6081 Aluminum vs. C72900 Copper-nickel
6081 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while C72900 copper-nickel belongs to the copper alloys. There are 29 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (1, 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 C72900 copper-nickel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 69 | |
| 120 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 9.0 | |
| 6.0 to 20 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.34 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 26 | |
| 45 |
| Shear Strength, MPa | 180 | |
| 540 to 630 |
| Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa | 310 | |
| 870 to 1080 |
| Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa | 270 | |
| 700 to 920 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 410 | |
| 210 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 160 | |
| 210 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 640 | |
| 1120 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 610 | |
| 950 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 900 | |
| 380 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 180 | |
| 29 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 23 | |
| 17 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 47 | |
| 7.8 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 160 | |
| 8.0 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 9.5 | |
| 39 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 2.7 | |
| 8.8 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 8.3 | |
| 4.6 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 150 | |
| 72 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1180 | |
| 360 |
Common Calculations
| Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 | 27 | |
| 49 to 210 |
| Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience), kJ/m3 | 540 | |
| 2030 to 3490 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 7.6 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 50 | |
| 19 |
| Strength to Weight: Axial, points | 32 | |
| 27 to 34 |
| Strength to Weight: Bending, points | 37 | |
| 23 to 27 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 74 | |
| 8.6 |
| Thermal Shock Resistance, points | 14 | |
| 31 to 38 |
Alloy Composition
| Aluminum (Al), % | 96.3 to 98.6 | |
| 0 |
| Chromium (Cr), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 0 |
| Copper (Cu), % | 0 to 0.1 | |
| 74.1 to 78 |
| Iron (Fe), % | 0 to 0.5 | |
| 0 to 0.5 |
| Lead (Pb), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.020 |
| Magnesium (Mg), % | 0.6 to 1.0 | |
| 0 to 0.15 |
| Manganese (Mn), % | 0.1 to 0.45 | |
| 0 to 0.3 |
| Nickel (Ni), % | 0 | |
| 14.5 to 15.5 |
| Niobium (Nb), % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.1 |
| Silicon (Si), % | 0.7 to 1.1 | |
| 0 |
| Tin (Sn), % | 0 | |
| 7.5 to 8.5 |
| Titanium (Ti), % | 0 to 0.15 | |
| 0 |
| Zinc (Zn), % | 0 to 0.2 | |
| 0 to 0.5 |
| Residuals, % | 0 | |
| 0 to 0.3 |