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5056 Aluminum vs. SAE-AISI M41 Steel

5056 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while SAE-AISI M41 steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 21 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 SAE-AISI M41 steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 67
200
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.29
Shear Modulus, GPa 25
77
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 290 to 460
800 to 2290

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
260
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1600
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 570
1550
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 910
440
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 130
22
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 24
12

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
33
Density, g/cm3 2.7
8.4
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 9.0
9.1
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
140
Embodied Water, L/kg 1180
120

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
13
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 51
23
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 30 to 48
26 to 76
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 36 to 50
23 to 46
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 53
6.0
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 13 to 20
25 to 71

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 93 to 95.4
0
Carbon (C), % 0
1.1 to 1.2
Chromium (Cr), % 0.050 to 0.2
3.8 to 4.5
Cobalt (Co), % 0
4.8 to 5.8
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.1
0 to 0.25
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.4
73.4 to 78.9
Magnesium (Mg), % 4.5 to 5.6
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.050 to 0.2
0.2 to 0.6
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
3.3 to 4.3
Nickel (Ni), % 0
0 to 0.3
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.030
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.3
0.15 to 0.5
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.030
Tungsten (W), % 0
6.3 to 7.0
Vanadium (V), % 0
1.8 to 2.3
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.1
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0

Comparable Variants