5251 Aluminum vs. Reactor Grade Zirconium
5251 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while reactor grade zirconium belongs to the otherwise unclassified metals. There are 20 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (11, 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 reactor grade zirconium.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 68 | |
| 98 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 2.0 to 19 | |
| 21 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.34 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 26 | |
| 37 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 180 to 280 | |
| 330 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 67 to 250 | |
| 160 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 400 | |
| 250 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 900 | |
| 270 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 150 | |
| 22 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 24 | |
| 5.9 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Density, g/cm3 | 2.7 | |
| 6.5 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1180 | |
| 280 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 5.4 to 27 | |
| 56 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 33 to 450 | |
| 130 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 8.4 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 50 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 18 to 29 | |
| 14 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 26 to 35 | |
| 16 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 61 | |
| 13 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 7.9 to 13 | |
| 41 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 95.5 to 98.2 | |
| 0 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 0.5 | |
| 0 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 1.7 to 2.4 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.1 to 0.5 | |
| 0 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.4 | |
| 0 |
| Titanium (Ti), % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |
| Zirconium (Zr), % | 0 | |
| 99.7 to 100 |
| Residuals, % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.27 |