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7178 Aluminum vs. S40920 Stainless Steel

7178 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while S40920 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (4, 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 S40920 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 71
190
Elongation at Break, % 4.5 to 12
22
Fatigue Strength, MPa 120 to 210
130
Poisson's Ratio 0.32
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 27
75
Shear Strength, MPa 140 to 380
270
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 240 to 640
430
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 120 to 560
190

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 370
270
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 180
710
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 630
1450
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 480
1400
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 860
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 130
26
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
10

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 31
2.9
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 91
3.3

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 10
6.5
Density, g/cm3 3.1
7.7
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.2
2.0
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
28
Embodied Water, L/kg 1110
94

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 24 to 52
78
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 110 to 2220
97
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 45
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 21 to 58
15
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 28 to 54
16
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 47
6.9
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 10 to 28
15

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 85.4 to 89.5
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.030
Chromium (Cr), % 0.18 to 0.28
10.5 to 11.7
Copper (Cu), % 1.6 to 2.4
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.5
85.1 to 89.4
Magnesium (Mg), % 2.4 to 3.1
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0 to 0.3
0 to 1.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0
0 to 0.5
Niobium (Nb), % 0
0 to 0.1
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0 to 0.030
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.040
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.4
0 to 1.0
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.020
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.2
0.15 to 0.5
Zinc (Zn), % 6.3 to 7.3
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0