5056 Aluminum vs. Grade 250 Maraging Steel
5056 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while grade 250 maraging steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 23 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (11, 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 5056 aluminum and the bottom bar is grade 250 maraging steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 67 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 4.9 to 31 | |
| 7.3 to 17 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.3 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 25 | |
| 75 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 170 to 240 | |
| 600 to 1060 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 290 to 460 | |
| 970 to 1800 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 150 to 410 | |
| 660 to 1740 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 400 | |
| 270 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 640 | |
| 1480 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 570 | |
| 1430 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 910 | |
| 450 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 24 | |
| 12 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 9.5 | |
| 32 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 2.7 | |
| 8.2 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 9.0 | |
| 4.9 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 150 | |
| 65 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1180 | |
| 140 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 12 to 140 | |
| 130 to 150 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 51 | |
| 23 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 30 to 48 | |
| 33 to 61 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 36 to 50 | |
| 26 to 40 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 13 to 20 | |
| 29 to 54 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 93 to 95.4 | |
| 0.050 to 0.15 |
| Boron (B), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.0030 |
| Calcium (Ca), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.050 |
| Carbon (C), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0.050 to 0.2 | |
| 0 |
| Cobalt (Co), % | 0 | |
| 7.0 to 8.5 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 0.4 | |
| 66.3 to 71.1 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 4.5 to 5.6 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.050 to 0.2 | |
| 0 to 0.1 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0 | |
| 4.6 to 5.2 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 | |
| 17 to 19 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.010 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.3 | |
| 0 to 0.1 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.010 |
| Titanium (Ti), % | 0 | |
| 0.3 to 0.5 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0 |
| Zirconium (Zr), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.020 |
| Residuals, % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |