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3203 Aluminum vs. AISI 316L Stainless Steel

3203 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while AISI 316L 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 3203 aluminum and the bottom bar is AISI 316L stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 70
200
Elongation at Break, % 4.5 to 29
9.0 to 50
Fatigue Strength, MPa 46 to 92
170 to 450
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
78
Shear Strength, MPa 72 to 120
370 to 690
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 110 to 200
530 to 1160
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 39 to 190
190 to 870

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
290
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 180
870
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 650
1400
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 620
1380
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
470
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 170
15
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
16

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 43
2.3
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 140
2.6

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.0
19
Density, g/cm3 2.8
7.9
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.1
3.9
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
53
Embodied Water, L/kg 1180
150

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 8.0 to 25
77 to 230
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 11 to 250
93 to 1880
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 50
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 11 to 20
19 to 41
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 19 to 28
18 to 31
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 70
4.1
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 4.9 to 8.8
12 to 25

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 96.9 to 99
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.030
Chromium (Cr), % 0
16 to 18
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.050
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.7
62 to 72
Manganese (Mn), % 1.0 to 1.5
0 to 2.0
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
2.0 to 3.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0
10 to 14
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0 to 0.1
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.045
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.6
0 to 0.75
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.030
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.1
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0

Comparable Variants