6101 Aluminum vs. ASTM A732 Cast Steel
6101 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while ASTM A732 cast steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 21 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (9, 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 6101 aluminum and the bottom bar is ASTM A732 cast steel.
Metric UnitsUS Customary Units
Mechanical Properties
| Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa | 68 | |
| 190 |
| Elongation at Break, % | 10 to 25 | |
| 4.0 to 25 |
| Poisson's Ratio | 0.33 | |
| 0.29 |
| Shear Modulus, GPa | 26 | |
| 72 to 73 |
Thermal Properties
| Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g | 400 | |
| 250 to 260 |
| Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C | 160 | |
| 400 to 430 |
| Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C | 650 | |
| 1440 to 1460 |
| Melting Onset (Solidus), °C | 620 | |
| 1400 to 1420 |
| Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K | 900 | |
| 470 to 480 |
| Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K | 220 to 230 | |
| 39 to 50 |
| Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K | 23 | |
| 13 |
Electrical Properties
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS | 57 to 60 | |
| 7.1 to 7.7 |
| Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS | 190 to 200 | |
| 8.2 to 8.9 |
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
| Base Metal Price, % relative | 9.5 | |
| 2.0 to 3.8 |
| Density, g/cm3 | 2.7 | |
| 7.8 to 7.9 |
| Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material | 8.3 | |
| 1.4 to 1.7 |
| Embodied Energy, MJ/kg | 150 | |
| 19 to 24 |
| Embodied Water, L/kg | 1190 | |
| 47 to 54 |
Common Calculations
| Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points | 14 | |
| 13 |
| Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points | 50 | |
| 24 |
| Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s | 89 to 93 | |
| 10 to 14 |