SAE-AISI 1086 Steel vs. 5252 Aluminum
SAE-AISI 1086 steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while 5252 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 SAE-AISI 1086 steel and the bottom bar is 5252 aluminum.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
Brinell Hardness | 220 to 260 | |
68 to 75 |
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 190 | |
68 |
Elongation at Break, % | 11 | |
4.5 to 11 |
Fatigue Strength, MPa | 300 to 360 | |
100 to 110 |
Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
0.33 |
Shear Modulus, GPa | 72 | |
25 |
Shear Strength, MPa | 450 to 520 | |
140 to 160 |
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 760 to 870 | |
230 to 290 |
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 480 to 580 | |
170 to 240 |
Thermal Properties
Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 240 | |
400 |
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 400 | |
180 |
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1460 | |
650 |
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1410 | |
610 |
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 470 | |
910 |
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 50 | |
140 |
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 11 | |
24 |
Electrical Properties
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 7.0 | |
34 |
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 8.1 | |
120 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
Base Metal Price, % relative | 1.8 | |
9.5 |
Density, g/cm3 | 7.8 | |
2.7 |
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 1.4 | |
8.7 |
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 19 | |
160 |
Embodied Water, L/kg | 45 | |
1190 |
Common Calculations
Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 79 to 84 | |
12 to 23 |
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 610 to 890 | |
210 to 430 |
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
14 |
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 24 | |
51 |
Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 27 to 31 | |
23 to 30 |
Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 24 to 26 | |
31 to 36 |
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 14 | |
57 |
Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 26 to 30 | |
10 to 13 |
Alloy Composition
Aluminum (Al), % | 0 | |
96.6 to 97.8 |
Carbon (C), % | 0.8 to 0.93 | |
0 |
Copper (Cu), % | 0 | |
0 to 0.1 |
Iron (Fe), % | 98.5 to 98.9 | |
0 to 0.1 |
Magnesium (Mg), % | 0 | |
2.2 to 2.8 |
Manganese (Mn), % | 0.3 to 0.5 | |
0 to 0.1 |
Phosphorus (P), % | 0 to 0.040 | |
0 |
Silicon (Si), % | 0 | |
0 to 0.080 |
Sulfur (S), % | 0 to 0.050 | |
0 |
Vanadium (V), % | 0 | |
0 to 0.050 |
Zinc (Zn), % | 0 | |
0 to 0.050 |
Residuals, % | 0 | |
0 to 0.1 |