6018 Aluminum vs. SAE-AISI 1552 Steel
6018 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while SAE-AISI 1552 steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 30 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 6018 aluminum and the bottom bar is SAE-AISI 1552 steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 69 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 9.0 to 9.1 | |
| 11 to 14 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 85 to 89 | |
| 290 to 400 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 26 | |
| 72 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 170 to 180 | |
| 460 to 510 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 290 to 300 | |
| 760 to 840 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 220 to 230 | |
| 460 to 650 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 400 | |
| 250 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 160 | |
| 400 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 640 | |
| 1460 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 570 | |
| 1420 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 890 | |
| 470 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 170 | |
| 51 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 23 | |
| 11 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 44 | |
| 11 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 140 | |
| 12 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 10 | |
| 1.8 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 2.9 | |
| 7.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 8.2 | |
| 1.4 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 150 | |
| 19 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1180 | |
| 47 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 24 to 25 | |
| 81 to 98 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 360 to 380 | |
| 560 to 1130 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 13 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 48 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 28 to 29 | |
| 27 to 30 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 34 to 35 | |
| 24 to 25 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 65 | |
| 14 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 13 | |
| 26 to 29 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 93.1 to 97.8 | |
| 0 |
| Bismuth (Bi), % | 0.4 to 0.7 | |
| 0 |
| Carbon (C), % | 0 | |
| 0.47 to 0.55 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0.15 to 0.4 | |
| 0 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 0.7 | |
| 97.9 to 98.3 |
| Lead (Pb), % | 0.4 to 1.2 | |
| 0 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 0.6 to 1.2 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.3 to 0.8 | |
| 1.2 to 1.5 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.040 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0.5 to 1.2 | |
| 0 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.050 |
| Titanium (Ti), % | 0 to 0.2 | |
| 0 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 to 0.3 | |
| 0 |
| Residuals, % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |