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SAE-AISI L3 Steel vs. 4104 Aluminum

SAE-AISI L3 steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while 4104 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys. There are 23 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (8, 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 L3 steel and the bottom bar is 4104 aluminum.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 190
71
Poisson's Ratio 0.29
0.33
Shear Modulus, GPa 72
27
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 600 to 2250
110

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 250
540
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 1450
600
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1410
560
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 470
900
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 43
130
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 13
22

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 7.4
33
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 8.5
120

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 2.5
9.5
Density, g/cm3 7.8
2.6
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 1.9
8.0
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 27
150
Embodied Water, L/kg 53
1080

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
15
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 24
54
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 21 to 80
12
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 20 to 49
20
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 12
58
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 18 to 67
5.1

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 0
85.8 to 90
Bismuth (Bi), % 0
0.020 to 0.2
Carbon (C), % 1.0 to 1.1
0
Chromium (Cr), % 1.3 to 1.7
0
Copper (Cu), % 0
0 to 0.25
Iron (Fe), % 95.5 to 97.3
0 to 0.8
Magnesium (Mg), % 0
1.0 to 2.0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.25 to 0.8
0 to 0.1
Phosphorus (P), % 0 to 0.030
0
Silicon (Si), % 0.1 to 0.5
9.0 to 10.5
Sulfur (S), % 0 to 0.030
0
Vanadium (V), % 0.1 to 0.3
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0
0 to 0.2
Residuals, % 0
0 to 0.15