5040 Aluminum vs. SAE-AISI 4340 Steel
5040 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while SAE-AISI 4340 steel belongs to the iron alloys. 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 SAE-AISI 4340 steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 66 to 74 | |
| 210 to 360 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 70 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 5.7 to 6.8 | |
| 12 to 22 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 100 to 130 | |
| 330 to 740 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 26 | |
| 73 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 140 to 150 | |
| 430 to 770 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 240 to 260 | |
| 690 to 1280 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 190 to 230 | |
| 470 to 1150 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 400 | |
| 250 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 190 | |
| 430 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 650 | |
| 1460 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 600 | |
| 1420 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 900 | |
| 470 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 160 | |
| 44 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 23 | |
| 13 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 41 | |
| 7.5 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 130 | |
| 8.6 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 9.5 | |
| 3.5 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 2.8 | |
| 7.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 8.3 | |
| 1.7 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 150 | |
| 22 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1180 | |
| 53 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 14 to 15 | |
| 79 to 170 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 260 to 380 | |
| 590 to 3490 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 50 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 24 to 26 | |
| 24 to 45 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 31 to 32 | |
| 22 to 33 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 64 | |
| 12 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 10 to 11 | |
| 20 to 38 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 95.2 to 98 | |
| 0 |
| Carbon (C), % | 0 | |
| 0.38 to 0.43 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0.1 to 0.3 | |
| 0.7 to 0.9 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 to 0.25 | |
| 0 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 0.7 | |
| 95.1 to 96.3 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 1.0 to 1.5 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.9 to 1.4 | |
| 0.6 to 0.8 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0 | |
| 0.2 to 0.3 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 | |
| 1.7 to 2.0 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.035 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.3 | |
| 0.15 to 0.35 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.040 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 to 0.25 | |
| 0 |
| Residuals, % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |