SAE-AISI 1095 Steel vs. 5021 Aluminum
SAE-AISI 1095 steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while 5021 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys. There are 30 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 SAE-AISI 1095 steel and the bottom bar is 5021 aluminum.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 190 | |
| 68 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 10 to 11 | |
| 1.1 to 3.4 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 310 to 370 | |
| 85 to 110 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.33 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 72 | |
| 26 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 400 to 540 | |
| 170 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 680 to 900 | |
| 300 to 310 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 500 to 590 | |
| 240 to 270 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 240 | |
| 400 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 400 | |
| 180 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 1450 | |
| 640 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 1410 | |
| 590 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 470 | |
| 900 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 47 | |
| 140 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 12 | |
| 23 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 9.6 | |
| 35 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 11 | |
| 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 | |
| 8.6 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 19 | |
| 150 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 45 | |
| 1180 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 63 to 84 | |
| 3.1 to 10 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 660 to 930 | |
| 440 to 550 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 14 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 24 | |
| 50 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 24 to 32 | |
| 30 to 32 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 22 to 26 | |
| 37 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 13 | |
| 57 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 22 to 29 | |
| 13 to 14 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 0 | |
| 95.2 to 97.7 |
| Carbon (C), % | 0.9 to 1.0 | |
| 0 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.15 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.15 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 98.4 to 98.8 | |
| 0 to 0.5 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 0 | |
| 2.2 to 2.8 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.3 to 0.5 | |
| 0.1 to 0.5 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 to 0.040 | |
| 0 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.4 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 to 0.050 | |
| 0 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.15 |
| Residuals, % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.15 |