5059 Aluminum vs. S21900 Stainless Steel
5059 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while S21900 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 31 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (3, 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 5059 aluminum and the bottom bar is S21900 stainless steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 69 | |
| 200 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 11 to 25 | |
| 50 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 170 to 240 | |
| 380 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.28 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 26 | |
| 78 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 220 to 250 | |
| 510 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 350 to 410 | |
| 710 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 170 to 300 | |
| 390 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 390 | |
| 290 |
| Maximum Temperature: Corrosion, °C | 65 | |
| 420 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 210 | |
| 980 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 650 | |
| 1400 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 510 | |
| 1350 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 900 | |
| 480 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 110 | |
| 14 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 24 | |
| 17 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 29 | |
| 2.5 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 95 | |
| 2.9 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 9.5 | |
| 15 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 2.7 | |
| 7.7 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 9.1 | |
| 3.0 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 160 | |
| 43 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1160 | |
| 160 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 42 to 75 | |
| 300 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 220 to 650 | |
| 380 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 50 | |
| 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 36 to 42 | |
| 26 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 41 to 45 | |
| 23 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 44 | |
| 3.8 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 16 to 18 | |
| 15 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 89.9 to 94 | |
| 0 |
| Carbon (C), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.080 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 to 0.25 | |
| 19 to 21.5 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 to 0.25 | |
| 0 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 0.5 | |
| 59.4 to 67.4 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 5.0 to 6.0 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.6 to 1.2 | |
| 8.0 to 10 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 | |
| 5.5 to 7.5 |
| Nitrogen (N), % | 0 | |
| 0.15 to 0.4 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.045 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.45 | |
| 0 to 1.0 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |
| Titanium (Ti), % | 0 to 0.2 | |
| 0 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0.4 to 0.9 | |
| 0 |
| Zirconium (Zr), % | 0.050 to 0.25 | |
| 0 |
| Residuals, % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |