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6061 Aluminum vs. S64512 Stainless Steel

6061 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while S64512 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (6, 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 S64512 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 69
200
Elongation at Break, % 3.4 to 20
17
Fatigue Strength, MPa 58 to 110
540
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
76
Shear Strength, MPa 84 to 210
700
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 130 to 410
1140
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 76 to 370
890

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
270
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 170
750
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 650
1460
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 580
1420
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
470
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 170
28
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 24
10

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 43
3.6
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 140
4.1

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
10
Density, g/cm3 2.7
7.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.3
3.3
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
47
Embodied Water, L/kg 1180
110

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 3.8 to 81
180
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 42 to 1000
2020
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 50
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 13 to 42
40
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 21 to 45
31
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 68
7.5
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 5.7 to 18
42

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 95.9 to 98.6
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0.080 to 0.15
Chromium (Cr), % 0.040 to 0.35
11 to 12.5
Copper (Cu), % 0.15 to 0.4
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.7
80.6 to 84.7
Magnesium (Mg), % 0.8 to 1.2
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0 to 0.15
0.5 to 0.9
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
1.5 to 2.0
Nickel (Ni), % 0
2.0 to 3.0
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0.010 to 0.050
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.025
Silicon (Si), % 0.4 to 0.8
0 to 0.35
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.025
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.15
0
Vanadium (V), % 0
0.25 to 0.4
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.25
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0