5042 Aluminum vs. C17500 Copper
5042 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while C17500 copper belongs to the copper alloys. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (1, 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 5042 aluminum and the bottom bar is C17500 copper.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 68 | |
| 120 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 1.1 to 3.4 | |
| 6.0 to 30 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 97 to 120 | |
| 170 to 310 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.34 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 26 | |
| 45 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 200 | |
| 200 to 520 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 340 to 360 | |
| 310 to 860 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 270 to 310 | |
| 170 to 760 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 400 | |
| 220 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 180 | |
| 220 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 640 | |
| 1060 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 570 | |
| 1020 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 900 | |
| 390 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 130 | |
| 200 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 24 | |
| 18 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 33 | |
| 24 to 53 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 110 | |
| 24 to 54 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 9.5 | |
| 60 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 2.7 | |
| 8.9 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 8.8 | |
| 4.7 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 150 | |
| 73 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1180 | |
| 320 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 3.6 to 12 | |
| 30 to 120 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 550 to 720 | |
| 120 to 2390 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 7.5 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 50 | |
| 18 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 35 to 37 | |
| 9.7 to 27 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 40 to 42 | |
| 11 to 23 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 53 | |
| 59 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 15 to 16 | |
| 11 to 29 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 94.2 to 96.8 | |
| 0 to 0.2 |
| Beryllium (Be), % | 0 | |
| 0.4 to 0.7 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0 |
| Cobalt (Co), % | 0 | |
| 2.4 to 2.7 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 95.6 to 97.2 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 0.35 | |
| 0 to 0.1 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 3.0 to 4.0 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.2 to 0.5 | |
| 0 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0 to 0.2 | |
| 0 to 0.2 |
| Titanium (Ti), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 to 0.25 | |
| 0 |
| Residuals, % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.5 |