5251 Aluminum vs. EN 1.4005 Stainless Steel
5251 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while EN 1.4005 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 30 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 5251 aluminum and the bottom bar is EN 1.4005 stainless steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 68 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 2.0 to 19 | |
| 13 to 21 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 59 to 110 | |
| 240 to 290 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.28 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 26 | |
| 76 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 110 to 160 | |
| 390 to 450 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 180 to 280 | |
| 630 to 750 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 67 to 250 | |
| 370 to 500 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 400 | |
| 270 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 180 | |
| 760 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 650 | |
| 1440 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 610 | |
| 1400 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 900 | |
| 480 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 150 | |
| 30 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 24 | |
| 10 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 37 | |
| 2.9 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 120 | |
| 3.3 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 9.5 | |
| 7.0 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 2.7 | |
| 7.7 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 8.5 | |
| 2.0 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 150 | |
| 28 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1180 | |
| 100 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 5.4 to 27 | |
| 90 to 110 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 33 to 450 | |
| 350 to 650 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 50 | |
| 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 18 to 29 | |
| 23 to 27 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 26 to 35 | |
| 21 to 24 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 61 | |
| 8.1 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 7.9 to 13 | |
| 23 to 27 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 95.5 to 98.2 | |
| 0 |
| Carbon (C), % | 0 | |
| 0.060 to 0.15 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 12 to 14 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 0.5 | |
| 82.4 to 87.8 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 1.7 to 2.4 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.1 to 0.5 | |
| 0 to 1.5 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.6 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.040 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.4 | |
| 0 to 1.0 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 | |
| 0.15 to 0.35 |
| Titanium (Ti), % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |
| Residuals, % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |