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SAE-AISI 5160 Steel vs. 5056 Aluminum

SAE-AISI 5160 steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while 5056 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 5160 steel and the bottom bar is 5056 aluminum.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 190
67
Elongation at Break, % 12 to 18
4.9 to 31
Fatigue Strength, MPa 180 to 650
140 to 200
Poisson's Ratio 0.29
0.33
Shear Modulus, GPa 73
25
Shear Strength, MPa 390 to 700
170 to 240
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 660 to 1150
290 to 460
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 280 to 1010
150 to 410

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 250
400
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 420
190
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 1450
640
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1410
570
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 470
910
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 43
130
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 13
24

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 7.2
29
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 8.3
99

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
9.0
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 19
150
Embodied Water, L/kg 50
1180

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 73 to 160
12 to 140
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 200 to 2700
170 to 1220
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 24
51
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 23 to 41
30 to 48
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 22 to 31
36 to 50
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 12
53
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 19 to 34
13 to 20

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 0
93 to 95.4
Carbon (C), % 0.56 to 0.61
0
Chromium (Cr), % 0.7 to 0.9
0.050 to 0.2
Copper (Cu), % 0
0 to 0.1
Iron (Fe), % 97.1 to 97.8
0 to 0.4
Magnesium (Mg), % 0
4.5 to 5.6
Manganese (Mn), % 0.75 to 1.0
0.050 to 0.2
Phosphorus (P), % 0 to 0.035
0
Silicon (Si), % 0.15 to 0.35
0 to 0.3
Sulfur (S), % 0 to 0.040
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0
0 to 0.1
Residuals, % 0
0 to 0.15

Comparable Variants