MakeItFrom.com
Menu (ESC)

5042 Aluminum vs. S20910 Stainless Steel

5042 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while S20910 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 28 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (6, 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 5042 aluminum and the bottom bar is S20910 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 68
200
Elongation at Break, % 1.1 to 3.4
14 to 39
Fatigue Strength, MPa 97 to 120
310 to 460
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
79
Shear Strength, MPa 200
500 to 570
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 340 to 360
780 to 940
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 270 to 310
430 to 810

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
300
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 180
1080
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1420
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 570
1380
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 130
13
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 24
16

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
22
Density, g/cm3 2.7
7.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.8
4.8
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
68
Embodied Water, L/kg 1180
180

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 3.6 to 12
120 to 260
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 550 to 720
460 to 1640
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 50
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 35 to 37
28 to 33
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 40 to 42
24 to 27
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 53
3.6
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 15 to 16
17 to 21

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 94.2 to 96.8
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.060
Chromium (Cr), % 0 to 0.1
20.5 to 23.5
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.15
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.35
52.1 to 62.1
Magnesium (Mg), % 3.0 to 4.0
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.2 to 0.5
4.0 to 6.0
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
1.5 to 3.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0
11.5 to 13.5
Niobium (Nb), % 0
0.1 to 0.3
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0.2 to 0.4
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.040
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.2
0 to 0.75
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.030
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.1
0
Vanadium (V), % 0
0.1 to 0.3
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.25
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0