AM50A Magnesium vs. SAE-AISI 4130 Steel
AM50A magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys classification, while SAE-AISI 4130 steel belongs to the iron alloys. 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 AM50A magnesium and the bottom bar is SAE-AISI 4130 steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 58 | |
| 200 to 300 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 45 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 11 | |
| 13 to 26 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 70 | |
| 320 to 660 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 17 | |
| 73 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 120 | |
| 340 to 640 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 210 | |
| 530 to 1040 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 120 | |
| 440 to 980 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 350 | |
| 250 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 120 | |
| 420 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 620 | |
| 1460 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 570 | |
| 1420 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 1000 | |
| 470 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 65 | |
| 43 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 26 | |
| 13 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 16 | |
| 7.2 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 88 | |
| 8.3 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 12 | |
| 2.4 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 1.7 | |
| 7.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 23 | |
| 1.5 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 160 | |
| 20 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 990 | |
| 50 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 19 | |
| 83 to 180 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 150 | |
| 500 to 2550 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 15 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 71 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 35 | |
| 19 to 37 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 47 | |
| 19 to 29 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 39 | |
| 12 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 13 | |
| 16 to 31 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 4.4 to 5.4 | |
| 0 |
| Carbon (C), % | 0 | |
| 0.28 to 0.33 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 | |
| 0.8 to 1.1 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 to 0.010 | |
| 0 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 0.0040 | |
| 97.3 to 98.2 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 93.7 to 95.3 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.26 to 0.6 | |
| 0.4 to 0.6 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0 | |
| 0.15 to 0.25 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 to 0.0020 | |
| 0 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.035 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0.15 to 0.35 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.040 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 to 0.22 | |
| 0 |