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5050 Aluminum vs. S31277 Stainless Steel

5050 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while S31277 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 26 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (8, 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 5050 aluminum and the bottom bar is S31277 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 68
210
Elongation at Break, % 1.7 to 22
45
Fatigue Strength, MPa 45 to 100
380
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
80
Shear Strength, MPa 91 to 140
600
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 140 to 250
860
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 50 to 210
410

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
310
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 180
1100
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 650
1460
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 630
1410
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
460
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 24
16

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
36
Density, g/cm3 2.7
8.1
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.4
6.7
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
90
Embodied Water, L/kg 1190
220

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 4.1 to 24
320
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 18 to 330
410
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 50
24
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 15 to 26
29
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 22 to 33
25
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 6.3 to 11
19

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 96.3 to 98.9
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.020
Chromium (Cr), % 0 to 0.1
20.5 to 23
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.2
0.5 to 1.5
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.7
35.5 to 46.2
Magnesium (Mg), % 1.1 to 1.8
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0 to 0.1
0 to 3.0
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
6.5 to 8.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0
26 to 28
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0.3 to 0.4
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.030
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.4
0 to 0.5
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.010
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.25
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0