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Aluminium alloys typically have an elastic modulus of about 70 GPa, which is about one-third of the elastic modulus of most kinds of steel and steel alloys. Therefore, for a given load, a component or unit made of an aluminium alloy will experience a greater deformation in the elastic regime than a steel part of identical size and shape. Though there are aluminium alloys with somewhat-higher tensile strengths than the commonly used kinds of steel, simply replacing a steel part with an aluminium alloy might lead to problems.

With completely new metal products, the design choices are often governed by the choice of manufacturing technology. Extrusions are particularly important in this regard, owing to the Case with which aluminium alloys, particularly the Al–Mg–Si series, can be extruded to form complex profiles.