2018 Aluminum vs. C19020 Copper
2018 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while C19020 copper belongs to the copper alloys. There are 26 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (5, 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 2018 aluminum and the bottom bar is C19020 copper.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 73 | |
| 120 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 9.6 | |
| 2.3 to 5.7 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.34 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 27 | |
| 44 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 270 | |
| 260 to 340 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 420 | |
| 440 to 590 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 390 | |
| 210 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 220 | |
| 200 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 640 | |
| 1090 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 510 | |
| 1030 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 870 | |
| 390 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 150 | |
| 190 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 22 | |
| 17 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 40 | |
| 50 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 120 | |
| 50 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 11 | |
| 31 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 3.1 | |
| 8.9 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 8.1 | |
| 2.8 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 150 | |
| 44 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1130 | |
| 310 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 7.2 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 45 | |
| 18 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 38 | |
| 14 to 18 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 41 | |
| 14 to 18 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 57 | |
| 55 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 19 | |
| 16 to 21 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 89.7 to 94.4 | |
| 0 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 3.5 to 4.5 | |
| 95.7 to 99.19 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 1.0 | |
| 0 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 0.45 to 0.9 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0 to 0.2 | |
| 0 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 1.7 to 2.3 | |
| 0.5 to 3.0 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 | |
| 0.010 to 0.2 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.9 | |
| 0 |
| Tin (Sn), % | 0 | |
| 0.3 to 0.9 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 to 0.25 | |
| 0 |
| Residuals, % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.2 |