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7178 Aluminum vs. SAE-AISI S6 Steel

7178 aluminum belongs to the aluminum alloys classification, while SAE-AISI S6 steel belongs to the iron alloys. There are 23 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 7178 aluminum and the bottom bar is SAE-AISI S6 steel.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus, GPa 71
190
Poisson's Ratio 0.32
0.29
Shear Modulus, GPa 27
72
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 240 to 640
670 to 1920

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion, J/g 370
290
Melting Completion (Liquidus), °C 630
1430
Melting Onset (Solidus), °C 480
1390
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 860
480
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 130
41
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 23
12

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume, % IACS 31
7.6
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific), % IACS 91
8.9

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price, % relative 10
3.2
Density, g/cm3 3.1
7.7
Embodied Carbon, kg CO2/kg material 8.2
2.3
Embodied Energy, MJ/kg 150
33
Embodied Water, L/kg 1110
56

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial, points 13
13
Stiffness to Weight: Bending, points 45
25
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 21 to 58
24 to 70
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 28 to 54
22 to 45
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 47
11
Thermal Shock Resistance, points 10 to 28
22 to 64

Alloy Composition

Aluminum (Al), % 85.4 to 89.5
0
Carbon (C), % 0
0.4 to 0.5
Chromium (Cr), % 0.18 to 0.28
1.2 to 1.5
Copper (Cu), % 1.6 to 2.4
0 to 0.25
Iron (Fe), % 0 to 0.5
92.8 to 94.7
Magnesium (Mg), % 2.4 to 3.1
0
Manganese (Mn), % 0 to 0.3
1.2 to 1.5
Molybdenum (Mo), % 0
0.3 to 0.5
Phosphorus (P), % 0
0 to 0.030
Silicon (Si), % 0 to 0.4
2.0 to 2.5
Sulfur (S), % 0
0 to 0.030
Titanium (Ti), % 0 to 0.2
0
Vanadium (V), % 0
0.2 to 0.4
Zinc (Zn), % 6.3 to 7.3
0
Residuals, % 0 to 0.15
0

Comparable Variants