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SAE-AISI 5140 Steel vs. EN AC-46400 Aluminum

SAE-AISI 5140 steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while EN AC-46400 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys. There are 30 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 5140 steel and the bottom bar is EN AC-46400 aluminum.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 170 to 290
77 to 120
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 190
72
Elongation at Break, % 12 to 29
1.1 to 1.7
Fatigue Strength, MPa 220 to 570
75 to 85
Poisson's Ratio 0.29
0.33
Shear Modulus, GPa 73
27
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 560 to 970
170 to 310
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 290 to 840
110 to 270

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 250
520
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 420
170
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 1460
610
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1420
570
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 470
890
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 45
130
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 13
22

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 7.2
33
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 8.3
110

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 2.1
9.5
Density, g/cm3 7.8
2.7
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 1.4
7.8
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 19
150
Embodied Water, L/kg 49
1070

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 76 to 180
1.7 to 4.9
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 220 to 1880
82 to 500
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
15
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 24
52
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 20 to 34
18 to 32
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 19 to 28
26 to 38
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 12
55
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 16 to 29
7.8 to 14

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 0
85.4 to 90.5
Carbon (C), % 0.38 to 0.43
0
Chromium (Cr), % 0.7 to 0.9
0
Copper (Cu), % 0
0.8 to 1.3
Iron (Fe), % 97.3 to 98.1
0 to 0.8
Lead (Pb), % 0
0 to 0.1
Magnesium (Mg), % 0
0.25 to 0.65
Manganese (Mn), % 0.7 to 0.9
0.15 to 0.55
Nickel (Ni), % 0
0 to 0.2
Phosphorus (P), % 0 to 0.035
0
Silicon (Si), % 0.15 to 0.35
8.3 to 9.7
Sulfur (S), % 0 to 0.040
0
Tin (Sn), % 0
0 to 0.1
Titanium (Ti), % 0
0 to 0.2
Zinc (Zn), % 0
0 to 0.8
Residuals, % 0
0 to 0.25