MakeItFrom.com
Menu (ESC)

6081 Aluminum vs. ASTM A387 Grade 9 Steel

6081 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while ASTM A387 grade 9 steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 30 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (2, 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 6081 aluminum and the bottom bar is ASTM A387 grade 9 steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 69
190
Elongation at Break, % 9.0
20 to 21
Fatigue Strength, MPa 110
160 to 240
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
75
Shear Strength, MPa 180
310 to 380
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 310
500 to 600
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 270
230 to 350

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 410
270
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 160
600
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1460
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 610
1410
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
470
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 180
26
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
13

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 47
9.0
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 160
10

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
6.5
Density, g/cm3 2.7
7.8
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.3
2.1
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
28
Embodied Water, L/kg 1180
87

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 27
83 to 110
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 540
140 to 310
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 50
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 32
18 to 21
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 37
18 to 20
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 74
6.9
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 14
14 to 17

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 96.3 to 98.6
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.15
Chromium (Cr), % 0 to 0.1
8.0 to 10
Copper (Cu), % 0 to 0.1
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.5
87.1 to 90.8
Magnesium (Mg), % 0.6 to 1.0
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.1 to 0.45
0.3 to 0.6
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
0.9 to 1.1
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.025
Silicon (Si), % 0.7 to 1.1
0 to 1.0
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.025
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.15
0
Vanadium (V), % 0
0 to 0.040
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.2
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0