ASTM A572 Steel vs. 5251 Aluminum
ASTM A572 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 A572 steel and the bottom bar is 5251 aluminum.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 140 to 190 | |
| 44 to 79 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 190 | |
| 68 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 18 to 25 | |
| 2.0 to 19 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 240 to 340 | |
| 59 to 110 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.33 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 73 | |
| 26 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 300 to 380 | |
| 110 to 160 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 470 to 620 | |
| 180 to 280 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 330 to 510 | |
| 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 | |
| 150 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 13 | |
| 24 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 7.2 | |
| 37 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 8.2 to 8.3 | |
| 120 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 2.0 | |
| 9.5 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.8 | |
| 2.7 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 1.6 | |
| 8.5 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 22 | |
| 150 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 47 | |
| 1180 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 100 to 110 | |
| 5.4 to 27 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 290 to 690 | |
| 33 to 450 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 24 | |
| 50 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 17 to 22 | |
| 18 to 29 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 17 to 21 | |
| 26 to 35 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 14 | |
| 61 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 14 to 18 | |
| 7.9 to 13 |