ASTM A414 Steel vs. AZ81A Magnesium
ASTM A414 steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while AZ81A magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys. There are 31 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (2, 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 A414 steel and the bottom bar is AZ81A magnesium.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 110 to 180 | |
| 55 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 190 | |
| 46 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 15 to 26 | |
| 3.0 to 8.8 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 140 to 260 | |
| 78 to 80 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 73 | |
| 18 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 230 to 370 | |
| 91 to 130 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 360 to 590 | |
| 160 to 240 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 190 to 350 | |
| 84 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 250 | |
| 350 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 400 | |
| 130 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1460 | |
| 600 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1420 | |
| 500 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 470 | |
| 990 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 49 to 50 | |
| 84 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 13 | |
| 27 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 7.2 to 7.3 | |
| 12 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 8.3 to 8.4 | |
| 65 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 2.2 | |
| 12 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.8 to 7.9 | |
| 1.7 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 1.5 to 1.6 | |
| 23 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 20 to 22 | |
| 160 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 48 | |
| 990 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 69 to 130 | |
| 4.0 to 17 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 100 to 330 | |
| 77 to 78 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 15 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 24 | |
| 70 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 13 to 21 | |
| 26 to 39 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 14 to 20 | |
| 38 to 50 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 13 | |
| 50 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 11 to 17 | |
| 9.1 to 14 |