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5040 Aluminum vs. AISI 204 Stainless Steel

5040 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while AISI 204 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 31 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 5040 aluminum and the bottom bar is AISI 204 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 66 to 74
210 to 330
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 70
200
Elongation at Break, % 5.7 to 6.8
23 to 39
Fatigue Strength, MPa 100 to 130
320 to 720
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
77
Shear Strength, MPa 140 to 150
500 to 700
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 240 to 260
730 to 1100
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 190 to 230
380 to 1080

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
280
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 190
850
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 650
1410
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 600
1370
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 160
15
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
17

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 41
2.4
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 130
2.9

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
10
Density, g/cm3 2.8
7.7
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.3
2.4
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
35
Embodied Water, L/kg 1180
130

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 14 to 15
240 to 250
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 260 to 380
360 to 2940
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 50
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 24 to 26
27 to 40
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 31 to 32
24 to 31
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 64
4.1
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 10 to 11
16 to 24

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 95.2 to 98
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.030
Chromium (Cr), % 0.1 to 0.3
15 to 17
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.25
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.7
69.6 to 76.4
Magnesium (Mg), % 1.0 to 1.5
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.9 to 1.4
7.0 to 9.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0
1.5 to 3.0
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0.15 to 0.3
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.040
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.3
0 to 1.0
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.030
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.25
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0