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5086 Aluminum vs. AISI 446 Stainless Steel

5086 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while AISI 446 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 33 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 5086 aluminum and the bottom bar is AISI 446 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 65 to 100
190
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 68
200
Elongation at Break, % 1.7 to 20
23
Fatigue Strength, MPa 88 to 180
200
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.27
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
79
Shear Strength, MPa 160 to 230
360
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 270 to 390
570
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 110 to 320
300

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
290
Maximum Temperature: Corrosion, °C 65
440
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 190
1180
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1510
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 590
1430
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
490
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 130
17
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 24
11

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 31
1.9
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 100
2.3

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
12
Calomel Potential, mV -760
-230
Density, g/cm3 2.7
7.7
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.8
2.4
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
35
Embodied Water, L/kg 1180
150

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 5.8 to 42
110
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 86 to 770
230
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
15
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 50
26
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 28 to 40
21
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 34 to 44
20
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 52
4.6
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 12 to 17
19

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 93 to 96.3
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.2
Chromium (Cr), % 0.050 to 0.25
23 to 27
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.1
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.5
69.2 to 77
Magnesium (Mg), % 3.5 to 4.5
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.2 to 0.7
0 to 1.5
Nickel (Ni), % 0
0 to 0.75
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0 to 0.25
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.040
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.4
0 to 1.0
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.030
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.15
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.25
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0