5456 Aluminum vs. AISI 431 Stainless Steel
5456 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while AISI 431 stainless 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 5456 aluminum and the bottom bar is AISI 431 stainless steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 68 | |
| 200 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 11 to 18 | |
| 15 to 17 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 130 to 210 | |
| 430 to 610 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.28 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 26 | |
| 77 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 190 to 210 | |
| 550 to 840 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 320 to 340 | |
| 890 to 1380 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 150 to 250 | |
| 710 to 1040 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 390 | |
| 280 |
| Maximum Temperature: Corrosion, °C | 65 | |
| 400 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 190 | |
| 850 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 640 | |
| 1510 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 570 | |
| 1450 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 900 | |
| 480 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 120 | |
| 26 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 24 | |
| 12 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 29 | |
| 2.6 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 97 | |
| 3.0 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 9.5 | |
| 9.0 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 2.7 | |
| 7.7 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 9.0 | |
| 2.2 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 150 | |
| 31 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1170 | |
| 120 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 33 to 46 | |
| 140 to 180 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 170 to 470 | |
| 1270 to 2770 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 50 | |
| 25 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 33 to 35 | |
| 32 to 50 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 38 to 40 | |
| 27 to 36 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 48 | |
| 7.0 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 14 to 15 | |
| 28 to 43 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 92 to 94.8 | |
| 0 |
| Carbon (C), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.2 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0.050 to 0.2 | |
| 15 to 17 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 0.4 | |
| 78.2 to 83.8 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 4.7 to 5.5 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.5 to 1.0 | |
| 0 to 1.0 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 | |
| 1.3 to 2.5 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.040 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.25 | |
| 0 to 1.0 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |
| Titanium (Ti), % | 0 to 0.2 | |
| 0 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 to 0.25 | |
| 0 |
| Residuals, % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |