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S21904 Stainless Steel vs. 6023 Aluminum

S21904 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys classification, while 6023 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 6023 aluminum.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 200
69
Elongation at Break, % 17 to 51
11
Fatigue Strength, MPa 380 to 550
120 to 130
Poisson's Ratio 0.28
0.33
Shear Modulus, GPa 78
26
Shear Strength, MPa 510 to 620
210 to 220
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 700 to 1000
360
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 390 to 910
300 to 310

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 290
400
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 980
160
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 1400
640
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 1350
580
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 480
890
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 14
170
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 17
23

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 2.5
45
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 2.9
140

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 15
11
Density, g/cm3 7.7
2.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 3.0
8.3
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 43
150
Embodied Water, L/kg 160
1180

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 160 to 310
38 to 39
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 380 to 2070
670 to 690
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 25
49
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 25 to 36
35 to 36
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 23 to 29
40
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 3.8
67
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 15 to 21
16

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 0
94 to 97.7
Bismuth (Bi), % 0
0.3 to 0.8
Carbon (C), % 0 to 0.040
0
Chromium (Cr), % 19 to 21.5
0
Copper (Cu), % 0
0.2 to 0.5
Iron (Fe), % 59.5 to 67.4
0 to 0.5
Magnesium (Mg), % 0
0.4 to 0.9
Manganese (Mn), % 8.0 to 10
0.2 to 0.6
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
0.6 to 1.4
Sulfur (S), % 0 to 0.030
0
Tin (Sn), % 0
0.6 to 1.2
Residuals, % 0
0 to 0.15