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SAE-AISI M41 Steel vs. 5040 Aluminum

SAE-AISI M41 steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while 5040 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys. There are 21 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (11, 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 M41 steel and the bottom bar is 5040 aluminum.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 200
70
Poisson's Ratio 0.29
0.33
Shear Modulus, GPa 77
26
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 800 to 2290
240 to 260

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 260
400
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 1600
650
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1550
600
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 440
900
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 22
160
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 12
23

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 33
9.5
Density, g/cm3 8.4
2.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 9.1
8.3
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 140
150
Embodied Water, L/kg 120
1180

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 23
50
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 26 to 76
24 to 26
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 23 to 46
31 to 32
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 6.0
64
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 25 to 71
10 to 11

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 0
95.2 to 98
Carbon (C), % 1.1 to 1.2
0
Chromium (Cr), % 3.8 to 4.5
0.1 to 0.3
Cobalt (Co), % 4.8 to 5.8
0
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.25
0 to 0.25
Iron (Fe), % 73.4 to 78.9
0 to 0.7
Magnesium (Mg), % 0
1.0 to 1.5
Manganese (Mn), % 0.2 to 0.6
0.9 to 1.4
Molybdenum (Mo), % 3.3 to 4.3
0
Nickel (Ni), % 0 to 0.3
0
Phosphorus (P), % 0 to 0.030
0
Silicon (Si), % 0.15 to 0.5
0 to 0.3
Sulfur (S), % 0 to 0.030
0
Tungsten (W), % 6.3 to 7.0
0
Vanadium (V), % 1.8 to 2.3
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0
0 to 0.25
Residuals, % 0
0 to 0.15