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AISI 301 Stainless Steel vs. ZK51A Magnesium

AISI 301 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while ZK51A magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (5, 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 AISI 301 stainless steel and the bottom bar is ZK51A magnesium.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 200
45
Elongation at Break, % 7.4 to 46
4.7
Fatigue Strength, MPa 210 to 600
62
Poisson's Ratio 0.28
0.29
Shear Modulus, GPa 77
18
Shear Strength, MPa 410 to 860
160
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 590 to 1460
240
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 230 to 1080
150

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 280
340
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 840
120
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 1420
640
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1400
550
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 480
970
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 16
110
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 17
26

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 2.4
28
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 2.7
140

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 13
13
Density, g/cm3 7.8
1.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 2.7
24
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 39
160
Embodied Water, L/kg 130
940

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 99 to 300
10
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 130 to 2970
260
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 25
64
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 21 to 52
36
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 20 to 37
47
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 4.2
61
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 12 to 31
15

Alloy Composition

Carbon (C), % 0 to 0.15
0
Chromium (Cr), % 16 to 18
0
Copper (Cu), % 0
0 to 0.1
Iron (Fe), % 70.7 to 78
0
Magnesium (Mg), % 0
93.1 to 95.9
Manganese (Mn), % 0 to 2.0
0
Nickel (Ni), % 6.0 to 8.0
0 to 0.010
Nitrogen (N), % 0 to 0.1
0
Phosphorus (P), % 0 to 0.045
0
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 1.0
0
Sulfur (S), % 0 to 0.030
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0
3.6 to 5.5
Zirconium (Zr), % 0
0.5 to 1.0
Residuals, % 0
0 to 0.3