SAE-AISI M50 Steel vs. R05400 Tantalum
SAE-AISI M50 steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while R05400 tantalum belongs to the otherwise unclassified metals. There are 16 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (12, 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 M50 steel and the bottom bar is R05400 tantalum.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 190 | |
| 190 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.34 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 75 | |
| 69 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 720 to 2250 | |
| 210 to 540 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 260 | |
| 140 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 470 | |
| 140 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 35 | |
| 59 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 13 | |
| 6.5 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Density, g/cm3 | 7.9 | |
| 17 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 83 | |
| 650 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 6.2 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 25 | |
| 11 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 26 to 80 | |
| 3.6 to 9.0 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 23 to 49 | |
| 4.8 to 8.8 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 9.7 | |
| 25 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 21 to 66 | |
| 13 to 32 |
Alloy Composition
| Carbon (C), % | 0.78 to 0.88 | |
| 0 to 0.010 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 3.8 to 4.5 | |
| 0 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 to 0.25 | |
| 0 |
| Hydrogen (H), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.0015 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 87 to 90.4 | |
| 0 to 0.010 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.15 to 0.45 | |
| 0 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 3.9 to 4.8 | |
| 0 to 0.020 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 to 0.3 | |
| 0 to 0.010 |
| Niobium (Nb), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.1 |
| Nitrogen (N), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.010 |
| Oxygen (O), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 to 0.030 | |
| 0 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0.2 to 0.6 | |
| 0 to 0.0050 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 to 0.030 | |
| 0 |
| Tantalum (Ta), % | 0 | |
| 99.7 to 100 |
| Titanium (Ti), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.010 |
| Tungsten (W), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.050 |
| Vanadium (V), % | 0.8 to 1.3 | |
| 0 |