How Strong is Aluminium?

Aluminium is renowned for its favourable strength-to-weight ratio and is used in a huge range of products as a result. But how strong is aluminium? And can it beat the metallurgy heavyweights (literally) that are steel and brass?

To decide, we’re going to look at the different types of strengths, such as yield strength, whether aluminium is as strong as steel or brass, and the advantages of aluminium compared to both.

Is Aluminium as Strong as Steel and Brass?

Unfortunately, this isn’t a simple question to answer because metals have different kinds of strengths including tensile strength, compressive strength and yield strength. Each metal will perform differently in each area and will lend itself to different applications as a result.

The Different Kinds of Material Strength

Tensile strength

This is the ability of a material to withstand being pulled or stretched.

Compressive strength

Arguably the opposite of tensile strength, this is a measure of metal’s resistance to being squashed and squeezed.

Yield strength

Yield strength is a marker for how much a metal can be deformed before it’s permanently damaged. The point where it reaches permanent damage is known as plastic deformation, anything before this stage is known as elastic deformation. Up until it reaches the yield point, the metal may deform slightly, much like a rubber band that’s stretched but then returns to its original shape. See the yield strength of aluminium compared to other metals below:

Aluminium Vs. Steel Vs. Brass

Tensile strength – In most cases, steel has a higher tensile strength. The tensile strength of structural steel is roughly 400-500 MPa, whereas that of aluminium is around 90 MPa and brass is around 400. However, it depends to some extent on the grade of aluminium, as some 7000 series zinc-based aluminium alloys are much stronger.

Compressive strength – Steel is the all-around winner here too, able to withstand much greater compressive forces than aluminium or brass. Aluminium, though, is still used widely in construction applications because it’s lighter than steel or brass, meaning a lower compressive load on the structure overall.

Yield strength – Once again, steel comes out on top in terms of yield strength, with a typical failure point of around 250 MPa compared to around 40 MPa for aluminium and 195 MPa for brass.

The Advantages of Aluminium

So, with all those relative disadvantages, why would anyone use aluminium? Well, rather than asking ‘How strong is aluminium?’, you should perhaps instead ask ‘Is aluminium durable?’.

Aluminium has a range of advantages over steel and brass, including a high strength-to-weight ratio and incredible corrosion resistance, which can be yet further improved with the addition of common finishes such as polishing, anodising and powder coating. Steel, by contrast, although strong, is very heavy and prone to rust – which will weaken it over time – and brass is well known to tarnish quickly and requires frequent polishing to keep its appearance.

Thanks to these other strengths, aluminium is the material of choice for a huge variety of products and applications and can be found everywhere, from cars, aeroplanes and buildings to furniture, mobile phones and cooking utensils.

Quality Aluminium from Aluminium Online

The bottom line is that each metal has its own set of unique properties and is best suited to a particular range of applications.

At Aluminium Online, we stock a huge range of aluminium products, including extrusions, sheet metal, bars, bespoke sections and more, and we provide completely custom services for any profiles or sizes that you can’t find on our site. In addition, we also provide stainless steel bars and brass tubes and pipes. Whatever your particular requirements, we have the metal products to suit your needs.

We’re one of the UK’s leading stockists, suppliers and finishers of high-quality aluminium products, offering next-day delivery from our Birmingham HQ. If you can’t find what you need on our site or would like to discuss custom sizing or finishes, just reach out to our expert team using our contact form or by calling us on 0121 272 2865.