2018 Aluminum vs. ASTM A36 Carbon Steel
2018 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while ASTM A36 carbon steel belongs to the iron alloys. 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 2018 aluminum and the bottom bar is ASTM A36 carbon steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 120 | |
| 140 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 73 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 9.6 | |
| 22 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 120 | |
| 200 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 27 | |
| 73 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 270 | |
| 300 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 420 | |
| 480 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 310 | |
| 290 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 390 | |
| 250 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 220 | |
| 400 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 640 | |
| 1460 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 510 | |
| 1420 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 870 | |
| 470 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 150 | |
| 50 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 22 | |
| 11 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 40 | |
| 12 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 120 | |
| 14 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 11 | |
| 1.8 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 3.1 | |
| 7.9 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 8.1 | |
| 1.4 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 150 | |
| 18 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1130 | |
| 44 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 37 | |
| 92 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 670 | |
| 220 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 45 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 38 | |
| 17 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 41 | |
| 17 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 57 | |
| 14 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 19 | |
| 16 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 89.7 to 94.4 | |
| 0 |
| Carbon (C), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.26 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 3.5 to 4.5 | |
| 0 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 1.0 | |
| 99.25 to 100 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 0.45 to 0.9 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0 to 0.2 | |
| 0 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 1.7 to 2.3 | |
| 0 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.040 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.9 | |
| 0 to 0.4 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.050 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 to 0.25 | |
| 0 |
| Residuals, % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |