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AZ91A Magnesium vs. AISI 384 Stainless Steel

AZ91A magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys classification, while AISI 384 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 25 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (10, 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 AZ91A magnesium and the bottom bar is AISI 384 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 63
150
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 46
200
Poisson's Ratio 0.29
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 18
76
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 240
480

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 360
290
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 130
910
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 600
1420
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 470
1380
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 990
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 73
16
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 26
16

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 10
2.2
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 52
2.5

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 12
20
Density, g/cm3 1.7
7.9
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 22
3.7
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 160
52
Embodied Water, L/kg 990
150

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 15
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 69
24
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 38
17
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 49
17
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 42
4.3
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 14
11

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 8.3 to 9.7
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.040
Chromium (Cr), % 0
15 to 17
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.1
0
Iron (Fe), % 0
60.9 to 68
Magnesium (Mg), % 88.2 to 91.2
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.13 to 0.5
0 to 2.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0 to 0.030
17 to 19
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.045
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.5
0 to 1.0
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.030
Zinc (Zn), % 0.35 to 1.0
0