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S21904 Stainless Steel vs. 2011 Aluminum

S21904 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while 2011 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (3, 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 S21904 stainless steel and the bottom bar is 2011 aluminum.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 200
71
Elongation at Break, % 17 to 51
8.5 to 18
Fatigue Strength, MPa 380 to 550
74 to 120
Poisson's Ratio 0.28
0.33
Shear Modulus, GPa 78
27
Shear Strength, MPa 510 to 620
190 to 250
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 700 to 1000
310 to 420
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 390 to 910
140 to 310

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 290
390
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 980
190
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 1400
640
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1350
540
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 480
870
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 14
140 to 170
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 17
23

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 2.5
35 to 45
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 2.9
100 to 130

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 15
11
Density, g/cm3 7.7
3.1
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 3.0
7.9
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 43
150
Embodied Water, L/kg 160
1150

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 160 to 310
29 to 52
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 380 to 2070
140 to 680
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
13
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 25
44
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 25 to 36
27 to 37
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 23 to 29
32 to 40
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 3.8
51 to 64
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 15 to 21
14 to 19

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 0
91.3 to 94.6
Bismuth (Bi), % 0
0.2 to 0.6
Carbon (C), % 0 to 0.040
0
Chromium (Cr), % 19 to 21.5
0
Copper (Cu), % 0
5.0 to 6.0
Iron (Fe), % 59.5 to 67.4
0 to 0.7
Lead (Pb), % 0
0.2 to 0.6
Manganese (Mn), % 8.0 to 10
0
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 0.4
Sulfur (S), % 0 to 0.030
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0
0 to 0.3
Residuals, % 0
0 to 0.15