6023 Aluminum vs. EN 1.4378 Stainless Steel
6023 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while EN 1.4378 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 26 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (7, 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 1.4378 stainless steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 69 | |
200 |
Elongation at Break, % | 11 | |
14 to 34 |
Fatigue Strength, MPa | 120 to 130 | |
340 to 550 |
Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
0.28 |
Shear Modulus, GPa | 26 | |
77 |
Shear Strength, MPa | 210 to 220 | |
510 to 680 |
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 360 | |
760 to 1130 |
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 300 to 310 | |
430 to 970 |
Thermal Properties
Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 400 | |
290 |
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 160 | |
910 |
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 640 | |
1390 |
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 580 | |
1350 |
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 890 | |
480 |
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 23 | |
17 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
Base Metal Price, % relative | 11 | |
12 |
Density, g/cm3 | 2.8 | |
7.6 |
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 8.3 | |
2.7 |
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 150 | |
39 |
Embodied Water, L/kg | 1180 | |
150 |
Common Calculations
Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 38 to 39 | |
150 to 220 |
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 670 to 690 | |
470 to 2370 |
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
14 |
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 49 | |
25 |
Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 35 to 36 | |
28 to 41 |
Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 40 | |
24 to 31 |
Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 16 | |
16 to 23 |
Alloy Composition
Aluminum (Al), % | 94 to 97.7 | |
0 |
Bismuth (Bi), % | 0.3 to 0.8 | |
0 |
Carbon (C), % | 0 | |
0 to 0.080 |
Chromium (Cr), % | 0 | |
17 to 19 |
Copper (Cu), % | 0.2 to 0.5 | |
0 |
Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 0.5 | |
61.2 to 69 |
Magnesium (Mg), % | 0.4 to 0.9 | |
0 |
Manganese (Mn), % | 0.2 to 0.6 | |
11.5 to 14.5 |
Nickel (Ni), % | 0 | |
2.3 to 3.7 |
Nitrogen (N), % | 0 | |
0.2 to 0.4 |
Phosphorus (P), % | 0 | |
0 to 0.060 |
Silicon (Si), % | 0.6 to 1.4 | |
0 to 1.0 |
Sulfur (S), % | 0 | |
0 to 0.030 |
Tin (Sn), % | 0.6 to 1.2 | |
0 |
Residuals, % | 0 to 0.15 | |
0 |