MakeItFrom.com
Menu (ESC)

6061 Aluminum vs. S35125 Stainless Steel

6061 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while S35125 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 30 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 S35125 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 69
200
Elongation at Break, % 3.4 to 20
39
Fatigue Strength, MPa 58 to 110
200
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
78
Shear Strength, MPa 84 to 210
370
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 130 to 410
540
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 76 to 370
230

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
300
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 170
1100
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 650
1430
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 580
1380
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
470
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 170
12
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 24
16

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 43
1.7
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 140
1.9

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
36
Density, g/cm3 2.7
8.1
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.3
6.4
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
89
Embodied Water, L/kg 1180
210

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 3.8 to 81
170
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 42 to 1000
140
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 50
24
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 13 to 42
19
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 21 to 45
18
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 68
3.1
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 5.7 to 18
12

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 95.9 to 98.6
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.1
Chromium (Cr), % 0.040 to 0.35
20 to 23
Copper (Cu), % 0.15 to 0.4
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.7
36.2 to 45.8
Magnesium (Mg), % 0.8 to 1.2
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0 to 0.15
1.0 to 1.5
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
2.0 to 3.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0
31 to 35
Niobium (Nb), % 0
0.25 to 0.6
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.045
Silicon (Si), % 0.4 to 0.8
0 to 0.5
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.015
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.15
0
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.25
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0