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7178 Aluminum vs. AISI 316N Stainless Steel

7178 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while AISI 316N 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 7178 aluminum and the bottom bar is AISI 316N stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 71
200
Elongation at Break, % 4.5 to 12
9.0 to 39
Fatigue Strength, MPa 120 to 210
230 to 450
Poisson's Ratio 0.32
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 27
78
Shear Strength, MPa 140 to 380
420 to 690
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 240 to 640
620 to 1160
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 120 to 560
270 to 870

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 370
290
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 180
940
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 630
1440
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 480
1400
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 860
470
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 130
15
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
16

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 31
2.3
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 91
2.7

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 10
19
Density, g/cm3 3.1
7.9
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.2
3.9
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
53
Embodied Water, L/kg 1110
150

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 24 to 52
95 to 230
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 110 to 2220
180 to 1880
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 45
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 21 to 58
22 to 41
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 28 to 54
20 to 31
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 47
4.1
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 10 to 28
14 to 26

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 85.4 to 89.5
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.080
Chromium (Cr), % 0.18 to 0.28
16 to 18
Copper (Cu), % 1.6 to 2.4
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.5
61.9 to 71.9
Magnesium (Mg), % 2.4 to 3.1
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0 to 0.3
0 to 2.0
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
2.0 to 3.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0
10 to 14
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0.1 to 0.16
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.045
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.4
0 to 0.75
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.030
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.2
0
Zinc (Zn), % 6.3 to 7.3
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0

Comparable Variants