3104 Aluminum vs. C16200 Copper
3104 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while C16200 copper belongs to the copper 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 3104 aluminum and the bottom bar is C16200 copper.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 70 | |
| 120 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 1.1 to 20 | |
| 2.0 to 56 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 74 to 130 | |
| 100 to 210 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.34 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 26 | |
| 43 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 110 to 180 | |
| 190 to 390 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 170 to 310 | |
| 240 to 550 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 68 to 270 | |
| 48 to 470 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 400 | |
| 210 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 180 | |
| 370 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 650 | |
| 1080 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 600 | |
| 1030 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 900 | |
| 380 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 160 | |
| 360 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 23 | |
| 17 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 41 | |
| 90 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 130 | |
| 90 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 9.5 | |
| 30 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 2.8 | |
| 9.0 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 8.4 | |
| 2.6 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 150 | |
| 41 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1180 | |
| 310 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 1.6 to 60 | |
| 10 to 99 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 34 to 540 | |
| 10 to 970 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 7.2 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 50 | |
| 18 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 17 to 31 | |
| 7.4 to 17 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 25 to 37 | |
| 9.6 to 17 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 64 | |
| 100 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 7.6 to 13 | |
| 8.7 to 20 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 95.1 to 98.4 | |
| 0 |
| Cadmium (Cd), % | 0 | |
| 0.7 to 1.2 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0.050 to 0.25 | |
| 98.6 to 99.3 |
| Gallium (Ga), % | 0 to 0.050 | |
| 0 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 0.8 | |
| 0 to 0.2 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 0.8 to 1.3 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.8 to 1.4 | |
| 0 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.6 | |
| 0 |
| Titanium (Ti), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0 |
| Vanadium (V), % | 0 to 0.050 | |
| 0 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 to 0.25 | |
| 0 |
| Residuals, % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |