WE54A Magnesium vs. ASTM A387 Grade 2 Steel
WE54A magnesium belongs to the magnesium alloys classification, while ASTM A387 grade 2 steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 31 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (2, 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 WE54A magnesium and the bottom bar is ASTM A387 grade 2 steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 85 | |
| 140 to 170 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 44 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 4.3 to 5.6 | |
| 25 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 98 to 130 | |
| 190 to 250 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.29 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 17 | |
| 73 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 150 to 170 | |
| 300 to 350 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 270 to 300 | |
| 470 to 550 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 180 | |
| 260 to 350 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 330 | |
| 250 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 170 | |
| 420 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 640 | |
| 1470 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 570 | |
| 1420 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 960 | |
| 470 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 52 | |
| 45 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 25 | |
| 13 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 10 | |
| 7.2 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 47 | |
| 8.3 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 34 | |
| 2.6 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 1.9 | |
| 7.9 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 29 | |
| 1.6 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 260 | |
| 20 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 900 | |
| 50 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 10 to 14 | |
| 98 to 120 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 360 to 380 | |
| 180 to 320 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 62 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 39 to 43 | |
| 16 to 20 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 49 to 51 | |
| 17 to 19 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 28 | |
| 12 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 18 to 19 | |
| 14 to 16 |
Alloy Composition
| Carbon (C), % | 0 | |
| 0.050 to 0.21 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 | |
| 0.5 to 0.8 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 to 0.030 | |
| 0 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 0.010 | |
| 97.1 to 98.3 |
| Lithium (Li), % | 0 to 0.2 | |
| 0 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 88.7 to 93.4 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0 to 0.030 | |
| 0.55 to 0.8 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0 | |
| 0.45 to 0.6 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 to 0.0050 | |
| 0 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.025 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.010 | |
| 0.15 to 0.4 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.025 |
| Unspecified Rare Earths, % | 1.5 to 4.0 | |
| 0 |
| Yttrium (Y), % | 4.8 to 5.5 | |
| 0 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 to 0.2 | |
| 0 |
| Zirconium (Zr), % | 0.4 to 1.0 | |
| 0 |
| Residuals, % | 0 to 0.3 | |
| 0 |