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SAE-AISI 5160 Steel vs. A357.0 Aluminum

SAE-AISI 5160 steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while A357.0 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 5160 steel and the bottom bar is A357.0 aluminum.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness 200 to 340
100
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 190
70
Elongation at Break, % 12 to 18
3.7
Fatigue Strength, MPa 180 to 650
100
Poisson's Ratio 0.29
0.33
Shear Modulus, GPa 73
26
Shear Strength, MPa 390 to 700
240
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 660 to 1150
350
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 280 to 1010
270

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 250
500
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 420
170
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 1450
610
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1410
560
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 470
900
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 43
160
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 13
21

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 7.2
40
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 8.3
140

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 2.1
12
Density, g/cm3 7.8
2.6
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 1.4
8.2
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 19
150
Embodied Water, L/kg 50
1110

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 73 to 160
12
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 200 to 2700
520
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
15
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 24
53
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 23 to 41
38
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 22 to 31
43
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 12
68
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 19 to 34
17

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 0
90.8 to 93
Beryllium (Be), % 0
0.040 to 0.070
Carbon (C), % 0.56 to 0.61
0
Chromium (Cr), % 0.7 to 0.9
0
Copper (Cu), % 0
0 to 0.2
Iron (Fe), % 97.1 to 97.8
0 to 0.2
Magnesium (Mg), % 0
0.4 to 0.7
Manganese (Mn), % 0.75 to 1.0
0 to 0.1
Phosphorus (P), % 0 to 0.035
0
Silicon (Si), % 0.15 to 0.35
6.5 to 7.5
Sulfur (S), % 0 to 0.040
0
Titanium (Ti), % 0
0.040 to 0.2
Zinc (Zn), % 0
0 to 0.1
Residuals, % 0
0 to 0.15