ASTM A283 Carbon Steel vs. 5251 Aluminum
ASTM A283 carbon steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while 5251 aluminum belongs to the aluminum 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 ASTM A283 carbon steel and the bottom bar is 5251 aluminum.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 110 to 140 | |
| 44 to 79 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 190 | |
| 68 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 26 to 34 | |
| 2.0 to 19 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 150 to 190 | |
| 59 to 110 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.33 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 73 | |
| 26 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 240 to 310 | |
| 110 to 160 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 360 to 480 | |
| 180 to 280 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 180 to 260 | |
| 67 to 250 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 250 | |
| 400 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 400 | |
| 180 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1460 | |
| 650 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1420 | |
| 610 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 470 | |
| 900 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 51 to 53 | |
| 150 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 12 | |
| 24 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 7.1 | |
| 37 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 8.1 | |
| 120 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 1.8 | |
| 9.5 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.8 to 7.9 | |
| 2.7 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 1.4 | |
| 8.5 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 18 | |
| 150 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 46 | |
| 1180 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 100 to 110 | |
| 5.4 to 27 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 91 to 180 | |
| 33 to 450 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 24 | |
| 50 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 13 to 17 | |
| 18 to 29 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 14 to 17 | |
| 26 to 35 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 14 | |
| 61 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 11 to 15 | |
| 7.9 to 13 |