2018 Aluminum vs. EN 1.1151 Steel
2018 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while EN 1.1151 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 EN 1.1151 steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Brinell Hardness | 120 | |
| 130 to 150 |
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 73 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 9.6 | |
| 21 to 26 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 120 | |
| 180 to 240 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 27 | |
| 73 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 270 | |
| 300 to 330 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 420 | |
| 460 to 520 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 310 | |
| 240 to 340 |
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 | |
| 12 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 40 | |
| 7.1 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 120 | |
| 8.2 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 11 | |
| 2.1 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 3.1 | |
| 7.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 8.1 | |
| 1.4 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 150 | |
| 19 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1130 | |
| 47 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 37 | |
| 98 to 100 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 670 | |
| 160 to 310 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 45 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 38 | |
| 16 to 18 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 41 | |
| 17 to 18 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 57 | |
| 13 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 19 | |
| 15 to 16 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 89.7 to 94.4 | |
| 0 |
| Carbon (C), % | 0 | |
| 0.17 to 0.24 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0 to 0.4 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 3.5 to 4.5 | |
| 0 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 1.0 | |
| 97.7 to 99.43 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 0.45 to 0.9 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0 to 0.2 | |
| 0.4 to 0.7 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.1 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 1.7 to 2.3 | |
| 0 to 0.4 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.035 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.9 | |
| 0 to 0.4 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.035 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 to 0.25 | |
| 0 |
| Residuals, % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |