6061 Aluminum vs. C17300 Copper
6061 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while C17300 copper belongs to the copper alloys. There are 28 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (3, 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 6061 aluminum and the bottom bar is C17300 copper.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 69 | |
| 120 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 3.4 to 20 | |
| 3.0 to 23 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.33 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 26 | |
| 45 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 84 to 210 | |
| 320 to 790 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 130 to 410 | |
| 500 to 1380 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 76 to 370 | |
| 160 to 1200 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 400 | |
| 230 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 170 | |
| 270 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 650 | |
| 980 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 580 | |
| 870 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 900 | |
| 380 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 170 | |
| 110 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 24 | |
| 17 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 43 | |
| 22 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 140 | |
| 23 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Density, g/cm3 | 2.7 | |
| 8.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 8.3 | |
| 9.4 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 150 | |
| 150 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1180 | |
| 310 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 3.8 to 81 | |
| 40 to 88 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 42 to 1000 | |
| 110 to 5410 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 7.6 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 50 | |
| 19 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 13 to 42 | |
| 16 to 44 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 21 to 45 | |
| 16 to 31 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 68 | |
| 32 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 5.7 to 18 | |
| 17 to 48 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 95.9 to 98.6 | |
| 0 to 0.2 |
| Beryllium (Be), % | 0 | |
| 1.8 to 2.0 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0.040 to 0.35 | |
| 0 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0.15 to 0.4 | |
| 95.5 to 97.8 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 0.7 | |
| 0 to 0.4 |
| Lead (Pb), % | 0 | |
| 0.2 to 0.6 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 0.8 to 1.2 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 | |
| 0.2 to 0.6 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0.4 to 0.8 | |
| 0 to 0.2 |
| Titanium (Ti), % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 to 0.25 | |
| 0 |
| Residuals, % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.5 |