MakeItFrom.com
Menu (ESC)

AISI 321 Stainless Steel vs. ZC63A Magnesium

AISI 321 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while ZC63A magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys. There are 31 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 AISI 321 stainless steel and the bottom bar is ZC63A magnesium.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 170 to 210
60
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 200
48
Elongation at Break, % 34 to 50
3.3
Fatigue Strength, MPa 220 to 270
94
Poisson's Ratio 0.28
0.29
Shear Modulus, GPa 77
19
Shear Strength, MPa 420 to 460
130
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 590 to 690
220
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 220 to 350
130

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 290
330
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 870
98
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 1430
550
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1400
470
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 480
950
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 16
120
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 17
26

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 2.4
32
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 2.7
140

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 16
13
Density, g/cm3 7.8
2.1
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 3.2
22
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 45
150
Embodied Water, L/kg 140
920

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 190 to 230
6.3
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 130 to 310
190
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
13
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 25
58
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 21 to 25
29
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 20 to 22
38
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 4.1
58
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 13 to 15
12

Alloy Composition

Carbon (C), % 0 to 0.080
0
Chromium (Cr), % 17 to 19
0
Copper (Cu), % 0
2.4 to 3.0
Iron (Fe), % 65.3 to 74
0
Magnesium (Mg), % 0
89.2 to 91.9
Manganese (Mn), % 0 to 2.0
0.25 to 0.75
Nickel (Ni), % 9.0 to 12
0 to 0.010
Nitrogen (N), % 0 to 0.1
0
Phosphorus (P), % 0 to 0.045
0
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.75
0 to 0.2
Sulfur (S), % 0 to 0.030
0
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.7
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0
5.5 to 6.5
Residuals, % 0
0 to 0.3