5086 Aluminum vs. ASTM A321 Carbon Steel
5086 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while ASTM A321 carbon 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 5086 aluminum and the bottom bar is ASTM A321 carbon steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 65 to 100 | |
| 190 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 68 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 1.7 to 20 | |
| 21 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 88 to 180 | |
| 270 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 26 | |
| 73 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 160 to 230 | |
| 420 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 270 to 390 | |
| 670 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 110 to 320 | |
| 390 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 400 | |
| 250 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 190 | |
| 400 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 640 | |
| 1460 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 590 | |
| 1420 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 900 | |
| 470 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 130 | |
| 51 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 24 | |
| 12 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 31 | |
| 7.1 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 100 | |
| 8.1 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 9.5 | |
| 1.8 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 2.7 | |
| 7.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 8.8 | |
| 1.4 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 150 | |
| 18 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1180 | |
| 46 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 5.8 to 42 | |
| 120 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 86 to 770 | |
| 400 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 50 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 28 to 40 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 34 to 44 | |
| 22 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 52 | |
| 14 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 12 to 17 | |
| 21 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 93 to 96.3 | |
| 0 |
| Carbon (C), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.55 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0.050 to 0.25 | |
| 0 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 0.5 | |
| 98.1 to 99.25 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 3.5 to 4.5 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.2 to 0.7 | |
| 0.6 to 0.9 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.040 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.4 | |
| 0.15 to 0.35 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.050 |
| Titanium (Ti), % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 to 0.25 | |
| 0 |
| Residuals, % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |