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SAE-AISI 4012 Steel vs. 4115 Aluminum

SAE-AISI 4012 steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while 4115 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 SAE-AISI 4012 steel and the bottom bar is 4115 aluminum.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 130
38 to 68
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 190
70
Elongation at Break, % 23
1.1 to 11
Fatigue Strength, MPa 160
39 to 76
Poisson's Ratio 0.29
0.33
Shear Modulus, GPa 73
26
Shear Strength, MPa 270
71 to 130
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 420
120 to 220
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 220
39 to 190

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 250
420
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 400
160
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 1460
640
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1420
590
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 470
900
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 51
160
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 13
23

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 7.1
41
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 8.1
140

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 2.1
9.5
Density, g/cm3 7.8
2.7
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 1.5
8.1
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 19
150
Embodied Water, L/kg 47
1160

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 82
2.1 to 10
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 130
11 to 270
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 24
50
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 15
12 to 23
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 16
20 to 30
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 14
66
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 12
5.2 to 9.9

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 0
94.6 to 97.4
Carbon (C), % 0.090 to 0.14
0
Copper (Cu), % 0
0.1 to 0.5
Iron (Fe), % 98.2 to 98.9
0 to 0.7
Magnesium (Mg), % 0
0.1 to 0.5
Manganese (Mn), % 0.75 to 1.0
0.6 to 1.2
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0.15 to 0.25
0
Phosphorus (P), % 0 to 0.035
0
Silicon (Si), % 0.15 to 0.35
1.8 to 2.2
Sulfur (S), % 0 to 0.040
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0
0 to 0.2
Residuals, % 0
0 to 0.15