ASTM A387 Grade 21 Steel vs. 5040 Aluminum
ASTM A387 grade 21 steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while 5040 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys. There are 31 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (1, 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 ASTM A387 grade 21 steel and the bottom bar is 5040 aluminum.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 150 to 180 | |
| 66 to 74 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 190 | |
| 70 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 21 | |
| 5.7 to 6.8 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 160 to 250 | |
| 100 to 130 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.33 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 74 | |
| 26 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 310 to 370 | |
| 140 to 150 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 500 to 590 | |
| 240 to 260 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 230 to 350 | |
| 190 to 230 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 260 | |
| 400 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 480 | |
| 190 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1470 | |
| 650 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1430 | |
| 600 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 470 | |
| 900 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 41 | |
| 160 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 13 | |
| 23 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 7.6 | |
| 41 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 8.8 | |
| 130 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 4.1 | |
| 9.5 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.9 | |
| 2.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 1.8 | |
| 8.3 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 23 | |
| 150 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 62 | |
| 1180 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 84 to 110 | |
| 14 to 15 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 140 to 320 | |
| 260 to 380 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 24 | |
| 50 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 18 to 21 | |
| 24 to 26 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 18 to 20 | |
| 31 to 32 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 11 | |
| 64 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 14 to 17 | |
| 10 to 11 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 0 | |
| 95.2 to 98 |
| Carbon (C), % | 0.050 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 2.8 to 3.3 | |
| 0.1 to 0.3 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.25 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 94.4 to 96 | |
| 0 to 0.7 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 0 | |
| 1.0 to 1.5 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.3 to 0.6 | |
| 0.9 to 1.4 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0.9 to 1.1 | |
| 0 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 to 0.025 | |
| 0 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.5 | |
| 0 to 0.3 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 to 0.025 | |
| 0 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.25 |
| Residuals, % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.15 |