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5056 Aluminum vs. SAE-AISI L3 Steel

5056 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while SAE-AISI L3 steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 23 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 5056 aluminum and the bottom bar is SAE-AISI L3 steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 67
190
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.29
Shear Modulus, GPa 25
72
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 290 to 460
600 to 2250

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
250
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1450
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 570
1410
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 910
470
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 130
43
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 24
13

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 29
7.4
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 99
8.5

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
2.5
Density, g/cm3 2.7
7.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 9.0
1.9
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
27
Embodied Water, L/kg 1180
53

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
13
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 51
24
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 30 to 48
21 to 80
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 36 to 50
20 to 49
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 53
12
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 13 to 20
18 to 67

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 93 to 95.4
0
Carbon (C), % 0
1.0 to 1.1
Chromium (Cr), % 0.050 to 0.2
1.3 to 1.7
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.1
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.4
95.5 to 97.3
Magnesium (Mg), % 4.5 to 5.6
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.050 to 0.2
0.25 to 0.8
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.030
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.3
0.1 to 0.5
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.030
Vanadium (V), % 0
0.1 to 0.3
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.1
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0

Comparable Variants