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S21900 Stainless Steel vs. 5056 Aluminum

S21900 stainless 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 (5, 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 S21900 stainless steel and the bottom bar is 5056 aluminum.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 200
67
Elongation at Break, % 50
4.9 to 31
Fatigue Strength, MPa 380
140 to 200
Poisson's Ratio 0.28
0.33
Shear Modulus, GPa 78
25
Shear Strength, MPa 510
170 to 240
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 710
290 to 460
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 390
150 to 410

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 290
400
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 980
190
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 1400
640
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1350
570
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 480
910
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 14
130
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 17
24

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 2.5
29
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 2.9
99

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 15
9.5
Density, g/cm3 7.7
2.7
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 3.0
9.0
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 43
150
Embodied Water, L/kg 160
1180

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 300
12 to 140
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 380
170 to 1220
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 25
51
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 26
30 to 48
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 23
36 to 50
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 3.8
53
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 15
13 to 20

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 0
93 to 95.4
Carbon (C), % 0 to 0.080
0
Chromium (Cr), % 19 to 21.5
0.050 to 0.2
Copper (Cu), % 0
0 to 0.1
Iron (Fe), % 59.4 to 67.4
0 to 0.4
Magnesium (Mg), % 0
4.5 to 5.6
Manganese (Mn), % 8.0 to 10
0.050 to 0.2
Nickel (Ni), % 5.5 to 7.5
0
Nitrogen (N), % 0.15 to 0.4
0
Phosphorus (P), % 0 to 0.045
0
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 1.0
0 to 0.3
Sulfur (S), % 0 to 0.030
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0
0 to 0.1
Residuals, % 0
0 to 0.15