5657 Aluminum vs. EN 1.7216 Steel
5657 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while EN 1.7216 steel belongs to the iron alloys. 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 5657 aluminum and the bottom bar is EN 1.7216 steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 40 to 50 | |
| 200 to 280 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 68 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 6.6 to 15 | |
| 12 to 23 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 74 to 88 | |
| 290 to 440 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 26 | |
| 73 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 92 to 110 | |
| 410 to 560 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 150 to 200 | |
| 650 to 930 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 140 to 170 | |
| 400 to 690 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 400 | |
| 250 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 180 | |
| 420 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 660 | |
| 1460 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 640 | |
| 1420 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 900 | |
| 470 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 210 | |
| 46 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 24 | |
| 13 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 54 | |
| 7.2 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 180 | |
| 8.3 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 9.5 | |
| 2.4 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 2.7 | |
| 7.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 8.4 | |
| 1.5 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 160 | |
| 20 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1200 | |
| 50 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 9.7 to 27 | |
| 110 to 130 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 140 to 200 | |
| 430 to 1280 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 50 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 15 to 20 | |
| 23 to 33 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 23 to 28 | |
| 21 to 27 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 84 | |
| 12 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 6.7 to 8.6 | |
| 19 to 27 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 98.5 to 99.4 | |
| 0 |
| Carbon (C), % | 0 | |
| 0.27 to 0.34 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 | |
| 0.8 to 1.2 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0 |
| Gallium (Ga), % | 0 to 0.030 | |
| 0 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 97.2 to 98.4 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 0.6 to 1.0 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0 to 0.030 | |
| 0.35 to 0.6 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0 | |
| 0.15 to 0.3 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.035 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.080 | |
| 0 to 0.35 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.035 |
| Vanadium (V), % | 0 to 0.050 | |
| 0 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 to 0.050 | |
| 0 |
| Residuals, % | 0 to 0.050 | |
| 0 |