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3102 Aluminum vs. S31254 Stainless Steel

3102 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 3102 aluminum and the bottom bar is S31254 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 69
200
Elongation at Break, % 23 to 28
40
Fatigue Strength, MPa 31 to 34
290
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
80
Shear Strength, MPa 58 to 65
490
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 92 to 100
720
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 28 to 34
330

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
300
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 180
1090
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1460
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 640
1420
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
460
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 230
14
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
17

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 56
2.0
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 190
2.3

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.0
28
Density, g/cm3 2.7
8.0
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.2
5.5
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
74
Embodied Water, L/kg 1190
190

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 16 to 22
240
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 5.8 to 8.3
270
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 50
24
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 9.4 to 10
25
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 17 to 18
22
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 92
3.8
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 4.1 to 4.4
15

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 97.9 to 99.95
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.020
Chromium (Cr), % 0
19.5 to 20.5
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.1
0.5 to 1.0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.7
51.4 to 56.3
Manganese (Mn), % 0.050 to 0.4
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 0.4
0 to 0.8
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.010
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.1
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.3
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0