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5056 Aluminum vs. S42300 Stainless Steel

5056 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while S42300 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 30 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 5056 aluminum and the bottom bar is S42300 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 67
200
Elongation at Break, % 4.9 to 31
9.1
Fatigue Strength, MPa 140 to 200
440
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 25
77
Shear Strength, MPa 170 to 240
650
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 290 to 460
1100
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 150 to 410
850

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
270
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 190
750
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1470
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 570
1420
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 910
470
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 130
25
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 24
10

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 29
4.5
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 99
5.2

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
9.5
Density, g/cm3 2.7
7.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 9.0
3.2
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
44
Embodied Water, L/kg 1180
110

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 12 to 140
93
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 170 to 1220
1840
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 51
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 30 to 48
39
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 36 to 50
30
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 53
6.8
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 13 to 20
40

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 93 to 95.4
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0.27 to 0.32
Chromium (Cr), % 0.050 to 0.2
11 to 12
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.1
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.4
82 to 85.1
Magnesium (Mg), % 4.5 to 5.6
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.050 to 0.2
1.0 to 1.4
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
2.5 to 3.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0
0 to 0.5
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.025
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.3
0 to 0.5
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.025
Vanadium (V), % 0
0.2 to 0.3
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.1
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0