AZ81A Magnesium vs. EN 1.5536 Steel
AZ81A magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys classification, while EN 1.5536 steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 25 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (9, 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 AZ81A magnesium and the bottom bar is EN 1.5536 steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 55 | |
| 140 to 170 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 46 | |
| 190 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 18 | |
| 73 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 160 to 240 | |
| 460 to 1600 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 350 | |
| 250 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 130 | |
| 400 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 600 | |
| 1460 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 500 | |
| 1420 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 990 | |
| 470 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 84 | |
| 49 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 27 | |
| 13 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 12 | |
| 7.2 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 65 | |
| 8.2 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 12 | |
| 1.9 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 1.7 | |
| 7.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 23 | |
| 1.4 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 160 | |
| 19 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 990 | |
| 48 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 15 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 70 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 26 to 39 | |
| 16 to 57 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 38 to 50 | |
| 17 to 39 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 50 | |
| 13 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 9.1 to 14 | |
| 14 to 47 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 7.0 to 8.1 | |
| 0 |
| Boron (B), % | 0 | |
| 0.00080 to 0.0050 |
| Carbon (C), % | 0 | |
| 0.25 to 0.3 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.3 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0 to 0.25 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 | |
| 97.6 to 98.7 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 89.8 to 92.5 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.13 to 0.35 | |
| 0.9 to 1.2 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 to 0.010 | |
| 0 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.025 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.3 | |
| 0.15 to 0.3 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.025 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0.4 to 1.0 | |
| 0 |
| Residuals, % | 0 to 0.3 | |
| 0 |