515.0 Aluminum vs. AZ31B Magnesium
515.0 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while AZ31B magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys. There are 23 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (7, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is 515.0 aluminum and the bottom bar is AZ31B magnesium.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 70 | |
| 45 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 10 | |
| 5.6 to 12 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 130 | |
| 100 to 120 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 26 | |
| 17 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 190 | |
| 130 to 160 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 280 | |
| 240 to 270 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 470 | |
| 350 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 170 | |
| 150 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 620 | |
| 600 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 620 | |
| 600 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 900 | |
| 990 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 23 | |
| 26 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 9.5 | |
| 12 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 2.6 | |
| 1.7 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 8.4 | |
| 23 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 150 | |
| 160 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1120 | |
| 970 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 15 | |
| 15 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 52 | |
| 70 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 30 | |
| 39 to 44 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 36 | |
| 50 to 55 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 13 | |
| 14 to 16 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 93.6 to 96.6 | |
| 2.4 to 3.6 |
| Calcium (Ca), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.040 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 to 0.2 | |
| 0 to 0.050 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 1.3 | |
| 0 to 0.050 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 2.5 to 4.0 | |
| 93.6 to 97.1 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.4 to 0.6 | |
| 0.050 to 1.0 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.0050 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0.5 to 10 | |
| 0 to 0.1 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0.5 to 1.5 |
| Residuals, % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.3 |