6061 Aluminum vs. R05400 Tantalum
6061 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while R05400 tantalum belongs to the otherwise unclassified metals. There are 20 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (11, 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 R05400 tantalum.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 69 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 3.4 to 20 | |
| 1.1 to 28 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.34 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 26 | |
| 69 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 130 to 410 | |
| 210 to 540 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 76 to 370 | |
| 140 to 390 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 400 | |
| 140 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 900 | |
| 140 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 170 | |
| 59 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 24 | |
| 6.5 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Density, g/cm3 | 2.7 | |
| 17 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1180 | |
| 650 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 3.8 to 81 | |
| 5.5 to 53 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 42 to 1000 | |
| 50 to 420 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 6.2 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 50 | |
| 11 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 13 to 42 | |
| 3.6 to 9.0 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 21 to 45 | |
| 4.8 to 8.8 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 68 | |
| 25 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 5.7 to 18 | |
| 13 to 32 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 95.9 to 98.6 | |
| 0 |
| Carbon (C), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.010 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0.040 to 0.35 | |
| 0 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0.15 to 0.4 | |
| 0 |
| Hydrogen (H), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.0015 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 0.7 | |
| 0 to 0.010 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 0.8 to 1.2 | |
| 0 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |
| Molybdenum (Mo), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.020 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.010 |
| Niobium (Nb), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.1 |
| Nitrogen (N), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.010 |
| Oxygen (O), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.030 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0.4 to 0.8 | |
| 0 to 0.0050 |
| Tantalum (Ta), % | 0 | |
| 99.7 to 100 |
| Titanium (Ti), % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 to 0.010 |
| Tungsten (W), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.050 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 to 0.25 | |
| 0 |
| Residuals, % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |