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6261 Aluminum vs. S46500 Stainless Steel

6261 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while S46500 stainless steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 25 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (8, 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 6261 aluminum and the bottom bar is S46500 stainless steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 69
190
Elongation at Break, % 9.0 to 16
2.3 to 14
Fatigue Strength, MPa 60 to 120
550 to 890
Poisson's Ratio 0.33
0.28
Shear Modulus, GPa 26
75
Shear Strength, MPa 90 to 180
730 to 1120
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 150 to 300
1260 to 1930
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof), MPa 100 to 260
1120 to 1810

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 400
280
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical, °C 160
780
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 640
1450
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 610
1410
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 900
470
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
11

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 9.5
15
Density, g/cm3 2.7
7.9
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.3
3.6
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
51
Embodied Water, L/kg 1180
120

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work), MJ/m3 21 to 27
43 to 210
Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 14
14
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 50
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 15 to 31
44 to 68
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 23 to 37
33 to 44
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 6.5 to 13
44 to 67

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 96.6 to 98.6
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0 to 0.020
Chromium (Cr), % 0 to 0.1
11 to 12.5
Copper (Cu), % 0.15 to 0.4
0
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.4
72.6 to 76.1
Magnesium (Mg), % 0.7 to 1.0
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0.2 to 0.35
0 to 0.25
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
0.75 to 1.3
Nickel (Ni), % 0
10.7 to 11.3
Nitrogen (N), % 0
0 to 0.010
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.015
Silicon (Si), % 0.4 to 0.7
0 to 0.25
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.010
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.1
1.5 to 1.8
Zinc (Zn), % 0 to 0.2
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0

Comparable Variants