6023 Aluminum vs. EN 1.1221 Steel
6023 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while EN 1.1221 steel belongs to the iron 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 6023 aluminum and the bottom bar is EN 1.1221 steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 69 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 11 | |
| 10 to 21 |
| Fatigue Strength, MPa | 120 to 130 | |
| 240 to 340 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 26 | |
| 72 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 210 to 220 | |
| 450 to 520 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 360 | |
| 730 to 870 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 300 to 310 | |
| 390 to 550 |
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 | 580 | |
| 1410 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 890 | |
| 470 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 170 | |
| 48 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 23 | |
| 12 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 45 | |
| 7.2 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 140 | |
| 8.3 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 11 | |
| 2.1 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 2.8 | |
| 7.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 8.3 | |
| 1.5 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 150 | |
| 19 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1180 | |
| 47 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 38 to 39 | |
| 67 to 130 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 670 to 690 | |
| 410 to 800 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 49 | |
| 24 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 35 to 36 | |
| 26 to 31 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 40 | |
| 23 to 26 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 67 | |
| 13 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 16 | |
| 23 to 28 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 94 to 97.7 | |
| 0 |
| Bismuth (Bi), % | 0.3 to 0.8 | |
| 0 |
| Carbon (C), % | 0 | |
| 0.57 to 0.65 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.4 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0.2 to 0.5 | |
| 0 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 0.5 | |
| 97.1 to 98.8 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 0.4 to 0.9 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.2 to 0.6 | |
| 0.6 to 0.9 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.1 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.4 |
| Phosphorus (P), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.035 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0.6 to 1.4 | |
| 0 to 0.4 |
| Sulfur (S), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.035 |
| Tin (Sn), % | 0.6 to 1.2 | |
| 0 |
| Residuals, % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |