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5021 Aluminum vs. AISI 304 Stainless Steel

5021 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while AISI 304 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 30 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 5021 aluminum and the bottom bar is AISI 304 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 68
200
Elongation at Break, % 1.1 to 3.4
8.0 to 43
Fatigue Strength, MPa 85 to 110
210 to 440
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
77
Shear Strength, MPa 170
400 to 690
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 300 to 310
580 to 1180
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 240 to 270
230 to 860

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
290
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 180
710
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1450
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 590
1400
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 140
16
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
17

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 35
2.4
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 120
2.7

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
15
Density, g/cm3 2.7
7.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.6
3.0
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
43
Embodied Water, L/kg 1180
150

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 3.1 to 10
86 to 250
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 440 to 550
140 to 1870
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 50
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 30 to 32
21 to 42
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 37
20 to 32
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 57
4.2
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 13 to 14
12 to 25

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 95.2 to 97.7
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.080
Chromium (Cr), % 0 to 0.15
18 to 20
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.15
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.5
66.5 to 74
Magnesium (Mg), % 2.2 to 2.8
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.1 to 0.5
0 to 2.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0
8.0 to 10.5
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0 to 0.1
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.045
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.4
0 to 0.75
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.030
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.15
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0