7204 Aluminum vs. SAE-AISI 1046 Steel
7204 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while SAE-AISI 1046 steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (2, 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 7204 aluminum and the bottom bar is SAE-AISI 1046 steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 70 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 11 to 13 | |
| 14 to 17 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 110 to 130 | |
| 240 to 390 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 26 | |
| 72 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 130 to 220 | |
| 410 to 450 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 220 to 380 | |
| 660 to 740 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 120 to 310 | |
| 370 to 610 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 380 | |
| 250 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 210 | |
| 400 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 640 | |
| 1460 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 520 | |
| 1420 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 880 | |
| 470 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 150 | |
| 51 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 24 | |
| 11 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 39 | |
| 11 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 120 | |
| 12 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 9.5 | |
| 1.8 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 2.9 | |
| 7.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 8.4 | |
| 1.4 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 150 | |
| 18 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1140 | |
| 46 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 25 to 40 | |
| 91 to 95 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 110 to 710 | |
| 360 to 990 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 47 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 21 to 36 | |
| 23 to 26 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 28 to 40 | |
| 22 to 23 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 58 | |
| 14 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 9.4 to 16 | |
| 23 to 25 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 90.5 to 94.8 | |
| 0 |
| Carbon (C), % | 0 | |
| 0.43 to 0.5 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 to 0.3 | |
| 0 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 to 0.2 | |
| 0 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 0.35 | |
| 98.4 to 98.9 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 1.0 to 2.0 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.2 to 0.7 | |
| 0.7 to 1.0 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.040 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.3 | |
| 0 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.050 |
| Titanium (Ti), % | 0 to 0.2 | |
| 0 |
| Vanadium (V), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 4.0 to 5.0 | |
| 0 |
| Zirconium (Zr), % | 0 to 0.25 | |
| 0 |
| Residuals, % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |