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5056 Aluminum vs. C18900 Copper

5056 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while C18900 copper belongs to the copper alloys. There are 29 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (2, 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 5056 aluminum and the bottom bar is C18900 copper.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 67
120
Elongation at Break, % 4.9 to 31
14 to 48
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.34
Shear Modulus, GPa 25
43
Shear Strength, MPa 170 to 240
190 to 300
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 290 to 460
260 to 500
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 150 to 410
67 to 390

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
210
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 190
200
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1080
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 570
1020
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 910
390
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 130
130
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 24
17

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 29
30
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 99
30

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
31
Density, g/cm3 2.7
8.9
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 9.0
2.7
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
42
Embodied Water, L/kg 1180
310

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 12 to 140
65 to 95
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 170 to 1220
20 to 660
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
7.2
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 51
18
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 30 to 48
8.2 to 16
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 36 to 50
10 to 16
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 53
38
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 13 to 20
9.3 to 18

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 93 to 95.4
0 to 0.010
Chromium (Cr), % 0.050 to 0.2
0
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.1
97.7 to 99.15
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.4
0
Lead (Pb), % 0
0 to 0.020
Magnesium (Mg), % 4.5 to 5.6
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.050 to 0.2
0.1 to 0.3
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.050
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.3
0.15 to 0.4
Tin (Sn), % 0
0.6 to 0.9
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.1
0 to 0.1
Residuals, % 0
0 to 0.5