515.0 Aluminum vs. WE54A Magnesium
515.0 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while WE54A magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys. There are 23 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (9, in this case) are not shown.
For each property being compared, the top bar is 515.0 aluminum and the bottom bar is WE54A magnesium.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 70 | |
| 44 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 10 | |
| 4.3 to 5.6 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 130 | |
| 98 to 130 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 26 | |
| 17 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 190 | |
| 150 to 170 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 280 | |
| 270 to 300 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 470 | |
| 330 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 170 | |
| 170 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 620 | |
| 640 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 620 | |
| 570 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 900 | |
| 960 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 23 | |
| 25 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 9.5 | |
| 34 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 2.6 | |
| 1.9 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 8.4 | |
| 29 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 150 | |
| 260 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1120 | |
| 900 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 15 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 52 | |
| 62 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 30 | |
| 39 to 43 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 36 | |
| 49 to 51 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 13 | |
| 18 to 19 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 93.6 to 96.6 | |
| 0 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 to 0.2 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 1.3 | |
| 0 to 0.010 |
| Lithium (Li), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.2 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 2.5 to 4.0 | |
| 88.7 to 93.4 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.4 to 0.6 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.0050 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0.5 to 10 | |
| 0 to 0.010 |
| Unspecified Rare Earths, % | 0 | |
| 1.5 to 4.0 |
| Yttrium (Y), % | 0 | |
| 4.8 to 5.5 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0 to 0.2 |
| Zirconium (Zr), % | 0 | |
| 0.4 to 1.0 |
| Residuals, % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.3 |