31 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 3004 aluminum and the bottom bar is AISI 308 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 45 to 83
160
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 70
200
Elongation at Break, % 1.1 to 19
45
Fatigue Strength, MPa 55 to 120
210
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
78
Shear Strength, MPa 100 to 180
410
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 170 to 310
590
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 68 to 270
230

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
290
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 180
990
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 650
1420
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 630
1380
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 160
15
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 24
16

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 42
2.4
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 140
2.8

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
17
Density, g/cm3 2.8
7.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.3
3.2
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
46
Embodied Water, L/kg 1180
150

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 3.2 to 27
210
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 33 to 540
140
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 50
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 18 to 31
21
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 25 to 37
20
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 65
4.1
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 7.6 to 13
13

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 95.6 to 98.2
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.080
Chromium (Cr), % 0
19 to 21
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.25
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.7
64.1 to 71
Magnesium (Mg), % 0.8 to 1.3
0
Manganese (Mn), % 1.0 to 1.5
0 to 2.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0
10 to 12
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